A little Before and After

Here's the bench in all it's before glory! Wow, our garage is busy(messy) looking. So, it was plain white, filthy and had this mural painted on the back. I got it from Craigslist for $20! It's super heavy and I took one with Damen sitting on it so you could get a sense of how big it is.



So, basically I sanded it a bit, and painted it light blue. Then I got some clear gloss lacquer stuff and sprayed in on to protect it from the elements.




There you have it, Before and After:)

The View

Last night this was my view:







From here, sitting on the bench I refinished, on the bricks I laid.



Ahhh, accomplishment!

OH Pioneers!

On Pioneer day (July 24th) we celebrate the Mormon saints entering the Salt Lake valley for the first time. They struggled, they walked, they sacrificed. Our Stake had a big picnic with fried chicken, watermelon, water balloons, cotton candy, snowcones and this zip line.


When he got to the top of that ladder, my heart started to skip I was SO nervous! Who lets their baby do this??

Well, now that he's four I guess it's ok. He wasn't scared or nervous and did great. And he was older than a lot of kids in line!



The 24th of July always reminds me of the Pioneers in my own family. It's the day that seven years ago my Grandma died. She didn't cross any plains, but she was one of the first. My Grandpa joined the church first, then my parents, then my Grandma. They led our family to the gospel in a different way. My grandma was so much fun, so loving and giving. She spoiled us. We miss her, but because of her faith 40 years ago we can see her again, I know it.

T-Shirt Skirt

Ok, I've seen a lot of repurposing with T-shirts going on out there and just thought I'd give it a try. I wanted to try a skirt, something light and easy, for summer, but something that looked different and trendy. This is what I came up with:

I bought an Xlarge mens T-shirt at a thrift shop for a dollar or two and started by cutting off the top at the armpits. Then I cut out the side seams so it was easier to work with and cut the bottom into 3 inch strips.

My plan was to sew the strips back together and I started measuring and pinning, but that was taking too long so I started sewing one at a time. Beginning just above the bottom hem, which I left intact, I sewed straight up. The pieces that had a little bit of the design from the shirt I flipped around so the inside of the shirt was on the outside of the skirt.

The original T-shirt hem ended up as the skirt hem. It was way too short, so I cut off the arms and the neck hole of the top of the shirt and sewed a tube out of what was left. I had to attach it to the bottom inside out because of the design and take it in a little at the sides. It is very comfortable and cute too.

It was a little time consuming because I wasn't sure how to start, or initially how to make it longer, but in the end it worked out and was worth my $2.


And while I sew, this is what Damen does, entertaining huh?


I'm linking this one too to:

Ahhh, a wedding!

I made a shadow box for our home a few weeks ago like this. Last week our fabulous babysitter (well she's been away at school for two years, but she was fabulous) got MARRIED. So, for her and her new husband I made them a similar one:




I haven't figured out how to take a good photo of my stuff, but you get the idea. To see how, view the link above for the first one I made. Click on the link below to see other crafty ideas!

Free Movies

Damen, like his Mom, really REALLY likes popcorn.

Casper Crafts!

While we were in Casper I spent a few mornings shopping at the local thrift and craft stores (Hobby Lobby!!) with Dustin's mom. We found some great things and the following is what I did with them!(aren't you so excited to see!!!)



This lovely clock was $7.50 at a second hand store. I already turned the clock upside down in this shot to make sure it could be done, so imagine the clock the other way for a true BEFORE picture.

First I took off the "Opera" sign, it was just glued in paper. Then I realized that the space was longer than 12" and I couldn't use scrapbook paper to fill it in so I got creative with some brown packing paper and painted it a light tan color then went over it with a little bit of dark red. I used my newfound friend, ModPodge to adhere the paper and seal it on top.

Now for the frustrations.
I added the vinyl lettering that I had already and realized the word Love was almost the same shade as the background paper, hmmm. I also wanted to change the middle of the face of the clock, so using an xacto knife I cut out the center, thinking I could leave it that way. Oh look, it's ugly plastic with holes. hmmm.

My solution for the clock face was to paint some more brown paper, same as the sign, tear it and glue it to a precut circle that would just fit in the face with a slit cut in the middle to go around the hands. Then modpodge it all down. This step was harder than it sounds, those clock hands wouldn't come off and were really delicate!

I had a lot of opinions about the word fixing and finally went with my husbands idea to use a sharpie and shadow the letters.

I love it!


Ok, this next project should have actually been easier, and although it didn't take as long it was a little bit more intense for me. This is a plain cupboard door we bought at a Habitat Restore for I think $1.

I drilled three holes in the bottom to put nobs in and as easy as that sounds, OH the frustration! First I couldn't find the drill bits, then I couldn't figure out how to put them into our drill, it's newer and our old one was simpler I guess. It was over 100 outside so yes I'm drilling over our kitchen table, with precautions of course.

Now, I'm not a patient person, a project this simple should have been done and over before nap time was over, but alas sometimes my impatience adds time to a project. In the above picture is proof. I drilled my holes and began to screw in the first nob, not for good, just to make sure it fit, it didn't. But I thought with a little persistence it would go in, it didn't. It did get stuck. Many pairs of pliers, sweat (from going into the sauna (aka garage) to get said pliers), and finally these menacing wire cutter things got it out! PHEW. I was certain the screw itself was ruined and that this nob would have to be glued on, it was ok though, barely survived.

Finally, three adequate sized holes drilled and painted it white. Because the cupboard is unfinished it really soaked up the paint.

Then I used a green and later a brown glaze over the top.

When that was all dry I sealed it with this stuff.

And lastly, screwed the nobs in. I really really like it!

Now, how do I hang it with these sticking out in the back? And then where to put it?


That's the only problem I have with my projects, where should they go???

I'm linked to: