Another Weekend Project

The crawlspace opening has bothered me ever since we moved in. So, finally, this weekend I decided to go out in to the garage once again and see what wood scraps I could find to make a new cover. After it was primed and painted, Travis installed it (putting the green foam behind it to insulate it). Ahhh, it feels so much better to have a white, cut-to-fit cover than that piece of scrap wood!

Dinner with Friends

Friday night I hosted a table-full of women, where we ate, laughed and were pretty silly.

We had: spinach and ricotta lasagne rolls-ups, rolls, roasted vegetables, chocolate cake with whipped cream/sour cream and raspberry sauce, Oreo truffles and chocolate-dipped strawberries.

I borrowed the glass insulators from an unoccupied home next door, spread some dollar store votives, then lit them: an easy way to decorate the table. The candles' two hour lifespan provided just the right amount of time for the type of bonding that takes plan when women are intoxicated by chocolate, funny stories and candlelight.

My Henry

Last Saturday (as in over a week ago), Henry cut his head on a broken glass. Since I was outside when it happened, I can only hypothesize how it really went down, and I think it went something like this: Miles moved step stool near kitchen sink, climbs on counter, knocks a drinking glass off counter which breaks the glass, Henry comes sauntering over to the broken glass area, climbs on the stool, falls off stool into broken glass, and cuts his forehead.

And I didn't know how bloody head wounds are, but I do now. I thought he would need stitches for sure. This would make trip #2 to the E.R. for our family in the last two months. So off we all went to the hospital, Travis holding a towel over Henry's wounds as I drove and tried to do as the motto on my wall says, "Keep Calm and Carry On."

No stitches, some super glue and about an hour later, this little guy was back in action and ready to explore his world using his newly-acquired and oh-so-dangerous climbing skills. The poor guy had already got a fat lip from falling off the step stool earlier that day, so I felt especially bad for him. I'm just glad that he's okay and that his wounds are healing very nicely. I have to watch that one like a hawk now!

From Legs to Table

I have been looking for a console table for my living room for several months and couldn't seem to find anything that worked in my price range (I know, $20 isn't much!)

So on my last trip to Boise, I sent my Mom on an outing across town to find some legs that I could use to make a table. And, she did it! She found these two solid wood legs for $4 a piece at a second-hand store. I was so glad she found them, as they are perfect for what I had in mind.

Using my very amateur woodworking skills, and drawing on alot of time spent watching Travis work on wood projects, I made this table one Saturday. I used pieces of scrap wood and trim we had in the shop and a trusty hammer and nails (I wished our air compressor was working so I could use a finish nailer for the trim pieces, but oh well).

A tip from my Mom: when you want to make furniture look old, sand the sharp edges, like on the edges of the top of this table. I was surprised how much it really did make this table look older with edges that look like they'd seen alot of wear and tear versus the tack-sharp edges of brand new wood. I never would have thought to do that and I liked the added effect it gave.

Next step was to prime it using Zinsser's shellac-based primer (a great sticks-to-everything primer), and caulk between the trim pieces.

And lastly, the most agonizing part (because I couldn't stop tweaking and adding more finishes): paint/stain/oil/sand it.

There really was no method to my madness, I just wanted it to be dark enough to fit in with the rest of the dark furniture in the room, but not be too matchy. I used about six different bottles of craft paint to make a peachy/beige background, then applied a dark walnut stain over that, then some more gold/beige/glazing medium, and then finally, two coats of dark Danish oil.

I am now content (at least for now) with this puppy. I didn't think I could make it by myself, but I did, somehow (with help from Travis to mount it on the wall level). I like how it anchors the pictures on the wall, doesn't get in the way of traffic flow, looks somewhat antiquated, and gives the entry-less front door area more of an entry-like feel.