Somehow I managed to
forget all about posting this yesterday! Must have been the fact that
it was my beloved first born's birthday! So, here it is today.
This project is one that I have had a bunch of requests for. It can be very
inexpensive (we spent
about $25) and it is moderately easy, if you have a drill and saw (or you can
have them cut the
wood at the store).
It is a unique, fun bench!
What you do is find a set of 3 or 4 chairs you like (and really, you can make it
as long as you
want). We found a set of 4 at a garage sale for $10 a few years ago. They sat in
the basement
for a good 2 years, you know, aging to perfection. ;-)
Then you remove the seats. Now, this would be a LOT easier if you did not choose
spindle back
chairs, like we did. We had to remove each spindle. That was much more time
consuming than if
you chose a set that was, say, ladderback. Also, the original bench we saw, did
NOT remove the
seats. All they did was remove the backs and placed the wood on top of the
seats. You COULD do
that if the original seats are flat. Although I think it makes too high and not
as nice.
Then, you cut a board of plywood/MDF/pine/whatever piece of wood you can find.
It looks really
cool if you can find a piece of old wood. You line up the chairs and cut the
board the length of the
chairs, plus a couple inches on all sides. What we did, was remove the seats and
place them all on the
piece of wood in the layout of the bench. Then we traced around the outside of
the seats.
You can either just cut it in a rectangle shape, or you can
do a more decorative scallop like Steve did around the sides and back. Either
way it looks great.
Next, sand the edges a bit to make them nice and smooth.
Now you have to mark where the bottoms of the chairs go. You set them up on the
board (flipped
over) and then mark a spot where you need to drill. Or, how we did this, was to
clamp the original seats
down and then drill right through the original holes to make a mark on the
board.
Drill the holes where you marked, for the bottoms. Make them just a tad smaller
for a nice fit.
Put a dab of glue in each hole and pound the legs in.
Repeat the process for the chair backs.
Now, depending on what color chairs and board you used, you can either keep it
as is, or you can
spray paint the entire piece. That is obviously what we did. A nice satin
sheen. Choosing a more
glossy paint will help it withstand cleaning and such.
VOILA! Your finished! It really doesn't take long and you have quite a few
options for the design.
You can go for a more antique look by using beat up, paint worn chairs/wood, or
you can make
it look nice and new.
For our bench, Steve used the 4th chair to make arms. He used the spindles from
the 4th chair
and then cut 2 pieces of wood for the top of the arms. He also used used the
extra chair to
replace broken spindles when doing the back.
If you give them a try, or any of the projects for that matter, be sure to shoot
me an
email with a photo! If you have any questions, feel free to email or leave a
comment
under the "Guestbook".
January 29, 2010
More photos of Noah's special day! He
had so much fun at Chuck E Cheese!
HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY NOAH!!!!!!!!!
We love you so much buddy.
You are such a blessing to our family. It feels like we just found out I was
pregnant with you! It was such a long 9 months as we waited for our precious son
to be born. You made
your presence known by gifting me with lots of morning sickness and back aches.
I felt you kick and hiccup
every day and daddy was so excited when he felt you kick too. You sure loved to
do somersaults! By the end,
we were so ready to see your sweet little face. Mom & dad stayed up late one
night getting things ready for when
you would join us. We made it to bed around 2am. Two hours later, you decided it
was time to pack it up and head
on out (thanks for letting me sleep a minute)! My water broke and a while later
we made it to the hospital. Just a few
hours later you were born with a precious little cry to let us know you were
just fine. I held onto you so tight and
thanked God for sending us our first son. Daddy cut your cord and forever ended
the physical connection from
you and I. You were so soft and cuddly! You loved to snuggle with us and still
do! We were so thankful that you
were born so healthy and perfect.
Two years later and we are blessed by you everyday. Our love for you continues
to grow and grow. You are the
sweetest son and the most loving big brother. You are so smart and are
constantly learning and amazing us! You
give the softest kisses and tightest hugs! You love reading, Matchbox cars, army
guys, Elmo, coloring, and
brownies. Your favorite food is grilled cheese, carrots, and any fruit. You are
growing up into the silliest, funnest
little guy. You are always putting smiles on our face! We are so excited to see
how you grow and change this year.
Thank you for being you, my precious little baby. We love you!
the flash was on by accident on this one!
Stay tuned later today for more bday pics & Project #3!
January 28, 2010
MY NEW TOY!
So I suppose you can tell I have a lot more time on my hands lately! Having just
my 2 kids this week
has left me feeling much less busy. Hope you don't mind! :-)
Here are a couple photos from today, we visited grandma again before she heads
over to AZ for the next
month. She was SO kind to hand down her KitchenAid mixer to me! I have wanted
one (don't we all?)
for quite a while but never wanted to drop the dough (no pun intended!) on it.
She bought hers in 1974 and it
is in perfect condition! She thought I would hate the 70s color, but I LOVE it!
I am excited to bake more now!
Oliver playing the piano with his fav great-grandma!
Oh so beautiful!
January 28, 2010
Some new photos & Home Project #2
Here are a few shots from visiting grandma and playing around the
house!
HOME PROJECT #2
So today's project is a lot
easier and even more inexpensive. I think it took about 3 minutes and maybe $5.
