March Project #2

I have found that I'm really productive when I have a deadline. My deadline right now is the upcoming visits of several family members. I want my new place to look as nice as possible, so of course I had to build a bookshelf to do that! I managed to build this all by myself in less than a week! I still can't believe it (and my back still hurts). Here are a bunch of pictures:

I painted it the same white as the desk. Instead of having a solid back, I just stapled fabric to the back. It's sturdy enough that I didn't think I had to put a back on. If it starts getting wobbly, I can always nail a piece of plywood to the back. I love the fabric and it goes almost perfectly with the colors that will slowly enter the room. Decorating is a whole lot longer of a process than I thought it would be! Why doesn't it take only a half hour like on HGTV?

Anyway, I love it. I love the brown baskets too! They hold all the desk stuff that we use, but that the desk can't hold anymore. The best part is, if I ever want to change the colors of the room or put it in a new room, I can just change the fabric on the back and/or paint it a different color!

March Project

The computer desk we had was taking up way too much space in our living room. It also stored a whole bunch of stuff we didn't even need to have around. So I started looking around at stores and on the local classified ads to see if there was something that would work for us. Well, stores only sell crappy particle board desks that cost too much or real wood desks that cost WAY too much. I couldn't find anything on the classifieds, so I just decided there's only one way to get what I want. I have to make it. So that's what I did. I took the plans for the bench I made for the kitchen table a long time ago and tweaked them a bit. This is what I came up with:

This little table/desk is just the right size! I wish I had a before picture to show how much space that other desk was taking up. I used left over MDF, from the bench I made for Leah, for the top. Wood 4x4's for the legs and side supports. And some particle board I had lying around for the little shelf. It fits the computer, a lamp, and a few other things perfectly. The little shelf in the bottom is perfect for the printer and paper. Everything else from the desk before will (that we actually use) will be store in baskets on the next project I'm currently working on which should be done next week. I love this desk and it only took me a week to complete!

I painted it a creamy white to match the molding in the living room. I also put a coat of clear varnish on it for extra protection. I got a gallon of this white paint so that some of my future projects can be painted the same color to match. I'm hoping that helps make everything look good together.

The only thing left to do is find a way to cleverly hide all the cords hanging down from the computer. And I also want to do something fun to the new lamp that's sitting on the desk. I'm hoping that will be an April Project.

One final note, my brother Mike helped me with the legs of the desk, but I did the rest myself. I'm quickly getting more confident in my woodworking skills, but it's always nice to have an extra person helping. Can I just say he's a great brother? And his wife is great too because she keeps letting me steal him on Saturdays to help me with all these projects.

February Project

Just so you don't think I'm more awesome than I really am, I started this project and mostly finished it in February. The finishing touches, however, were completed until last weekend (during the month of March).

Leah needed a place for all her books, so I decided to make her this bench to serve two purposes. It holds all her books and her too!

I built it out of MDF and wood trim. I painted it white and put a clear varnish on it just to protect it a bit.

The cushion was the last part to be completed. It's just a piece of plywood with a foam pad glued on. Then I stapled batting around it to soften all the edges. Finally, I stapled the pink fabric on top. The great thing about this is, when I redo Leah's room in the future, I just rip out the staples that hold the fabric on and put new fabric in its place. The trim around the top comes up to form a bit of a lip to keep the board from sliding off the bench.

Just a funny thing about the fabric: I tried picking something green and white with a bit of a fun pattern, but Leah didn't like what I was choosing. We finally agreed on this pink, which was great because it was really cheap. As we were buying it she said to me, "Mommy, I don't like pink, but I really like the pattern on this fabric." She's funny.

I do have to add that my brother Mike helped me a ton with this project. So I guess it could be considered as his February project too.

Leprechaun Mischief

Those troublesome leprechauns did it again. Early this morning, they did all kinds of crazy things to our house.

They made Leah's slippers do a little workout.


They got the stuffed animals in trouble by letting them play video games and watch TV. That's not allowed on Saturdays unless chores are done first. I don't think they did their chores.

They did a bit of redecorating. I don't know why they think it's so funny to put shoes on the doorknobs!



They did help out our 100th day friend by helping him find the bathroom.

Fortunately, they were so caught up in their trickery that they forgot to take their gold with them. Unfortunately, they left it in a really sneaky place. It took the kids a while to find it hiding in the corner cabinet.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

This is hard to say, but I'll say it.....

I was wrong. Now that wasn't so bad. I guess it's good that I've only been wrong about 3 times in my life, so it's not like I'll have to say it again any time soon. Here's what I was wrong about:

In my post about being pregnant, I said that we were going to have a boy. That's what I thought. I've always just "known" what we were having and I was always right. Well, I messed up this time. We are not having a boy. We are having a girl. Here's the proof: (I hope it's not too small to see)

I had pretty much told everyone that we were having a boy. Now I have to tell everyone that we're having a girl. We were very surprised, but happy and excited with the news, well, at least most of us were. Mike and I, of course, are thrilled. Leah is so excited that she finally gets to share a room with someone (I wonder how long that will last). The boys however, were not so thrilled. Eli said, "AWWW, boo!" And we can't even bring it up around Noah. He just shouts, "NO! It's a boy baby!!" They'll come around eventually I'm sure, once they see how cute she is.