Work desk Christmas Tree

So, I know Christmas was a month ago, but I really need an updated post, so I'm showing one thing I did back in December. Ha!

I have a new job and the decoration requirements are different than my last one. Add to that the fact that I'm in a cube, now, instead of the office to which I've been accustomed. So I had to really pare down what I usually do for decorations. It was kind of sad for me, actually. I have a thing for trees and suddenly couldn't put one up. :(( 

Then I remembered seeing various wooden trees on Pinterest made from pallets and old wood and such. :D WELL!! You all know how much I love building things and using up old wood and leftover items. 😁😁😁

So I went out to my shed to take a look at my stash, and joy of joys, I had exactly what I thought I would need. After a little measuring and cutting of some old fence picket leftovers, and the leg off of a TV tray I disassembled last year for shelves in my cabinets, I started painting. 

Then I drilled holes where I thought I could place some battery-operated lights I found at Dollar Tree, and then screwed everything together. 

When I got it assembled, I realized an error with my hole drilling. :( I can't very well put lights through the tree trunk. So then I had to drill more holes, which weren't as neat, and improvise on what to do with the holes drilled in error. 

Fortunately, I had an old Christmas lights necklace that had stopped working, that I was able to cut apart and use to decorate the tree. 

As with so many of my projects, it's not perfect, but it certainly works, and that's why I call myself the Make-Do Queen. 😉

Cost: $1.00 for the lights. 

Time: 2 hours (mostly due to paint drying)

Result: Success

Belated Fall Decoration

Several weeks ago, I had an idea for a small project. Between my birthday and a bunch of stuff going on at work and with the kids, I only just now got around to working on it this past weekend.

At this point, it's about seeing if I could actually do it, not using it for decorations. But now I will have it for next year. So, YEAH! Go me! Ha!

I started off by cutting and sanding some scrap 2x4, then spray painting them. 

Sadly, the color I absolutely love, espresso (Wonder why), I ran out of on the first block. But since I had recently purchased some orange, I figured it would work to do the other three blocks.

Then I pulled out my stencils, and trusty sponge brush, and stenciled the letters onto the blocks. In my head, it seemed like a good idea to have the letters actually "falling"...so. I don't hate it. I just wish I had measured better. 

Then I put a clear coat of glow-in-the-dark paint over it all. 

I tied some ribbon around one block, in an attempt to make it look like it had a stem, and voilà!

Now I'm ready for Fall...just in time for Christmas. Ha!

Cost: materials on hand

Time: 1 hour

Outcome: Success

Fall decorating

Wow! I'm finally back to having energy for extra projects. 

I wanted to do something for my front poach, so I got out my favorite things-spray paint and letter stickers. 

Then I added in some fall themed items, and voila! 

Cost: $8 for pumpkins

Time: 30 minutes

Easiest Repurpose EVER!!

Some friends of mine had to downsize into a much smaller apartment last year, and I went to help them pack or sell things. 

When I pulled up to their house, I saw that they had already stuck a HUGE pile of stuff out by the curb for trash collection. One thing caught my eye. 

I quickly stuck it in my car and went on with the rest of my day. 

It has sat in my shed for almost a year, and I finally got the courage to work on it. I had been saving a bunch of plastic gift cards thinking I would cut them into pieces, spray paint them and create a glued mosaic onto the ball. As I stood there looking at it all, my eye caught on the gold spray paint and I thought, "Forget all that work! I'm doing this!". 

I wiped it down and started putting coats of gold spay paint on it, letting it dry between coats. 

After 3-4 coats, I decided it needed more shine, so I added a coat of spray glitter. Then started spraying it with a clear gloss enamel. 

I put on 5-6 coats of the clear, letting it dry between. 

Then I picked out a place in my garden. 

DONE! 

Cost: Materials in hand. 

Time: 1 day due to drying times. 

Outcome: SUCCESS!!

