Our single wide mobile home tiny bathroom remodel

I know it's hard to believe after all these months but the hallway bathroom is a good 95% COMPLETE! Woohoo!! I mean, seriously...color me HAPPY!  I was to the point that I was thinking it was neeeever going to happen. To refresh your memories...we bought the tile to do the floor back in October of last year.

First, I'm going to show you photos of the bathroom "before" and I mean before we moved in...right after the home was set up. I took pictures but I did a majorly crappy job of it...I think I was just holding the camera out and clicking. I wish I could go back and kick myself and I will definitely do that as soon as time travel is available to the average person ;)

No amount of cleaning ever got this tub clean. All that
black around the edges? It never went away...EVER. I
was always mortified when company needed to shower
because I knew they'd think I was nasty and never cleaned.
But, really, I tried everything on it. I even caulked over it and it came through
so I don't know what was up with that. Maybe if I'd put the calk
thicker? 

I guess the drain had leaked for the previous owners and
that's the reason there was some kind of caulk around the
drain.

So, now that you've been completely disgusted but the before photos, let me disgust you even more with the "during" pics :)

This is the bathroom after we put the new vanity in a couple months ago.

We had put down these stick on tiles a few years ago when
we did the kitchen. They actually held up fairly well until
we took the old vanity out and then they began to
separate pretty rapidly. 

The bare floor

This is the cement board going down...I think he said it
was called hardie backer board and it has to go down
underneath tile.

Mr. FixIt himself...taking down the shower walls and
getting ready to take the tub out.

NEW TUB!!! We had to order the tub from Home Depot because
the only tubs we could find locally that would fit in the 54 inch
space we had were fiberglass and we really didn't want to put
another fiberglass tub in. SO, it was totally worth the wait to get
the enamel tub--It's just a basic plain tub but I love it!

Tile...FINALLY...tile

Notice there are still no shower walls here? Well, that's
because we also had to order those...Because nothing
can be easy, right? lol

And, now...prepare to be dazzled. Haha...ok, probably not exactly dazzled, but hopefully, slightly impressed with the difference.

There's my very own Mr. FixIt again :) He had to cut
some of the wall away to get to the plumbing and he's
replacing it here.

How much cleaner and nicer does that look???

Remember that I did say it was 95% finished...we still
have some paint touching up as well as trim work to do.
I gave him the weekend off to go fishing because I'd been
cracking the whip on him to get it finished, lol. 

The mirror will be replaced as soon as I can find a
replacement that I like and that fits.

 My daughter in law came in the other day and made the comment that I'd ruined the remodel by adding in the pink. Well, let me tell you--I hastened to correct her..."It's not pink, it's coral".  I really wanted something that would stand out and the coral certainly does that. I picked up the flowers and vase at Hobby Lobby and the towels from Walmart. The shower curtains were ordered from Amazon. It's difficult to see in the photos but everything is so crisp and white...the walls are gray and it all came together so well!

We did not replace the toilet because honestly, it just seemed crazy to replace it just for the sake of saying it was replaced. Haha...it made quite the porch decoration--It sat on our front porch for well over 2 weeks...yep, we're those neighbors, lol.
In total, we spent just under $1,000 on the bathroom and even though it was a headache it was totally worth it :)

New front door FINALLY as well as some personal updates.

Hey, y'all. I guess everyone thought I'd abandoned the blog but nope, lol...no such luck! I'm still here and I've thought about posting a million times and just didn't. I actually did start a post a few weeks ago and the power company, who were out working on my neighbor's power, whacked our power with no warning and I don't know where the post went--I don't know if it autimatically saved somewhere or if it's lost out in cyber space for all eternity. Either way, I'm here now :)

The holidays all came and went --Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years...as well as my first ever birthday party and 2 grandkids birthdays. It's not that I've not had anything to post, it's just that I haven't felt motivated.  I really do this blog thing for myself for the most part and I've just neglected it. I decided that I wanted to do 2 separate blogs...one (this one) dedicated to nothing but home and life and the other dedicated only to crafts. Unfortunately, I can't figure out how to do that without the two being linked through google. I can't update any info on the new blog without it changing it on this one. I'm not the most tech savvy but I don't consider myself tech illiterate either; it's just more than I have been willing to tackle.

