MAKIN’ IT MONDAYS (Issue 3)

Call me a Pinterest addict, that’s fine. It’s true I’m sure. But I’d like to think that I’m more than just a gawker. I don’t see myself as someone who sees a bunch of really cool ideas and doesn’t do anything with them. I also would like to think that I don’t just snake other people’s ideas to take credit for it. No. My creations become a sort of amalgamation of many sources of inspiration: Pinterest, my environment, needs, wants, materials on hand, etc.

Having said that, a lot of the things I make are simply born out of wanting or needing something, but not having the money it would cost to buy it myself. I find myself out at stores sometimes, looking at cool furniture or decor…whatever, and I think to myself, “Why would I pay (insert stupid amount of money here) when this is totally something I can make?” I don’t know if this makes me weird or what, but it’s the way I think. Sue me.

Regardless this Makin’ it Monday is indeed one of those projects born out of not being  willing to pay a bunch of money for something that I could build myself. And besides, this was something my best friend had been wanting for a long time…so we made like a pair of Nikes and just did it.

Here are the supplies, minus the paint, but you get the picture. (Hahaha, see what I did there?) The pallets were free. The sander, the paint brushes and the paint were things we already had laying around. I’m not sure if this makes us weirdo, but whatever.

P.S. I highly recommend that if you’re building something out of pallets and you’re planning on sitting on it….sand first.

Don’t let anyone make you feel like you have to buy a bunch of crap to make you happy. Yes, we spent a little money on this project, I’m not gonna lie. But there’s really no comparison to what we could have spent. And on top of that, every time we sit on it, we always remember the very first time we tried it out: No one was really sure if our craftsmanship was good enough for grown humans to sit on it and not end up on the ground; or worse, end up bringing down the entire frame of the deck we attached it to. It was a blast, and created memories. That’s priceless in my Kelly Blue Book of Life.

There it is. A porch swing out of 2 pallets for the price of some chain, “I” hooks and screws, and a few cushions. Not a bad little Saturday project, I think.

MAKIN’ IT MONDAYS (Issue 2)

This is the king size issue  for Makin’ It Monday. King size bed, that is.When we moved into our last apartment, our bed frame was critically injured. We nursed it back to health enough to use for the time being. When moving out of that apartment, it was clear that it was not going to make the next leg of our journey. The good news is that the major parts of the frame are currently awaiting its next incarnation. Once the transformation is made, it’ll be revealed in the next Wreck It Wednesday.

So our dilemma was a serious lack of funds and a king size mattress with no frame. Sure, we could have just purchased a metal bed frame, but we didn’t have a box spring. Besides, since when do I take the easy way out? No, the obvious solution was to build one from scratch. Obviously.

Here is the basic progression:

Basically, we took 1″ x 6″ pieces of wood, cut them to the height we wanted the head and foot boards, and arranged them next to each other to the width of our mattress (more or less, basic measurements can be found on the internet). We then sandwiched those boards between lengths of 1″ x 4″ lumber. The assembly here is nail (with a nail gun) and wood glue.

Here, I attached the legs. Looks simple, sure. I’d like to put out there that it was at this point in the construction of this project that I was ready to chop up my progress and watch it burn in the fire pit I had just built for my best friend (You’ll see that one in a Wreck It as well ::::wink::::) I went through God only knows how many screws, stripping them all. Finally, after some trial and a whole lot of error, I arrived at the solution of using a spade drill bit to bore through half of the  leg, then drilling the regular pilot hole through there. Much easier. Bonfire averted. On a side note, I really want my own set of spade drill bits now. If you have no idea what they look like,  you can see what I’m talking about by clicking HERE.

To make the head and foot boards look prettier, I added a top rail cut from a 2″ x 4″ length of lumber. This could have been executed more gracefully than I did, but I have a 1500 mile relocation looming on my horizon and a zillion other things to worry about. I basically just screwed it on and called it good. If I had it to do over, I would have used a spade bit and made a deeper notch for the screws to be sunk into, so that the holes could be covered with wood filler, then stained. That would have made for a much more professional product. But who are we kidding, I’m no professional.