Side Note: I start a new job next week, PRAISE GOD! I'm not sure how often I will be able to create and post, though I'm working on one more project now. 

Pallet walkway

I really thought I had already talked about this. It was a very interesting project that I did last summer. But it turns out, I've not posted it. OOPS!

So, 4-years ago I bought this house. One of the big selling points was that it came with a really amazing shed that had electricity and storage and all kinds of interesting things already in residence. 

The issue was that I have two dogs, and getting to the shed in the dark or when it has rained was always a less than pleasant experience. 

I put down those cement stepping stones, but when I re-did the entire yard last summer (Wait, I haven't talked about that yet either? Double oops), the pavers became less than practical. 

I really have tried to use reclaimed resources as much as possible, because I don't have the $$ to spend, and I had found some really great old boards and talked a friend into helping me haul them home. But I was at a loss as to how to make them a raised walkway without spending tons of money on brick or rock or more wood. 

 

One day, I was staring at the pallets I had left from another project and an idea popped into my head. I quickly borrowed a truck and brought home more pallets and started to plan. 

First, I layed down some landscape fabric to stave off grass and weeds from growing up under my walkway. Then I started placing the pallets down, with an idea of them providing as much support as possible. 

It took some thinking to avoid big empty spaces, and since I wanted a clear boarder, I added in several 2x4s cut to length in spots, but finally I was able to lay my reclaimed planks. 

I did have to build a transition stoop at the shed doors, as the pallets were higher than the door clearance would allow. The previously mentioned stash in the shed provided excellent wood for that. 

I used long deck screws to connect the planks to the pallets, added in some old landscape border I pulled from another location in my yard, and used some bricks gifted from a friend to finish it out. 

I really like it, actually. It is very functional, and the wood was already weathered, so the look was right. 

NOTE: As you can see, a couple of boards were pretty warped, and over the last year, as I have seen long boards laying around, I have hauled them home and used them to replace those warped boards.

I've also added in some of those Dollar Tree solar stake lights so I can see the path in the dark. I need to get out there and mow so I can post an after-after picture. 

Total time: a solid weekend, with the hauling and placing and cutting

Total cost: $8 for the box of deck screws. 

Outcome: success!

Update to the previous post

A friend decorates for EVERY holiday, and liked the patriotic centerpiece that I made, so I gave it to her.  Then, I realized that I wanted one for myself. lol

So I grabbed dad's drill bit again, and threw this together in less than an hour! 

As a bonus, my sister moved last weekend, and was cleaning out her stuff and had some wooden slats that she had used to support a bed.  They had nice rounded edges, so I used one and cut it up to create the box and coffee-themed centerpiece that can stay in my kitchen, year-round.

Those ladies at Shanty2Chic really know how to inspire!

My take on someone else's idea

Let me start by admitting that I got my idea from seeing something the wonderful ladies over at Shanty2Chic posted several months ago.

Here's their creation. 

I, as previously mentioned, happen to have a large supply of empty glass Torani bottles, so I knew I would be making something similar. 

The July 4th holiday was around the corner when inspiration hit!

I had more of the 12" fence picket sections mentioned in a previous post, and 3 bottles for nicely on one section. 

I built a box to surround the bottles, and borrowed a 1.5" drill bit from dad to drill holes in the top section. 

I tried just using the 1" drill bit that I already had, and just wriggling the bit around. Yeah. Not the best idea. I wound up having to scrap that wood and start over.

The right tools make ALL the difference!

Next I picked out the stickers that had the font I wanted and applied them to the bottles. 

Then I spray painted each bottle the appropriate color, and let dry.

I opted to spray paint the outside of the bottles, instead of painting the insides, so that I could put water in them and use as vases for the flowers from my gardens. 

When the paint was dry, I peeled off the stickers, placed the bottles on the bottom board, and used small nailed to attach the top piece. 

Voila!!

Project cost: $8 for red and blue spray paint. 

Project time: could be done in 1 afternoon. 

Outcome: SUCCESS!!