December 2021 – Page 2 – Karla's Cottage

A bit of my holiday decor

By Karla Nathan / December 4, 2021

This year, I got my Christmassy Foof up early.

Again.

Typically, I use the excuse of hosting an art event or being on the holiday home tour for decorating before Thanksgiving. But this year, I just wanted to.

And that is enough of a reason.

For me, it is scaled back, not as elaborate as in the past. But more than last year.

2020 was hard. I needed some sparkle to lighten my load, but I wasn’t up to the full spread.

This year, I decided to set out a few more things.

It doesn’t usually take much time to do, since I pack it all up in a very organized way. But last year, when I dug through a few boxes for bits and pieces, I made quite a mess of all of it.

These photos are of my dining room hutch.

It is a winter forest, with trees, deer and fairies.

And lots of white lights!

I have a love/hate relationship with the battery powered LEDs. Over all, I love them to pieces. They run on remote control so they can be added to hard to reach places or spots with no plugs. They have a timer so they will automatically come on each day then turn themselves off. They have multiple settings and look pretty in any setting.

But oh man- the tangly mess they make! That long, long wire gets all twisty and stuck. Ugh.

But the pros outweigh the cons. I like having lights on this piece, and there is no plug in anywhere, so the battery operated strings make all the difference.

The main part of the house is all that I’m decorating this year, and I’ll have more photos of it later. Some years, I do every single room, and I love it that way. But I am pretty happy with just the downstairs decked. Every morning, all of the power strips are flipped before I even have my coffee, so I can enjoy the twinkling lights all day long.

And that is very satisfying.

How to refresh your tile floor for under a dollar

This is the after photo. I am sooo happy with it!

This is the before. Years of wear had discolored the grout. I’d tried peroxide, bleach, scrubbing with a tooth brush, every kind of soap and cleanser I could try.

I even hired a company to steam clean the floor. No luck, the grout was turning black in the heavily trafficked areas.

I cannot speak for the longevity of this solution- yet. But as someone who works with paint a lot and understands the properties of it, I’m not too worried.

And even if I only get a year or two out of it, it is a fast, cheap solution. I could spring for another 79 cent bottle of acrylic craft paint and an hour of my time to redo it.

Here are the tricks I learned-

Using a brush that fits the grout line, apply the paint full strength, not watered down.
Keep a wet towel handy for mopping up big smears on the tile.
Don't fret the small smears. Grout is porous and it’s “tooth” will hold acrylic paint. Smooth, porcelain tile will not. So, paint the lines and if you get a bit on the squares, just wait till it’s all dry, and wet mop. The lines will stay painted, the tiles will come clean. But very important- don’t wait too long or you might need some elbow grease to remove it. It will come off, but will be harder if you leave it more than a few hours.