As you can see here, I did added the same kind of top rail to the footboard.

I’m not completely unprofessional, I did fill in gaps and what not with a good quality wood filler. Then the entire thing was sanded down smooth. This, I learned later, is a much much more important step than you might realize. But you will realize it when you go to finish the project with stain or paint.

I decided on stain. The same color and finish I used for my coffee table in Issue No. 1. It took a lot of stain. This particular leg of the process was completed in Texas. The humidity slowed this project down to a slow crawl. But it did eventually dry. Eventually.

So, funny story. I had some great solutions when it came to the assembly of this bed. Unfortunately, with my being ready to not be sleeping on the floor, I made some less than accurate measurements. The lumber cut for the mid beam was too short. In addition to the short mid beam, the cross beams were also too short to be able to use the brackets we had purchased. In another blow to my ego, the brackets for the mid beam were for a 2″ x 8″ piece of lumber…I ended up purchasing a 2″ x 4″.

So, I put my thinking cap on. I had no more money to go buy new wood and new brackets. What I did have, like I mentioned earlier about having saved the big parts of my old frame, were the metal side rails that would hold the cross beams despite their being slightly shorter than I’d like. So that solves one problem. What to do for the mid beam? Obviously we have to cannibalize my queen-size Ikea bed frame. Psssh. Luckily the metal mid beam from the Ikea frame is extendable and the brackets and wood I had cut for the king size would work with the queen. So we did a switcheroo, as you can see here.

The only thing I had on hand that I could think of as a solution to keep the cross beams from shifting and falling through was bias tape from my sewing supplies and a stable gun. Problem solved.

Here it is, ladies and gentlemen. The finished product. Not exactly professional, but tons of character and funny, silly stories to go with it. Color me happy.

Please let me know what you think. If you’re thinking about taking on this kind of project, I welcome questions and love to hear feedback!

MAKIN’ IT MONDAYS (Issue 1, Part 4)

So, I’m aware it’s been more than a week. Very sorry to keep you waiting. I’ve been trying to get 20-something years worth of “household accumulation” under control in a new house. Without further ado, I give you the final installment of the coffee table extravaganza. Please let me know what you think…or if you have any questions. I have lots of tips and advice on how I would approach this differently, and I’d be happy to share.

These latches above and the pull thingy below are actual vintage pieces I found at the same Architectural Salvage as the window that serves as the lid part of this chest.

The resin I used to reinforce the window’s glass gave me quite a bit of trouble and kind of turned out a little bit funky, but luckily, it doesn’t detract much from the final product.

There it is, folks. The whole enchilada, so to speak. I hope you enjoyed the series and seeing this project start out from just an old leaded window. It was fun, frustrating, infuriating and ultimately rewarding…I made this with my own two hands. Not bad for a girl like me, I think.

MAKIN’ IT MONDAYS (Issue 1, Part 3)

Welcome back!! I’m so happy that you all made it back! Now we continue on our journey of self discovery and emotional growth. Wait, that’s not right….

Okay, I’ve got my head on straight now. Carpentry is what we’re working on today, right? Ooooooookay, let’s get on with it, shall we?

Above you can see that I purchased my supplies. Originally, I was going to build with oak. Boy, that would have been a mistake. Not only is it on the expensive side, but it’s also pretty much twice as heavy as pine…so pine it is!

Original plans also included square dimensions. The window measured 44″ x 17″. So I was going to make the coffee table 44″ x 44″. Luckily, my best friend talked me off of that ledge. I settled on 44″ x 34″. Thank goodness, because this sucker is heavy enough as it is.

So having had some sense talked into my silly head, I set forth to conquer my fear of using a saw. Don’t ask me why, but using power tools has always made me nervous. But regardless, I’m gonna get over it so I can finish this project. With some basic instruction on how to properly use the saws and nail gun, I went full steam ahead….

