Upcycled shoe rack

I am kind of obsessed with restoring furniture, and found this beauty at Goodwill for $25. It was solid wood, and in desperate need of some love. Challenge accepted!

I forgot to take a "before" photo, but this is basically good enough. The top was scratched quite terribly, so I brought out my orbital sander and went to town. I sanded it several times as I learned from a previous project to try and take as much of the old finish off as possible.

Next, I pulled out the drawers, took off the front cabinet doors. From a technical view, I was going to need to add long pieces of wood for the shoes to sit on, so I also removed the backing. Lucky for me, the piece came with an inside shelf, that ran the length of the piece, that I was going to re-purpose after a quick trim.

A little stain goes a long way. The top of this piece was now uniform in color and stained beautifully.
I think a used Dark Walnut. I buy stain in the tiny $4 size from Home Depot. Satin poly on top. I also started hand painting the outside with a brush and chalk paint I bought from Michaels. I believe the exact color is Parchment, and its a nice antique cream color. It was at this point that I decided to remove one of the front supports as it would interfere with the shoe section.

I had some leftover cream colored latex paint, and since no one is going to look closely at the inside, I grabbed a roller and painted the whole inside too. I found these handles (LOVE THEM) from Home Depot when I went to get more stain. They are cream colored with a dark metal side. Definitely fit my vibe.

*This is where I stopped

*This is where I pondered

*This is where things got a little tricky

In order to make shoe rack shelves, I needed some sort of support on the right hand side, hidden behind the beam. I had some scrap wood and figured since this was staying in my home and not being sold, I could "finagle" it a bit.

This it what I can up with. I used leftover board and the other support that I previously removed. One rack was going to sit on the two at the bottom, them other was going to sit on the top. A bunch of L brackets and screws later, It worked just fine!

Next up was this little hiccup. I didn't notice it at the time of purchase, but one of the back legs had been snapped off. I had little pieces of trim from a previous project laying around, so I found one approximately the correct height, grabbed my Dremmel, and went to town. In case you don't have a bunch of spare parts, little scrap pieces like this are FREE from Home Depot if you dig through the cutting bins near the trim section.

I nailed the trim in place, and painted it to match. Close enough for me! Honestly, I think it looks good and lucky enough, it faces the side against the wall... so hopefully no one will ever really notice it. I added a clear coat and...

Ta-Da!

Isn't she puuuurdy?! I'm so excited about how this project turned out. I would have had to spend $200 on a piece like this EASY. But instead, a little time and love went a looooong way.

I love that it has the tall side to fit my rain boots. My plan was to put flip-flops in the drawers, but I'm not sure that will actually happen. Regardless, this was a fun project and I am quite proud. Enjoy!

Growin' some wheat grass...

I bought this cute little hedgehog from Michaels a few month ago, and I love it. Its absolutely adorable and the white modern is really "in" right now. Well, after staring at it daily on my plant ledge, it started to bother me that this was the only fake plant that I own. I take great pride it my plant ledge. I have an avocado tree that I grew from a seed. I have a money tree that's lasted 3 houses and an out-of-state move. I have an orchid that's on its 3rd bloom (unheard of, I know!).


I like the "pokey" look of the succulents, but I wanted something a little different.

Grass! I want to grow grass and cut it with scissors into a mohawk..... or shall I say, a mo-hog.

I'll take a moment for that joke to take point and settle. #mohog

So after Pintersting for 3 days and watching a bazillion Youtube videos, I deemed it worthy of my next project. I'm going to grow wheat grass.



First thing first, I had to dig out the foam and fake succulents. Might I add that the person who sold this to Michaels did one heck of a job and spared no expense when it came to hot glue. A few huffs and puffs later, I had a bald hedgehog and re-purposed the succulents into some tiny drawers I had.

I went to Winco, as it is one of the easiest stores to find bulk seeds. I found one I think that said "hard wheat berry" and remember reading that was a possible option. I poured some into a pouch and headed to the register. A grand total of $0.16

This may just be the cheapest project to date.
You can imagine my glee and my instant "how can I sell these" mentality as I skipped to my car to race home and get started.

I decided to use half the baggie in case this first try crashes and burns. I rinsed the seeds and soaked
them in a bowl overnight. I rinsed them in the morning and again stuck them in a bowl of water to soak all day.

It was at this point that I thought I was doing it wrong. Although the seeds looked a little fluffy, I didn't really see any sprouts. Again, I consulted Youtube and Pinterest. A little wary, I decided to press on.

I rinsed the seeds again and spread them out on my splatter screen. I left them on the counter and covered them with a paper towel. When I came home from work, There were sprouts! Slowly but surely these seeds were sprouting.

All the videos and blogs warned that over-watering could result in mold. So, I would just rinse and lay them out all day on the splatter screen. Get home from work, rinse, and lay them out again. So far, so good. No mold.

Excited that I finally have roots and grass sprouts, I decided to transplant the seeds.
I was still worried about the mold, so I went to the Dollar Tree and bought a sink drain that I then trimmed down to fit inside my hedgehog.

I figured it would help with air circulation and would help me if I needed to remove the seedlings without destroying them.
 
As I wanted the best possible outcome, I started plucking only the seeds that had a grass shoot coming out (ie the green ones). I laid them one by one into the hedgehog.

Well, if you know me at all, I got about 1/4 through this process and deemed this taking too long. So, me and my impatient self just grabbed a handful and dumped it in the remaining bald spots.

Yay!



PLEASE NOTE:
I took this next photo intentionally to show that I have WAY too many seedlings. I filled my hedgehog and still have probably twice as much remaining.

What to do with the extra seeds?

I will probably throw them into a long tray for decorative purposes, or might just use a plate and eat the darn things.

Wheat grass is crazy good for you as it contains every vitamin you'll even need (though... ya know... it tastes like grass).

Mine is still growing, So I do not have a final photo yet...
BUT you can use your imagination at the glory that will be. Its like if these two had a baby, it would be mine!!!!
+ 
UPDATE:  I have been watering and taking care of my little grasshog for a little over a week and couldn't be more proud. He is doing wonderful and I can't wait until he is completely full.

 Do you remember me saying that I had a bunch of left-over seeds? Well, I placed them in a long wooden tray lined with aluminum foil and have been watering them just the same. Needless to say, they are pitiful. And they molded. And they are kind of drying out? I don't know, but I'm convinced the secret to the grasshog's success is the sink drain. It allows the roots room to hang down and the stems to go up. Plus I love the grasshog a little bit more, and I think plants can sense that. I'm about ready to fling the others out into my yard and call it a day, but I will try another week or so before giving up. :)

Me and my violin...

     After watching this video... my life was forever changed.

Nothing will ever change unless I get up and do something about it. It will not be easy. I repeat: It will not be easy. All it takes is willingness and dedication. And, well, time.
     I decided to do something for myself. For no one else. Just me. It won't go on a resume, its just something I have always admired and dreamed about doing. I want to learn to play the violin.

Step 1: Youtube a million videos about beginners and try to figure out how long I will need to practice before I sound "good."
Step 2: Accept the fact that the answer is 1 year... Do it anyway.
Step 3: Find a teacher.

     I contacted 2 people off craigslist and went with my current instructor simply based on location. He lives close to me, so its easy for him to travel to my house for lessons. I'm glad I did, because he is a cool guy and a good instructor. He recommended a music shop close by that has a rent-to-own program, so I eagerly went and picked out my own brand new violin. Its gorgeous.
     I would like to point out that I am an absolute beginner. Other than playing jingle bells with 1 finger on a piano when I was 10, I have ZERO music knowledge or skill. So... this is a bit extra challenging for me.
     1. I am learning to read music. Quite honestly, I know the space between bars spells FACE and I just use context clues to figure the other notes out.
     2. I am learning finger placement. Luckily beginners are allowed to place marking tape on their instruments, which makes this much easier. Also, the series of songs I am learning are all done in C sharp, etc, so I can be rather consistent in my lessons. Your fingers learn to curl appropriately eventually and I keep my nails trimmed extra short on one hand only. LOL.
     3. I am learning to bow. This is harder than one would think. Too little pressure and you squeak, too much pressure and you risk accidentally playing 2 strings at once. You have to have a certain posture (yes, I use a shoulder rest) and my arm gets tired.
     4. Lastly, I am learning to keep time. This is pretty tricky as well. Luckily, with today's technology, I simply downloaded a metronome app on my phone and I can speed it up accordingly. But still, you have to know how to read a quarter note, half note, and whole...and play it accordingly. Right now, we ignore sixteenth notes since I can't play that fast anyways.

YES. All four of those things all at once, jammed packed into my 30 minute lesson each week. Whew!

Honestly, I love it. Its so hard and I get so frustrated, but I practice every day. And truth be told, it gets easier. I sound better. I can actually play a few songs. Yesterday was my 5th lesson and I signed up for 3 more.
    I told my sister-in-law about what I was doing, and she got me sheet music on Lord of the Rings, which is my ultimate goal. Currently I can only play the first 3 bars of 1 song, but it sounds bad-ass nonetheless.
     Today is the first day of a new year and I can only look forward to my skill to come. Wish me luck!

DIY cakepop display

I've been meaning to write this instructional post for a while now. This DIY cakepop stand is super easy and only costs about $5 to make. Level of difficulty: Beginner.

Supply list:
Wooden plaque ($3 after coupon @ Michaels)
Pen / pencil / sharpie
Drill
Drill bit(s)
Ping pong ball
Paper
Blue tape
Powerade bottle cap

First thing is first, gather your supplies.

After that, it requires a bit of planning. Since I have made cakepops several times before, I know approximately how big they are. This is important when planning out your design, because you want enough space so that cakepops don't touch.

In order to do this, I had to find something approximately the same size (hence the ping pong ball).

Well, it was too difficult to trace the ping pong ball, so I ended up using a Powerade bottle cap instead. I folded my piece of paper in half and then half again several times and traced the Powerade cap circle. This way, I only had to cut once and got several appropriately sized circles to then play around with.

