Create

Almost done..Corner Fireplace

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What took the longest on this fireplace project was not the work, but the decision making. We cruised along through the framing and even the stone was an easy choice.  We freecycled the mantle our of a tree that had fallen  at the end of the street, we really llove the natural look of it, but are not sure if we want to leave it “raw, or add some color?

Hubby wanted to have a hearth, I think he is envisioning that cheery Christmas card photo in front of this beauty. This is where we hit a major stall. Since we added this hearth we cannot figure out what to put there, stone won’t work, we can’t find a tile, granite or marble that we like with the stone and wood, plus I don’t think we want to add any more types of material to this project.

We decided on the tile in the picture…it is a bit dark but we think it works best :

 

We really love the way it is turning out we jsut have to finish the hearth and do something with the matle…stay tuned!

Farmhouse Table….New Kids Desk

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one thing I love about all the wonderful people blogging out there is that there is no shortage of amazing inspiration and the generosity of the same people sharing the how-to’s for said inspirations.  Once again I fell victim to a must create over at Anna White’s Site.  This narrow farmhouse table here, sent me into the garage once again to recreate the table.  I even had a place for it!!  Under the windows in the office, a perfect place for the kids to do homework and e near Jon and I when we are working in the office.

We made the legs out of reclaimed pallet wood, the top we bought the top and side boards.  I sanded the crap out of the top to make it look as much like a solid piece as possible.

I stained the top and put 3 clear coats over the stain.

I painted the legs white, then I distressed the paint with a hand sander.

I did a top coat of Trewax mahogany wood wax.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Markers, colored pencils, a small light, plain paper, lilacs and lillies out the window, bring your imagination to this table and put it on the paper kids:

I do have chairs for the table that are in teh process of being reinvented…I will add a post about them when they are home….but here are a few more shots of the table:

Growth Chart…Done!!

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Let me just say that as often as I think…oh I can do that….often it takes a lot more work to  make something than a person would think.  I am proud to say that from start to finish RAiven and I completed this DIY growth chart by ourselves.  I posted about our start here and yes just the girls with our power tools, oil based stains, paint, brushes and girls abilities completed this project.

I had the board in the garage from another project,  I bought a vinyl tree decal from Target, but thought it was too heavy so I painted an outline round the vinyl, then we stained the whole board in our chosen green stain.  after the stain had set but not completely dried we peeled the stickers off.

Then we added the numbers and lattering….we distressed the stain and hand painting a bit and then did an all over clear coat.

To hand it I did the pop tab hangers, I saw this on pinterest and thought it was a great way to reuse and the price was perfect…free!

So now we have it hung on the wall and everyone measured!!

The black splotch is where I took out our last name..it does not really look like that.

I have updates coming on the fireplace and the garden plot.  Plus I am working on a narrow farmhouse table inspired by Anna White , so I will post pictures when I am done.

L Shape Garden Complete

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It took longer than I hoped to post about our completed L-Shape garden, that I originally posted about here , we completed the garden and have it planted, it was actually a fairly quick project.  Here is the before picture again:

We decided to move all of the garden but not the little square strawberry patch that you see on the right side of the picture.  I did not want to risk losing a strawberry crop this year, so we will move them in the fall.

Here is what is in the space that WAS the garden:

I just love this new space, I can see the kids in the backyard, on the trampoline, and in the sand box. The limestone rocks we retrieved from an empty excavated area in our development.  The tree was the largest investment..about $147, we transplanted some purple coneflowers from another flower bed, I had no idea how much these flowers multiplied.  The lilacs on each end we purchased for $19.99 a piece they will be
white.  I can’t wait until next spring to cut some blooms and bring them in the house….mmmm lilacs smell the best!

Here is the new L-Shpae garden that we originally posted about here:

We have romaine lettuce, onions (red and white), cucumbers, peas, and sweet potatoes in a bucket. WE also moved the compost bin to the corner of the garden, we had it on the side of the house but it was not getting enough sun to “cook” properly.  Plus now we can just spread the ready compost into the garden.

