The Lighting Display that caused our neighbors to call 911

Let me start out by saying we do have some decent neighbors, the ones who called 911 are not them! Bryan and I have been known to pull practical jokes on each other and the kids, it is all in good fun and most people are able to appreciate that. We hung our "lights" and about 3 hours later I see someone on our front porch. When I go out to investigate I find it is a police officer!! See our wonderful (yet very nosey) neighbors called 911. They did not walk over and check to see if the "person" was ok they instead stood at the end of their driveway on their cellphone until the police showed up. The ambulance and firetruck were fortunately called off by the police officer, who did not find the humor in our light display.

Now seriously if you saw what you thought was your neighbor dangling upside down by one string of lights don't you think you might walk up to them to see if they needed help!!

Stripping on the Stairs

My newest project has been ripping out the old/disgusting carpet on the stairs and stripping the handrail and newel posts. After removing the 627 nails, tacks and staples, I will sand down the treads and paint them. The railing and posts will require quite a few hours of stripping and elbow grease to get them ready for staining.

Step 1: Before

Note the head start my kids got on chipping away the paint, also the reason why I decided to work on this project. Apply a thick coat of Citristrip and wait 15 minutes. The directions say to wait 30 minutes, but I found it easier to scrape before it started drying out.

Step 2:

Scrap first layer of paint off with scraper. Apply another layer of Citristrip. Use scraper and coarse steel wool.

Step 3:

Apply another layer to get the rest of the residue and stubborn paint/stain. Use medium and fine steel wool to remove stuck on paint. Wipe with Mineral Spirits.

I still have quite a bit of paint to remove in all the cracks and crevices, but I feel it is more than what the Citristrip is capable of doing.

Our Christmas card

Have a Joyful Holiday!