The Cupboard, and Done!

Ta-Daa!

Remember my dream for the mudroom slash boredom project?

The Cupboard, for now

I did say, didn't I, that I'd tell you about the missing piece of the mud room?  Well, today I will tell you Part I of that story.

Despite the implication in the above (blurry) photo, there are actually next to zero progress shots of this piece.  I was in the I've-only-got-so-much-time-plus-this-is-a-weird-piece-of-furniture mindset, and I didn't think anyone would really be that interested in the process anyway, so why take progress shots?

Reclaimed Oak Coat Rack

Have I told you about my favorite store?  It's called The Rusty Bucket, and it's one of the closest places to spend money besides my computer.  With better stuff.

Storage Bench Finished!

Y'all, we finished the bench!

Yes.  It is done.  I did end up ditching the milk paint for this project...

Building a Storage Bench II

We bought a sheet of 3/4" plywood ages and ages ago in anticipation of building a set of hutches for our beautiful desk.  Alas, I still don't have a stunning design for those hutches, so we've (obviously) never begun the building process on them.  Which means we've had 4 quarters of a 3/4" sheet of plywood sitting leaning against the wall in the office.   for.   months.

So when I began working on our storage bench, I designed the cut plan around those 1/4 sheets of ply (each being 24"x48").  Which means we used a minimum of new-purchase dimensional wood (yea!).  Which means it took three to four times as long to get the pieces cut (boo!).  But it also means that when I looked at how short 3.5" actually is for a storage area, I was able to simply add 1.5" to my boards and make the storage deeper (the pink pieces, see how they're 5" instead of 3.5"?  That's what I'm talking about).

Necklace Portrait

I know I don't post very often...do you know why?  It's because I compose post after post after post in my head.  And then I sit down to write...and there's nothing there.  Not only that, there's no pictures to go with that nothing.  When do I take pictures?  When I'm doing a craft.

Ta-daa!  My new necklace portrait storage system.  It is a Heidi Interpretation of Carrie's portrait storage system, so, yes, piracy in action.

Plans, plans, plans

I've been dreaming again.

Magnet Memo Boards

I'm not sure this deserves its own post, but recently I made some magnet boards.  I thought you'd be interested.

I started with some Goodwill beauties:

$5 each.

 A little frightening, no?  In a faux-classical-1960's kind of way.  Their new purpose in life?

 ...to declutter the front of my fridge.

Take a moment to mourn what are probably pretty expensive, solid oak frames:

Then break out the white spray paint.

 You may, if you like, get irritated that you didn't think sanding and wood-filling would be an important step here.

 Instead, slap on some latex wall paint over the "primer" spray paint.

 It doesn't help much, but we can pretend it did.  Or we can pretend that the heavily textured, porous look is what we were going for in the first place.

Now buy yourself a piece of galvanized metal.  I got this one at the orange store for $6 in the plumbing section.  Pan sheeting, I think it was called.

At this point, you need to decide how you're going to cut your piece of metal.  I elected the trusty Dremel with the metal cutting attachment.

I also elected the trusty, stable, available ironing board as a proper work surface on which to cut metal.

 Directly beneath the smoke detector.

 Which is hard-wired to all the other smoke detectors in the house, so if one goes off, they all do.  But I was wearing eye protection, so I feel good about my decisions.

Next, you will want to take note of the glass size your frames use...

 ...because if you have decided to store the glass fronts on the floor, as I did, you may find yourself...

...in need of a piece of replacement glass.  This costs $7 at your local framing/dry cleaning shop.  Shop early...they close at 5.

If you have decided to paint your board, a nice, simple motif will look classic and clean.

  But you likely won't have time to execute this portion of the plan, as this wasn't supposed to be a time-consuming project and we've already invested over 24 hours in it.

**Incidentally, the whole reason you need that glass in the finished project is because you decided to paint the galvanized metal in the first place.  And if you read the spray paint directions (either before or after you painted the metal pieces, either way), you would know that spray paint is not intended for use on galvanized metal.  Therefore, without the glass, you will have a very scratched-up bit of framed metal within 24 hours of hanging.  So you have to use the glass.**

And if you do use the glass, don't allow the painted metal to touch it or it will do this black smudgy thing:

 Don't ask me how to keep them from touching.  I obviously wasn't successful at this myself.  If I were you, I'd just cover that spot with a card hanging from a magnet.

 And so there you have it!  From a cluttered fridge face to a somewhat less cluttered fridge face.

 The downside of these particular boards is that I had to keep the glass on them.  That severely weakened the magnetic pull of the metal, and so I can only use plain magnet buttons with no embellishments on them (I would have glued buttons on them if I could have, but they can't hold the weight).

The upside to this project is that we finally have a nice place to display the photo cards people send us!  So when I want to look up and see friends and family, there they are.  I like them, and I think having a quality thing that I invested not only money but heart into makes this project a win for me.  And not too terribly expensive.  Would've been less if I hadn't crushed that piece of glass.

Total price per board: $14 (including paint)

A Behemoth Someday...

