Friday, December 25, 2009

Merry Christmas!

Season's Greetings!

Despite an interesting Christmas (explanation and picture to follow next week), me and my family wish you a wonderful Christmas.

-Krista



Share:

DIY Wednesday: Kitchen Island

Hello Everyone,

Going with the kitchen remodel projects, I have another project my husband and I did over the past few weeks. We have an awkward kitchen. I have a mobile dishwasher and it would just hover in the middle of the room by itself. We also had a table shoved up against a wall. You would watch the wall while you ate.

So I wanted a super easy cheap fast island. I drew up these designs to allow the dishwasher to slide underneath. I also got a rolling silver cart to put my standing mixer on. (There isn't a cabinet that fits it) I got two stools for $60.00. So, I think the entire thing, including the two stools, cost around $100.00.

So my husband made the island. It's simple plain plywood with two supports on the sides. I got decorative trim and painted the island white. I could have gotten a legitimate countertop, but I decided to do something simple (and cheap) since we're going to be moving in a few months. So for the top, I just got an inexpensive heavy-duty shelf liner. I put some decorative scrapbook paper underneath since the liner was see through. This type of top can be removed and changed when I feel like I want to change the design.



This is the island right after my husband built it, and I nailed the trim on the island. I (proudly) put together the stools.




This picture depicts the "after" when I painted the supports and the side. I didn't have the top quite done, but it's nothing particularly exciting. Just a light blue top with a white-ish clear top.



Finished top and all.

Share:

Monday, December 14, 2009

DIY Wednesday: Scrapbook Paper Wreath

Hi Everyone!

I have one holiday project to share with you. I saw this idea last year on One Pretty Thing and I knew I wanted to try it eventually. I picked up the paper this summer at a fabulous scrapbook store in Pierre. I finally had the time this weekend to try it out, and I think it turned out pretty good!

First, you need to find some wrapping paper or scrapbook paper to use. I used two different designs plus a solid color paper as an accent. I made a pattern by just drawing a leaf shape. I cut out about 9 sheets of paper.





Second, I made a wreath to staple to with foam board. I used this pot lid as a guide for the shape. I used my Exact-o knife to cut out the foam. Now, if I remember correctly, the other wreath I saw only used poster board. So you could use that it would probably be easier to cut out.



Third, I started to staple the paper in a pattern around the wreath. You roll the end you are going to staple and make sure each leaf covers both staples and the foam board up. Once you've done half you switch direction.



This is the mostly finished result. I'm going to have to add a ribbon at the top to cover up the few staples that are showing. I think for a couple hour project, it turned out pretty good!




Share:

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

DIY Wednesday: Burp Cloths

Hi Everyone!

I have a much more fun project to show off, but I left the pictures at home. It will have to wait until next week. This is a little project I worked on for myself. My husband and I found out a few months ago that we're expecting our first child. It was quite unexpected since I am still in school, but the timing worked out alright. I'm due May 21st, and I'll graduate on May 7th with my JD.

Anyways, I'm going to try to craft many things for the baby so I don't have to purchase them. Plus, it's nice to have some homemade things to pass along. These were my first project. I decided to try this new method of sewing burp cloths. I started out by sewing about an inch in and then tucking the ends in & sewing a 1/4 to make a nice pretty hem around the cloth. I used my favorite fabric and flat fold cloth diapers.

It's an odd mixture of fabric, but it was all the fun fabric I had sitting around the house.



The new cleaner way I made the hems.




Fun Fabric!



Finished burp cloth and soon-to-be-made ones.

Share:

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

DIY Wednesday: $10 Backsplash

Hi Everyone,

I did a little project last Monday night as a breather from school work. It seems like I clean quite a bit during finals, because it's a good way to avoid studying. ha ha. This DIY Wednesday is for last week. I'm finally done with the bulk of finals, touching up some pictures and finally found the time to post something.

I did two things. I started painting the island my husband built for me. I also installed my own back splash in the kitchen. About 2 years ago, we took down all the wallpaper in our kitchen and painted. The area under the cabinets also had wallpaper. We had just left it stripped with the idea we would do a back splash eventually. Well, I got sick of waiting on the men to figure out what tile to use and decided to try something I saw on a home improvement show. My HGTV obsession finally did something for me.

The sheet of plastic tile cost about $10.00. I cut everything to size and attached it with some adhesive caulk. If I would redo it, I would have been a better about cutting. I'm not the best measurer. Oh well. So here's the new back splash. It will really pop when we redo the counter top. This might be the plan for a DIY counter top. I just have to figure out what color is going to look the best with an orange kitchen. That's very hard for me.







This is the "back splash" before. This is what was left after removing layers and layers of wallpaper.






This is the "after." The counter tops are quite ugly, but that's another project for another day.





This is how they look with all the junk added to counter.

Share:
Blogger Template Created by pipdig