ANYWAY...there have been some home updates--including the new front door that has been on my list for years :banana:  That happened in November and I still love it <3

Remember in my last post how I said that we got the tile to do the hall bath?? Well, ironically, my husband is finally laying the tile TODAY! Yes, it's been almost 4 months and the tile has been sitting in there in the floor of that teensy tiny bathroom all this time. I finally told him to just please take it all out of there and to the building and BOOM...he took a vacation day from work and is working on the bathroom...who knew that's all it would take??  I've taken *before* pictures and I will, of course, be taking *after* pictures and I will share those, hopefully, sooner rather than later.

I've done a few scrapbook layouts since New Years too...just not sure if I will post them here or not. 

Since probably the most important project that's been completed has been the new front door I'll share some photos of that...just because it feels weird to post an update without any photos, lol. This happened back in November.

So, in case you didn't know this, mobile homes have narrower doors than regular stick built homes which is the main reason the hubs kept putting this particular project off. He knew he'd have to rebuild the door frame and he was not enthusiastic about the idea. Did I mention that he's not quite as motivated to remodel as I am? Sometimes it's like pulling teeth to get the smallest things accomplished and I get so irritated and frustrated with him. But, on the flip side of that, he does work 6 days a week and does almost all the grocery shopping and even cooks supper at least one day per week. I know the last thing he wants to do on his one day off per week is to come home and work on one of my literally never ending projects.  So, even though I get aggravated, I do appreciate him and he does a great job when he does finally get to it.
So without further ado here're the photos I promised :)

Haha...I almost forgot to take any *before* pictures
but, luckily I remembered before the old door
was completely down.

Removing all the door trim

Nothing but a big gaping hole for a little while...just
long enough for him to rebuild part of the frame.

Here's the outside view of the new door and the new
storm door...that I LOVE! 

And, here's the inside view <3 

And that's it for this post...thanks for reading!

Hey...I'll try not to wait as long to share the bathroom floor update ;) 

Just living life at the Tralace

It seems that I've been quite the slacker when it comes to keeping up with my blog these days. But, the fact is, that I haven't really been doing much of anything that's blog worthy.

Right now we're in the process of doing a mini makeover in the hall bath. We changed out the vanity which has been a vast improvement and we have the tile for the floors but my handyman, aka my husband, hasn't had a chance to get it installed just yet. But, soon...very soon!

The master bedroom is also undergoing a pretty drastic makeover but it's a slow process and I am waiting until it's closer to the finished mark before I do a reveal. I can honestly say though, that I absolutely love it so far! And I will give you a quick peak at a project I just finished last week for my room...some Pinterest inspired wall art. It turned out even better than I anticipated and I love seeing it on the wall.

I've not done any scrapbooking and that is beginning to concern me. I don't know that I've ever gone quite this long without at least starting a layout. But, I'm sure the urge will strike me as soon as I get more of the house stuff out of the way.

We're into the 3rd full week of October and all my fall decorations are still stored away. Normally, I can't wait to decorate for fall...I love the colors and seeing all the decorations make me happy. But this year I decided that my many tubs of fall goodies as well as my sanity would fair best if I didn't subject them to the 6 month old puppies who are so keen on chewing anything and everything in their paths. This is one "phase" of puppydom that I will not miss!  I made a Dollar Tree run last weekend and picked up this little paper turkey and stuff him on the table so I can at least say I've decorated. It counts, right? LOL

So that's what I've been up to...I'm sure I'll have more posts to share soon!

Stampendous Fran'tage Embossing Enamel

Let's talk about this incredible product :) 

 Stampendous Fran'tage Embossing Enamel is one of my all time favorite products and I recommend it to everybody. Honestly, this stuff is phenomenal...none of the photos I managed to get really do justice to this stuff so please keep that in mind as you're scrolling through them. 

While it's a little more difficult to work with than regular embossing powders, the results are beautiful. If you're looking for something to give you fine detail this may not be the best product for you. This is an embossing ENAMEL and it melts with much more texture and dimension than a typical embossing powder. It's just thicker...not sure how else to describe it. I know you've all seen me post layouts and projects where I've used this stuff but I wanted to dedicate an entire post to just highlighting these because I really love them that much. 

