Cutest Dog Leash Hook!

Before I made my new mail center, I had a place for my dog's leashes.

It wasn't a great place, but it worked.

Then I made a more functional mail organizer.

And I love my new mail center!

But I lost a place to put my dog's leashes.

I thought about adding a hook right here, but as you can see, that small wall would get pretty cluttered.

Then it dawned on me....

Why would I put the dog's leashes in the kitchen when I have a mudroom?

Wouldn't that be the best spot for it??

So I got a cheap wood plaque from Walmart and painted it white.

I screwed that into the wall using 2" screws.

Sorry for the blurry picture!

Anyways, I found this cute hardware at Menards. It was $3.99, which is a bit steep for a hook, but I loved it. Plus, the total only really came to $5 for the project, so I wasn't really that upset.

Cute hook, right?

I love how it turned out!

This is part of a recent mudroom redo that I've been undertaking.

This is the....3rd?....time that I've redone the mudroom since we bought the house 4 years ago. Haha!

The last time I redid it, a person at Walmart mixed my neon pastel paint wrong. Since I came home with a funky color, I just decided to go with it and make a modern mudroom.

I never loved it. I sorta liked it.

I even got compliments from it.

I'll show you the color of what the paint was supposed to be soon!

You'll get a charge out of the Walmart employee's mistake!

(Oh, and I'm determined to get the color right this time!)

Coming up:

-a vintage, more functional message system!

-playhouse progress

Knock Off Wood Patio Table

Did I ever tell you how much I love Knock Off Wood?

Have I ever told you that I'm slightly addicted to Ana?

Well I am!

Here's a great little story for you;

My husband and I had our anniversary this Wednesday. Instead of relaxing for the day like sane people do, I decided to get some yard work done. After raking my entire back yard, I noticed my umbrella for my patio table underneath my deck. I hauled it out, slid it through the hole in the table, aiming for the umbrella stand. I must have missed. By the time I noticed my error by the umbrella tipping, it was too late! I shattered the glass. Like a waterfall type shattering! I was almost in tears. I've only had this table for 2 years!

So I pulled myself together and called the only glass cutting business in the area. I love the place! I actually have his business on speed dial!

Anyways, he laughed at me and said, "Honey, it would cost you less to buy a new table than to replace the glass." Ya know, because of the specialty cuts.

So I searched local stores and online. I scoured Craigslist.

Nothing.

Nadda.

Low price=ugly

Pretty=not affordable

Awesome. Great. Grand. What am I going to do?!

Then it hit me. I've made Ana's furniture before. I'll just check to see if she has something that would work!

Of course she does!

I wasn't a big fan of the different leg sizes. I also wanted to reuse as much wood that I already had in my scrap bin, so I decided to use 4x4 legs instead. I thought it would bear the load better.

I went to the lumber yard and picked up my wood.

This is the best part guys:

Since I had wood glue, stain, screws, and some scrap lumber, my total cost for this project was only $16.52!!

Can't beat that, right?

So I cut up all my stock...

I assembled the frame.

I put the supports on.

Then laid my tabletop boards down.

I placed one on top of the other and screwed it all in place.

To make sure that the boards didn't warp with age, I screwed 2 screws into each board on each support.

That's 64 screws!

Then I attached my legs. Ana's plans have 2x4's and 1x4's, and they are screwed in from the inside. Since there are no 4-5" screws (haha!) I just screwed it in from the outside. Wood putty conceals everything as long as you countersink the holes!

Then I attached the braces for stability.

I set it upright, then used a spade bit to drill a hole for my umbrella.

Then I stained it and enjoyed it!

See those chairs? They were given to me by an awesome neighbor last summer. He works as a local school bus driver, and one day he and his crew were cleaning out an elementary school basement. He was able to snag them!

They sat in his basement for ages until he realized that I have a love of all things vintage and handed them down to me!

What a sweet guy!

I love having a piece of my city's history in my backyard!

And I love that I'm finally able to use them! They've sat in my own basement for a year now!

And what luck! He happened to give me 8 chairs, the perfect number for my new table!

And you betcha I'm keeping the writing on the back of these chairs!

I just have to spray poly the crap out of them to make them capable of standing the outdoor weather!

And it's a great size for my "holy crap this is huge" umbrella!

Ugh, the tilting mechanism busted on it. It's always in tilt mode! Haha!

I should probably fix that....

And ya know what?

After building this table and falling in love with it, I realized that my dinky 4 person glass table was pathetic. Why did I like that thing so much?

Holy crap! I found a picture of it in my blog archives! Haha. It was when we were still building out patio!

And unfortunately I can't zoom in and get a decent look at it.

Actually, I do love those chairs, but no longer need them.

 I might store them for a while.

I might Craigslist them.

I'm not sure yet.

But I wasn't sad to see this go.

I built this all in 3 hours, so I had the rest of my day to enjoy with my husband!

Thanks, Ana, for the awesome anniversary present!

Reclaimed Wood Coffee Table

There are two blogs that I follow religiously. If they left the blogosphere, I would wander around uselessly. Seriously.

One of them is Knock Off Wood.

Ana makes woodworking plans.

I have a lot of woodworking books, but a lot of the plans are so complicated to follow (even if it's a simple plan, most plans are just poorly written!)

Ana turns name brand furniture into plans that are super easy to follow!

