My Momma's Apple Tree

A while back when I first began my Pinterest addiction I came across this pin below which can be linked to this great Etsy site here.

 

I didn't have the funds to buy this piece but I did have a person who could help me build one of my own. So with that I guess I should call this post If They Can Do It So Can He. I told my Mark that I wanted him to help me make this great piece I saw online. Usually when he hears one of us girls say help it means... please do this for me cause I don't know how and I really don't have the patience...but I WANT it! Well one Sunday morning as he was pruning my Mom's apple tree in the back yard, he decided to procrastinate away from his pruning and throw together this little baby for me! (PS... as you know by now I am feeling more inclined to do this DIY stuff and I am sure I could throw it together too.. Yeah right) (Oh double PSS I had a girlfriend last night ask me what DIY stands for and for those of you who have been thinking I am a crazy acronym person without regard to the reader it means Do It Yourself, hope that clears some things up for those of you who thought that it might mean Don't Itch Yourself or Drink It Yo.)

 Isn't it lovely. I had not conceived this blog yet so I didn't take any photos of him making it. Besides, he literally came inside with the final product in hand and asked if this was like my Etsy vision. And of course it was.

 What really makes this piece special though is that it is made from the apple tree at Mom's house which adds 110% sentimental value to it.

 Lucy loves it too because it adorns all of her coats. Usually its covered to the max and you don't see the beauty of the piece so I thinned it out for you. Also if you decided to make a nice square frame and cut some branches to craft your own make sure that when you go to hang it, you find those studs. I mean I hang a lot of stuff from this and if I didn't find those studs I would have a pile on the floor and a big gaping sheet rock hole in my wall.

Here is a view of my entrance way. Notice I still haven't painted the trim around the doors or the door for that matter (I know I want a color but I don't know which one.) It's a project to come. However, if I could direct your attention to this little blue table. It is the largest of three which were all brown at one time. Cole spray painted it blue the other day. What do you think about the blue. I have never been a blue sorta girl but I really think it is growing on me.

Take a load off...

The other day I came across this build your own ottoman on Shanty to Chic's site here. The ottomans are so flippin cute that I knew I had to make them. So I pinned it to my "gonna make it myself" page on Pinterest, and set out to the good old Home Depot. OK I am getting ahead of myself here. First I have to tell you that the plans for these ottomans actually come from this site here by Ana White. The lady is a freak of nature. (That is why I am in no way shape or form going to give you the Angie J tutorial. Instead I will refrence you to her link here.)She shows you how to make anything your heart desires with step by step instructions. She even gives you a cut list for your lumber. Like this...

Neat huh? So then I took my little cut list into the HD and found the first guy who looked like he knew what he was talking about and I showed him my cut list and told him I wanted to make them cheap. Of course you know whats coming next, I told him we can use wood from the cull bin of course, if they had my dimensions. Guess what they did!... All of it. So I got my wood for around four bucks and he cut it ALL for me. I know this might be cheating but who cares. Here is my guy cutting my wood for me... Thanks nameless HD worker... And for those of you who have never witnessed the cull bin, that's it right there.

I was so excited to start this project that I jumped right into it. OK this is where things went wrong and I needed to humble myself. You see I never took woodworking and I don't know the first thing about power tools. My learning curve is super high and I am learning. This one project has taught me patience and how to work a drill like a bad ass. Below is a picture of my hand after I punctured it with a drill bit. I have more respect for power tools and for wood. You cannot just drill into it. The wood cracks without a pre drilled hole and you need to use wood glue. Oh yeah, take it from me and follow each direction and square up constantly or else you will pay and have to redo it over and over again. So needless to say I waited until Cole got off work and we had a little drilling 101 session.

So here is my drilling lesson from Cole on pre drilling and working the drill.

 Here I am working it. Notice all my pre cut lumber. Did I mention they didn't charge me extra to cut it. What!?

 My wood all pre drilled...

 My finished first cube... I am not attempting to tell you how to make this. Ana White as referred above does a much better job so please again follow her directions here.

