A New Craft

Recently I discovered a craft called "needle punch".  I happened to stumble upon it while searching the internet and pinterest for rug hooking ideas.  Needle punch has been around for years, but in my world only a couple of months.  

The finished projects look like hooked rugs but are created using embroidery thread and are much smaller than a hooked rug.  I am not an expert on this craft so this post is not about needle punch techniques...it's simply to share my first project and to tell you how much fun it is to do! 

Here is my first project...

I mounted the finished project on a piece of pine board that I stained, then painted a cream color, sanded then stained again.  I found some metal ribbon at Michaels which I cut to fit the top and bottom of the pine.  

The metal ribbon comes in a shiny finish so I sprayed it with rubbed oil bronze paint and then wiped off most of the paint, leaving some of the paint in the indents.  It helped to dull the finish and give it an antiqued look.  

I have my project displayed in my family room on a narrow wall between two windows.  My family room  has greenish-grey walls, so it compliments the colors I used in the stars.  Here is a picture, however the bright sun shining through doesn't give the true effect...

Thank you for stopping by.  I hope you have a great week!

Lesa

New Kitchen Shelving

Back in October I posted the shelving I created using pipe.  Well, that ended in disaster about a month ago when the bottom shelve collapsed.  The flanges that were secured to the wall went right through the gyproc which the flipped the shelf forward.  All the pottery I had stored on that shelf fell to the floor and smashed into pieces!  I could have cried but I kept it together telling myself it is only pottery.  The only upsetting thing is that the lady who made all my dishes and serving pieces made them just for me so no two are the same.   She lives a province away so I don't know if I will ever be able to replace them.  Oh well, this post is not about the pottery...it's about the new shelving I have added!

I found an inexpensive bookshelf at Walmart that somewhat matched the color of my kitchen cabinets. It also fits on top of my existing buffet.  (I don't think my wall will ever hold another shelf!)  I've been using it "as is" for that past month but wasn't quite happy with it.  Here it is before the makeover...

I decided to replace the back with beadboard that I cut to size, stained with Minwax "Kona" and attached to the back by pre-drilling and nailing to the edges of the bookcase.  I then decided to sand the sides and edges of the bookshelf with 100-grit sandpaper removing some of the original dark finish.  Here it is after I sanded it...

I am much happier with it now and I think the beadboard and the sanding gives it more character...

Here are a few pics of my small kitchen and dining area...

Thank you for stopping by...have a great week!

Lesa

Kitchen Storage and Shelving

The finished project in my kitchen...

This is how I got there.  A while back I had purchased and painted an ikea cabinet red, then green and used it for storage. 

Actually, my plan was to turn it into a mini office, but that plan never transpired and it just collected junk.  It really wasn't functional.  What I really needed was more counter space.  I love my little kitchen but could use a bit more storage.  The distance between the island and wall is fairly narrow so I needed a cabinet, at the most, 16" wide.  

I found a small buffet at Jysk that was only $110.00.  But, look at the box it came in and look at all the pieces!

It was six hours of hell putting this cabinet together...never again!!  

Anyway, after I finally got it assembled, I decided to add castors to the bottom instead of the "bun" feet that it came with...the wheels gave it a bit more height to bring it up to counter height.

 I then stained it using two colors of Minwax stain...Espresso and Ebony  I also changed out the hardware and bought brushed nickel pulls to match the hardware on my kitchen cupboards.  I then applied a satin varnish to the entire cabinet to protect it from any spills.

To tie it in to be part of the kitchen I decided to construct two shelves to display part of my pottery collection.  After much searching on pinterest for shelving ideas, I decided to build the brackets using 1/2 inch black piping, flanges and elbows.  The shelf itself is made just 2 x 10 x 36".  Again, I stained the wood using Minwax stain, but only with espresso and I did not varnish. 

I am happy with the way it turned out and I now have more storage space and counter space. 

Thank you for stopping by!

Knit Bear

We are expecting our first grandchild in December and I've been busy shopping and knitting.  Here is a project I'd like to share with you.  A knit bear...

A coworker of mine brought in a book with knit and crochet patterns using Bernat's Pipsqeak yarn.

And, I absolutely fell in love with this bear...

My daughter is expecting a girl so I swapped the blue yarn for pink yarn.  It is very soft and cuddly.  The pattern only took three balls of yarn (two pink and one white) and knit up very quickly.  My bear looks more like a koala bear but I think she's pretty cute no matter what she looks like...

The blanket underneath the bear was a pattern I found free online using Bernat's Babyblanket yarn and it was knit using a cable stitch. 

So, I'm now starting my next knitting project... the matching blanket to go with the bear.  I will share it with you once I get it finished.  

Thank you for stopping by!

My Barn Door

I love the look of barn doors.  My sister had two grand barn doors installed in her new home with authentic hardware and they look gorgeous.  I'm always searching pinterest and blog sites for different ideas.  I knew I had to put a door somewhere in my home even though I have a very small house.  I decided that I would put a barn door in my family room since there was no existing door.  By installing a sliding door it would provide a bit of privacy from the entryway and kitchen if needed.  

Here is my barn door...

My design is in no way original nor is the hardware.  I found many ideas on pinterest where people used pipe for the top rail and for the handle and I love the look...plus it was cheap!  

My door is only 33 inches wide by 7 feet tall.  I used 1 x 12 x 8 pine to construct the door and then used 1 x 6 for the backwards "Z" design on the front.  I stained the door with espresso Minwax stain.

I'm very happy with the way it turned out and works really well in my small space.  

Thank you for stopping by...have a great weekend!

Lesa

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