Spring Break 2012 Cancun!! ... or not.

     No, Spring Break was not happening in Cancun this year.  I'm spending this break at my house, which is perfectly fine with me.  I love being home during the week and it's nice to be able to relax.  Peyton is at a really fun age to be home with and it makes me really excited for this summer!

So Spring Break started off a little busy...

Spring Break: Day 1

I decided that I would use this time off to complete a home project.  I've been wanting to put in a kitchen backsplash.  Neither Brandon nor I are handy, so even easy projects don't always work out so well for us.  Despite this, we headed to Lowes.

Peyton was an excellent shopper and waited very patiently as we looked around.

Now when it came to backsplash options, there were several.  This is what I was pretty sure I wanted:

• glass tile
• easy
• greenish maybe?

So we found glass tile and we found easy (at least it was supposed to be).  Unfortunately the easy tile didn't come in any greenish colors- so we went with a white/pearl and brown color pattern that looked like this...

The product was the DIY Network Backsplash kit in Pecan.  It's glass tiles that come in sheets of 12x12.  The kit was staged in the store in front of a video of how "easy" it is to do.  The glass tiles are stick on, so you don't have to putty the wall first... which did make it easier.  Here's how it describes itself on the Lowes website:

• DIY network glass tile backsplash kit - 15 sq. ft
• All tools and materials needed for installation included in the box
• Peel-and-stick mosaics and pre-mixed grout
• Save time and money, install and grout on the same day
• Can be installed over almost any flat and smooth surface
• The DIY backsplash kit utilizes a new peel and stick technology specially designed for glass mosaics and a pre-mixed ready-to-use grout
• The DIY backsplash kit is the ultimate ready to use kit for home improvement

Now I will break down the PROS and CONS...

Pros:

1. Peel-and-stick does make it easier.
2. Small tiles are easy to cut and fit in the space we needed them.
3. Pretty inexpensive.  The initial kit cost $145ish.  We had to buy an additional pack of tiles which was about $45 and our own grout.  So it was ended up costing around $200.00.

Cons:

1. The grout was awful.  All of the reviews I read online said to buy your own grout.. but of course I didn't listen.  They were right- I was wrong.  The grout was a mess and Brandon had to go back out TWICE (the first time he got the wrong color) to get pre-mixed grout.
2. Also they say it can be done in less than 2 hours... that was a lie- at least in our case.

So despite the extreme mess we made with the grout... the project was an overall success.  I think it looks ok and I am happy with it for now.  It's far from perfect, but I don't ever expect perfect when it's Brandon and I doing the decorating.

BEFORE PICTURE:

AFTER PICTURE:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Excuse the dirty dishes... it was a long night.

AFTER: