Just Peachy!

I turned this...

Into this...

All on my own! First time canning without my mom to help...so I actually had to read directions this time.

Come fly away...

I sewed up a fleece superhero cape for a friend's son after the kiddos went to bed. Love quick projects that turn out just as I envisioned!

A tid-bit here. A tad-bit there.

I've been in a do-it-yourself mood lately. Got a few things done around the house. Little things here and there that make a big difference to me.

We pulled out a weeping cherry tree in back that just made a mess. Had a big hole and didn't know what to do with it. I solved the problem of having an overloaded drip-line...eliminated 5 drippers going to 5 pots, and instead now have one sprayer going to one big veggie box for lettuce next year.

All the wood came from my dad's ever-handy scrap wood pile for this project.


I have big plans for more veggie garden projects and will post later on those.

Found a vintage linen panel with a parakeet print in an antique store I recently visited. Fell in love with it as it reminds me of my grandmother who is no longer with us. She had parakeets at one time, and outfitted their cage with everything that is in this print. Fake stick perches, little white ladders, mirrors, bells...

I decided my sofas have been bare for much too long and decided to spice them up with some throw pillows. I added a zipper to the back so this turned into a washable case. Super important for a house with small children and a dog.

This is a work in progress using scrap material for a third pillow. I love using stuff I already have on hand. Adding some buttons for added interest. Overall, the cost of my three pillows is $23. Not too shabby considering that might buy me one really unique pillow in a store.

We've moved my sons into the same room, so that freed up our spare room. I quickly set up shop and now have an actual sewing room! I needed a way to keep my sharp tools up out of the reach of curious little fingers. Back out to the woodpile to find a board to make into a second shelf (top one was existing). A little spray paint and some nails, and wha-la!

When both of my grandmothers passed on, I, being the the sewer taught by both of them, was given their button boxes. During my antiquing I found these two old jars. I put my grandma's buttons in one, and old wooden spools in another. The red-velvet topped metal box belonged to my maternal grandma, and the strawberry pin cushion belonged to my paternal grandmother.

A great way to use an existing peg hanger to store all my ribbon spools. Makes them easy to see and get to.

And last but not least, I made a towel hanger for my boys at their level. One can never be to young to be taught to be tidy, so now my 4 year old can start hanging up his own towel. I'm all about one less thing for me to pick up!

This is my first attempt at using dye on the stove top with acid dyes.
Love, love the blue. The orange turned out a bit mottled, but I actually like the effect. Not too shabby if I do say so myself, considering I really don't know what I'm doing when it comes to dyes.

These are three large wool interlock soakers for my growing little man still in diapers.

He said what?

My husband laid down a massive challenge and he didn't even know what he was doing.
The result:

Here's how the story goes...

Remember this pile of wood from many posts ago...and my promise to do something with it?

For nearly 10 years we've not had a headboard for our king sized bed. Why?

1) Simply put, we are cheap. We want real solid hardwood quality crafted in the USA for next to nothing (is that really too much to ask for?).

2) Can we possibly fit yet another piece of furniture into our tiny 1956 "master" bedroom that really has nothing "master" about it?

Love, love, love the "reclaimed wood" look of this mission style headboard by Pottery Barn. Totally my style. Don't love the $800 price tag.

(photo courtesy Pottery Barn)

So I got the grand idea to build our headboard using these plans from Ana White (easy carpentry plans made for carpentry dummies like myself).

Though I've never built anything on my own, I'm feeling inspired. I tell my husband my grand idea (specifically the making it myself part). He laughs. Or was it a scoff? Maybe it was a chuckle? Or a snicker? Regardless of what it was...after that reaction there was no way I'd be asking him to pick up a hammer and help me on this one!

I could buy wood and beat the heck out of it in an effort to make it look old, or...I could be a scavenger. I found free wood (remember the "we're cheap" part?). Here's the woodpile it all started from, courtesy of my parents (reclaimed from old cedar decking).
We don't have a table saw to rip boards down so it was Daddi-o to the rescue. I decided this does not count as me cheating for the "on my own" part of this project since it isn't the hubster helping (since he's the one that laid the challenge down in the first place). Anyway, thanks dad!
The measured and cut wood sat in my garage for a few months drying out. Oh, who am I kidding? With two boys under 5, the thought of trying to get a project done from start to finish in one fell swoop was a bit hindering.

A break in our rainy Oregon weather, and child labor to the rescue! Again, not cheating - what kind of mother would I be if I didn't encourage his creative little mind, after all?!
My helper soon left me and ventured on to his own building project - after a wardrobe change, of course, because who doesn't do carpentry without wearing a swimsuit and bare feet?

I had to lay it all out to refresh my memory on how this puzzle fits together (again, months sitting in my garage), and also to see what parts wouldn't show. Why? Because I'm lazy and hate sanding. If I don't see it, then it doesn't need to be sanded, right?
None of these weathered boards were as straight as they used to be. The top board was probably the most warped. See the big gap? Me no likey.

Solved by using wood screws and sheer force! Sunk down with wood pegs to cover, making it pretty. It's all about pretty.

Project finished before staining. The old stains, nicks, chips, old nail holes, and other beat up parts and pieces are gonna look great for my weathered look.

Filling nail holes (All my Trading Spaces watching came in handy since I used a technique of mixing saw dust with wood glue that I saw on there...works awesome!), a final sweep of the sander, stain, and applying tung oil as a finish...

Here is my headboard in all its glory! Oooohh perty!

Hubby went from skeptical to bowing down at my feet in wonder and awe. Okay, maybe not, but he is impressed. Says it looks pretty good. Dang right it does!

I DID have to ask for his muscles to help me move the beast a time or two, as well as his opinion on screwing the top warped board, but he was not allowed to touch any tools to my headboard! This piece is me-made!

All in all, I believe I spent less than $30 on this project. Like taking pictures during a project, I'm bad at keeping receipts, so this is a guess for the cost of nails, pegs, wood glue, stain, and tung oil. Not too shabby for a solid cedar king headboard!

Some trade offs were made (due to no kid-free time to make this sucker). At the end of the day our back yard looked like a hurricane came through it. Amazing what a 4 and 1 year old can do. Then there is my poor lettuce that didn't fare so well under my 1-year old's kind attention. Sacrifices.

Oh, and my kids were filthy. Dirt? You mean dirt isn't to eat? This photo doesn't do the dirt and how much of it was on my baby justice.

Experiment...er...project #1 down! Now what should I build?

Around here we house worms in style!

My oldest little mister has developed a love of slimy things. From first loves of tractors, tires and boats...now on to worms and slugs. What will it be next?

While I don't love either worms or slugs, I despise the latter, so I will *try* to embrace the first. For awhile now Super T has spent every minute he can outside digging for worms. His daddy bought him a "worm home" from the sporting goods store that is small enough to hold a handful along with bedding. It works well when they want to stock up for fishing.

Since the worm love seems to be sticking around, I thought I might as well get something out of the deal too. I've got some horrible soil in part of my garden that could really use new life. I found these plans for a worm compost bin on Ana White's project plan site. My son will be thrilled to have a big new "worm home" for his wormies and I can use the rich soil produced in my garden. Win-win!

A weekend visit to parents +
a woodworking father who never throws away scraps +
plenty of time on my hands =
project time (after rummaging for dad's scrap wood)!

My dad also has good connections. He obtained all this scrap madrone from a guy he knows who has a wood mill and was giving it away for free. It is good, solid stuff. This is only half of the pile he came home with.

Since Dad is in the middle of haying season and was sitting on a tractor most of the day, I was on my own. I was thrilled when I discovered these pre-cut pieces are interlocking, which meant very little sawing and power tool work for me to do on my own.

I created 8 panels to make the sides of my two bins. Pre-drilled, glued and nailed them together.

The plans called for stackable bins, which could be easily removed, emptied, and rotated as the worms work through the soil and vegetation we add. I must admit I didn't follow the plans precisely. I only followed the design loosely due to trying to make the scraps I found work best with as little altering as possible.

Attach mesh wire to the bottom, which allows the worms to work in both boxes. The rich soil will end up in the bottom box (hence the stackable design that allows for easy rotation) as the worms work their way toward the top where the fresh vegetation gets added. This step was actually a pain in the butt...mesh wire does not cooperate well.

Here is stand for the bins. Since this will be sitting outside, I'm not caring much if it is "pretty" since it rains 9 months out of the year here and will end up weathered anyway, but I do want my bins to sit up off the ground. I added the boarder pieces so the box won't slide around (little hands have a way of moving things that should not be moved at my place).

Here's the top. The long ends act as handles. I added a board on the underneath side as you see in the picture that nests in the top of the bin to keep the lid on. I love that it ended up a little bit Asian inspired looking (when looking at it right side up of course).

My son is in a big helper stage. Always wants in on the mix. He was more than happy to help apply a finish of vegetable oil inside and out. This will act as a food safe finish that will help keep moisture inside, while providing a bit of resistance to weathering.
Adding shredded newspaper for bedding and worm food...
Adding a layer of dirt, some kitchen scraps (veggie only, no meats/dairy to keep stink and scavengers away)...
Adding more dirt and Super T's wormies he dug out of my dad's garden...
The big reveal...worm condo!
COST OF MY PROJECT: FREE! Everything used was left over from other projects or free to begin with.

***After doing some more reading on worm compost bins, I'm thinking the only addition I will make is to drill some ventilation holes at the top edge of each bin.