Monday, August 20, 2012

DIY Headboard

We needed a headboard. We haven't had one since we bought our King bed 2 years ago... yes - TWO years ago. But, they are expensive, so we have held out.
So, we decided we would build one ourselves. We bought 5 pine plank boards, at roughly 4 dollars a piece. We measured out the width of the bed, as well as the length we wanted it to be from top to bottom, and created a frame using 2 4 foot length 1x2 boards and one 6 foot length 1x2 board.
we laid the pine plank boards down within the frame...
...and cut some others to fit..
The above picture is the backside of the headboard, we screwed some smaller pieces to keep the joints from shifting.
This is the unfinished front.. Coming together nice, right?
We chose a sun-bleached stain that would have a grey finish.
Allison loved being able to help out.
And now we have a pretty awesome headboard for just about 30 dollars.

Can't beat that price!

Friday, August 17, 2012

the buzz

What a whirlwind. This past month has seemed to go by in the blink of an eye yet also seemed to drag on forever. That makes no sense I know.

We had a little rough go of first grade there for a little while - Allison cried for a few days in a row complaining that first grade is just so hard. But then she seemingly bounced right out of that. I think this turnaround had to do with making more friends and not feeling like "an outsider" anymore. And she started cheerleading this week. She is the smallest on the team, and watching her learn at practice, stumbling her way through and winging it for most of the time (cheers are COMPLICATED) has just made my heart soar. The cuteness factor is almost too much.

Emily, on the other hand, has taken to kindergarten like a fish to water. And she was the one I was worried about. Emily, in all of her 5 years on this planet, has fully remained "Mommy's girl", always preferring me to Daddy, wanting to be near me, still wanting to be held a lot. She is just my baby. I thought, no way is she ready for kindergarten. My Baby? No way. But, I happily cheered her on, encouraged her, and tried to make this path free and clear for her to walk on easily. And she did. I constantly hear from her teachers how well she is doing - a great listener and a wonderful friend. My heart just melts.

I wish I had more time while they have been in school to work on my shop, learn more about promoting, and really throw myself into it. BUT we are still knee deep in our porch addition. You will not believe the red tape that is involved with this project. I am about to throw my hands up in the air, but I don't want to get into it here. So, much of my time has been filled with making this house back into our home. And it is getting there, it really is.

And I do have time to work on my shop, any available time I have - that is what I do. But I would like more of it. My blog sits largely neglected. I haven't visited my blog friends in a very long time. I don't twitter, Facebook, pinterest, and something called Wanelo? What IS that?

(Allison is my hand model for this tealight holder!)


And have I mentioned that the girls "track out" today? This is what they call it in year round school, when your particular track gets one of their breaks. So, starting after school today - the girls are home for more than 3 weeks! They go back to school on September 12.

I am hopeful that by then I will have developed a nice daily schedule to keep me in check and not feel worn and ragged as I do on most days.

Thank you for reading, if you have made it this far - ha - and wishing you well, Kristin