THINGS I'M DOING!

____________________________

Shelves...

I saw some shelves to make online and decided I wanted to try and make them for us. So I did! I really like how they turned out. And they were free because I already had the materials, can't beat that! What do you think???

__________________________________

Quilt update...

So I realized I never put up the picture of Mary's quilt when I finished it. So here you go! Mary used it on her toddler bed before she moved to a twin. Not amazing, but quilts and I have a love-hate relationship.

Before the buttons...

After the buttons.

________________________________________

Little 3-wheeler for a little man...

My friend was getting ready to have her second child and I was invited to a diaper baby shower. Well, I didn't want to show-up with just a bag of diapers...No offense to anyone who's done that, but I thought it would be lame. So, I started researching and found how to make a 3-wheeler for her soon-to-be little man. I tweaked it here and there, but I think it turned out awesome for my first time. And it didn't take very long to make...bonus!

What do you think???

__________________________

More Boxes...

So, our family room has this interesting hole next to the fireplace that can be hard to organize or even make it look okay. So, instead of the hideous blue/green/red plastic bin we had there before to hide our blankets I made a box and a matching little one for our remotes. Not amazing boxes, but they do the trick and they were cheap!!!

Wish I had a picture of what it looked like before, it was bad!!!

__________________________

TOY BOX!!!

I've wanted Mary to have a toy box for a while. Her toys are everywhere and the disorganization of it was driving me crazy. So I decided to make one, I have all the tools so why not? And I thought I had enough wood downstairs... Well, after I actually measured how big I wanted it and looked at my wood I had to get creative. Here is a picture of me gluing random pieces of wood together to make the front and back. The ends had to be made out of MDF because I didn't have anymore wood to use and I didn't want to buy any. 

My little helper! Not that you can see in the picture but she is holding a file and was filing the MDF and the 2x4, it was pretty funny.

Here is the picture of the MDF after I painted it. I'm not a huge fan of the color, but I was too cheap to get more and repaint it. Oh well!

And the finished product! I just put polyurethane on the wood and called it good! I do like how to turned out and I think Mary does too!

Here is a side view.

I put wheels on the bottom so it could be pulled out from under the tabel where it goes. It holds ALL her toys (except the bigger ones off to the side) and fits great! SOO much better!!! And I used my tools which made me and Jake happy. Thanks Dad for all the phone consultations!!! 

__________________________

Christmas Time is Here!!!

So I have started my Christmas crafts a little early this year, which has been a great idea!!! Here is what I've done so far...

I made this one with cutting out the letters from contact paper, putting them on, painting over them, peeling them off and whaa-la! You have a great sign! (With a little girls hand in the picture)

I made this one with my mom-in-law. I think it turned out great! Now if I can get my table saw working so I can cut off the bottom and finish it!

I found this idea on Pinterest and loved it so I made my own. I still need stars on top, but I'm working on that!

This is one tree of three that I'm doing. They will all look different and I'll update this when I'm done!

______________________________________

Diaper Boxes...

So, awhile back I ran across a webpage that turned diaper boxes into nice looking bins for storage. I thought it was great, since I happen to have diaper boxes and needed storage. My nightstand is mostly used to house Mary's diapers and diaper stuff. It really looked ridiculous how I had it and Mary kept getting into it and dragging her diapers, changing pad and PJ's everywhere. Also, Jake's nightstand looked a mess also with everything he had. So I got my craft bug this week and this is what I made...

Step 1: Cut box to size. Step 2: Cut brown fabric to size and covered the outside with brown fabric. I was cheap and just got a cotton brown fabric. I like how the lady on the website used a thicker fabric, but this worked fine.

Step 3: Cut top fabric, folded over and ironed one edge, glued it on and this is what you get. On the website she did a full pullout top fabric, but I wanted to do it fasted and cheaper. Plus I figured you're not going to see the inside anyway. I understand for cleaning purposes or if it was in a main room and people used it a lot, but ours aren't.

The FINISHED Project!!!!! Ta-da!!!

My nightstand. 

(If you look closely you can see the baby through the fabric, but that's only cause of the flash. When you're just looking at them you can't.)

Jake's nightstand.

I love being able to reuse stuff I already have and in such a great way! It was actually a pretty fast project too!

WHAT DO YOU THINK???

____________________________________________________

Independence!!!

With Father's Day over my mind turned to the upcoming holiday Independence Day!!!! Well, as we all know, I don't have a whole lot of decorations for any holiday so I usually have to make some. So I found some cute 4th of July ideas and made my own. What do you think???

I think they turned out pretty well. They were really fun to make and didn't take very long at all! The fire crackers took my longer, but that was just because I couldn't decide what to do with them. We still don't have a lot of decorations, but we're getting there! Happy Independence Day!!!

____________________________________________________

May Doings...

So I found on Pinterest a tutorial about making these headbands. So I made one and LOVE it!!! I just need to find more t-shirts so I can make more!!! 

