Bathroom Tile

Last weekend while spending a lot of time in my guest bathroom working on my mirror framing project I noticed the the floor tile (more specifically the grout) was nasty!  I am somewhat embarrassed to even post this, but I figure we are all friend...right!  Not to mention that I get great ideas from reading about other peoples experiences...so who knows maybe someone reading this has nasty grout in their bathroom too.

All that to say that I got down on my hands and knees today and gave this bathroom a massive scrub down.

I used Scrubbing Bubbles Extend a Clean, but honestly you could use most any bathroom cleaner.  The key is the wire brush!

See the difference.  Probably 6-7 years of ground in dirt!  Please know that I do mop this bathroom often, but mopping unfortunately doesn't always do the trick.  Here is another close up of the results.

I am beyond pleased!  Now I need to do this in the master bath, but it is much bigger and will take more energy than I have today.  Maybe next weekend.

Framed Mirror

Over the past few weeks of reading various blogs about DIY projects I have noticed that many of the DIYers have framed their bathroom mirrors.  Honestly I thought about doing this a while ago, but I didn't think I had the tools to be able to pull it off.  But after seeing the process these other ladies used I was convinced that I could do it.  So I decided to try it in our guest bathroom since the mirror is a smaller than the one in the master bathroom.

Nick was playing golf on Saturday...so off to Lowes I went to get supplies for my little project.

This is what I needed:

Molding
Miter Box
Paint
Liquid Nails
Caulk

For the actual frame I bought (pre primed) casing.  Basically the stuff the that you woudl use to frame out windows and doors.  I bought and 7' and 10' piece and had them cut each of the four pieces to the size I needed.

Next I bought this little gem...a miter box!  This is the part that got me a few years ago when I thought about doing this.  I thought you had to have a miter saw in order to cut molding and trim at an angle.  Well that is not the case you can get a miter box for about $15 and it comes with the saw!  Awesome. 

This is what the bathroom looked like before.

First I had to cut my molding at 45 degree angles to form the corners of the frame.

Once all the pieces were cut  I painted them.  (Tip - Be sure to paint the back side of the molding as well because when it is up against the mirror you can see some of the back.)

Once the paint dried I applied a generous amount of liquid nails to the mirror.

Then placed the molding on the mirror and held it in place for a few minutes.  I repeated this step until all pieces where in place.

The next day I used caulk to hide the small gaps in the corners where the pieces fit together.  This caulk is awesome because it goes on pink and dries clear!

Once the caulk was dry I lightly sanded it and painted over the corners.  All Done!  What do you think?



For $25 I think it makes a big difference, and it will be even better once I debrass everything! 

Like, Love and Don't Like

I've been taking full advantage of opportunities to play some golf lately. My scores indicate that I could have a much bigger impact on this planet by blogging more. However, I hope to have some new golf videos soon.

This week, I like the Federal Reserve. I just returned from a tour of the Federal Reserve Bank in Atlanta with some coworkers. Working with the Federal Reserve is not part of my job but I appreciated the opportunity to learn more about this place where banks and credit unions send their cash and coins. And brother, I saw a lot of cash today. And I saw where a lot of that cash gets destroyed. I even brough some home!

This week, I love NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams. I've always wanted to be a game show host or news anchor. Brian Williams is the suavest man on television. He is very knowledgable of worldly events, he's a very good reader, he is funny as heck when he appears on late night shows and gets away with only having 3 neck ties in his rotation. And the Nightly News set is the best set in the industry. It's just a green screen and an awesome desk. I record Nightly News each night and even though it is always systematically BAD news, I will always be loyal to NBC. Do you know who the celebrity announcer is that introduces Mr. Williams each night? Leave your guesses in the comment section. When I learned this nugget, my mind was blown.



This week, I don't like the high praise for Charlie Sheen. I'll admit to to finding Charlie's catch phrases very funny at the beginning of his latest downfall. 10 years ago, I would have been the first person selling Tiger Blood t-shirts. But now I'm beginning to be disturbed by the number of people that are approving of his carefree lifestyle. I'm afraid that too many impressionable people are buying into his theory that life is about doing whatever you want to do. Life can't be that way. We're free in America but we're fortunate that (some) people know that nothing good comes from living a selfish lifestyle.

I've Been Tagged

This is first for me!!! 

In light of the Academy Awards (last weekend) several people in blog land have been listing their favorite movies and then tagging other bloggers so they will do the same.

Well my friend Anna from Recipes for Newlyweds recently tagged me so now I get to post my five favorite movies!

1. Childhood Must: Sound of Music, Wizard of Oz
2. Chick Flick: The Notebook, Dirty Dancing
3. Husband Approved: Gone With The Wind
4. True Story: The Blind Side
5. Holiday: Miracle on 34th Street, The Grinch (cartoon version)

Now I'm tagging She who dies with the most fabric wins, The Bright Side of Life, The Mize Family, and The Lloyds to share their five favorites!!