Out of the closet :)

Late this winter we heard a local farmer was taking an old house down....oh yeah, baby....our ears perked up. The farmer thought we were nuts,but told us we could take what we wanted. We aren't afraid of hard work, but I'm telling ya  THAT WAS HARD WORK. We took all the doors, most of the trim, 1 1/4 inch oak flooring from 4 bedrooms (it will be the flooring in our master bedroom this next winter!),  and a few other goodies.



one of our loads...



This is one of the rooms. I spent a bunch of time in this room (I didn't work as fast as my hubby). I even hurt my shoulder taking a stubborn piece of trim off that south window! I spent a bunch of time in that closet too. The shelves were made out of an old table! I wanted them ;) I didn't know what for, but knew they would become useful for something.



my pile of flooring and trim

Let me remind you, this is Iowa, and it was STILL winter. No heat, no bathroom, lots of mice, dirt everywhere......critters had lived here for a couple years. YUCK! But we did it and it was worth it....no money spent, FREE is good....just some time----lots and we aren't done, still nails to pull, sanding/planing to do, laying the floor, finishing it...we ARE NOT AFRAID!

In that closet.....this wood, which in it's former life was a walnut table, made shelves.



peg to join leaves of table


 


old newspaper lined the "shelf"





date from a Minnapolis/St. Paul paper....Friday, June 30, 1911....a 100 years old!!!

SOOO Donna   at Funky Junk Interiors says to build a tote. WOW, that's what I can do with that wood from the closet. BUT, I have been busy.....this and working and being a Gramma :)



my brother's new Ikea kitchen needed drawers/doors!




I made a sign to sell (out of the trim from one of the doors)and some other stuff!

Click here to visit the store where I sell a few things.



Donna had awesome instructions and with some twist of my own....this



I even took the closet rod and it became....





















LOVE. IT.



I saw you looking....I'll show you....here is the pond....









we did this last year---I'll tell you about it someday---we are already making an addition to it

back to the tote... a few pics of the process....I cut a shelf in half, one for each end and then I needed a pattern for the top....



my pattern was the top of this frame



a table leaf/shelf was ripped down for the sides













checking it all out

My hubby drilled the dowel holes, thanks Hon! I couldn't have held that drill for that....my shoulder is still yelling at me over that nail and trim piece.




oops, that was a wild brad nail...Hon, grab the nail puller (he is an EXPERT at that)





My hubby also thought he was being cute helping with the pictures...I tried to grab the camera....



gluing the last side





it's beautiful :)



love it on my farmhouse table...after all, it's all made from a farmhouse table :)

Now if you have some extra time and know how to work one of these

My hubby's hand is still swollen from pulling nails out of this stack

that used to look like this stack

cuz, he seems to think we should have a garage for the vehicles and not storing wood :)

Soooo Donna thanks for the inspiration for the wood that came out of the closet ....heee,heee! I'm linking to your party



Hugs from Iowa,

Michelle

Click to come over to Amy's party

Lipstick as a woodworking tool?

How I saved the wall from being scratched! Let's go step by step....

Remember the finished project? "The Inspiration Board" in my craft room




I USE IT!!
I'm not the most organized person in the world, so this is a step in the right direction.

Look at that.....yeah, sticking out the back----ya think that would mark up the walls?

But look at those screw heads! They added SO much to the front....they had to stay. Grinding them off was an option, but they would still scratch the walls. Hmmm, what to do....cover them? SURE! I cut little blocks of left over pressed wood from my IKEA toe kicks.  But how to get those screws into the block????

For those of you who do DIY , you know this little secret for marking things....like putting an outlet in a cabinet!

LIPSTICK
and since I'm not in a lipstick wearing stage, I had one tube of it.

smear it on those babies and see what you get....a perfect place to put your drill bit.

the screws and the wood kissed and left their mark!

The perfect mark for my drill bit.

check to see if they fit

add some wood glue, press , weight it down, and repeat 6 times....Perfect!

the screws held the hinges on--the hinges couldn't stay :(
.....but I did save one and remount it to the front....

Isn't it perfect? I know Donna, Funky Junk Interiors will drool on it....that makes me smile!

Inspiration....RIGHT.IN.FRONT.OF. ME. Just what I needed!

Linking up to Donna's hardware party....has she been to my house????






I'm doing my homework for Donna's workshop.....Let's Build a Tote! I's got me some inspiration and some wood....join us!




 

Hugs from Iowa,

Michelle

Garage Door for the Craft Room!

My brother, Ron, was working on a house....."do ya want the garage door?" (He knows my passion for old stuff !)

See it....right there, behind that dumpster.


Brought it home....hmmm what to make.....

Yes, there was a broken window....I used that to my advantage. My brother, Doug, has a metal shear. He cut me a piece of metal to fit the broken window----perfect to hold my magnets! This baby was going in my craft room. I had 8 FEET of free wall space after I did a little rearranging (my favorite thing to do).

I painted one of the glass windows with chalkboard paint.

I stuck some cork tiles (25 cents at a garage sale) to a piece of cardboard with spray adhesive. Then covered them with red burlap. I just may have a fetish about red....make sure you notice the red wood ceiling in my craft room :)

I mounted the corkboard to the window with hot glue after I got her up on the wall. See the red arrow in the top left corner....I didn't want to take any of the old bolts out of the door. This created a little problem.....they were gonna scratch the wall! I fixed it with wood and lipstick----I'll explain in my next post how I did that.

Here she is. First "window" is the metal sheet, painted black. Second is the corkboard. Third is the chalkboard. Lastly, plain glass.....I had a cute plan for that.

We marked the studs on the wall and because the chalkline is so faint I marked it for you with red arrows. It was very important to get that baby anchored in studs, cuz she WAS HEAVY!

Here she is screwed up to the wall! I knew I wanted a shelf too, but wasn't quite sure how or where to put it. This is my way of practicing :) Then my hubby had the awesome idea of mounting the shelf to the top of the garage door and suspending it with chains to the ceiling.... a HUGE success! See the red metal flower laying there....she was pink (my daughter lovingly painted her red for me) and only a $1.00 (I love garage sales.)

Here she is....my garage door inpiration board!! Isn't she just darn cute? Chalkboard, eraser holder in the middle....above the rusty old hinge---had to save that!

My ironing board hides in the left corner right beside the iron and starch sitting on a cute shelf. AND yes, I am spoiled....that is a flat screen tv hanging up there. I can craft AND watch HGTV! Doesn't that tin flower look cute hanging there?

AND the TO BE finished project.....hooking up the sink!

for the curious..... I. know. you. saw. the window reflected in the door glass, I was watching you...

SOOO here is a sneak peak at the window of the craft room...the shower curtain, turned window valence that inspired the craft room colors---from a garage sale---did I mention I like those? I like the word JOY too...it's everywhere!

The sign says "Don't postpone Joy."

 Yep, there is another unfinished project (you just might see a few of those in our house---that's what happens when you buy a house that isn't finished---it takes a LONG time, a LONG time)....see the window jamb, yeah, right there....no nailholes filled, primed or painted. Wanna help? Did I mention that ALL the trim in there needs that (there might even be a couple pieces to put up yet, just maybe).....NOW, do ya wanna help?

Here it is again....someone else's junk turned treasure ;)

Always try to think outside the box! I'm still thinking of a plan for the other three garage door panels.....I'm open to ideas. Anyone have any?

Hugs from Iowa,
Michelle