I got these letter cards from Amazon and I think they are super cute! I can't completely decide what to do with them. I was going to put them in Mary's room, but they don't really go with the decor. I think I might have to wait until we have a playroom or another kids room...sigh...

Our downstairs bathroom has been pretty plain. So, I decided to do a little project. I cut out the boards, spray pained them, glued the pictures on (they are pictures that I took in Kiev at their botanical gardens), put the ribbon in and hung them up! Up close they don't look at good, but at least there is something in the bathroom and it looks better. Jake said he likes it so that's all that really matters! 

I hope to be doing more stuff soon!!! So stay tuned!!!

____________________________________________

Thanks Dad!

A while back I was in my wonderful father's garage and noticed some shelves sitting on the floor. Upon closer questioning of said shelves I found they had no poles and therefore that's why they had been sitting there for a few years. Well, the generosity of my father overcame him and he gave me the lonely shelves. So I brought them home in hopes of finding poles for them. So, they sat in my basement for quite a few months until I was fed up with it! Found poles and ta-da! I now have beautiful shelves to help me stay organized in the shop!!! Thanks DAD!!!

We've been trying to get the basement organized and cleaned up. So, the other day I built a crate-type-thing and cleaned up the wood... 

____________________________________

My Lovely Lamp!!!

So my wonderful mother gave me a lamp base a few months ago and I haven't been able to find a shade to go with it that I've been happy with. Well, two days ago I was at Ikea with Jake's Grandmother and we were in the 'As Is' section (if you've never been there GO! It's awesome! And the stuff is cheap!!) and found a lamp shade for $3. Can't beat that! So I bought it and hoped it would work. 

Well I got it home and the shade attachment system was completely different than what was on the lamp and didn't fit...sad day. So I played around with it and found that if I screwed in a pretzel bulb (that's what we call it here at the Beckstead's) Then it would hold the shade in place = AWESOME! So with that figured out I had to now figure out how to make the lamp a different color...

Here I will apologize to my mom - the gold just doesn't work for me. It looked great in my mom's house with her decor, but it's not me. I think the shape is fun though. When she gave it to me I told her I was going to paint it and she very skeptical and sad because she liked the lamp so much how it was. But she was nice and gave it to me anyway. 

I found a tutorial on Pinterest about spray painting a lamp. So I went to the hardware store, got what I needed and started working. I had to sand it all (it's actually half sanded in the above picture). I didn't sand it tons, just enough to scratch it up to hold the paint. Then I primed it and spray painted it with an off-white gloss spray paint. And I LOVE it!!! I think it turned out amazing!!! What do you think???

We didn't have a lamp for the piano and now we do! It looks great in its new home. And Jake even likes it! Whoo-hoo! Now I just need to find more lamps!!!

_______________________________________________

Wood shop!

I decided I should make something in my wood shop. I saw something like this online and thought it looked really easy. Plus I already had the wood. I needed something to hold all our remotes so I made this little box. I just need to stain it. I'm also going to make bigger ones for Mary's toys so that they all match. They are so great!!!

_______________________________________________________

Mary's room continued...

I found this really cute printable that works perfect in her room. So I spray painted the frame and LOVE IT!!!

At my parents house Mary decided to chew some of the paint off their crib. So instead of waiting to see if she'd chew our crib I just made some teething guards to go along with her room. 

Here is her room so far. I also finished the baskets that go in the desk, but you can't see them. They are green too.

_______________________________________________________

Mary's room...

I have started doing little things to Mary's room. I have decided that it is going to be a yellow and green room. I love those colors together and I think they are so bright, fun and cheery. So I started with some fabric...

 As soon as I saw these fabrics I fell in love with them! I thought they were awesome for Mary's room. Let me tell you - I am NOT a seamstress! I really have a hard time figuring stuff out and how to make it - I wish my Mom lived closer! But everything turned out satisfactory, so far. 

I got them home and made her curtains - it took a little while, but I figured it out.

 I made these flower looking things for the top of the curtains. I thought they were cute.

Next I am working on the rocking chair that's in Mary's room. It's quite ugly, but comfortable. And, not to mention, that the colors don't go with the room at all!

I made this cushion to replace the ones that were on it. It's not great, but it works. Now I just have to make one for the back - ugh!

As you can see these cushions don't go together what so ever! I'm going to have to hurry and finish the back before it drives me nuts!

I also made a little pillow to match on the little rocking chair in the room. This is the rocking chair I had when I was little. It will be fun to see Mary use it someday!

_____________________________________________________________________________

It's Mom Beckstead's fault...

Mom Beckstead decided she wanted to start doing crafts again and, graciously, invited me to do them with her. I was so excited. So here is what we made. It was a lot of fun and I love it!!! I’ve had it up all of November and we’ll see when I actually take it down.

She got me going with crafts and so here are a couple more that I’ve done since then.

I love this quote. I think it's so great! And it was super easy to do. Thanks Nicole for the help!