Here are some photos I snapped this morning of some of the colors that I own. And remember...the pictures do not do justice to how beautiful this enamel is. 

These are the colors that I own and there are a couple more
colors available that are still on my list. The majority of mine
I ordered from ebay because my nearest Hobby Lobby doesn't have them.

 These powders run at approximately $8 per bottle but a little goes a long way. I honestly don't think anyone would be disappointed in these.  I'm not much on doing videos myself but there are some great ones on YouTube that might better depict how to use these. I try to heat from beneath with these because otherwise the goodies tend to get blown around by the heat gun. However, I have also heated from above using another piece of paper as a buffer between the powder and the heat gun.

You can kind of see the combination of powder, gold flecks
and gold glitter in this shabby pink. It's the combination that gives
such a stunning effect when these are melted.

This is the Chunky Metallic...you can see that's it's an
incredible combination of different granules of enamel and
when melted looks amazing. (see photo above)

I encourage anyone who wants to add dimension and pizazz to their scrapbook layouts or cards or any other project to give these a try. Get just one bottle...that's what I did. I started with the "aged teal" and as soon as I opened the bottle I was completely hooked. I'm betting the same thing will happen to you.

Making your own enamel dots for scrapbooking and card making

If you guys have been living under a rock, like me, and somehow missed out on this incredible tip then today is your lucky day because you've stumbled onto the right blog. I am going to amaze you with just how simple and cost effective it is to create your own enamel dots to use on whatever project you're working on.
Come on, we all love our enamel dots for embellishing our scrapbook pages and homemade cards but they can get pricey quick fast and in a hurry. I've found myself more than once reaching for other embellishments so I could save my enamel dots for something "more important". Ha, not any longer...I'm going to be using them like crazy from now on.

I happened upon a video on youtube while I was doing a search on another product and to say my jaw dropped would be fairly apt. I was in total awe that I could get an almost endless supply of enamel dots so cost effectively.

The only supplies you'll need are:

parchment paper--NOT wax paper and NOT freezer paper
Perler beads
pony beads
an oven or toaster oven.

THESE are PERLER BEADS...I bet we've all used
these at one time or another, either ourselves or with our kids.
I got this on Amazon for $14,59 and there are 22,000 beads in this
bucket. Yes, you read that correctly....22 THOUSAND beads.

THESE are PONY BEADS. I also ordered this on
Amazon for a whopping $3,07 as an add-on item. 

Let me make clear that the pony beads are NOT meant for melting and they DO invade your kitchen with a horrendous odor while in the oven. Some people have stated that the fumes are not healthy...so you use those at your own risk...I'm not advising anyone to do so, only showing you the ones "I" did. I opened my doors, windows and used the fan on my stove and another fan as well so that I was well ventilated.

Here are my pony beads before going into the oven.

You want to place your beads on the parchment paper as I've done here
with the hole facing up and down.

You can actually play around with your baking times as most ovens vary. I set my oven at 425 degrees for about 30 minutes.  And like magic, enamel dots appeared where the beads had been.

Did I tell you they were amazing?? They look exactly like
the enamel dots I've spent way too much money on.

Now, the Perler beads ARE made for melting and there was no odor from

melting them in the oven. Here are my beads before going into the oven. 

You'll place these with the circle facing up and down as well. They don't spread as much as the pony beads but you will still need to leave adequate space for the melting process. 

And now here they are after going into the oven at 450 degrees for about 20 minutes.

 Remember if you actually click on the photos you'll get a larger image and see more detail. 

These melt beautifully! Honestly, the hardest part is the time it takes to separate the beads and then to place them on the parchment paper covered dish.

Here is another view of my "enamel dots"

These are the larger dots made from the pony beads.
You'll notice they even have the same gloss as actual
enamel dots...and the colors are incredibly vibrant.

These are the dots made using the Perler beads.
OMG...the colors are unbelievable you guys! In that one
container of Perler beads I got over 30 colors!!!

And that's it y'all...it's literally THAT EASY...just put them in the oven and wait. I don't know how I missed this hack but so glad I've found it now. Any questions, just leave a comment.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope I was able to inspire you to try making your own enamel dots. Happy creating!