Garage Sale Stool to Classroom Cool

Long time no posting! This thing called life has been pretty crazy lately, but of course I made time for my favorite summer hobby: garage sales! 

This summer I found books, random knickknacks, some cool Norman Rockwell pieces, and this dreary old stool...

Looking past the torn leather I saw a lot of potential (and it was only $1!) I've never recovered a piece of furniture before but I thought this would be an easy start.

I started by tearing off the top layer of leather to expose the nice cushion. Then I headed to my favorite craft store Hobby Lobby in search for some fabric.

Way too many choices but I decided on a fun and bright one for $5. I cut the fabric in half and saved the rest for a future project. 

Next the staple gun came out! I laid the fabric on the countertop and began stapling. 

It turned out to be a 3 person job. My sister holding the stool steady, my mom folding the fabric, and me, stapling. 

My mom, a perfectionist worse than me, made sure every fold was perfect before I stapled. Then we trimmed the excess fabric and stapled a few more times to secure it tight.

Mom took over the stapler to finish the job.

It turned out pretty darn cute and only cost $6!!

I think my 1st graders and I will enjoy it this year! 

Map of our Love

It's that time of year - the time of love. For me, I have never been crazy about Valentine's day. In my opinion, you should love each other every single day of the year - not just one day in February. However, Luke and I's anniversary falls on February 12th, so we end up celebrating our love at this time each year. This was our first anniversary apart. I was busy with student teaching and Luke was busy with work, so we didn't talk much during the week. We have learned to cherish the time we do have since it is so limited.

One of the many things Luke and I enjoy doing together is traveling. We like to plan trips and explore new places together. In the 5+ years we've been together, we've traveled to Florida, Minnesota, Missouri, Illinois, and obviously, Iowa, where we both live. I wanted his gift to be thoughtful - so I decided to incorporate our love of traveling.

I purchased a map online from Amazon for $13. It is HUGE! 5 feet by 3 feet, but it was exactly what I wanted. I looked through our collection of pictures and chose my favorites from each state. Make sure you check the size of the state before printing your pictures; I had to order 5x7 for some since my map is so large. I ordered the pictures from Walmart for $6, and waited for the map and pictures to be delivered!

I used tracing paper to get the state's outline. I traced the outline on the pictures and cut them out. They aren't exact, but close enough.

I used spray adhesive to attach the pictures to the map. 

I used permanent marker to write "our adventures" on the map.

I can't wait for more adventures to come!

Next step: framing. I was a little naive for this portion of the project. I didn't want glass, just the frame, so I thought it wouldn't be too expensive. Wrong. Because of the map's size, it was still costly, even with Hobby Lobby's 50% off custom framing. The Hobby Lobby expert also suggested I have it dry mounted (around $24), meaning it will be attached to foam backing to give it support. Since I was spending so much on the frame itself, I figured I better just go all out. The whole frame and mount cost $100. More than I was expecting, but very worth it. This is something that will be hung in our future home for years. 

This will motivate us to travel more in future years together!

DIY Bar Cart

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year! I sure have been enjoying my time off -- at home with my family. It's been filled with catching up with old friends, visiting family, being lazy, and also getting a lot of stuff done! I had a chance to look over the curriculum for my student teaching placement, prepare for an interview, and work on a beautiful bar cart for a gift. I'm in love with it.

It all started with a gift idea for my Lukey - he turns 23 tomorrow. With a birthday so close to the holidays, I like to make his birthday gift extra special so it doesn't just get mixed in with Christmas. A few weeks ago when I was visiting him, we tried a gin and tonic (awful, in my opinion, I prefer the vodka version!) As we were drinking them from his pint beer glasses (another gift of mine to him), he said, 'I wish I had glasses to make mixed drinks in. Maybe that would be a good gift idea.'

I took the idea and ran with it. I browsed Pinterest for some inspiration.

It was hard to find "manly" looking bar carts, seems females are typically the ones putting these together, or at least sharing their ideas :)

Many of the cart's contents varied, so I came up with a list of things I wanted to include on Luke's:

• Glasses - the idea that the entire gift stems from!
• Wine rack
• Tray for glasses
• Container for wine corks
• Ice bucket
• Container for limes/lemons
• Straws
• Napkins
• And of course... alcohol

I wanted to add more fun decor (candle, flower, vase, etc.) but I found it looked more manly without it. Plus, as my mom said, why waste room with items that don't serve a purpose? The saying is very true, mothers are always right.

Once I had my mental image, I started figuring out how to make it happen. I wanted the cheapest option possible (saving money is always a goal of my DIY projects, otherwise, why DIY!?) I found this blog post about building your own cart and thought it sounded great. I showed it to my brother (my personal carpenter) and we went to our local home improvement store for wood. After we began looking at our options, it didn't look so great. Wood is expensive. We had a little discussion and walked circles around the store considering options. During our walk, we ran into a beautiful $10 bookshelf. The price caught my eye, of course. We decided it was perfect and we would just add wheels. We bought the shelf, a 1x4, and 4 rotating wheels (one with a brake). Obviously this particular shelf may not be accessible to everyone, but finding a bookshelf at a thrift shop, garage sale, or discount furniture store is also very possible - add wheels and you're in business!

Here are the steps to add the wheels to any shelf.

• Cut the piece of wood in half for each end and secure the wood to the shelf using 4 bolts
• Pre-drill holes to secure the wheels to the board using 4 screws
• Once the holes are pre-drilled, use a drill to fit the screws tightly. 
• (Depending on the type of shelf, you might be able to see the boards - I used black craft paint to help the board blend in to the rest of the shelf - only paint the parts you can see!)

The cart ended up being the easiest part; it took 30 minutes (at most) to add the wheels. The rest of the decisions were much harder. Having too many choices overwhelms me and I had a very particular picture in my head of what I was looking for. Lots of time spent shopping - check out where I found everything - and at great prices!!

16 piece glassware set from JC Penney - $20

Wine rack from Bed, Bath, and Beyond - $20

Tray from Hobby Lobby - $15

Glass container from Marshalls - $3

10 inch mirror from Hobby Lobby - $4

Ice bucket from TJ Maxx - $15

White glass container from Marshalls - $4

Straws from Target/Walmart - $4

[extra glassware used as storage for straws]

Napkins - free

[my Grandma gave them to me]

"Screw the cracker, Polly wants wine"

The bookshelf, the wheels, all the decor, and the alcohol to stock it, ended up being less than $150. 

Some bar carts alone are more expensive than that!!! 

Very excited to put this into use in 2015.

Happy birthday to my Lukey!