I rearranged for a while until I found a design that I liked. I wanted them to be in a sort of pattern that can make several different shapes, depending on the quantity. I could do up and down rows.... middle diamond shape.... or even 9 cakepops in a sqaure. It was perfect.

Once all circles were in place, I pressed firmly with my pen in the very center of each circle. The wooden plaque is very soft wood, so my pen was able to dent it ever so slightly. I then removed all the paper circles and used my sharpie to make the center circle dents little black dots. These dots are where I was going to drill my holes.

Drilling holes.... that is kind of a tricky thing.

I didn't want to drill all the way through the plaque, because then my cakepops would fall straight through too. Instead, I wanted to stop drilling approximately 2/3 through the plaque (see photo).

In order to do this, I read that you should tape off your drill bit with blue tape. That way, you can see how far you have drilled into the wood.

I think I used a 1/16th drill bit, or maybe bigger.

I'm not sure. Grab a cakepop stick and just compare until you find a drill bit about the same size. NOTE: choose a slightly smaller size to start. You can always grab a bigger bit and re-drill, but what has been drilled cannot be un-done.

If you use too big of a bit, the cakepops will wobble around and not stand straight. That would be bad. Also, try to drill straight up and down. Don't drill at an angle, or again, the cakepops will wobble.

Go ahead and drill all of your marked holes.

Now would be a good time to est and see if a cakepop stick will fit. I it doesn't slide in smoothly, grab the next size larger drill bit an re-drill the holes (I had to re-drill the holes 3 times, so don't feel bad if it doesn't fit the first time). Also, you can wiggle the cakepop sticks around a bit while in the whole to smooth away splinters and allow for

easier assembly.

I have found that cakepop sticks vary in size, depending if you buy paper or plastic, so try to be consistent when purchasing sticks from now on.

Once all the holes have been successfully drilled into the plaque, its time to paint it! I chose to stain it light grey, because I liked the wood look. After two coats of stain, I also added a coat of high gloss poly. This way, if any frosting spills, I can easily just wipe it off with water and a paper towel. That's it. Enjoy! Feel free to make a few for family or neighbors and hand them out around the holidays (filled with cakepops, of course!)

Free Nightstand

Our downstairs neighbor puts trash, kitty litter, and broken furtinure outside her door for about a week before finally hauling it to the dumpster. Last month she had a broken wooden kitchen chair. I wanted to rescue it, but it would have been too much work. Well, earlier this week she put out a nightstand with a broken foot. The foot was still attached, just kind of bent and broken to the side, screws splitting out of the wood.

I know from when I was looking when we first moved in that a good nightstand is $50-$100 easily! Those bad boys are not cheap. If I could fix it I would and if all else fails, I'd sell it at the garage sale we were going to have on Saturday and make $15 bucks from something free. I decided to keep my eye on it, and secretly assess the damage with a quick walk-by everyday.

Two days ago, the sprinklers were hitting it and for fear of damage, I told Tim we had to go snag it. It was now or never! So, at around 11pm we snuck down, picked it up, and hauled it back upstairs... while in our pajammas, lol. When we brought it inside, there was a snail on it, which I promptly asked Tim to remove. He squished it in the paper towel :(

This tiny fact (snail) helped ease my hesitant mind as to whether or not she was really getting rid of it. For a bit I thought maybe a friend was coming see it or something, but I don't think so.

Once the nightstand was bug free, we wanted to give it a once-over and see what we were dealing with. When Tim tried to close the drawer, it was stuck and wouldn't push in all the way. Bummer! Nothing's worse than a broken drawer because that's definitely not a quick fix. It seemed to be sliding ok, but it wouldn't close or pull all the way out. We got a flashlight and tried to peek along the wood and see if a roller was broken or even a piece of wood was bent or broken. Nothing.

At the bottom of the drawer Tim found a little latch. Its actually quite useful because it prevents the drawer from falling out if you pull it too hard. Lifting the latch, the drawer still wouldn't pull out. At this point, Tim gave up and started watching tv again. Me, the stubborn person that I am, made this a mission.

I lifted the latch and yanked! The drawer came out no problem.  ;)

I grabbed the flashlight (for fear of snails) and peeked inside.
There, in the back of the cubby, was a pink dildo and a DVD.

At the gasp of my "Oh My God!" Tim came over. He reached in and grabbed the DVD.
Yep, it was porn. "Fully Tattooed Naughty Girls" to be exact.

I was in shock for about the next half an hour. I have a stranger's used dildo in my living room.

Tim asked if I wanted to watch the porn. *sigh*

Now what?
I asked Tim if we should put them both in a target bag and hang it from her door knob. He said we should just throw them away. I texted a friend and she said we should put the nightstand back on my neighbor's doorstep with a crucifix and a bible in the drawer.

... I now have reservations about keeping the nightstand. I've lysol wiped the whole thing down twice, but you can't really wipe away images of naked tattooed chicks. The leg was super easy to fix and the nightstand is as good as new (minus some wear and scratches). So, I'm a little lost.

Has this taught me a lesson about second hand goods? no! lol, but it will always make me think twice about picking up used bedroom furniture.