Halloween "To Do" List Done

Smart Girls DIY has moved to SmartGirlsDIY.com and this post can now be found here
Well I've been totally MIA, but with kinda good reason.  I spent an insane amount of time the last two weeks trying to get things finished in time for my daughter's 6th birthday party.  The party was Sunday and I am so glad to have it behind me.  Sucks right?  That I'm happy it's over.  Everyone said they had a good time and I am happy that I got stuff done, so maybe it doesn't suck.  I don't know.

Anyway, here was my "to do" list.  I am tired just writing about all this stuff, so I guess I did accomplish a lot.  And like you, I'm sure, I've got tons of other stuff going on on a daily basis, so all this had to happen while I wasn't leading Girl Scout meetings, teaching Sunday School, running the craft table at our community fall festival, going to a wedding, meeting my brand new nephew or driving my kids to roller skating, field hockey, LAX, basketball, cheerleading, choir practice, etc, etc.  You know how it is!! 

I totally should have made this like 10 posts, but here goes...

Projects {mostly} completed:

1. I have no idea what I want to do with these ottomans so I just moved them to the garage to hang out with all my other "one day" projects.
   
   
   
2. I really don't like these curtains, at least not in here.  But hubby lost the Ikea receipt, so we're stuck with them.  One of these days I'm going to redo this whole room.  Until then, I just put up the matching curtain.  Done.
   
   
3. It was such a project to redo my stairs last winter.  I was meticulous about the finished product and it took a while to get it just right.  Well, two months later, my husband was carrying a queen size bed frame (that I built for our guestroom, which is downstairs, but then decided to make into a loft bed for my son upstairs) up the stairs with a friend and they scratched the edges of 6 or 7 stairs.  I was not happy!  I continued to be not happy for a few months.  But in the end it took all of 15 minutes to walk to the garage, get the can of stain and a little tiny paint brush, to touch up the spots.  It was dry before anyone even knew what was going on.  Duh!  Do you ever do that?  It's happened to me several times.  You take soooooo much longer thinking about something than it actually takes to do it.  I should have done this one months ago!
   
   
4. After rescuing them from the trash about 9 years ago, I FINALLY finished upholstering these chairs!  It's not a perfect job by a long shot, but they are done and are actually being used in my living room right now.  Talk about procrastination! 
   
   
   
5. I'm still not sure how I want to paint this table or the stools, so they just got a cleaning.  At least they can be used now, although, honestly nobody even went in this room at the party.  But if I left the room a mess, you know it would have rained and everyone would've been in there.  Isn't that always the way???  I also got rid of all the stuff in the corner!  It went to it's actual proper place and not just shoved in another room.  Bonus!  I got rid of a bunch of stuff this week too.  Double bonus! Obviously the space isn't finished, but at least it's not cluttered.
   
   
   
   
   
   
6. I spent my anniversary (which happened to fall on Columbus Day this year, so hubby was home to help with the kids) painting the kitchen.  It was just a touch-up coat, but what I thought was going to be just the kitchen half wall ended up being the entire kitchen.  It looks soooo much better now.  To me.  You know, because no one else would ever notice.
7. This one was only partially completed.  I painted the benches (which so desperately needed it!) but didn't get around to painting the table base.  Not sure why.  Because we were using the table?  Because I am toying with the idea of bringing that table into my office?  Not sure, but it still needs to be painted.  The benches are looking great!  Especially with the newly reupholstered tops.
   
8. This was another quick one.  The front door looks much better now that it is fully painted.  :)
   
   
   
9. I finished staining the deck, which took FOREVER. Not only did I have to do that little area under the grill, but I had to go back and put a second coat over the entire thing.  And stain the sides of the boards which is super annoying, but necessary otherwise it looks really stupid.  It looks like a million bucks now!  I'm glad we didn't waste our time or money replacing every board.  We left the decking in tack, except for about 5 pieces that needed to be partially replaced because they were so rotted out. 
   