 Next I cut my foam down for the cushion on top of the ottoman. I used a 3" thick piece instead of 2" thick like they call for. I just measured an extra inch for my fabric. Then I used spray adhesive to glue them to the top of the ottoman. (note: you should spray directly onto the foam then glue it to the wood.)

 OK so Ana White doesn't give you directions on how to make the slip cover. Shanty to Chic does here. Again as I have posted before my learning curve is through the roof with sewing. Lucky for me, Cole's Grandparents are in town from Montana for Spring Break and they were able to assist me and give me guidance over at Cole's Mom's house. Now for you newbies like myself, measuring fabric sucks booty big time, but you have to do it. I wanted two slip covers from two yards. It was like solving a puzzle and I am not good at puzzles. Patience is the name of the game. Which I am also not good at.

 Once the fabric was all cut Lucy Lou admired how nice it would look on her new piece of furniture. Upholstery fabric is spendy! Just save your coupons. I used my 40% off coupon to Joanns. I am pretty sure I purchased an outdoor fabric too. This will help with sticky fingers not to mention I can just throw them in the wash.

 Here I am sewing all the pieces together.

 I was not going to hem the bottom because I hate the pins but Grandma Judy insisted and she's a pro so she very graciously pinned it for me then I sewed the hem line. They look so much better and won't fray out now. Thanks Judy.

And wait for it ...... TaDaaaa.... My finished ottoman. How beautiful...

 Lucy says there is lots of business to be had on this ottoman. Like walking around it and stuff.

 Then I brought them home and look who else loves them. LOLA.... Actually Lola is really vain and probably just wanted her picture taken.

We had some good friends surprise us last night and they were a hit! What is it with my dogs always wanting to be in the picture? Hurley. (Notice we haven't added curtains to the sliding glass doors, which I have plans to make into french doors.) Another post a long time from now.

 They look great in my sitting room/Living room.... Not to mention the 3" of cushion is nice on a tushy...

 Once all is said and done, I would make these again. They were not simple because I did not have the skills to make them right away. Now that I am leaning I could make them again without as much difficulty. One lady said she made them during her kids nap time. Now, unless Lucy takes 8 hour naps I wouldn't agree with this lady. But I am sure I could make them a lot quicker this time. For the price too, you really can't beat it and they are adorable. I want to add some green Pom-poms to the bottom. What do you think?

One last little look...

Finding that Stud...

When Cole and I got married we got some of the
most amazing dishes and stemware. Oh boy did we get stemware. We had inherited my Grandmas crystal and received a lot of really cool glasses. When we moved into our new house we were psyched to pull out all of our wedding gifts and put them on display. We have lots of cupboard space in our new house, nice tall cupboards. To our surprise though it wasn't enough space. Take a look.....

See those are some full cupboards.

So after I was inspired by all of the open air shelves on Young House Love, I decided I needed one. I also had just the place in mind for my new shelf. We have this big wall next to the fridge with an awkward sized chalkboard. I knew I wanted to do something with the wall but I didn't know what. Here are some pics so you can visualize the wall that needs love. 

Knowing I wanted a new shelf I set out to my local Home Depot. Guess where I headed to first in that grand ol' store? You guessed it the cull bin, and would you believe that I found my shelf board for $0.51. Woop Woop! God I love the cull bin. Now for my not so proud moment. When I went to find the brackets for the shelf they were expensive and they didn't have a great selection. I am not a huge fan of the scroll look which was a few bucks cheaper but I opted for the $9.99 version. Yeah, I paid twenty bucks for the brackets. I guess I rationalized it because I only spent $.51 for the shelf and I had the paint. (Oh yeah the hardware is included with the brackets)

 I added two lovely coats to my shelf and brackets for that semi-gloss finish that I love.

 Then late into the night I solicited the help of Cole to hang the beauty. He was reluctant because he was headed straight to the couch in the family room, beer in hand. Thanks again babe! You are the best. Below you can see Cole struggling with the math. His measurements were not lining up, to our surprise it was because I kept moving the brackets not knowing he was measuring.. Sorry... By the way to all of you instant gratification readers like myself, I have learned that you must find the stud in the wall when hanging things. I have always been a "put a nail in the wall and call it good," kinnda girl. Now that I have Lucy I fear that everything I put on the wall will fall on her sweet head. So I am extra paranoid about finding the stud and making it sturdy. Especially when I am hanging crazy heavy shelves.