So here you can see that the wood is cut and the basic construction has begun. I’m thrilled to report that all my limbs and digits are intact. No humans or animals were harmed in the construction of this piece of furniture. I’m sure my mother appreciates that too. Love you momma!

Because of the weight of the coffee table itself and the stress it will undoubtedly endure in the coming years, it was prudent to reinforce wherever possible.

The whole thing was looking pretty plain. To me, it was lacking a little...je ne sais quoi, as the French say. So to punch it up a bit,  I added a pretty bit of decorative border around the top and the bottom.

Here’s the main table, all constructed. I placed the window and lid on temporarily to give you wonderful people a better idea of the direction this project is headed.

Now, below you’ll see glimpses of the almost finished table.

I’m so excited to show you!!

Don’t get too sad…there’s still more to see. Next week I’ll be unveiling the whole enchilada!! The  suspense is killing me!!

MAKIN’ IT MONDAYS (Issue No. 1, Part 2)

It’s Monday, and that means it’s time for the next installment of Makin’ It Mondays!! Please, please, contain your excitement.

I know this second part of Issue No. 1 has been a long time coming, please forgive the tardiness. (my little brother says I can’t be on time for anything to save my dang life…but what can I say?)

These are some better photos of the progress I made in my first installment. If you’d like to refresh your memory of this project, you can click here. In this photo, you can see that the window is in fact pink and yellow…not red and yellow

Okay, so I didn’t quite get the old stain off completely…but like my dad used to say, it’s good enough for government work.

Now, here are the supplies I’m using for the next step. The most important of these, aside from the stain, of course, is the gloves. If you’re anything like me, you’ll get stain on your skin, regardless of any protection you may use…but gloves will save you from a good portion of it. To illustrate the importance of gloves, let me paint a picture for you with a little story time…

Not too long ago, I had a neighbor who found an old coffee table from about the 1970s. She bought it for something silly like $5, thinking, “oh hey, I’ll just stain this thing to match the rest of my furniture and everything will be peaches and cream”. Well, bless her heart, she went out and bought a can of stain and some rags. Later that day, she came knocking on my door, covered halfway up her forearms with ebony stain. She was in tears because she didn’t know that she was supposed to wear gloves. She had tried soap and even rubbing alcohol, all to no avail. Being the good neighbor girl that I am, I did my very best to resist the “well, sweetie, the can says stain…what did you think it was going to do to your skin” reflex. You might appreciate how difficult this was for a smart ass like me, if you knew me personally, but unfortunately, you don’t. So let’s just say, it was the most difficult thing I did that week…considering I was a corrections officer in a men’s facility at the time, that’s saying a lot. Anyway, I grabbed a huge bag of cotton balls and every ounce of nail polish remover I owned (which is more than you might imagine…I like nail polish…a lot. As a matter of fact, I’ve been banned from buying anymore. A situation not unlike my sticker addiction). As she did her best to scrub up, I had her show me the project she was working on. It was at this moment that I realized that this story has two lessons to be learned: 1. always protect your hands/skin when working with stain and 2. when staining wood that has already been finished (meaning it’s already stained and/or laquered) always sand it well before applying new stain. You see, all of the stain that my well-meaning neighbor applied to her coffee table just kind of pooled unevenly on top of the varnish that it came with, as opposed to soaking into the wood. Tsk, tsk. What a shame.

So now, boys and girls, we should all understand that we should always wear gloves when working with stain and always sand before applying said stain. Now, moving on…

 Be sure to grab one of those stirry stick thingies. Stain usually sits on the shelf for a long time and settles so it needs to be stirred very well before using it.

Yes, This is a sock. Trust me on this. Don’t waste your money on a fancy sponge.

Oh, I’d like to point out that I am, in fact, wearing gloves under this sock. (And yes, I did still manage to get stain on myself. I’m just professional like that.)

Here are a couple photos of the frame after the first coat of stain.

Sure, the stain looked nice, I decided the look I was going for was something a little more broken in. What to do, what to do…

BREAK OUT THE WOOD CARVING TOOLS!!