So glad we decided not to move the strawberries, I can’t wait untill all these ripen!!

Easy, Beautiful, Inexpensive Teacher Gift

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In the words of a dear teacher friend, “please no more coffee mugs…they are great….I love coffee…not that much”. So I asked her what she would really want from her  students as a thank you.

Gift cards to places like Barnes and Noble, this way she can buy books that she can add to her classroom. Also teachers like to read adult non-curriculum books during their break.

Gift cards, to places like Panera or other little shops so she can pick out a fun treat during the summer. Pick one out to a fun boutique in your town, does not have to be much even $10.00 is a treat.

Movie passes so she can see a movie during the summer.

A bottle of wine, or other spirit, perhaps a parent should bring this in, yes teachers like to relax a bit too.

A hanging plant or potted plant that she can put outside to bloom all summer, or get really crafty and put together a small container herb garden.

So here is what we did, we went to Savers’….of course, to buy a vase. There is almost a whole aisle full of flower vases that are donated, the budget 99cents. Whatever one they wanted.

Next stop, Trader Joes’, LOVE this place and their flowers are amazing. $7.99 for each bouquet.

We cleaned the sticker off the bottom of the vase, the kids all trimmed the flowers to fit their vases:

I helped Tanna with her cards…she hepled cut them out;

Solomon went out to the yard and got some Hosta flowers to fill his vase in a bit:

Then they made their own cards, this is truly the sweetest part. I think flowers brighten everyone’s day, I know they will be enjoyed for a bit, and not left on a shelf, and totally not included the paper we had here for the cards, 99 cents for the vase $7.99 for flowers plus a little for the taxman = $9.70….handmade card = priceless…of course.

Flower Power Ottoman

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I zoned in on this ottoman and my pulse starting racing with excitement, as I got closer I just  prayed that no one else had eyes for my prize.  I was even more in love when I saw the flower pattern on the top of this Daisy’s are my favorite flower.  So I hefted this bad boy/girl? into my cart at Savers and it was mine…victory.  Price: $24.99 but I redeemed a 20% coupon I earned form one of our many donations so $20.00 and I was a happy girl!

I think this is one of those pieces that is old and kind of a vintage cool, but can be incorporated in a mod way as well.   I have had a bit of an issue deciding exactly where to put it, since we do not have an club chairs.  Since it is on wheels it just moves around to whever people want to put their feet up.

And then I went to IKEA………

Before:

Wheels:

I went into the seconds/bargain area and I found these for $5.00 50% the regular price and all the parts were there, I thought they were like a wall hook.   I could have mounted these onto the inside of some garage lockers we are working on, but then I got the brilliant idea to update the ottoman.

Helpers:

TA-DA!

Not sure why that last photo seems blurry..

Total cost for this was $25.00!!!  Not a bad price for a sweet upcycled flower power ottoman man (in my best chong voice), I will add more photos when I decide on the perfect at the moment home for it.

Corner Redo…DIY Fireplace

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When we put a wall up along an alcove area in our basement, to make an actual office space in our garganteuos basement living room we left rough ins for a fireplace in the corner.  Our house is a split level home that we built just over 4 years ago and I was honestly surprised at how it can be a little chilly in the winter downstairs.  I guess I thought since it was so new and efficient this would not be the case, but when part of your house in the dirt, I guess this is bound to happen.

So here is a snippet of the star of our fireplace DIY…the plan is to have stone up to the ceiling with a wooden mantle, inspired somewhat by this photo (hopefully a little less cabin-y):

We are slowly adding more details and characteristic to our house, although we built it with some extra touches that we feel added more character than a standard build we have found we are still missing that “us” feel, I am hoping this fireplace will give the basement some warmth and character.