I seriously needed a new coffee table. I refinished this one, because I liked the storage. I wasn't happy with the style. This is something that I would find at my grandma's house.

Anyways, after perusing Ana's site for a while, I came upon a plan for a coffee table. Her version was rectangular, and I needed a large square one. So I modified her base to make a 3'x3' coffee table.

I had ALMOST all the wood already. I dove into my scrap wood pile. I did, however, need 1 8' 2x2 and 1 more 8' 1x4.

I made this:

Instead of buying more 1x4's for the top, I salvaged a neighbor's old broken fence panel that was destined for the dump. Most of the boards were beyond repair, but all I needed was half of each board on only half the panel to be in decent shape.

I cut them to size, nailed them on, stained it with a dark walnut stain, and put 3 coats of poly on the top.

See the wood knots on the legs? I really love the imperfections on the wood. I'm actually going to be distressing the white base soon to accent the imperfections.

I love it!

Sorry for the terrible picture. I was too excited to share this project to clean my living room.

Total Project Cost: $3.74 for the wood that I didn't already have.

This is the first step to a major overhaul of my living room.

I'm not telling what the end will look like. It won't be done until a year from now.

We are spending our taxes on a much needed fence. Next year our taxes will go to renovating this room.

Pottery Barn

I finally stepped foot in a Pottery Barn.

So did my husband. He loves me.

That place is breath-taking! I could have walked out with every single item there. I restrained myself.

I did walk out with a cute wine bottle charm on Clearance.

At least that's what they advertised it as. I think they are just getting rid of their Christmas ornament stock, haha!

And of course, I found my beloved napkin holders.

When my husband saw the price, he thought I was crazy. After explaining to him that these beauties were the only thing in the store that I couldn't make/find at a thrift store, he let me have them.

Again, he loves me =D

Anyways, tomorrow is my last day of my insanely hard accelerated class, so I'm almost back to normal.

 Here's a glimpse on what to expect from me:

- more healthy, happy ideas for the "31 Days..." series

-an island transformation (DON'T miss that!)

-St. Patty's Day wreath

-Flour sack cloth stamping project to do with kids

Bathroom Organization

Does anyone's bathroom vanity look like this?

I couldn't even change out the TP without an avalanche of magazines toppling over.

So I bought a mesh magazine rack from Walmart for $6.50, and screwed it into the cabinet door.

If you do this, just make sure that the door still closes properly. This may not work if you have a really small cabinet door.

Mmmmm....organizational bliss....

My husband, upon existing the bathroom, "Honey, I think that magazine rack is my favorite thing you've done to the house."

;)

It's the Little Things that Count

I've always said "It's all in the details" or "It's the little things that count."

Why is a house beautiful?

Sure, maybe you were blessed with a great grand staircase. But would that staircase really be that "grand" without all the intricate details in the gorgeous, well-thought-out architecture?

Didn't think so...

My house is plain. Plain Jane.

My problem is that I LOVE architecture! I could spend days in every city's historic district, just soaking in the beautiful architecture.

My house barely has any baseboard. I know, what house doesn't have baseboard?! Mine....yep.


No baseboard.......ugh.
Carpet covered unfinished REAL hardwood floors.....ugh.
Laminate "wood" covering REAL hardwood.....ugh.
An uninsulated AND non-sealed house addition....ugh.
Windows that are literally glued shut....ugh.

Woah, I'm getting way off base!
Anyways...a little time invested in bulking up trim can really add value to your home!
And my husband bought me a tool that can add trim without replacing (hence more major demo-ing) and trim.

I bought corner caps from Menards, and primed them right off the bat.

I put my corner cap UNDER my trim to mark where to cut (not over! Those measurements will be wrong!)

This is my Rockwell Sonicrafter. Check out the website to see all the things this powerhorse can do!

I began to cut through the trim.

Be careful to ONLY cut trim!! Yes, I realize that the corner is completely covered in cobwebs. Hehe.

Use a prybar or flat head screwdriver to pry the pieces out of the corner.

And you should have a hole like this...

Then apply wood glue to the parts of the corner post that will be touching the walls and ceiling, insert it into your hole from the bottom, then nail (toenailing!) it in place.

I use wood putty to seal everything in. Many people use caulk, but I'm not a fan of the stickiness.

After that has dried, carefully paint it, and you're set!

It's not a huge, oh-my-gosh, type change, but by adding trim here and there through your house, you just might be able to achieve that "grand staircase" you've always imagined!

It's Alive!

Woohoo! I'm going to have fresh herbs!
I think the last time I grew something from a seed was in elementary school...

They're looking good ;)

Pillow Accent

Simple day today.
I cut out a bird on my Cricut, and stenciled it in to add character to an otherwise boring throw pillow.

So go out and funk up your stuff!!

It's your last chance to enter my giveaway! I'm picking a winner tonight! If you haven't entered, click the picture below.

Good luck to all who entered! The winner will be announced tomorrow!

A rundown of things to look for soon:
-The Winner reveal
-Candle Making
-4-way Message Center
-My Own Message Board
-It's Alive!
-Twine Balls
-My Finished Stools and some ideas
-Table Skirt
-A finished backsplash
-Adding Trim with a SoniCrafter
-How to scrapbook a cookbook
-A reupholstered message board
(in no particular order!)