So, you can see here, I had quite a bit of fun scraping and gouging. I’ll admit, it doesn’t look great here, but have faith my young padawans. It will look much better when I re-stain it.

 See? What did I tell you? Much better.

So now I have the window complete. Next step will be to draw up plans for the rest of the coffee table, find supplies, and start assembly. I’d like to mention again, that I’m no carpenter. Just an average girl who has no experience with saws or really any other power tools aside from a drill. Luckily my besties have the tools, I just need to learn to use them. Should be simple, right? Well, stay tuned for part  3 next week where you’ll see how well…or badly the power tool session goes. Wish me luck!!

MAKIN’ IT MONDAYS (Issue No. 1, Part 1)

Yes Genius, it is Wednesday. I’m aware. But I’m so excited about this project, that I just can’t wait. I am dedicating Mondays to makin’ stuff. To give you an idea of what I mean, I’m giving you a sneak peak to my new tradition to hold you over ’til tomorrow when I post this week’s Wreck…

I am so happy…I want to shout it from the top of a mountain. On second thought, maybe I’ll just stand on my bed instead. Seems less dangerous that way.

What am I shouting? Well,  I fell in love…with a piece of furniture. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’m nuts, I know this (and so should you by now). But seriously, I fell hard for a antique-looking trunk/coffee table. I found it on Anthropologie’s website, and for any of you that have ever gawked at browsed their store, you know how dangerous that can be. Gorgeous wares, but ridiculous prices. Needless to say, I didn’t spend a grand for a coffee table. But the love is still there. I can’t get the idea out of my head. So what do I do? I concoct a crazy plan to build one myself.

I’d like to preface this project by saying three words: I’m no carpenter.

That being said, you may be wondering why you’re looking at photos of an old beat up window. What does a window have anything to do with making a trunk to use as a coffee table?

I’m so happy you asked! You see, what had happened was I went to a store called Architectural Salvage here in my ‘hood (San Diego). The plan was to attempt to find some reclaimed/vintage lumber that I could use to build this dream of mine. Although I would have loved to dismantle some of the wooden gates and doors to use for the trunk, it would have been prohibitively expensive ($300+ for a door).

The beauty of my brain, especially in places like Architectural Salvage, is that I don’t just see things for what they are. I see things for their potential. I see what I could create with seemingly random items.  As I continued my adventure, I came across piles of old leaded windows. In a stroke of genius (or insanity, I haven’t quite decided), I decided that I would use one of these windows as the lid of my new trunk.

After about an hour of combing the store, I settled on this little gem. Yeah, she’s a little worn. A little neglected, sure. Nothing a little TLC couldn’t take care of. Since purchasing this piece, I’ve cleaned the glass, I’ve also scraped the paint off the frame and sanded both sides down to bare wood.

I noticed that while the window frame itself is nice and sturdy, the glass part is a bit weak. Since this is a vintage piece, the glass is pieced together with lead. (as opposed to the glass being one solid piece with leading added for decoration) With the rowdy people I tend to have in my home, not to mention the total clutz I am, I decided that if this window was going to serve as part of the lid, it needed reinforcement. After some research, I found a product that would give me the strength without covering up that beautiful glass. I’ll be using clear polyester casting resin. If you’re interested, you can check it out online on the Blick Art Supply website.

Now that I have a general idea of where this project is headed, I proceeded with the design. The outside of the trunk will be stained to match the rest of my furniture, while all the inside parts will be painted with color enamel.

I taped off the window and painted the side of the frame that will face the inside. While I toyed with the idea of painting the entire trunk, I ultimately decided against it. Paint can crack and scratch. And with the wear this trunk is gonna get, I don’t see paint lasting too long. But since I’m crazy for color (among other things) I didn’t want to scrap the idea altogether. I decided to compromise. I thought it would be an interesting touch to have the color inside instead. Problem solved.

