Superhero Station

Well, that was a winter filled with nonstop illness.  Lets both ignore how long I've been away, and get on with the cuteness, yes?

Like most kids, mine has a healthy imagination and collection of accessories to bring it to life.  What he really needed was a way to keep everything at his fingertips.  You never know when a villain will drop by, after all.

The little wall I never know what to do with between the dining/kitchen and living rooms fit the bill perfectly.

I've already had to patch a million huge holes in this wall after taking down a cute (but ultimately useless) shelf, plus I really wanted the hangers to not be too obvious.  The clear plastic 3M hooks pack with multiple sizes was perfect for hanging all the different weights/sizes/angles. 

Even better, it makes it VERY easy for the little superhero to hang up his cape at the end of the day.  

Out of the (Jewelry) Box

I had a really lovely little jewelry box to hold my sparkles and assorted accessories...except, it worked a little too well - my jewelry spent almost all of its time in the box, and not doing its job making me look (more) beautiful!

Time to bring my modest bauble collection into the light - or, at least, into my sight line.

I started with a cheap little picture ledge and some cup hooks.

I flipped it bottoms-up, and marked regular intervals where the hooks should go.

I alternated the hooks front and back row to make it easier to pick the necklaces out...

Then, I drilled tiny pilot holes to give the hooks something to grip.

The treads of these hooks were just barely short enough that they didn't poke through the bottom of the shelf - definitely something to double check next time...

Once all the little hooks were in, I leveled and hung it up just below eyeball height.

While it works great for bracelets and necklaces, I had to staple some leftover cross stitch fabric to a wooden frame to make an earring holder.

 And just like that, I can see what I'm working with!  And as an added bonus, the jewelry the Kiddo has made me over the years is on display, too, which he and I both adore.

One down, one to go (updated)

Remember a million years ago when I dragged 2 stray chairs home?

Well, I've finally finished one of them...

I loved the wooden base, and loved it even more when I realized it detached from the chair body.  While it was loose, I rubbed it down with some beeswax-based wood food/conditioner.

After detaching the base, I set to work removing the existing upholstery.  This took approximately 100 hours, removing all the little staples.

Once everything was off, I noticed the straps were really, really loose.  I probably should have replaced them, but I just pulled them tight and re-stapled.

The arms came off, too, which I thought would make the job really easy.  I sewed some arm covers, and upholstered the back/bottom.  Then I realized there was no way to re-attach the arms at the top, which made the chairs wobbly and also looked terrible.  So I tore out all my stitches and started over.

I also wanted to add a little cush to the arms, where I lean into the sides and corners.  I found an (unopened) egg crate foam mattress pad in our closet, and set to work chopping it up and attaching it to the arms.

I wrapped everything in batting, and made a pattern with some pattern paper by pinning it to the chair.  

After many, many battles with my sewing machine, I finally finished, trimmed that enormous seam allowance, slid it over the chair and stapled it tight along the bottom.

There are no pictures of sewing the cushions, because there was a greater focus on not crying the entire time than I'd anticipated.  But they're done, now (yes, my mom came to the rescue, there).

It is FAR from perfect.  And now I have a very serious appreciation for upholstery professionals.  I totally understand paying $300 + per chair.

Now I just have to do it all over again...


*UPDATE*

HAHAHAHAAA, oh, man, you guys.  After the 5-millionth round of colds/respiratory illnesses that refused to leave my house this winter, I totally gave up on this project.  They were great chairs, but I was very clearly in too far over my little DIY-loving head.  We've got some ikea chairs in their place now, and while they are not quite as comfy or cute as these guys were, have the benefit of not smelling like wet dog and mold.  So, we'll go ahead and chalk this one up as a lesson learned and I'll be planning to take an actual class next time I fall in love with an upholstery project...

Garage Workbench

As my project load has increased, I've been pining for a separate work space.  Fortunately, while our 1-car garage is too small to keep a car, it is the perfect size for a workshop.  Unfortunately, the garage was the dumping ground for stuff that didn't have a proper place in our home.

