Well at last here it is! The open bottom dresser courtesy of plans by Ana at Knockoffwood.blogspot.com

It took me two weeks from start to finish with MANY breaks in between. It also sat for several days until I was able to make up my mind on how to stain or paint it!

Originally I was going to paint it black to match my son's black bunk beds but I just couldn't bring myself to cover up the REAL wood I had worked so hard on. So I chose a dark walnut stain by Miniwax and finished it off with a couple coats of semigloss polyurethane. So I finally thought I was done until my son said "you can't just leave it all brown like that mom, I want blue!" So since it is for him afterall and to keep me from stealing it and putting it in my dining room I painted the top Country Blue by Valspar and topped that off with Valspar's mocha glaze and lastly some polyurethane.

I am so pleased with out it came out! It is HEAVY and it is SOLID! Building it versus buying it saved us so much money. But beyond the money savings I learned so much, was able to watch my son get excited about building, and just experienced something I cannot even put into words!

And of course the Legos are happy they finally have a home!

Building again...

Another great plan I am starting on from Knockoffwood.blogspot.com! I have yet to build drawers and pick color. Stay tuned....

I built a bench!!

I secretly always wanted to take woodshop in high school; I would have been the only girl. I, to this day, still wish I had done it! A few weeks ago I came across Knockoffwood.blogspot.com where Ana puts out fabulous building plans on so many different pieces of furniture. I thought I would start with this simple bookcase/bench and it really was SIMPLE. My daughter has really been needing a bookcase and some seating in her room so I thought this would be perfect. I originally wanted to finish it in a distressed white that matched the rest of her furniture but she really wanted PINK!!!

After I built, sanded and spray painted with Valspar's dark pink, it was very BRIGHT! It was a little too bright for my liking so I rubbed Valspar's mocha glaze over the entire thing. It still wasn't quite right so I repainted the top in Dunn Edward's Just Pink Enough, which I had left over from painting her walls. After it dried, I sanded the edges a bit and the dark pink peeked through. It is now just perfect for her room, I sat on it and it didn't fall apart and she loves it! It is solid and sturdy and cost me around $30 for everything since I only had to purchase the wood and spray paint, the rest I had on hand.

Sweater revamp

Here lies a sweater that fell victim to one of my closet organization schemes. I never really wore this sweater because it just didn't fit the way I wanted it to. So I thought hmm...
I will turn it into a shirt for my daughter!

After cutting it apart by cutting straight across above the top button and cutting off the sleeves I sewed it back together to fit my 2 year old. I am no expert by any means when it comes to sewing but my mother was! She has taught me a few tips along the way but as the third child I did not receive extensive instruction!

So I turned down the top after cutting it and sewed it together leaving enough room to run the elastic through the bodice. I then used the left over sleeves and cut them long ways leaving all of the edges raw. I then sewed two separate lines down the original seam of each sleeve leaving just enough room to run some 1/2 inch elastic through. The original seam created a nice additional line but also served as my guide to keep my lines straight. The elastic being shorter than the sleeve made the fabric gather perfectly to create the straps!

Now only if I can remember to take a picture of her wearing it I will!!! Oh and the best part is, it cost me a $1.49 for some new elastic!

I thought it would be cute with some black leggings or black shorts perhaps.

Getting Started

Before starting any project I always make sure my kids have something to do!