After finishing the frame, my little brother had the idea of painting the lead. While I wasn’t thrilled at the idea of having to tape all of the glass, I decided, go big or go home. So I’m giving it a shot…of color. Pink to be exact. (Forgive me for the photo, it definitely looks red here, but I assure you, it is not. Not that I have anything against red. My couch is solid red…and more red would just be silly.)

I will be applying a couple more coats of pink to the lead, then I’ll be staining the other side along with the edges. Once this is all dry, I’ll be able to work on reinforcing the glass with the casting resin I mentioned earlier.

Stay tuned, there’s a lot more to this project, and I intend to show you every step of my adventure!

As a side note, it’s worth mentioning that while I was sanding the frame, I tried using those fancy sanding blocks that Home Depot carries. They look a lot like a sponge; they’re kind of squishy but it has a gritty coating. I really wanted to like this product. Unfortunately, it didn’t work for this project. I think that there was just too much “give” because of its squishyness to really get the job done. So I returned to the Depot and purchased good old-fashioned sandpaper. Before I left, I headed to the lumber department and found a little piece of scrapped 2×4 to use as a sanding block. I stapled the paper to the block and it worked beautifully, with much less effort. My hands thanked me.

WRECK IT WEDNESDAY!!! (Issue No. 2)

Horray!! It’s Wednesday again! (Yes I know this post is a little bit late, gimme a break) That means it’s time to trash pre-conceived ideas of how things should be done. So lets get to it!

It’s just about spring cleaning time, and that means it’s time to clear the cobwebs and clutter: out with the old and in with the new. Right? Well, If you’re anything like me, you’re not swimming in a sea of extra cash to be replacing a bunch of stuff around the house, That’s where this week’s Wreck it Wednesday comes in awfully handy.

Today, we’re gonna take a fresh look at some not so fresh decor. If you’re like me, you have things hanging around that you’ve thought of tossing out the door. I say, “Nay, nay!” Wait just one hot minute. For just a few bucks, you can completely change your decor from outdated to outstanding.

Between a divorce, a move and a new job in the last year, I have cleared a great deal of the riff-raff out of my home. But these three amigos for some reason have dodged my “goodwill drafts” time after time. I honestly don’t even recall how they made it into my life to begin with. I have been staring at these vases for what has easily been 2 years, plotting their fate. Today, They are finally getting the cosmetic surgery they need to fit into the society that is my tiny apartment.  I suggest you take a look around your house, clear the clutter and figure out how to make what you have left into something you love.

Now that we have our facelift subjects…we need to consider how these items can be transformed to feel more at home, in our home. I decided to color them happy, which can be done for a few dollars with a can of spray paint. The awesome thing about spray paint, besides being inexpensive, is not only does it come in super sweet colors and finishes, but it also comes in textures. This gives a fairly substantial array of choices and options to redecorate with the things you already own.

Apply an even coat of primer first.

Once the primer is dry, apply paint....evenly, duh.

Apply a second coat, if needed. Evenly, duh.

Allow to dry completely before applying a second coat...and before attempting to pick up/move the object.

Yes, I could send these little gems to Misfit Island (my stash of crap I intend to garage sale…someday, in the next 50 years or so). But it’s so sad to see these treasures being unutilized or sold at rock bottom prices just because their colors don’t quite fit in anymore. Why should I get rid of them, just to go out an spend more money, duckets I don’t have, mind you, on shiny new vases?

Well, here you have it: my pretty “new” vases, and it cost me less than $10. I call that a win for the bargain decorator. You’re welcome.

Okay, I'm sure you all are noticing my sloppy handiwork here, with the drippy paint. I will have you know that it was done on purpose. Call it art, I guess...but that's the way, uh huh, uh huh, I like it. Uh huh, uh huh. To each their own.

Here’s a nice little tip: if you don’t have vases, and would like to have some, you could go to Walmart and buy a case of mason jars for super cheap and do this same project. Presto change-o. Oh and if you’re sloppy with your painting like me, never fear. Nail polish remover works wonder on taking that rogue paint off your skin.

I hope you all enjoyed this week’s Wreck. Next week, we talk bacon. You don’t even know.