After an entire day of cleaning out (including a goodwill donation run that included 5 bookshelves...I have a bookshelf obsession, evidently), I was starting to see some potential.

I had previously been trying to use the changing table the Mr. and my dad built as my workbench.  While they built me a phenomenal changing table, it did not translate well from baby station to project center (that green thing covered in tools and mess in the back corner, is it...).

Super old picture, taken while still re-doing dining room chairs!

Clearing out the garage (including saying goodbye to the changing table/workbench) cleared out a long wall for work station goodness.  And let me double my pegboard size and wall storage.

The workbench top is made of 16 2 x 4s, which we glued together (and clamped with some really big clamps until it dried).  I considered a lot of other options (hardboard, hollow core, laminate, plywood, etc...), but ultimately making our own laminate out of lumber was the most cost-effective option for making a really strong workbench.

As leg supports, I used stock cabinets from Lowe's, giving the garage a LOT of small-tool storage.  With the heavy, heavy workbench top, combined with the heavy saw and future heavy tools, I knew the particleboard bodies of the cabinet cases wouldn't be strong enough.  So I added additional 2 x 4 brace supports on either side of each cabinet, and now it will easily stand up to all the abuse it's likely to see.

We still need to address the lighting and electrical issues (the only plug in the garage is over by where the old workbench was), and I'll be spending some time with a planer getting the workbench top smoothed out.  But for now, I've got a great place to work.  The Kiddo has big plans to build his first robot there.  For the first time in a while, I can't wait to get to work out there!

Back to School Homework Station

The Kiddo started Kindergarten, which has re-introduced homework into our house.  He'd been getting by with an old ikea desk we'd cut down to size, but that just wasn't enough room for his big-kid work.

He had a low bookshelf that didn't really hold his stuff in an easy-to-access way, and a chalkboard that didn't have any storage for chalk or erasers.

So I found this cutie on Craigslist for 30 bucks.  I love that it has a higher shelf he can grow into using, and the paper roll holder.  I didn't love the medium golden oaky finish or the hard stool seat.

 Kiddo asked for RED, so I sanded and painted it glossy cherry red (ready mixed from Lowe's).

Then, I turned my attention to the stool.  I padded it a little with some dense foam, but didn't put anything thicker down because I didn't want to raise the seat height too high for the desk.  I found a remnant of baseball fleece, and stapled it to the seat for maximum Kiddo excitement.

We also moved his homework station across the room, so we could use a bookshelf that's easier for him to access.  I finally found a plastic 3M bin to attach to his chalkboard to hold chalk and the eraser, too.

I think we're all ready for a great school year!

Fridge Fix-up

All summer, we've been using some sad calendar printouts to keep our lives and activities on track.  And, because we are really very classy, we've kept it taped to the front of the fridge. Obviously, we needed a change.

While I love paper, as plans changed, it got messy really quickly.  Fortunately, I had a spare dry erase calendar laying around.  Now, I just had to figure out how to attach it.

Despite its "stainless steel" finish, the front of our fridge is curiously non-magnetic; otherwise, I would have just slapped some magnets on the back and called it a day.  3m strips to the rescue, again.

We never use the water filter on the door because we have a reverse osmosis filter at the sink, and I've always wanted to cover up the ugly dispenser.

Now we have an easy way to keep everyone's schedule up to date and in sight.

Backyard Biology

Turns out, our little pop-up backyard pool is good for more than just splashing around.

Apparently, our local frogs thought it was a pretty nice spot.  To lay their eggs.

I came out this weekend to a few dozen coaster-sized clumps of little round black dots floating on the surface.  After fishing them out as best as possible into some buckets, we've been observing their progress.  So far, we've got a lot of little apostrophe shapes, and a couple of wiggly teeny tiny tadpoles.

The marine-biology focused Kiddo is OVER THE MOON.  I'm just really hoping we were right in our species identification, and trying to make sure they don't die in their buckets.

So, with all the chemicals, any of these little guys that survive will definitely have super powers, right?