Knit-fity Christmas

Remember how I was telling a tale of a knitting fool?

Well the fool has some good news and bad news.

The good news is I finished 2.9 of them in time to unwrap presents.

The bad news?

I had 1.1 left.

The ultimate good news?

3.0 are complete as of Christmas! :)

And now for the big reveal......

(insert drum roll here)

Knitting project #1: The most adorable little headband for my niece Mollie to keep her ears warm this winter!

Knitting project #2: Infinity "gaptastic" scarf for my beautiful sister-in-law! And spoiler alert...#2.9....

Knitting project #2.9: Baby Blanket for my new niece, Miss Claire! She arrived December 17th and is such a sweet girl! Every baby needs a cuddly blanket! :)

I mean seriously...how cute is she???

I say 2.9 because it was about 90% complete when I wrapped it.

Whoops :)

I had to learn how to crochet to finish it, but I finished it just in time to leave it with her! :)

My poor Mom on the other hand, got a ball of yarn with the tiniest little bit of a scarf started. SORRY MOM!

I'll have it done soon, promise! :)

Lessons learned?

Next year I'm going to start these projects much, much sooner so that knitting them will be enjoyable, not give me anxiety.

Did you get knit-fity or crafty this Christmas?

What did you make for your loved ones?

Operation: Thrift Shopping

This past weekend a couple friends and I embarked on a journey.

 

The goal? Get as much cool stuff as we could find for the best price. My specific goal? Stock pile enough projects to keep me busy the whole summer!

 

I'm happy to report it was more than a success!

 

We started our day in a junkyard.

 

 

You didn't believe me, did you? :) It was like true life American Pickers at this junkyard. We were crawling in and out of barns, old trailers, rail cars...you name it we were in it.

I found this sweet butcher block table there. It obviously needs quite a bit of TLC, but I am thinking I'll either turn this into a desk or a bar.

 



I also found this cart at the junkyard. Honestly, I have no idea what I'm going to do with this. BUT I do know that it is awesome, the price was right, and I had room in the back of my truck. So, it came home with me.



My friend Maddi had gotten these lockers at the same junkyard about a year ago. Shes moving to a new place, and doesn't have a need for them anymore. So, I obviously was ALL over them and had to snatch these up! Again, not a clue what I'm going to do with them at the moment, but aren't they AWESOME?!?! So many possibilities!

 

I also found some antique kitchen utensils to add to my kitchen soffit. Currently, my kitchen soffit is decorated with all vintage kitchen utensils and these were just what I needed to fill in the gaps! 

 

 

I also found these SWEET antique milk bottles. The plan for these is to clean them up and paint them. I will use them for decor in my living room.

 

I also found these old door knobs. *swoon* I'm going to find an old barn board and make a coat rack with these!

I also scored this sweet box. I have no idea what I'm going to do with this, but it was cheap, and cool, and it was calling my name, demanding me to purchase it. So I obeyed.

 

Ahh. I love thrifting. And, I'm kinda awesome at it! I mean really. Raise your hand if you are jealous of my awesome finds! ;)

 

Snap back to real life for a second...I now have to find the time to actually complete these projects.

 

Buzz kill.

 

But don't you worry. I got some sweet tools for Christmas after my last big project and they need to be used! I'd like to think my Dad gave me such nice tools because he loves me. But, I think it was because he is sick of me borrowing his tools and asking him to help me with these wild projects I come up with.

 

LOVE YOU, DAD!

 

I think I'm going to have myself a busy summer crafting, so stay tuned for updates on these awesome finds! :)

DIY: Children's Play Kitchen

This girl.

I'd do anything for this girl.

She's the sweetest.

This fall, I had an idea and embarked on a project.

All for her. Because I love her. And she's the best little niece in the world.

It required a lot of help. Thanks Mom and Dad...and my friend Kyle...and our family friend Doug...and my mom's carpenter guy.

Told you it required a lot of help! You didn't believe me, did you?

But I finished this big project just in time for Christmas.

I put the final touches on it on Christmas Eve. Just in time for her to open it up and say, "I make pancakes!?"And to watch her and my Dad play kitchen for over and hour the next day.

To fully understand how awesome that was you need to know my father. He's a busy guy. And the best Grandpa, ever, by the way.

Building this kitchen took a lot of trial and error, and I'll admit a lot of luck too.

