Sentimental Sunday #13

Welcome to another Sentimental Sunday,

I hope you have had a wonderful week.

Today I am going to be sentimental about something I have spent many hours with this week.

You see I have the F L U

eeekkk, I know

If you need to take a break and go wash your hands I will understand.

Since I have the -well you know

I have spent lots of time snuggled up

under my favorite quilt.

My grandmother (my Dad's mom) made this quilt for me.

I remember the day I got it,

we were sitting on the front porch of the old house down the hill (this makes sense to my family).

I remember looking at all the different fabrics and how soft the cream flannel back was.

Today there are seams that have come undone from years of use and they need to be restitched.

Last year my grandmother taught my sister and I how to hand quilt, so I need to take the time and stitch those places.  I could take it to my grandmother and she would do it for me, but I kind of like the idea of my stitches mixed in with hers and maybe one day one of my girls will add their stitches also.

I still love looking at all the different fabrics and dreaming about what they were used for first.

I imagine that the sweet floral was a beautiful dress, I know I would love a dress made out of it.

And the polka-dot makes me smile

Did I mention how soft the back is,

it feels like a warm hug.

So what are you Sentimental about today?

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The Making of a Desk Part 2

If you haven't read Part 1 of the Making of a Desk go read it so you will be caught up.

Once again I will keep this as simple as possible and hope that it helps you with projects of your own.

-It might be hard to tell but I painted the insides of the open cabinets green, and started playing around with what I might like in them.

-We reattached the doors

-You can see the difference in the old paint and the new here

-The sides were in rough shape and we knew they would need help

-This side had a gap, we had to fill in with plywood to make the sides even

-We chose to cover the sides with bead board to add some charm,

I have loved the idea of hanging bead board horizontally since seeing it in my friend Kelly's house.

-Added crown molding to the top 

-We finished the corners with trim

-The edges did not meet up with the wall here, so we encased it with shoe mold trim

-This gave it a more finished look

-I knew I wanted to use trim to make "boxes" on the front of the doors

-We drew out where the trim would go with a pencil

-Cut trim pieces to size and used a finish nailer to attach

-I knew I wanted a self in the middle for extra storage, so we cut a board to size and used brackets (purchased from Lowe's) to hold it up

-To give it a balanced look we also used a bracket at each end

-You can also see where we got inspired and add a piece of trim around the side of the desk top to match the trim on the front of the cabinets

-Fill in all nail holes and gaps with wood filler

-Let dry

-Sand

-Prime

-And paint

There you have it...

That is how we got from here

to

Here

This whole project cost around $200

not bad for a custom desk.

I hope this inspires you to try something at your house.

The Making of a Desk Part 1

Since posting our School Desk

Before

and

 After

I have had a lot of questions about how we did it.

I have to say this will be a hard post to write because there are lots of steps. I am going to try and keep it as simple as posible

I am dividing the process into two parts.

I hope you can take this info and apply it to a project of your own.

So here we go.

-To start with we bought an entire kitchen of solid wood cabinets off of Craig's List for $100

-They were stained a very orangey color so I sanded and painted them

-We used part of them in the basement for our school desk for over a year

-I hate the basement

-Idea was formed in my head to change the formal living room into a school room

-Sweet talk Hubby and sell him on idea

-He thinks it is a good idea, YAY,let's get started

-Remove upper cabinets from basement and bring upstairs

(my dad came to help Hubby with this part)

-Mark wall for studs

-Determine height of cabinets

-Level and screw in a board to rest cabinets on while attaching them to the wall

-Screw cabinets into studs on wall

-Remove board the cabinets were resting on

-Sand, prime and paint insides of the cabinets

-Fill in nail holes and cracks on the outside of the cabinets then prime and paint

-while primer was curing we worked on the desk top

-We made a rectangle out of 2x4's, slightly smaller than we wanted the top of the desk

-Reinforce for strength and to have a place to nail the top into later

-Attach the rectangle to the wall with screws that go into the studs

-Attach legs, purchased from Lowe's

-We used 3 - 7inch (cut to size) pieces of 1inch lumber to make the top

(we took a few days off because of life and I had to start moving our school books upstairs, so ignore that part please)

-once we had them cut and in place we nailed them in with  finish nailer

-Fille in all the nail holes and gaps with wood filler

-Let dry over night

-Then sand

-After sanding I finished the top with stain and polyurethane and painted the sides and legs.

Now move onto Part 2 for the big finish

Sentimental Sunday #12

This week has been a very busy week filled with fun and celebrations of love.

We had a wonderful time at church this morning and came home to a yummy lunch.  Now I am ready to get sentimental with you lovelies.

This week I am going to share with you something that was made by my great grandmother, LuLu Bell, to serve a very utilitarian purpose.  Even though it was used for the practical in life she still made it beautiful and with great care. 

This pretty little door stop is made from cardboard and fabric. My dad remembers watching her make them, without a pattern. I love the detail and time that went into it.  Inside there is a rock to give it weight.  She could have just used the rock to hold the door open,

but instead she wanted this doorstop to show the love she had for her home and those in it.

That is the way I feel about making my home beautiful.....

It is a reflection of my thankfulness for it and for the people who live in it.

You can tell that it has served it's purpose for a long time and is well worn.

I do not remember a time in my life when I haven't seen this doorstop around and am thankful that it is at my house now.

I am using what I love.

So what are you sentimental about today?

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