Oh yes.  Yes, She Has FINALLY Arrived!

We've had the support structure finished for a little while, now.

And we started on the solid red oak desktop back in...April...?  Wow.  And to think I once truly believed this was a 2 week project.  Anyway, supports by themselves do not make for a beautiful office area, but they DO make for a stressful home.  And guests don't like stressful homes.

So once the assembly of the desktop was complete (which, actually, was back in April)...I lost all drive to actually finish the Behemoth.  Plus, I was paralyzed on the stain issue.  David, my partner and hero, stepped in.

He is the one who sanded the beast's seams, cleaned it all up, and together we used a simple tung oil finish to build the wood's natural color and bring out it's innate lustre.  This was followed by 3 (it might have been 4) coats of oil-based polyurethane, sanding between each coat.

 I love the way it turned out.

Like my yellow kitchen,  it makes me really, really happy, and I keep finding excuses to come back in here to admire it.  I took 30 photos of it, trying to capture its beauty...alas, none of them quite do it justice.

Now who's not a sucker for a good before and after??

First, the before-before:

Ugh-eeww, how could you live like that, right?

And finally...

(And the chorus of Hallelujahs soars to the heavens!)

Thanks for reading!  Mom and Dad, I'm looking forward to showing you guys around! Fly safe!!

Spirit and Spice

I just finished reading Grace for the Good Girl, by Emily Freeman.

And also I just incorporated these spice jars into our kitchen.  I got them for my birthday (I think) from my parents (thanks, Mom and Dad!).

 Since I took no pictures of me reading the book, and the Spice Jars post I had written was boring, lame, probably not my best work, I've decided to mix the two stories.  Today, you get thoughts and completely unrelated photos.  If you like the photos, just skip the words.  If you feel up for a book review, then keep reading.

This is the book, by the way:

And this is the label-maker I used for the spice jars:

So anyways, I finished reading while waiting for the plane I took to get back down here to work.  I was weeping in the airport.  I'm sure the people around me thought I was engrossed in a romance novel.  I'm planning to make a new Kindle cover out of the old hardback Pride and Prejudice I've got that's falling apart.  Then people will know I'm engrossed in a romance novel.

 I love Emily Freeman's take on the Mary/Martha story.  I'm used to hearing about how Mary got it right by sitting at Jesus's feet, but I don't think I've ever heard about what Martha may have gotten right or why it was that she apparently missed the point.  I mean, she welcomes the Lord into her home in the first place.  She voices her frustration with her sister to the Lord instead of playing the long-suffering, invisible servant, and blowing up at Mary later, once the guest had gone.  But I still struggle with liking Mary at all...I don't feel like I struggle much with the Prodigal Son; maybe Mary and Martha hit closer to home because they're women.  Besides, their story wasn't Loose Living versus Duty...it was...well...I guess it was Something I Enjoy versus Something I'm Expected to Do.  Hm.  That's still not quite what I was trying to get at.

Martha really wanted To Please God.  So then Jesus tells her that all her hard work doesn't please him at all and that he's more happy with "that lazy sister of mine."  And that totally sucks and makes me really mad.

Freeman shares the story of a hard day she was having...in the middle of everything else, tired, frustrated, worn out, she turns around and hears the Lord randomly ask, out of the blue, "So how do you really feel about the Prodigal Son?"

And she responded that, now that you mention it, she was mad about it, actually.  And I probably am too, though, like I said, I'm more mad about Mary than about the Prodigal Son.

 Freeman talks about masks a whole lot throughout the book.  As you read, you get used to the analogy, but still every time she uses it, I keep picturing The Mask with Jim Carrey where he's listening to that psychologist on tv talk about "the masks we wear."

The ones Freeman talks about are so much less obvious...and they usually garner praise, not offers from friends for prayer and support.  They're pretty masks.  We encourage each other in our wearing of them and praise the folks who wear them best...the "strong, silent type," the sweet, uncomplaining child, the strong woman of God who bears the loss of parents, husband, and child and manages to keep coming to church and leading Bible studies...people who magically have no needs at all.  They're on those decorative plaques at the Christian decor shop, directions on how to be "good" for Jesus.  They're everywhere I look.  It's insidious.

See how I put the jars right next to the stove? I thought that was clever.  The drawer is really heavy now.

I'm seeing it in myself, ridiculously obvious after reading this book.  The "try-hard" way of life that I lead.  The way I have been outraged at others' refusal to recognize my right to be heard, to be beautiful, to be the favorite, to have a good reputation...and my immediate reaction is always, always  to try harder.  To pray for restoration of "my rights."  And to always feel like I've let God down or let Dave down or how I'm a slacker because I didn't get enough done today.

 And my need to brag about my projects.

These are the "extras" of the spices that wouldn't fit in the glass jars.  They're in a cupboard, out of the sun, out of sight.

 I'm going to have to read it again.  I should have been taking notes the whole time, but I didn't.

