Playhouse Window Boxes

As you may know, my plans are to fix up the kids' playhouse for my April To-Do list.

I've been working very hard on it so far.

I've already made window boxes.

First, I made a basic box using scrap 1x4s.

Make sure you have drainage holes on the bottom! Though I have fake flowers in the boxes right now, some year I may be ambitious enough to plant real flowers.

After securing my box together, I began gluing/nailing scrap reclaimed fence planks to the front and sides of the box.

Then I sent it through the table saw to clip off the bottom excess.

I didn't like the how poiny the top of the planks were, and they were too uneven for my taste.

I set my rip fence to take a bit off the top.

I liked that much better.

Then I stained the boxes to match the trim on the playhouse (which also matches my own house).

Then I attached it to the playhouse, added foam (which had to be glued in to battle the wind), stuck in my fake flowers, and stepped back to admire my handy work!

(Yes, I realize that the shutters need touch-up paint. Intricate work will be done later.)

I also added a simple doorknob so that the kids don't have to grab the latch to open the door.

The playhouse is really starting to come together!

Now I just have to:

-Add stationary plexiglass windows. The old windows were sliding ones. The kids popped them out constantly and never shut them, allowing bugs (spiders and hornets!) to come in.

-Add an address sign. Wouldn't that be cute?

- Put in new carpet.

-Paint the walls.

-Add furniture.

-Add battery operated sconces, like these from ltdcommodities.com

-touch up the paint

-Add a painted welcome mat (I can't put in a real one because the door would hit it.

-build a mini picket fence (will probably need a building permit first)

-install a mail box (after I build the fence)

-add a pathway (again, after the fence is built)

I just realized that my kids are spoiled....

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.

April To-Do

I can't believe it's already April!

With warm weather here (well, above 50 most days anyways), I can finally start getting projects done again!

My April Goals:

1. Fix the playhouse.

I want to install new windows, lay down new carpet, paint the interior, put in a table and chairs, install a doorknob, add window flower boxes, and eventually build a white picket fence and a gate around it. Wouldn't that be adorable?

Actually, I just got done installing a doorknocker with a peephole in it today. I made some minor structural repairs, too.

Okay, I know I won't get all that stuff done, but I'm hoping for new windows and a doorknob this month.

2. Get all the lawn furniture out.

3. Find plans to make a circular bench to fit around a tree in the backyard.

4. Have a nice, small birthday party for my daughter, Hailey =)

5. Do something special for my husband and I's anniversary.

6. Finish trimming out the inside of my kitchen cabinets. I have 2 done, only 4 more to go!

7. Begin my island transformation!

March Reflection

March was a busy month for my family!

Let's see how I did on my list:

1. Get laundry completely done for at least one day! Fell short on this one again this month. I've gotten close though!

2. Have the sweetest time ever in Madison with my hubs. We had more fun than I imagined! It was definitely memorable!

3. Give my hubs and awesome an awesome bday! Considering we were in Madison for his birthday, I would have to say that his birthday was awesome!

4. Have a relaxing birthday for myself. I wouldn't say it was relaxing, considering that I was working on projects, but I did have a great day!

5. Throw a killer birthday for my son, John. Well, it would have been better if he had given out his invitations at school like I asked him to, but we still had an amazing time!

6. Get at least a B in my accelerated class. I did even better with an A =D

7. Drop 5 pounds or more. Blah. I only dropped 2. Oh well, it's still progress!

8. Decorate for St. Patty's Day for the first time ever! Done

9. Find sunblock that doesn't stink. Nope, still searching.

10. Begin my island transformation. Grrr...no. The weather hasn't been cooperating. It's finally nice out, but I'm just waiting on my taxes to get back for a little bit of "play" money.

 

Tomorrow I will work on my to-do's for April!

We Have A Winner!

Whew! I was losing wind there at the end! That was a long contest!

I know this series wasn't my usual fun home improvement projects that everyone comes here for, but I hope that everyone read most of them. Some days were about simple changes to make you more healthy. Some days were about remembering to have fun.

The one thing I hope everyone took out of this series is that it's important to take care of yourself before you take care of your home.

Anyways, I bet you want to know who the winner is!

The winner was picked by random.org. I wrote each name, each day, numbering as I went.

The winner is...

Ali from Day 12!

I hope everybody had fun!