Here is what I did for Jake's birthday - well some of it. I cut the letters out, painted them and then took pictures with Mary - thanks Heather for the help!

I’ve started to organize the wood shop. Here are some of my clamps. I’m so excited that it finally coming together. Now I just need to make some shop tables…

____________________________________________________________________________

THE CRAFT BUG...

So this week I decided to do some crafts. In Utah I made some stuffed pumpkins (see the piano) and decided to make some more! So I went to the store and got some material, invited a good friend over and away we went. It was fun. Here are some that I made. 

I had some left over fabric and decided to make a runner for the piano. It looked a little blah, but I think the runner helps a lot! The pumpkins here were some I made in Utah. They're a bit small because we didn't have a lot of fabric, but they still look good!

I have a lot of left over fabric from my wedding. We used them as table clothes. I love the material and figured I would use it again sometime. Well I have. First we (my mother and I) used them to decorate - see the picture of the kitchen. And I still have some left over so I decided to make pillow cases for the couch. I think they turned out great! It was the first time I have ever sewn zippers, but they weren't that bad at all. Here's how they turned out.

So I decided I really wanted a pin cushion, but I'm not a huge fan of the tomato looking ones. But while I was at the craft store I found a bottle with a pin cushion on top of it and thought it was a great idea, but I didn't want to spend $6 for it. So I found this container for $2 went home and made my own! I know it looks like Mike Wazowski, but it works great!!!

So a long time ago in a galaxy far far away I started making myself a skirt.........and then I got pregnant so I stopped. During this craft week I found my left over fabric and decided to make Mary a skirt. It's a bit big for her yet, but I think it turned out alright. 

Here is the craft week culprit! I started out seeing if I could make these really easy bow/flowers for Mary. And so I made it out of some left over fabric I had. But then once I made it I realized Mary doesn't have anything to match so I made the skirt and then I found my wedding fabric and decided to do something with that and the pillows appeared...and then I found a bear that Mary had that came apart so I fixed that...and then I realized I needed a pin cushion so that came to be and then I remembered the pumpkins I made in Utah and wanted to make those too, so I did!!! Well you can see my problem and how it started, but now that it is here I'm having fun!!! Anyone have any other great craft ideas? 

____________________________________________________________________________

TOOLS….

Hi, my name is Rachel and I’m a Craigslistaholic. I love Craigslist! There are tons of great things on it. Unfortunately I might peruse it’s pages a bit much, but I got a great find!!!

So after getting my table saw I decided I needed more tools. You know – clamps, hand tools, stuff so that I could actually make something. I found this guy (on Craigslist J ) that was selling his wood shop. He had it as a hobby and needed to move and couldn’t take it with him…shucks! So we went over, looking for some basic stuff, like clamps and decided to look around. So he was telling us the different prices – table saw $200, lathe $200+, routers $150, clamps $60+, etc. So while we were looking around Jake said, “How much for all of it?” I was a bit shocked and I think the guy was too. He really wanted everything out and we said we’d take everything, including the wood. So he said, “$500.” Well I didn’t really know how much everything was so I called my consultant – my father. After talking back and forth we decided to do it! YAY!!! I have all the tools I want…well not really. But I do have all the tools I need right now! The plan is to clean some up and sell them to make some of the money back. Here is Jake using his favorite tool to clean them up a little…the air compressor!

Projects to come......

____________________________________________________________________________

Drum roll please!!!!!!.......................

THE TABLE SAW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So about two weeks ago Jake and I were talking about the TV area and how it's really ugly and I wish we could fix it. It has a weird built in shelf that would make it hard for regular entertainment items.

He told me to come up with some ideas and we could see what we could do. So I did, but it would be hard to find. So I suggested I make it. He thought that was a good idea, except we don't have any of the stuff to make it with. So I started to look on Craigslist for some woodworking items :) I was/am very excited to start doing woodworking again. So we found some cheap sanders and some other small stuff. The great find was a great table saw!!! I kept calling my father for advice and what he thought. So with his awesome help I was able to get this beauty!!!

So it was (and still is) rusty. So I've been working on sanding it down and will wax it soon to keep the rust off. Here are some pictures of stage one of the project. 

 ___________________________________________________________________________



So I have this great friend, Lisa, who made these flowers for Mary when she was first born. I loved them so much that I made some more of my own. I still haven't learned how to do the crocheted ones, but the others were super easy and I think they are really cute! You can't really tell from the pictures, but they are ruffled so they are not just flat. 

These are the headbands that I use to put these flowers on. I just use velcro.

These are the ones Lisa made, how awesome are they?!

____________________________________________________________________________

The QUILT!!!

So I started a quilt before Mary was born and I am trying to finish it. I've gotten the front mostly done - don't look too closely! I like it, but I'm not sure how I'm going to finish it. I want a solid color for the back, but I don't know what color or what to do. Any suggestions???

________________________________________________________________________