Book Birdhouse...

Hi Everyone!  Happy Thursday!  My mother is on the board of her local library and one of the things she is responsible for is decorating the reading area at the front of the library.  She decorates it for the four seasons, no specific holidays.  She asked me if I could make her a book birdhouse.  She provided me with the book she wanted me to use and I built it and then she decorated it with the bird, nest and the nesting in the openings.

I built the birdhouse out of wood and painted the base of it black before attaching it to the house.  Then I took out the pages I was going to use on the sides and Modge Podge'd them to the sides.  I then glued the pages of the book together before attaching it.  I added the little perches to the front  and my mom added the nest and bird.  I built the entire thing out of scrap wood and the book my mom got at the library book sale.  I think it turned out great, my mom loves it as do the library board members.  Although I do feel kind of bad for taking apart a perfectly good book, gluing it's pages together and nailing to the top of the bird house.  But at least this way that book will always be at the library, you just won't be able to read it.  Thanks for stopping by.

Open dish shelves...

Hi Everyone!  I wanted to show you the open shelves I made for a client.  She was purchasing it for her mother who saw open shelves in a magazine and wanted something like it.  She had exact dimensions for me to follow because of where she wanted to put it but otherwise I was to design it however I wanted.  Oh, and it had to be stained to go with the rest of the kitchen.  I tried to talk her into painting it so it would stand out but she wanted it stained, so stained is what she got. 

I'm happy with how it turned out.  Better yet, so was my client!  It's hard to tell, but there is an edge to the front side of the shelves so things don't roll off of it.  And the edge at the back of the shelves is for hanging it on the wall.  Each shelf has a back support to it that has been routered out and the shelf slides into that space and then is screwed from the back side into the shelf to give it strength and to secure it to the wall.  Then when you put things on the shelf, the screws won't be seen.  Sometime I'll show you how I do that.  Well, thanks for stopping by.

I won....

Hi Everyone!  I just had to show you what I got in the mail.  It was a package from Korrie @ Red Hen Home.  I won her giveaway last week and was so excited.  I hadn't won anything before.  And I couldn't wait to get her sign.

I was so excited to open the package, I almost forgot to take a picture of it.

 And here it is!  It looks even better in person than it did in the pictures on Korrie's blog.

Thank you Korrie for bringing some sunshine into my day!  I haven't decided yet where I'm going to put it, I'm thinking about hanging it in the walkway between the kitchen and dining room, but for now it's sitting on my easel in the dining room.  Thanks again Korrie!

A sign...

Hi Everyone!  Happy Tuesday!  I wanted to share with you the latest sign I've made.  It's simple and sweet, yet bold.  I just can't decide if the letters need a black shadow or not.  What do you think?

It's on a scrap of board that I found hiding under a pile of other boards.  I painted it black, then white, then pewter gray.  Next I lightly sanded it because I knew I was going to hand paint the letters in white, so I didn't want too much white showing through, and I like the subtleness of the sanding.  Some places the paint is gone down to the board which helps give it character.  Then of course I painted the letters.  White letters on a dark color always looks bold but takes so many coats!  I'm happy with how it turned out.  But does it need the black shadow??  Well, thanks for stopping by.

Gate-leg table...

Hi Everyone!  I hope you had a great weekend!  I'm still working on my projects and we'll be back to putting up hay as soon as it dries out from the rain we've had.  It's nice to have my step-nephew Quinton here.  But all that means I don't have a new project to share with you.  I was sitting at my dining room table when it dawned on me that I needed to share this with you.  And no, I didn't make it.  But someone very close to me did.  It was my dad.  He made it for me back when I was living in an apartment in West Des Moines.  I had a nice 3rd floor apartment that laked one thing, space for a table.  I could have crammed one into a nook, but it would have been tight and awkward.  So for Christmas that first year, my dad surprised me with this gate-leg table. 

He had seen it in a book and got a hold of the plans and had several discussions with the guys at the local hardware store about making it.  He's made a few things, but he's by no means a carpenter guy (so I did not get my woodworking skills from him) but he did a fabulous job on it.

Gate-leg tables were first introduced in England in the 16th century and became very popular in America in the 18th century because of their space saving design.  So it was perfect for my apartment.  The gate swings open to support the table top on both ends of the table and then swings closed to allow the table top to hang and closing it up to take up about as much space as an occasional table behind a sofa. 

