Happy Sunday!

I was cutting the top off of a red pepper and look what I found...

A happy little face smiling back at me!  I knew it was going to be a great day!  Hope all of you are enjoying your day.

Lesa

Ottoman Topper

A few years ago I built a tray for the top of my ottoman so I could use it as a coffee table.  The tray had a glass insert which I broke the other day while cleaning it.  Therefore, I decided to build something different to top the ottoman.  This is what I came up with...

I used materials I already had so it was a cheap project to build.  I used six pieces of 2 x 4 that had already been cut to 24 inches in length.  They were left over from a work bench that my husband had built. 

I joined the 2 x 4's together using wood glue and three pieces of fir strapping glued and screwed to the bottom of the 2 x 4's.

To finish the unfinished ends I cut 2 more pieces of fir strapping to "cap" each end.  I secured it in place with wood glue and clamped it in place until completely dry.  I gave the entire piece a good sanding using a belt sander, then a palm sander using 100 grit then 220 grit sandpaper.  

I stained the joins and edges using ebony stain by Minwax removing the excess with a soft cloth.

Then I stained the entire piece with dark walnut stain my Minwax, again removing the excess stain.  Once completely dry, I sanded it with 220 grit sandpaper.  

I wanted to add a bit of an industrial look to the topper so I decided to add metal corner brackets.

I spray painted the brackets and screws with Rustoleum's dark walnut spray paint with primer.  I attached one bracket to each corner and then sanded the brackets to expose some of the metal. 

To finish the topper I applied Minwax Paste Wax to the surface.  

Simple and inexpensive.

Thank you for stopping by...

Lesa

Moss Stitch Afghan

I've been busy knitting afghans for my Mom and two sisters.  They are "late" gifts for last year's birthdays...I know!!  (August, October & December)  I love knitting and the afghan pattern that I found is fun and quick to knit.  I found it free on the Lion Brand website under "Moss Stitch Afghan". It uses eight balls of Lion Brand's Wool-Ease Thick & Quick yarn.  Here are two of the three afghans that I have finished.  (Please excuse the terrible photos...dark, snowy day outside and the lighting inside was awful.)

I knit this afghan with a sandy colored "tweed" yarn. 

I used a variegated yarn in black/charcoal and white for this afghan.

I am happy with the way they turned out and am finishing the last afghan...hopefully this weekend.  They I am going to make a couple to stash away as gifts and one for myself!

Thank you for stopping by...

Lesa

Barn Red Cabinet

I found this cabinet on kijiji and thought I could use it as an office in my kitchen.  I don't have a spot for my laptop, printer, etc. so I thought I could convert this cabinet/bar into a space to hold the electronics as well as pens, paper and other stationery supplies.   It is from Ikea and is made out of pine.  The dimensions are 63 1/2" high x 39" wide x 15" deep...perfect for the spot I had in mind.

Here is how I finished the cabinet...

I really wanted to paint it red.  I've wanted to paint a piece of furniture the color red so I though this was the perfect piece to experiment with and even though its the only red piece I have, I think it adds some "pizzazz" to the kitchen.

The first thing I did was remove the hardware and these "grooved" pieces that hold wine bottles.  I then filled in the holes with wood putty.

I lightly sanded the entire cabinet with 100-grit sandpaper and then removed the sanding dust.  I stained the entire cabinet, inside and outside with Minwax stain in the color "Ebony".  When the stain dried completely, I gave the cabinet three coats of red paint by Martha Stewart.  The color is called "Barn".  The ebony stain, even after three coats of paint, was still visible through the layers of barn red which gives the cabinet an aged look and gives the paint dimension.

                                                                                                               

The glass inserts in the door could not be removed, but I didn't want to leave them "clear" because I am going to place my printer behind the door together with paper and other supplies and I just don't want any of that visible.  So, I bought an all-purpose primer from Home Depot and applied two coats to the glass inserts, letting it completely dry between coats.  Once dry, I applied three coats of chalkboard paint by DecoArt. On the inside of the door, I will be adding cork so it can be used as a bulletin board, but I just haven't done that yet.

When the paint dried I applied a paste wax by Minwax to the cabinet.  The paste wax is clear so I added a couple of teaspoons of dark walnut stain to approximately 1/2 cup of wax and mixed it until blended.   I applied the wax with a soft cloth which allowed me to "buff" it as I applied it.

I added brushed nickel knobs to cabinet which match the hardware on my kitchen cupboards. 

As you may (or may not) notice, I left a couple of shelves unpainted.  

I am happy with the way it turned out and I must admit I was a bit undecided about the color when I was working on this project, but now that it is finished, I am pleased with the results.  The barn red is bold, but it spices up the space.

Thank you for stopping by...

Lesa

Christmas at My House

Thought I would share a few photos of my Christmas décor.  Here we go...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you for stopping by...I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!

 

Lesa

 

 

Pine Christmas Trees

As I was rummaging through some of my Christmas decorations, I found these wood trees that I cut out of scrap pine many, many years ago. 

I had stained them with Puritan Pine by Minwax.  I thought I was so clever when I made them.  They have been retired for some time now, but I thought I could spruce them up a bit and incorporate them into my holiday decorating this year.

So, I stained them with a dark walnut stain by Minwax ...

and then painted a few of trees with the color sandbar.  Once the paint dried I sanded the edges and the surface to expose the dark stain underneath.  Here they are on my shelves.

Do you have any old decorations that can be reused??  Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!

Lesa