First step….get a permit to complete this project!!  I was fanatical about this, especially since this will be a gas fireplace, I do not want this to be done improperly and jeopardize anything or anyone, plus if we decide to sell and there are no permits on record we could have to pay to have it all redone, don’t skip this step, it is very important.

Second once we knew what was code for the fireplace we bought we went ahead and framed out the spot in 2 X 4’s.  Jon made the openings in the wall and ceiling  and then we called for a gas line hook-up and inspection this line.  The gas line was the only part of this project that we hired out.  again we had no intention of taking any chances when it came to safety.  The total cost was $164.00 not to bad for safety!

Midway update here

Scrapped out

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 I went to this home based business party at a friend’s house about 2 years ago it was a party that offered the latest and greatest in digital scrapbooking.  I am a big fan of anything artsy and crafty and had so enjoyed scrapbooking with the unlimited possibilities that one could create on a 12 X 12 piece of paper that also included pictures of my loved ones and preserved a memory in a book that could be looked at repeatedly.  So I bought a “package”  which included a premier membership to all the digital paper, alphabets, brad, and other tags I could imagine along with an 8 X 8 book.  Great started package right?  Also being the great friend that I am and having gotten thoroughly caught up in the excitement….which never happens at these parties…there may also have been wine;)  I signed up to have my own house party.

At my party I served margaritas (is there a theme?) and other got excited about this great digital scrapbooking package.  Short story long I ended up with the premier package membership for 2 years and over $400 dollars in scrapbook credits.  Yowza!

Reality hit, I had to etch out time to make these projects, digital doesn’t necessarily mean easier!!  I made a 5 x 7 book for my mom that she loved and brought tears to her eyes.  Once again inspired the time flew by, without much scrapping.

Last month I realized that I had approximately 6 weeks before my over $400 dollars worth of credits expired!!! GASP!!

So instead of doing anything else after the little darlings went to bed I have been scrapbooking and making a few galley wrapped canvases. 

I made:

 2- 20 X 24 galley wrapped canvases of our family

4- 8 X 8 galley wrapped canvases; one head shot of each child with their name and age printed on the side.

1- 8 x 8 board book of Avalon’s first 10 months, this was a template or I would have done the whole first year….

1- 8 X 8 canvas that is a little owl in a tree art piece that says Santanna’s Room, this should go with her Target Love and Nature bedding…I hope

1- 12 X 12 2010 H**** family scrapbook…65 pages documenting our year…I am so excited!!

I am thrilled to have that done…whew.  I will post pictures of the canvases as they come in and we get them on the walls….it may be 3-4 weeks depending on the production time.

So now, I should have more time to blog:)

Stay tuned for some of my goodwill finds for spring.

Beautifully FREE-Cycled Crate Boxes

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I have been a regular stalker of Anna White’s blog on how to make your own furniture and other wonderful items from wood, newly purchased or reclaimed.  I have to say as a mother of 4 there is no end to the amount of things that I am constantly trying to organize and manage.  This “box”  made from pallets gave me the nudge to get my saw and safety glasses and go out to the garage.  I have to say there is something that is really liberating about using a power saw, the dust the noise, and knowing that I am making something useful.

My neighbor happened to have a pile of these pallets stacked in his garage for use as starters to neighborhood bonfires so he was more than willing to give me a few for my project. 

I am by no means a girly-girl, I am a full grown tomboy, not afraid to use these power tools, however I have not had enough regular use to consider myself confident with all the tools in the garage, so this was an adrenaline rush to be wielding a power tool, and also a bit frightening knowing that I was only 95% sure what I was doing.  anyway, no bodily injuries and mostly square, thanks to a little help from my husband, we made these boxes and this nightstand/bookshelf, for Avalon’s room.

Total cost for the boxes was free!  The pallets were free from my neighbor, minus the beer or two we shared with him and the ends were from wood we had in the garage.  The ladder table which you can tell was made by a beginner;) was about $25.00.

Now I have to decide what to store in these lovely freecycled boxes.