This table has travelled from Des Moines to Colorado and back to Iowa.  While I was living in Colorado I found some oak chairs to match it.  Now I'm not a big fan of  the oak look, but I'm afraid to just paint it and since I know how long it took him to make it, I've been hesitant about asking him if I could paint it because I don't want to hurt his feelings.  One of these days I'll get up the courage to ask.  Until then, I'll enjoy the oak because my dad made it for me!  Thanks for stopping by.

Summer visitors...

Hi Everyone!  Happy Saturday!  I hope you are all enjoying your Saturday.  I have lots planned for the day.  First off I have to work.  Then I have to get ready for company and if there's time, I have many projects to work on.  What are your plans for the weekend? 

Back when my nephew was young, I want to say he was maybe 6 or 7, he would come and stay with my parents during the summer.  It started out as a week then gradually grew to a month or maybe a little more. 

Well, that tradition stopped two years ago because he had a summer job and now that he's graduated from high school and is joining the Marines, that has ended.  It was a great time!  We, my parents and I, really enjoyed spending that time with him.  And it sort of made up for not seeing him much the rest of the year.

My brother and I did this with my grandparents when we were kids.  It was so much fun to come to the farm.  We did a lot of work, like walk beans and put up hay but we'd go to the pool and get to drive the tractor and the lawn tractor or go fishing in the pond and Grandpa would always take a day off and do something really fun like go to the Henry Doorley Zoo or down to St. Joe, Missouri to see my aunt.

Last year that tradition started again with my step niece, Vickie.  And this summer it is continuing with both Vickie and her brother Quinton.  Only they will get to come alone so they each get their own "vacations" and one-on-one time with my parents.

They are both coming for extended visits this summer.  We're just not entirely sure what the exact plans are.  But I do know when Quinton will be arriving. 

 My parents are meeting him and his mother at noon today!  They live in Illinois and we live on the west side of Iowa, so they are meeting about half between at Williamsburg, Iowa where there is a huge outlet mall.  I think he will be staying through the 4th of July and then his sister Vickie will get her chance, but who knows for sure. 

This is Quinton a few years ago when I made him this toy box for Christmas.  Quinton hasn't ever really been away from his parents before so this should be interesting.  He will of course be staying with my parents but I'll see him on the weekends since I work during the week.  I don't know what my parents have planned as far as activities go, but they always make it fun and memorable.  And of course I'll keep you updated on anything exciting!  Thanks for stopping by.

A window to nowhere...

Hi Everyone!  Happy Friday!  I'm still in the middle of a couple of projects and don't have anything new to share.  But I was looking through some pictures trying to find some of my step-nephew when I came across some pictures of the farm the spring of my second year here.  So I thought I would share with you one of the things I made. 

There was a shed up by the back side of the house that everyone called the cat shed.  Grandpa stored things in it and Grandma feed the cats in it.  There was a small cut out in the door where the cats would enter.  That shed has since been moved (my first year here I discovered a family of skunks living under it and had to take matters into my own hands to eliminate that problem, but that's a story for another time).  But inside that shed I found an old window.  I don't know where it came from because it didn't match the windows on the house (one of the original windows is still upstairs as it's the only way to get furniture in and out of the second floor).

And my mom's double cousin (I'll refer to her as my aunt) (in case you don't know what a double cousin is - it's someone that is related on both sides of your family tree - in this case twin sisters married brothers and their offspring are cousins on both sides) was redoing her father's home and had removed the shutters he had made and so kindly offered them to me.  So I took them apart and used some of the wood to make my own shutters.

Then I found some scrap plywood and built a planter box (it's hard to see in this picture).  Painted it all and hung it on the side of the garage.  Way back when, this garage had two windows on this side (I remember them as a child) and my grandpa covered them up after one of them broke.  It was such a plain wall that I had to do something to dress it up.

I also added the pavers and the retaining blocks to make a tree ring.  Partly because I wanted to dress the area up and partly because it was a hassle to mow.  And the hard scape changed that, plus gave a path to the backdoor.

And here it is now.  The paint is chipping off which just adds to it's character.  In fact, I like it better this way.  I don't have any plants in the box because they don't do very well there, plus the cats trample them as they like to lay across the box. 

I need to go exploring in the barn or the shed and find some old rusty items to put in the box.....I'll add that to my to do it.  Thanks for stopping by.