Our First DIY Project

We did it! We completed our first ever DIY home project, and I'd have to say it came out a success! Travis loves anything that allows him to be creative, whether it's designing, drawing, building, and even decorating, yes, decorating :) He made our first bed frame and headboard as a wedding gift, which was then sold at a yard sale a few years later--still a little bitter, let's not talk about it. But this project, this was our first that we did together! Ok, maybe he did most of the work along with a few kids from the neighborhood, and I was there for moral support and to hold the pieces of wood together while he drilled. Travis had been wanting to make a dining table for a long time. He was so excited to create and build a center piece where so many people gather to fellowship and eat. He knew exactly what he wanted it to look like and couldn't wait to begin. Once all the materials were bought, it only took us a weekend to complete--pretty impressive for us!

What we used:

*Wood (spruce) planks from Lumberyard (two pieces of 2" x 10" x 16' boards): $24
           -we cut each 16' board to make two 6' pieces and used the extra 4' for shelves

*Smaller wood planks from Lumberyard (two pieces of 1" x 4" x 36"): $8
           -these boards were cut to 27" and are used to hold the four top pieces together

*Legs from Ikea: $12 (at $3 each)

*Black paint: $4

*Minwax Fast Drying Polyurethane: $12

*2" Wood Screws: $3

*Power sander or hand sander

*Fine Sanding Block

*Mineral Spirits

*Power drill

*Not that this is required to make a table but we got our chairs from Ikea for $14 each

How much we spent: around $65

How long it took: 3-4 hours (not including waiting for polyurethane to dry)

How we did it:

Travis hand sanded (poor guy) the the boards.

He applied polyurethane to keep the natural look of the wood and painted the smaller boards black.

We screwed the legs into the two outside pieces (on the bottom--do I really have to clarify that? lol).

We laid the four boards together side by side (top of table facing down).  The two black smaller boards were placed at each end perpendicular to the large boards (not quite touching the legs).

We drilled the smaller boards to the large boards with four screws per large board to secure.

We flipped the table over and ...

Blim Blam! We have ourselves a dining table!

Who's ready for dinner? :)

A Graduation Gift (Tutorial!)

Ahhh, High School Graduation...the end of a chapter, the beginning of a new journey. I remember graduating 9 years ago and thinking I'm not ready to grow up! I still say that some days! I also remember being so excited to go off to college, living in a dorm room, and figuring out how to live on my own. With that, I needed all the necessities to get through the day, and one very important necessity is a toothbrush and a tube of toothpaste and something to store it in so the nasties don't get all over the toothbrush. Too bad I didn't have the little pouch I made for Alexis back in my day. After making one of these for her last week I'm determined it's the must-have for heading off to college this fall!


I found this toothbrush and toothpaste pouch on pinterest (which can be found on etsy here) a while back and decided I could definitely make my own, so when the time came for Alexis' graduation I knew exactly what I was going to make her (don't worry, little sis, yours is coming soon!) And the great thing is, you can make one for your little graduate or for yourself too!

Here is my first ever sewing tutorial so please forgive me if it doesn't make any sense whatsoever, and please feel free to ask questions!

Materials:

*wash cloth

*ribbon (I did a yard just because I didn't know how long it should be, but really it's your choice)

*matching thread

*pins

*scissors

*cutting mat

*sewing machine (unless you plan to hand sew which you could definitely do too!)

Step 1

Fold your wash cloth about half way (like the picture below). Decide how many pockets you want to have (I made 4 pockets). Pin your first pocket at 3 inches. Sew the edge (where my middle finger is) and 3 inches in (where my pointer finger is), making sure you back-stitch to secure.

Step 2

Pin and sew for the remaining pockets making them evenly spaced (3 inches each) and the other edge (don't forget to back-stitch!)

Step 3

I cut my ribbon in half (which I realized later you don't have to do) and made them the length of the wash cloth--you can make it any length you desire. 

Step 4

Turn the wash cloth over. (Here is where I realized you didn't need to cut the ribbon in half lol). If you did cut the ribbon like me put the ends of the ribbon together and pin where the ribbons meet right above the fold from the other side. (If you didn't cut the ribbon, pin the center of the ribbon right above the fold from the other side).

Step 5

Stitch to secure (I stitched twice. You can use whatever method you want to make sure it's on there good and secure).

Voila! 

Wasn't that super easy?!?! And super cute!?!? Another great thing about this little doodad is you can throw it in the wash when it gets dirty... Brilliant!

Now, go make one for your little graduate or for yourself!