I started with this nightstand I found at The Habitat Re-Store. A hotel around here had just gotten all new furniture, so they donated about 25 of these to the Habitat Re-Store. Let's just say I was able to negotiate my way to a good deal on it ;)

Then I cut ply-board to size for the oven door and the backboard and routed them to match the routing on the nightstand. I also found a metal bowl to use for the sink and cut a hole in the top of the nightstand to size.

I sanded everything first with a 100 grit sandpaper to rough it up and then used KILZ spray primer to prime everything before painting. The nightstand had some hardwood on it, but most of it was that plastic pressed board which paint won't stick to. I've found that KILZ will stick to anything, even cheaply built furniture! So go on and buy yourself some of this goodness for your next furniture makeover. You'll thank me later!

 

I wanted to do glass tile because I knew it would look great, and I've been wanting to learn how to do it, so what a better time to learn than when you only have to do 2 square feet!

I was pretty glad once I started that I wasn't doing any more than 2 square feet! It was a little harder than the pro's on HGTV allude to. After a couple hours I came to realize from this small glass tile project that glass tiling should not be attempted by someone who doesn't know what they are doing. You will end up arguing with your Mother (sorry, Mom!) and getting very frustrated. So, if you learn nothing else from this post, learn that you shouldn't attempt doing a big glass tile project without the help of someone smarter than you. If you fail to take my advice on this subject matter your project will most likely not end well. This is your fair warning!

But, isn't it purdy?!

Next I started painting.

Lord willing, Miss Mollie will have brothers or sisters someday. So, I wanted it to be gender neutral but still be a fun color at the same time. I went with a lime green. Because its fancy. And you know how much I love fancy.

I also wanted to add a chalkboard to the side of the kitchen where she could write daily menu's if she wanted to play "restaurant." I may have had a lot of experience in that department growing up and I was definitely channeling my inner child with that creation! I then used a thin floor board to frame out the chalkboard to make it look finished.

Once I got to this point something ridiculous happened.

My Mom (aka, best Grandma ever) couldn't stop buying kitchen utensils and appliances for her favorite little munchkin.

And just like that we had ran out of counter space. Every woman's dilemma.

So we had to add on....

Here's were I smiled really big and was super happy about said expansion.

Just kidding.

I got mad and threw a fit like a small child.

Just kidding!!!!

We called my Mom's carpenter to ask for help.

I'm NOT kidding!

It was her fault we ran out of space anyways!

We ended up adding three shelves on the side of the nightstand, which in the end, was a double bonus. It provided extra counter space and lots of storage. Win, win!

Then I painted and primed the addition to match the original kitchen.

It was looking pretty good, but I felt like it still needed a little something above the shelves to make it look like not such an addition.

So I called my friend Kyle, who is a welder, to help me come up with some kind of pot rack to hold all of Mollie's pots and pans and kitchen utensils.

We spent an entire Sunday afternoon in his shop and came up with this...

Purdy, huh!? It ended up providing lots of extra storage for everything, too!

Then I gave him a fancy bow on his head with shrink wrap I found in the trash.

This picture is blurry because I remember feeling that I needed to run immediately after I took the picture. Because he really really liked me at this moment. Can't you tell?

Kyle also helped me make the burners. He has this lazer cutter and he cut these bad boys out for me.

I just had to paint them and then attach them to the nightstand.

I also wanted to come up with a shelf in the oven to mimic a real oven and so I had him weld two cooling racks together to make the oven shelf.

He also made these oven and stove dials that I had found at the Habitat Re-Store work so Mollie can turn her oven and burners on and off!

He's the best. It's so awesome having super handy friends.

I now owe him 19 cakes.

I made the mistake of making him this cake for his birthday.

Now he wants 19 more.

So let me rephrase that...

I love having handy friends that like being repaid in baked goods! :)

At this point I was pretty much on the home stretch. I had bought a lot of the accessories for the kitchen as I went, and I won't go into detail about all of them, because I'm not going to kid myself thinking that this will someday end up on Pinterest :) So just call me if you want to know details!

I kept looking at the shelf thinking that it looked bare and needed some love.

Then I walked in my Mom's kitchen and saw a Mason jar.

It hit me! Every kitchen needs a flour, sugar and cookie jar! So, I rounded up  3 different sizes of Mason jars and put chalk board paint on them. Then I labeled them with a chalk marker, filled them, and fell in love with them! (I did kid-proof the flour and sugar jar by super gluing them down so Miss Mollie wouldn't get a little curious and go cray cray with the white stuff in her house. I'm quite sure her Mother and Father would like me much if that were to happen!!

