I'm back with Our German Schmear Fireplace & DIY

My goodness, it's been such a long time since I've created a new post!
 Life is getting shorter, and I'm getting up there in years, I'll be 68 in January. It made me feel the need to get back to posting and adding more to my "memory album." 
 I have four daughters, seven grandchildren and one, new, great granddaughter and want them to all to remember my style and occasional craftiness. Not to forget to, occasionally, inspire others with some of my creations.

Since my last post we have moved from our rental home, of the past 6 years,and into our new "forever home" in Sunset Beach, N.C.
 I've been enjoying, time with the love of my life, family visits, a lot of sunshine at the beach and poolside, friend gatherings and having fun making our little home a bit more updated. We've been doing some upgrades and DIY's, decorating with a lot of our old possessions and have added some new creations, in décor, here and there.

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Now, for my first post back, I'm sharing the makeover of our brick fireplace and entry that we, finally, just completed. 
(it only took 8 months of procrastinating to get this project done) It's late unveiling was due to my fear of attempting the, very popular, German Schmear technique,which, I can assure you, is waaaay easier to do than you might think!


So,here's a peek at our entry...come on in and take a look.

Everything stands out so-ooo much better on the lighter brick.

and I do mean that EVERYTHING stands out so much better!

This gives you an idea of how much brick there was to complete. Thankfully my hubby helped me do most of the joints, it really helped me a lot!

Here's the way it looked before....very nice brick but, just way to dark for our room.

Now, here's a list of what I used to get the project done.

1- 50 lb. bag of white thinset mortar (slower drying time than reg. mortar) $20 aprox. cost
I used 3/4 of the bag
***note some people use chalk paint in lieu of mortar, but it's way more expensive

painter's tape and plastic to cover areas that you are not "painting"

I used one 4" paint brush and one small stiff chubby brush to get into the joint crevices

plastic painter's bucket

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I started by mixing, 4, trowel scoops of mortar into my plastic bucket and mixed it with enough water to create a peanut butter like consistency.
I let it sit for about 15 minutes to thicken slightly and then just started "painting" it on in several swipes across each bricks and lightened on the pressure where I wanted more areas of the brick to show through. Start light, you can always go back and add more mortar to cover more of your brick.

I did not do the "sponge off technique" with water. I tried it and it was just too messy, I liked the pressure technique much better!

I/hubby filled in the joint lines first.

You can see the smaller, chubby brush that I used....you may want to have a few on hand as they tend to wear out in no time.

My little buddy Gucci was always by my side!

I'd love to know if this post inspired you :)

'Til Next Time ~ Happy Decorating and Happy Holidays, too!

JP

&
Gucci, too!

I shared this post here

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