a special table

There is a sweet girl who took such great care of my children without pay when I couldn't afford her. She was always going above and beyond. She as well as her whole family have become such dear friends to our family. And she is getting married!

We are so excited for her and we wanted to do something super great for her. We know how much she loves music.   Do you remember that piano desk Nathan did some time ago? Ya...the one found here. Well the desk was a side project. My ultimate goal was to build this table. A coffee table.

Here are the first pictures:

I know it isn't much and you really want to see it finished. While you are reading this she has it; she is married; beginning her happily for all eternity. We do love her!

But as I am typing it this is as far as I am...maybe.😉

This has been a long time in the making and has started a few 'discussions' between Nathan and I. I looked and looked for plans but had to combine the ideas of many into one. It isn't super fancy in fact it is pretty plain. But to me it is elegant. And as most of my projects made from salvage lumber. That means I had more work to do but got a lot of character exposed in the wood. 

Okay...a few days later and here we are:

It is almost there. Only about 12 days until she weds and all I need is the glass top. Which has to be ordered out. I did go read her announcement again. Her reception that we will be attending isn't for another week after. But that only gets me a few extra days to get the glass. I hope I'm not pressing my luck.

Oh, and I need to type up a history on the table and piano keys. I know she will appreciate that because she loves history. Mostly family history but objects tell some of that history, too.

Completed it is gorgeous. She knows about and she loves it. I just wish it was in her home rather than mine! I need to deliver it but life happens and I have been delayed do to my sweet baby boy's double ear infection. He has taken all my time and energy getting him better and holding and comforting him. He is getting better but a couple more days yet. 

my dining table

I can't find a table that fits my family well and is in my price range. So I went to the internet for help. Can I just say, I LOVE ANA WHITE! she always has something to fit my needs and satisfy my wants when it comes to funiture. This is where I found the plans for my table. And the pictures. 

 I thought maybe Nathan and I would be working together on it but has mostly been me. He has come in when I have a question or when I make him come work with me but mostly me.

 We had some paint out to work on another project. Didn't think anything of it until I came out to the garage and found my eldest son scared he got caught. It took some sanding but I got the paint out.

More pictures to come. I did a pool to see if I should paint or stain. Everyone says stain.

trouble with email

If you are or have tried to contact us via email I am so sorry for not getting back to you. We still can't get in. It seems we have been locked out. Please leave us a comment to this post. We will get to you asap.

Sharpie Mugs

I know it isn't wood working but I had a fun project I wanted to do for a while now. I have seen the doodle art mugs with a sharpie.  So I gave it a try. Here was the before mug 4 and before baking it:

 Then I followed a few other blogs via interest and found what worked for me. I baked them on a cake pan because that is what was clean. All the blogs I looked at said to use a cookie sheet. They turned out great for me. I do see there was some blessing of the color. I am not sure if it was because of the pan. It was on the inside too. But you don't have to worry about it being toxic or anything. Baking it sets it to the porcelain.

Okay, back to the instructions. Do your art as you want. I messed up on my second, sorry didn't think to take a picture of it, so I just washed it and the ink came right off. Clean canvas to start over on. This didn't take me more than an hour on all four mugs. It actually is fun. I wanted to keep going with other dishes but thought I should cool my jets a bit and wait for another day. All the blogs I looked at said use oil-based sharpies. I didn't have that so I just used what I had on hand. They say it will fade over time. I will do an update later on and tell you what comes of it.

After I was done decorating them I put them in the pan, placed them in a COLD, important to remember they need to go into a cold oven. They need to warm with it. Set the oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 40 minutes. All the blogs varied on temperature and duration to bake. I stuck with a 425 degree oven and 35 minutes. Because I have kids, and who know when I can get to it they were in an extra 8 minutes. Didn't hurt a thing. Turn the oven off and let them cool down with the oven. This will prevent the mugs from cracking from cooling too quickly.

Here is the finished line:

 I had fun with this and decided to put shapes inside. It will be fun to see what the kids say when they finish their milk in the morning.

Yep, I can see me doing this on more stuff. What a great gift idea! Hope your projects are turning out as you want them to...better in fact. Have a wonderful day! 

rabbit hutch

We are trying to move and we have SOOO MUCH STUFF ! What do we do with it?  We try to sell it. But who wants to by a bunch of scrap wood and stuff!  Nobody, that's who. So what do we do with it!? I show up One night with three new bunnies that need a home!

I know, I know....not the best solution but it turned out great!


In only an hour or so Nathan builds a bunnies hotel for the kids' new venture. Turned out amazing. Now if the woman who did the finishing work around here would get up and paint it!  Sheeesh! 😉

Hope your day is going well. We are happy and healthy, smiling and loving the season.

The Piano Desk at Bella's

 The Piano desk is done!! We love how it turned out. The picture shows where it is sitting right now at Bella's downtown Twin Falls, Idaho. A friend of mine opened up this great store and I thought it would be fun to do the projects I am always finding and put them there. It was great to see it out of the shop too! Priced at $550.00 bench not included. It was a piece sitting around the store.

The Piano came with a fantastic face panel. I painted it an olive green and distressed it a bit, added coat hooks and BAM! a great piece for the entry way. I had a hard time not holding onto it. But, I don't have a house to put it in just yet. 

Here are a few shots of the inside of Bella's. Like I said, I LOVE THIS STORE!!! I was in a hurry so the pictures were done really quickly. They took an older building downtown and finished it up. You will find make-up, clothing, home decor, dishes, and lots lots more! And their prices are great! There are many vendors in the store too. Lots of options and even some candy and fudge. Who doesn't love fudge!?! This is a store I must go into around Christmas but I believe I will have to take Nathan with me to say no to most everything I want to buy.

You can follow Bella's on Facebook here: Bella's or visit their website here: Bella's website

The pictures do not do it justice. I love this store. You must go in and see it. It is just up from the Wonder Bread Store in Twin Falls, Idaho.  We hope to have a few more pieces in the store soon. Just depends on our move and how soon it will take place.

Those Stairs!

I tried a few babies ago to paint the front of the stairs to the apartment. Just kind of hit a crazy notion to paint them. And at the time I was going through a big Red, White and Blue faze. Not a bad faze to venture through but only if the project doesn't get finished. So I grabbed a few cans of paint out of the cupboard and started the every other stair look. (Mind you I was prego or just had a baby, can't remember. I was still pretty post pardom or just plagued with mommy brain.) I only got the four stairs done and didn't care for it. So I left it. Now, a few years later, post baby number 4 and I am starting to see an end of mommy brain, I am ready to tackle those stairs again.

Before:

Only this time I am ready to do it with something better and more classic looking. I can hand a flag or quilted something on the wall to celebrate our nations colors. I don't need to go too crazy and paint fixed objects in my home.

So I found this chocolate brown color and thought...perfect. So I sanded down the stairs and started painting. Two coats later and this is what we have:

Don't mind the orange snow fence along the railing. It is to keep the kids from falling. We will remove it when they get older. Nathan did such a great job building our stairs and railing that I hate to hide it. BUT Safety first! Always!