And because Mollie loves her Grandpa's moo's so much I framed a picture of a calf for her, too :)

The shelf was complete.

The kitchen was complete!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I then drank a bottle of wine.

Just kidding.

I did have a celebratory glass tho! :)

 

It turned out SO much better than I ever could have hoped!

And seeing her love it this much made it even more worth it! 

I can't wait to deliver it to her in a week and help her make some more pancakes!

DIY: Up-cycle Your Old Windows

I almost didn't write this post.

Mostly because if you found out how easy this is to do you'd stop complimenting me on my craftiness. 

What?!? 

A girl needs reassurance she's awesome. 

Oh you too? 

Ok. 

Good.

Thought I was going to be alone on that one for a minute. 

If any of you know me, been inside my home, gotten married, or received a Christmas present from me, you know that I love up-cycling old things into fancy things for the home. 

Lately, I'm all about old windows. 

This idea came to me when I moved into my home. The previous homeowners had wall decals all over the walls and left them behind (along with their dog's hair...rude) for me to take off. I quickly realized once you peel them off they are ruined. 

I was fine with it. The one in the master bedroom said "Kiss me goodnight." 

Can you see it now? "Goodnight, self. Muah!" 

No thanks :)

Wall decals are cool (mostly because they kept appearing on Groupon for SUPER cheap) and I wanted to use some around my house to decorate. But, if I ever had to move I didn't want to have to crinkle them up into a ball and throw them away because they aren't re-usable.

Then I had one of those moments. 

You know the ones where an awesome idea just appears in your mind. 

I happened to be staring at a collection of about 13 windows I had in my garage at the time. 

It may or may not have had something to do with my genius moment.

 

I came up with the idea to put the wall decal on the window. Ding, ding, ding!!!

 

I loved the look. 

So, naturally I made more. 

More for myself and a few to give as gifts. 

 

As far as how I make them, it is pretty easy.

Measure your window, and find a decal that will fit. If you can't find a decal that will fit your window, or you don't see one you like, most of the places that sell them usually have a custom order option. So, get creative and make your own or ask them to change around their measurements to fit what you are working with. They usually are pretty accommodating.

Next, paint your window. 

I bought one of these little sample size black paint cans at Lowe's to do the black windows that I've done. I believe this was like $2.00 give or take a few pennies and I've probably done 4 windows with it and there is plenty left. It works great. 

The white ones I did with some paint I found in my garage the previous homeowners left me. 

Using paint from the garage has nothing to do with me not wanting to go to the store because I hadn't showered in two and a half days. Get your mind out of the gutter.

When you find the paint you want, slop (ok, don't really slop, but you don't have to be perfect) some paint on the wood part of the window. If you get some paint on the glass its ok. It wipes right off with a paper towel.

Put a couple coats on making sure you wipe the excess paint off the glass after each coat. If you let it dry it's more difficult to get off. It's possible, it's just really annoying/frustrating/makes me wanna pull my hair out.

This may or may not have happened in real life. And my friend Joani who does my hair wonders why I'm going grey at 25.

I'M GOING GREY AT 25.

Someone tell me this is normal?

If you like the distressed look use some sand paper, a sanding block, or even a nail file (it works, not saying I recommend it) and then rub some walnut stain on the sanded part of the wood to get the distressed look.

Then, apply your decal. 

What I've found works best for me is to cut the decal into smaller more manageable pieces so it doesn't get all lumpy. The paper is really sticky, and if you don't have multiple hands then sometimes it falls and sticks to the glass and it's just a mess. 

Once you have it all laid out, get out your credit card/debt card/Hy-Vee Gas Card or all three and press it down pushing out all of the air bubbles and making it smooth. 

Peel off the paper and....viola!

Now step back, throw your hands up in the air, and yell I'M AWESOME! 

Then do the booty pop. 

Why?

Because you're awesome!

And I said so. 

It took me a while to figure out how to hang these. They are too heavy for command strips, and you can't use a nail because it won't work. I haven't done a very good job of putting the hardware on the ones I've given away as gifts because I didn't have any around, (sorry Alex, Rachel and Katie!) but there is a product I've found that does work really well for these windows. 

D-Ring hangers work awesome for windows or any other up-cycled decor you may have to hang up around the house. I've found them at Lowe's and Hobby Lobby, but I'm assuming you could find them at any hardware store. 

Attach them to the window, put a couple nails in the wall, make sure it's level, and you're off to the races!

Pretty cute huh!? 

What have you done with your old windows lately?