Freeman shares a story of a sermon she heard once (I think she said it was in junior high) about how all us Christians are walking advertisements for Jesus and "Jesus doesn't need any bad press."  So she felt the weight of promoting Jesus's cause by modeling a "good Christian" and the responsibility of the salvation of all those around her, especially her father, lay on her shoulders.  Her Christianity at this age put her into bondage, chained to the Law and other people's opinions of her, not set free by grace.

As a grown woman, she tells about a friend at church whose daughter was rebelling...but, the friend said, when one day that daughter turns her life back around the right way, she'll have "an awesome testimony!"  Which, of course, means that good girls don't have awesome testimonies.  They have boring, lame, probably not very interesting testimonies.  Which probably means that God doesn't love them as much as He loves the Prodigal because they don't need Him as much...right?  Right?

And that's not fair.  It's especially not fair to Martha...she wanted to sit with Jesus, but she had so much she had to do in order to get the house clean and get food on the table, or her world would fall apart.  Because she was the responsible one.

And we're supposed to be responsible, right?  Weren't you praised as a child for your mature sense of responsibility or criticized for your lack as an adult?

This bottle was 50% off because someone spilled oil on the label, and it looked kinda grodey.  It's empty now, sitting in my craft pile...I'm sure I can find a use for a grodey glass bottle.

There's a lot more to the book, and I highly, highly recommend it to all my dear friends and family.  I'm going to read it again next month...I need a minute to let what I've read sink in a bit more.  This book made me want to start journaling again, and y'all...I haven't picked up my journal in over a year.  I guess I've been blogging instead.

So my own take-away, at least after the first read-through, is that whatever you do must be done out of love.  You don't lead a Bible study because that's what you're supposed to do...you do it out of love for the women in your church.  How the heck do you pull that off when you don't even really know those women?  Well, you don't pull that off.  Because that's not step #1.  You can't give what you don't have.  So step #1 has to be God...you have to receive love in order to give love.  So you have to get to know God and begin receiving His love and trusting His love, whether you feel lovely or not.  And working harder to make yourself more lovely/dependable/sweet/whatever, does not increase your worth in His eyes.

And that...makes me want to cry.

So until I've digested that a little more, that's about all I could handle from the book.  I'm gonna go ponder for about a month.

Updates on more of my projects coming up in the next 2 weeks (funny, no time to blog at home, only when I'm at work...everyone should be so lucky :)

Organizing with Stickiness

I have been meaning to brag blog about my kitchen genius  fairly-successful organizing ideas.  (There are only two, really.)

The first is that I hung all the pot lids on removable sticky-back hooks on the wall behind the range.  They're glass lids, so I wasn't wild about stacking them up in a cupboard...plus, now when I need a lid, they're right where I need them.  And I think it looks pretty.  

The one on the end kept falling on the floor behind the range when I first hung it up, but it finally stays where it's supposed to 100% of the time.  It luckily didn't break in the multiple falls it took.  But it's a good thing I didn't stack them all up in a cupboard!  Now that would be dangerous!

*One of my first questions returning home is still "So did all the lids stay up while I was gone??"

Second, I used one of the hooks (they're 3M Command hooks) attached to the bottom of the cupboard to hang my fire-starter.

My gas range has a couple of defunct ignitors, so I manually light those with the fire stick.  Therefore, the stick needs to be as accessible as the pot lids but removed from the heat of the range.  Since the lids take up all the "wall" space, the best option became the "ceiling" under the cupboard.

This idea doesn't count, because it's just the same idea in a different place. 

And the only reason they're on the side of the fridge is that, again, I ran out of wall space behind the range.  Still, though, all you have to do is turn 180 degrees from the oven and you've got your potholders!

I glued the hooks down to make it easier to slip the cloth loops on and off (they like to flip up, otherwise, and hold on to the hot pad..."QUICK, get it out of the oven!" "I can't!! The hook won't let go of the potholder!!").

My favorite all-purpose, I-never-want-this-to-come-off glue = E6000.  It sticks to everything, and I have never seen it fail, not once.  If you have, please let me know and under what conditions it failed, as my implicit faith in this glue may someday land me in trouble.  I just hope that, when it does, it will not hurt anyone or embarrass the crap out of me.

Wanna see something daring and amazing?  How 'bout THIS??

THAT...is our key rack and chalkboard. 

IT...is not amazing.

The fact that it is held up by nothing but 4 sticky Command Strips, however, is the essence of both daring and amazing!  Especially because I'd been told not to try it on gloss paint.  The night we hung it, we lined the floor in couch cushions and waited for the *CRASH*, but it never came.  So now when we move, there will be no holes to fill :)

This is Dave's very own hook.  It's immediately in your line of sight when you walk in the door, and the car keys almost always make it up there.  And if not, then whoever finds them lying where they oughtn't knows right where to stick them.

I have many, many more places to use our drawer full of sticky-backed hooks and strips...mostly, though, those plans are decorational, not organizational.  I'll let you know immediately if anything amazing and/or daring occurs to me (as long as it works), and you do the same for me, 'k?