'Weekend' Project

Here is what we worked on this weekend. :) It was really just a 2 afternoon project. We do not have the frames filled with our pictures yet, at least not all of them. But I am pretty proud of our work, so I wanted to go ahead and show it off. 

This is something we have wanted to do for a while. We have collected these frames over the past year or so. While watching HGTV, I saw a tip about hanging multiple frames or artwork. 

Here is the tip. (In my opinion, it worked beautifully.) 

1. Lay paper on the ground, and arrange the frames/artwork on the paper like you want them. 

2. Then make marks on the paper where you want the nails. 

3. Tape the paper to the wall. 

4. Hammer the nails through the paper. 

5. Take the paper down, tearing around the nails. 

6. Hang up the frames. 

7. Voila! Step back and admire. 

This may not be revolutionary for you, but it sure made my life easier today! This project still took a lot of measurements and time. It was a lot easier to make those measurements on the paper than trying to do that on the wall. 

I used craft paper that is about the size of wrapping paper. I needed two strips of paper for the height of the arrangement of frames. I taped the two pieces together, and I used the bottom of the lower paper as the level part. Can you tell I am impressed with Ryan and myself?

DIY dollhouse bookcase

We have been looking for a bookcase for Adley's room for a while. My husband has been dying to get Adley's toys up off the floor. We will see how long that works out. A little over a week ago I came across this dollhouse bookcase plan and we decided we wanted to try our hand out in 'do it yourself' furniture. It took us a couple days to do it. We skipped the windows and doors because we do not have a tool to do that and we were already going to be buying a circular saw. Two things that would have made the project go faster: 1. a babysitter 2. a nailgun. But nonetheless, I feel it really came out great! By the way, this website has gobs of diy furniture project plans and they all look cool. I have about 10 picked out that are next in line for us! :)

Here are some--- actually a bunch of pictures of this project:

First we bought ourselves a circular saw, wood and some paint. 

Printed out our plan. 

I measured our cuts. 

Ryan did the sawing. 

Then we nailed it together. 

Last: Paint and put in place. Notice the pile of toys on the ground. 

Final Product: 

Here is what A.G. was doing in the midst of this project. 

This:

and some of this: 

and this: 

She wasn't a fan of the saw.. at all! way too loud. I felt the same way.. So we went in for a snack during those times. 

oh yeah and she also did this: 

What we bought: 
4 - 1x12s @ 8ft (bookcase shelves, roof and sides)
1 - 1x4s @ 6ft (bookcase footer)
1/4 in plywood (back of bookcase)
scrap of wood for practicing
2" nails
1 1/2 " nails
wood glue (we didn't really end up using this.. we only used this on the first couple of joints.)
wood putty
paint
sandpaper


What we cut: 
2 - 1x12s @ 38 1/2" (top cut at 30 degrees) SIDES. 
1 - 1x12 @ 17 1/2 " (top cut at 30 degrees) TOP SHELVE DIVIDER.
2 - 1x12s @ 27 1/2" (top cut at 30 degrees) ROOF.
3 - 1x12s @42" - SHELVES.
2 - 1x12s @ 12" - BOTTOM SHELVES DIVIDERS.
2 - 1x4s @ 11 1/2" - SIDE FOOTERS.
1 - 1x4 @45" - FRONT FOOTERS.
1/4" plywood - BACK OF BOOKCASE. Wait until the front is put together. Lay the bookcase down on the plywood. Trace and then cut. 


Nailing Together:
1. We took two of the shelves (bottom 2) and nailed the shelve dividers (12" dividers) to each of them. Bottom shelve divider 13 1/2" from the left, second shelve 13 1/2" from the right. [2" nails]
2. Next nail the bottom two shelves together. Also nail on the top shelve. [2" nails]
3. Nail the sides on. Make sure the shelves are 12" apart. This should help keep them level. [2" nails]
4. Nail on the footer. [1 1/2" nails]
5. Next nail the top divider (17 1/2" divider) onto the top shelve. It should line up with the bottom shelve, so 13 1/2" from the left edge. [2" nails] [This step could be done when we nailed the other shelve dividers on. I think we just wanted to be able to play with it and the roof to make sure our cuts were accurate enough.] 
6. Then nail on the roof. This was the hardest to make work, but play with it and use the wood putty to fill a small crack at the top if needed (like we did). [2" nails]
7. Now is the time to trace and cut the plywood. Then nail it onto the back on the bookcase. [1 1/2" nails]
8. Check and apply wood putty where needed. Sand and prep for paint. 
9. Take a step back and proudly admire! :) 


Last step: Paint!