It is a clothes hanging chain! We did this because Steve's closet used to be in
the nursery (sorrybabe!) and he couldn't go in after Noah went to bed. So, he would pick his clothes
out and bring them in our room. Well, were do you put said clothes?? They couldn't fit in my closet because I
have 2 rods, so they are too short for
his things. This is a great solution! Not only is it a great place to store an
outfit (or 3!), they don't wrinkle. I
have used it many times myself!
So, all it involves is a trip to Lowes (you know you are there every week
anyways!) to pick up a hook, and a
length of chain. We picked ones that were already white so we didn'tneed to do anything to them. Then,
we just screwed the hook into the wall and slipped the chain onto it! Then we
hung it behind the door so that
was out of the way. So easy and so useful!
Also, someone asked me if I scraped the old paint off the tin before
painting it. All we did was scrape off the
big chunks and then went over the rest.I liked how it left the
antique look of the tin. Here is a close up:
Be sure to stop by tomorrow for another project!
January 27, 2010
HOME PROJECT #1
Ok, so last night didn't happen! I forgot to take a picture while it was still
daylight. But, here is the first
project I'll be showing you! This one is one of my favorites. It's not too large
of a project and the
materials are pretty inexpensive and easy to find. It is a mirror framed with
tin! All we did was buy a panel
of antique tin ceiling from ReHouse
(they sell reclaimed house parts and antiques) here in Rochester on
East Main St. I think it was $12 for a large panel, you could make 2 mirrors out
of it. Then, we found an
old wall mirror, actually we got it at a yard sale when we were vacationing in
Old Forge NY. I think it was
$5? Anyways, then Steve made a wood frame the size of the tin squares. He cut
out the tin and attached
it to the wooden frame. He pounded the edges down around the frame, although you
could leave them
straight. Then you spray paint it the color you want and attach it to the
mirror! Although it didn't take too
much time, I guess this wouldn't be SUPER easy unless you have a willing
husband! He is too sweet to me
and always humors my requests for new projects! This is a fairly large one as
well, about the size of our
dresser, so it looks great above it. Oh and when we chose a mirror, we wanted
one that was old so it would
match the antique feel of the tin. Now this piece is one of my absolute
favorites we own!
Be sure to stop by frequently, I plan on showing a new project every day this
week. Some will be easier
than this, and some a little more challenging!
January 26, 2010
Just a sweet poem I came across a while back! Also, I thought I would mention, I
have had a few people email me
requesting some photos of some of the projects we have done around the house. I
think I will feature one here and
there on the site! I'll try to get one up tonight for you to see. :-)
Song for a Fifth Child.
by Ruth Hulburt Hamilton
Mother, O Mother, come shake out your cloth,
Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
Hang out the washing, make up the bed,
Sew on a button and butter the bread.
Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.
Oh, I've grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue, Lullabye, rockabye, lullabye loo.
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo
The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew
And out in the yard there's a hullabaloo
But I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo
Look! Aren't his eyes the most wonderful hue? Lullabye, rockaby lullabye loo.
The cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow
But children grow up as I've learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down cobwebs; Dust go to sleep!
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.
January 25, 2010
Things are going well in the Ekstrom household! Noah & Oliver are continuing to
get older, sadly! I feel like every
day they are learning so much. Today we started "Potty Training Week" with Noah.
We have had 3 puddles so far
(it is 4:15 pm), and 3 hits! Surprisingly, the 3 hits have been when he was
playing and then just walked over and sat
on the potty chair! So he seems to be understanding the general idea. I have had
a bunch of people ask me what
"method" we are using. Well, I'm not sure what you would call it, but he has
just been running around the house naked!
He has a shirt & leg warmers I bought just for the occasion on and I cranked up
the fireplace so it is nice and warm.
I think he is doing really well! I'm sure it will be awhile before he is
completely trained but I figured it doesn't hurt to
start now. We had attempted when he was 18 months but he was definitely not
ready then. I have this week off from
babysitting, so I figured it was a good time to start. We'll see how the week
goes!
In other news, Noah is talking up a storm! He has always been chatty but now he
repeats everything we say. Yup.
EVERYTHING. We've had to become very careful in our wording! Apparently I say
"Oh my goodness!" a lot
because that seems to be one of his favorite phrases. Too funny! He has also
started saying "Bless You!" when we
sneeze which is so sweet. Oh and "Naughty kitty!" haha. I guess I should really
be writing down all the things he says!
Oliver is growing leaps and bounds as well! He rolls around the living room now
and can push his chest up off the
floor with his arms. He has been trying to move his legs to crawl but he hasn't
mastered doing 2 things at once yet.
Geez Oliver! You are only just over 4.5 months old! Slow down my boy! He is
grabbing things very well and puts
everything in his mouth. He loves to pull the tablecloth at dinner which was
been disastrous a couple times. He is
also sitting up in a tripod position a bit too. He is also quite the chatty boy.
He loves to talk to us!
Really. Where is the time going??
This Friday is Noah's SECOND birthday! Steve took the day off and we are
planning on taking Noah out to do
something fun. We bought him a little play tent/fort, and I think he is going to
love it!
Well, I guess that is all for now. Enjoy the photos from the last week!
The last one in this series was the only one Oliver smiled in!
These blasted sunglasses! Noah must wear them at all times or else he has a
meltdown.