 Finding that stud and screwing in the stuff. Looking good Cole. Who knew "we" were so handy.

 Then we hung the shelf and the hardware and I added some finishing touches. Oh yeah "we" re-centered the chalkboard too.

 Done and done. Now we can relax and have a beer... It was ten at night.

 

I couldn't help but decorate the shelf ASAP. I secretly wanted to make sure it could hold the weight of some sturdy things. So I loaded it up with out margarita glasses..(Yum Margaritas..) Side thought entirely, if you know anything about the Pioneer Woman, which I do. She is awesome. She makes these margaritas that look amazing... Check out her site here and buy the book to get the recipe. They would look so good in my glasses. I also added my big bean pot. I love it and it has been hidden way too long. Anyways, we didn't hear any loud crashes last night which told me the shelf held up. We did hear the wind last night. Yuck. But Lucy slept through it. Yeah!

 

 Here is Lucy this morning enjoying Grandmas waffles.. She loves them. Oh and look at that shelf behind her. Looking good.

 I must say I am loving my new shelf. I keep moving different things on and off of it. It also adds life to my chalkboard.

My 50 Cent Art Piece

Well it has been a long time coming but I am finally displaying several of Cole and I's wedding photos. Yeah we spent way too much on a wedding photographer and to this day have not printed or hung any of the photos from our wedding. A couple months ago I found this amazing tutorial video on how to transfer black and white photos to wood (click here for the video). If I knew how easy it really was I would have started doing them back then. The best part about this project is that the pictures cost less than a buck to make.

The first thing I had to do was get my booty out the door and to my local Home Depot for some lumber. That's when the greatest thing ever happened. I was in the lumber section having a nice man cut my board into nine pieces for me (yeah they will cut the wood down for you) when I discovered the cull bin!!!! The cull bin is where all the leftover cut or warped wood goes. The best part about the cull bin is that the pieces are priced at $.50 to $2.00. I probably looked like a nut job digging through the bin but I bought a ton of great lumber to print my pictures on. Make sure you find lighter colored wood. Here is a picture of Lucy and I leaving with our loot. Yes Lucy is bare foot but its because I can't for the life of me keep shoes or socks on her.

Then I got all of my supplies together:

Wood- The long piece $.50 Woop woop

Black and White pictures on regular white paper $0.00 (printed them from home)

Modge Podge (had it)

Gel Medium (had it)

scissors to trim pictures

paint brush

and yes a Busch Light (remember cheap is the name of the game and it makes crafting more fun)

 Add a layer of the gel medium to the board. I added a generous amount.

Then lay down your photo or photos in my case. I decided to do a series of four from when Cole and I cut our wedding cake. By far my favorite photos from our big day and who would have guessed how cheap I could display them. Make sure you press them down and get all the bubbles out. Then I let them sit and dry overnight.

The next morning I took a rag and wetted down the picture

 Then I rubbed the paper off the board to expose the picture. So cool to see your picture expose before your eyes.

Don't rub too hard or else you will rub right through the picture. Yikes, this is where I started to get frustrated. It all worked out in the end though.

 The picture will have some white fuzzies. I'm wondering if I used a different type of paper or sanded the board then maybe the fuzzies would not have been an issue.

 All rubbed off and waiting for a coat of Modge Podge....

Tada... See how the Modge Podge hides the paper and makes the black POP. I decided to paint a few words on the bottom..."Eat Your Cake Baby." Since we were smashing it in each others faces.

Here is a smaller one I did. You can see how the Modge Podge adds a nice sheen. I had the gloss version.

Here is my finished product. I think I am going to hang it above the window in our dining area. I mean it does deal with food!

Look at Cole and his muscles... What a hottie! (He's holding it cause I haven't decided exactly where I want to put it but I wanted to share it ASAP cause I loved it so.)

If and when I do this 100 more times for wedding gifts, birthday gifts, every type of gifts, I think I will sand my board and try a color copy. Try it out and tell me what you think. Oh and make sure you check out the video I linked above because its awesome and she makes it look way easier!