Happy New Year! (Favorite Posts and Stuff.)

Dear Readers-
It’s a brand new year. 2011 is gone. 2012 is here. To celebrate moving forward, I thought I would peer back into my archives and share with maybe the newbies what was most popular here at Potholes and Pantyhose.
Here are a few favorites from 2011-those with the most comments, or the most hits.
 

Remodeling my Master Bathroom was a pleasure and a success.
Biceps was out of town and I got to work recreating our boring bathroom. I loved the end result-as did Biceps. I think he mostly loved not having to do it himself….

Secondly topping the list was my DIY Spinning Composter:
This horrible picture of me has been repinned on Pinterest over 2K times. I wish I would have had the foresight to change out of my work clothes. I suppose it’s good for you to see me grubby and gross from time to time…

My Broken Mirror Art still gets a lot of action.
Biceps and I created this mirror from sections we no longer needed after our remodel. It still sits above our fireplace and still gets the oohs and aahs from newcomers.

My tutorial on Canning Jalapeno Pepper Jelly received more responses than I had anticipated.
The recipe is very simple-and if you don’t burn yourself on the hot steam from the canner-it’s also pretty painless.

I have no idea why, but this silly little post seemed to spark some conversation. My frizzy hair needed help, and I asked you for your input.
You have never failed, me dear readers and gave me tons of insight into the world of hair care.

My Pretty Paper Christmas trees not only got a lot of ooh’s and aah’s around the internet world, they received praise from family members and friends alike.
Turquoise and red have become a favorite of mine. Free and cheap are also favorites.

For fear of boring you, I’m ending with this post. My DIY Recycled and Cheap Rain Barrel.
This is a simple solution to gathering your roof water. The tutorial is rather simple, the process takes a few hours and you can go to bed at night knowing your water bill won’t be astronomical during the dry season.
 
I hope you’ve enjoyed a walk with me down memory lane. I know that I have enjoyed my time with you!
Have a great New Year-be safe, drink lots of water and don’t eat too much cake.
Happy New Year!

Linking up to: http://diyshowoff.com/2012/01/diy-2011-recap-party.html

The Master Bedroom Remodel

While Biceps was away on tour, I had a couple of weeks to myself.
And what does any good girl do when her hubby is away? REMODEL!

This is the BEFORE. When we chose this color, we didn’t realize the problems that this shade of green would pose. Reds paired with the green gave it a Christmas vibe. Pinks, purples, or blues alongside the green, made our bedroom feel like a victorian bed and breakfast-and not the good kind. Orange seemed to be the only thing that matched, and it wasn’t our favorite.

Secondly, the north facing wall was almost entirely a white brick fireplace. I decided that something must be done. With a few weeks and a few greenbacks, I had just enough time to be sneaky and remodel our Master Bedroom.

We already had a violet-colored comforter that I had picked on clearance somewhere years ago. I remember paying $10 for it, buying it with the intention to just have an extra blanket in the house.
And from this cheapo purchase, inspiration was birthed. I painted the room a complimentary purple that Biceps had insinuated he liked at some point.

Armed with several cans of gold spray paint, I scoured flea markets, thrift stores and a certain BFF’s garage for free or cheap picture frames. I spent a few hours transforming ugly frames into gold masterpieces.

From our earlier remodeling of this home, we dismantled a lovely (disgusting) mirrored shower door in one of the guest bathrooms. Deemed the “fat mirror”, like one you would see at a carnival, when you moved up and down, you would become fatter or thinner. Of course, I didn’t throw it away-I knew it would come in handy.

This mirror was tempered and when smacked upon with a hammer, it spiderwebbed out in really cool patterns. If you would like to make something similar, I have a tutorial called Broken Mirror Art.

I added “non-fat” mirror to the fat mirror and then hung gold frames on top of the entire piece. I made two of these to flank the fireplace.

In the center of the fireplace, I found this gorgeous and super heavy mirror for $35 at a flea market. I had to wait for Biceps to return home before I tried hanging it. Trust me, I tried to do it by myself and it did not go very well. Sections of the fireplace had to be painted.

What goes better with gold than silver? After much flea marketing, goodwilling and thrift storing, I found this small dresser at a “Quality Thrift Store”. It was a horrible green, but had great hardware and I couldn’t resist. Plus, I talked them down from $12 to $10. It houses or DVD player, holds up our ancient t.v. and has provided other useful storage for blankets, books, etc.

I found a four drawer antique wooden dresser that was beat up, scratched and missing wood chunks. But, the dresser had great details, cute little legs and the hardware matched my other $10 smaller dresser.
It was perfect and for $100, it was mine.

I first painted both dressers with a metallic silver paint (about $14 at Lowe’s), using a “foamy brush”. The foamy brush prevented brush strokes that a regular paint brush would have left. After the silver paint had dried, I watered down a high gloss black paint until it was the consistency of coffee. Wearing gloves, I lightly ran the rag across both dressers. On the detailing of the dresser, I left a little more black, to give the dressers an antiquey look.

Here’s my romantic, all ready for Biceps to come home.

I was so very sneaky, he never suspected what I was up to. And he loved every bit of the room.

To see what I’ve done to the bathroom, go here and here.