In the last blog I did on table mosaics, I mentioned that my house was on the market. After 15 days of activity, averaging 2 showings a day, I received 5 strong offers! The one offer that I accepted ended up being more than my asking price, so I am definitely pleased. I would like to take a moment to thank my real estate agent as well as Erickson Realty and Moving Services (ERMS) columns that I took advice from in the Erickson Tribune. I am now going through the process of preparing the house for the buyer. The inspection is done, my fix-it list is getting shorter with each passing day, and I have narrowed down my search of potential places to live. Yesterday was my one month mark. Yes, I have to be out in ONE MONTH! Sometimes I step back from all the chaos and ask myself “Oh my goodness, what have I done!” (that was a little censored)! Throughout this process I have had to rely on others to get things done. And for me, that is not an easy task. So another day, another table, another 3 dozen tiles of tumbled marble to go to town on and SMASH TO PIECES!! Thank you to everyone for their feedback and positive thoughts with the last mosaic table blog that I posted! I hope that you will share your tile smashing adventures with me! Take pictures of what you have been working on and email them to me at sara.walters@erickson.com. I would love to post your work on my blog!

I promised another technique, so here we are! This time it’s no holds barred. I didn’t worry about piecing the tiles back together this time. With this table, I scattered all the broken pieces and fit them together like a puzzle. This technique was more of a full week project, rather than just a weekend project. Going into it, I knew that I wanted to take my time and do things a little differently.

Again, I used tumbled marble, but this time I used a different color. I used the same adhesive that I found at Michaels or Joann craft stores. I covered the pores of the tiles with blue painters tape. And I went through 4 bags Simply Mosaics ivory colored tile grout. I applied more this time because I learned that if I spread it around too thin, it sank into the creases as it dried, leaving deep indents. To avoid this, I allowed the grout to dry before attempting to wipe it off.

The next day I bought a sander attachment for my drill, which only cost me $7 at Home Depot. It came with 6 round adhesive pieces of sandpaper ranging from course to fine. I used the coarse sandpaper to expose the blue tape.

I learned a short cut to removing the blue tape. Before destroying all of my fingernails, I resorted to a razor blade, and it worked wonders! After removing all of the tape, I went in between the tiles with sandpaper. By hand, I smoothed out the surface of the grout with fine sandpaper. Then I used a vacuum cleaner to suck out all of the grout dust from the pores of the tumbled marble tiles. As my final step, I took a wet sponge and wiped the surface clean from dust.

This table definitely took me a lot more time, but the outcome is well worth it. If you haven’t seen the square table I did, click on this link. Happy crafting!! And don’t forget to send me your pictures!

I’ve lived in this quaint little town house of mine, in the suburb of Catonsville, for 7 years now. It’s the longest I’ve ever lived in a house other than the one I grew up in. The neighborhood around me has changed, and so have I. I’m ready to move on to a newer, and more open floorplan of space.

I’ve spent the past few weeks staging and decluttering each room of my house in order for it to be ready to go on the market this week! With a low budget, I was still able to do a few minor upgrades to make the space look more inviting. This week, stay tuned for my home improvement blogs! I’ll be writing and taking pictures of projects that I’ve already done or are in the process of doing, in order to boost my chances of selling this house!

So let me just tell you about my day job! I work for Erickson, as a graphic designer, for The Erickson Tribune newspaper. Erickson is a retirement company with 21 communities throughout the country, and counting. The Erickson Tribune has recently started a column in the Neighborhood section that concentrates on tips to assist in the sale of your home. They provide a free service to residents only, who have decided to move into a community and need assistance with staging, decluttering, and selling their home. This service is called Erickson Realty and Moving Services. Even though I can’t use this service, the column has motivated me to apply their tips in order to succeed in selling my house!

My kitchen was once an eye sore. The cabinets were green and the walls were orange. When I first moved in, I made it a goal of mine to repaint the entire room. For the first weekend I had available, I spent the my time upgrading the look of my kitchen by painting the walls a soft mocha color and adding a crackle effect to all of the cabinets and drawers.

The handles were very stylish and I lucked out with how well they cleaned up! This project was very time consuming, but well worth it. My kitchen definitely has an artistic touch now, and I get lots of compliments.

I also added track lighting which helped to brighten up every corner of a long and narrow kitchen. Below is a list of fixtures that I found in various places, for under $50!

1. Tiella 4-Light Bronze fixed track, $49.98 at Lowe’s
2. Nadair Ceiling Fixture, $47.99 at Sears
3. Portfolio 4-Light Brushed Steel fixed track, $49.88 at Lowe’s
4. Portfolio 4-Light Brushed Steel Canopy-Sparta, $39.98 at Lowe’s
5. Beryll Quad spotlight, $39.99 at Ikea
6. Tostarp track light, $49.99 at Ikea

I don’t know why others watch American Idol. I watch to cheer talented people, often very young though I note their average age is rising. It’s always nice to see that unknown average person, hard working, struggling, trying to pursue a dream, get unbelievable exposure and achieve their dreams. To me, its symbolic for our times now, the struggle, the hope, and the final results of success for someone with whom we can relate. I think Idol is ageless and for those of us old enough to have heard music for decades, interesting to see those who are fearless in changing up the older music. Just because we get older doesn’t mean we stop living. And the distraction and discussion it generates help us all to focus on positive things to stimulate the joy juices in our brains. Read the full story

Help I am been held prisoner and cannot blog or do much else. Why? The miracles of modern technology. We moved to new offices. I love my new digs but obviously my computer does not. I have to write fast or this will freeze. So, see you when the wizards of computer wisdom can cure the ills of my computer are cured. May the force be with you.

Easter is right around the corner now, and I have the perfect salad to bring to dinner. I made it for this month’s “From the Chef’s Kitchen” column in the Erickson Tribune. It’s fresh and green, and it highlights the beginning of the gardening season. Topped with tender blanched asparagus, hardboiled Easter eggs, crispy bacon bits, and Roquefort bleu cheese for bite, I think it will be the perfect start to Easter dinner. Read the full story