   
   
   
   
10. I finished building the pergola over deck on Saturday, the day before the party.  Hubby and I notched out the wood and cut out the fancy edges on Friday and I screwed them in Saturday.  When 12 foot long pieces of wood need to go higher than my arms can reach above my head, it's time to call for backup.  Hubby and I were able to get the cutting done pretty quickly, and he put the tools away.  Bonus.  Well, he brought them to the garage anyway.  They're still sitting in a heap.
    
     
     
    
11. Hubby took the shade sails down so that was an easy one to cross off my list.
12. I upholstered the chairs on back porch with turquoise-ish vinyl.  I'm not super thrilled with the look.  I think I am used to them with a patterned fabric.  The last two fabrics I've had on there have been pretty busy patterned outdoor fabric.  But when I bought the set 10 years ago (for $5!) the chairs had sparkly red vinyl on them very similar to what I used on the play car. 
    
    
    
    
    
    
13. All the tools and supplies have been removed from the back porch!  I'm sure my party guest really appreciated this one.  I didn't take any pictures before the party, so you're looking at a next day shot, hence the beer bottle.  :)  What doesn't everyone drink at a 6 year old birthday???
    
    
    
14. The rocking chair didn't get finished (again because I'm indecisive, should I paint the wood or restain it?) but it did get moved to the garage.  And I picked up an extra project... that box the rocking chair pieces are in... I've had that for years and years too, always on the back porch at this house.  It was a toy box for a long time.  Well, I finally got smart and sealed the inside so I could start using it in the house again.  If I built a top it would make a great coffee table, but I might just use it to store stuff in my office.  Either way, the inside is now clean and sealed with Thompson's WaterSeal, because that's what I had lying around. 
    
    
    
15. I took all the DVD's out of my TV console so I could swap it out with the "new" one even though it's not painted yet, but the day before the party I baled on this idea, and had Smart Jr. put all of our DVDs back inside.  I plan on tearing out most of that fireplace, so I've decided to just leave the current console in it's {weird} place until then.
16. I used many of my precious "to do" list hours on finishing my son's loft bed which was pretty stupid to worry about before a party, but I did take people up there to look at it.  And even though it is not entirely finished, it's got lower supports, a ladder and railings and my son's been sleeping in there the past two nights.  So I'm glad I spent the time working on it, now I just have to put the finishing touches!
    
    
    
    
     
    
    
    
17. I did finish building this wall (made out of pallet wood) on the swing set tower and I even managed to paint it, but I ran out of wood before I could complete the little bit of half wall under the order window.  Nobody was the wiser I'm sure and the kids had a great time using the swing set during the party, but I'll be on the lookout for more pallets to complete the other wall.
    
    
    
18. Ha!  I did nothing in regards to building a platform for the twisty slide!  Again indecisiveness reigns!  I want to build a "tree house" in those 3 trees, but I think it's just too close to my neighbor's fence.  These are our nice neighbors, not the jerk neighbor.  So I really need to come up with a plan B for this one!  But at this point I have all winter to ponder because nothings getting done on this one until the spring!
    
    
19. I didn't think I'd have time to stain the walls of screened porch, but I got it done.  I'll probably stain the ceiling the same color in the spring, but I'm still pondering that one.
    
    
    

Decorating:
1. I put out all the holiday decorations and added some new ones like these rats.

2. I swapped out items on staircase platform for something more festive.  This is the first time I've had this platform for the holidays.  Read about how I build this staircase platform here.

3. I didn't make new wreaths for front door - didn't do this.  I just hung the same old wreaths.
4. But I did hang the leaf garland on the spindles. With zip ties.
 
5. Hang leaves on mailbox- didn't happen
6. Set up for party - happened but didn't take any pics.  :(

And that my friends is it.  I am off to go make a last minute costume for my favorite son.  Happy Halloween!

- Smart Girl