I heart faces - a slice of life

Over at I Heart Faces - their challenge this week is a slice of life.  Well - this right here is my little slice of life!

I love it for so many reasons.  The innocence, capturing a moment between siblings.  Seeing them all lined up just melts my heart!

Check out some of the other entries!

Craft Room Re-do - Part 1

Ready for my craft room transformation?  I'll do this in a few phases - because I am not done with part of the room.  So we will start with the work bench.   HORRIBLE huh - embarrassing - yes...can I believe I am putting this on line - no...but I am - it's cleansing - right :)

Then the first step was to get all the junk out of there - good thing I have two workers that work for Chocolate Milk and M&M's. 

We even did it right and scrubbed it before we painted.  By we - I mean my girls :) 

After the Cleaning - we got painting.  I didn't want the girls to touch primer - because it's nasty stuff....so I let Hay get some of the acrylic paints - and she went to town....

Then I primed everything. 

There was this little un-used space at the end of the table where the 2x4's met.  I didn't want it to go wasted.  So I found a board, and I found a piece of drywall.  I try to find things that I don't have to use the table saw.  So the drywall I cut with a utlilty knife.  And the board - I used the miter saw - thankfull it was big enough.

Then I primed it - yeah - would have been easier to paint it before I jammed it in there.

And - it turned out great! I bought hinges - and when you open it - it stores all my stamps!  My daughter got all the stamps and lined them up nicely for me.  Sadly - they don't all fit - but - it works for the ones that fit in there!

Then going on the other side - I have a wrapping station.  Truth be told - I had it in the middle of the longer side of the table, and my husband told me it looked stupid.  Thankfully - he was truthful, it looks way better where it is now.

I still have to paint the top again - paint the knobs - and hang a door over the open spots in the middle. 

But - the part I am the most proud of are the drawers.  Remember how it was just open.  I drew out plans and built everything myself!!!  I added a 2nd tier to hold the drawers - spacers, supports and 12 drawers!!!!  I took Friday off from work and got building- I loved every minute of it.  I used the miter saw right on top of the bench - it took me about 5 hours to build everything. 

I am happy with it!  And - it makes me happy when I look at it knowing that I built it myself.  There are so many women bloggers out there by following them and reading what they have done, that they gave me the confidence to do it myself.  This is the first time I didn't just follow a plan, that I made a plan - built it - and it worked! 

So - I went from this - to this:

More to come on the other sides.  I have the kids craft area (here), the main crafting area - and my big work table left.  Yes - I have officially taken over the basement!  At least I am trying to make it look prettier now :)

Linking up here:

Between Naps on the Porch , DIY Show Off Project Parade , C.R.A.F.T. , Dittle Dattle , Keeping it Simple , Skip To My Lou, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Making The World Cuter , Mad in Crafts , Sew Chatty, Tip Junkie - Tip Me Tuesday , Todays Creative Blog - Get Your Craft On, Coastal Charm - Nifty Thrifty Tuesday , A Diamond in the Stuff , DIY By Design, Primitive & Proper , Domestically Speaking - Power of Paint Party ,Blue Cricket Design , Sew Much Ado , Savvy Southern Style , The Thrifty Home  - Penny Pinching , Tea Rose Home , Someday Crafts , SevenThirtyThree, Elements Interiors, The Shabby Chic Cottage - Transformation Thursday , Somewhat Simple - Strut Your Stuff Thursday , Beyond The Picket Fence , Tales from Bloggeritaville , Brambleberry Cottage , Momnivore's dilemma, Fireflies & Jellybeans , Gluesticks

DIY - Pottery Barn inspired Low Activitiy Table

Paisley PassionsAnd here it is!!!!  It's done!!!  Have I mentioned how much I love Ana White!!!

I used her plans for the inspired Pottery Barn low activity table.  Here are Ana's plans.

Here is mine - total cost was $70 in wood, and $30 in the caster wheels.  $8 in paint.  So $108 total.

Here is Pottery Barns: $380.

I started my building on Sunday...I love to build!!!!  Very therapeutic and I am in love with the smell of fresh cut wood.

Here are my table legs coming around. 

The whole side .

Ahhh - it's looking like a table!

Oh - and my new favorite toy!!!  It's a Kreg Jig!  Oh - I love it - makes a fabulous sturdy table - and minimal amount of work.  Love it! 

I get so excited when all my joints line up. 

The braces are in for the table top. 

Sigh....and on to the painting.  Have I mentioned my hatred of painting..I primed the table, then on to the real coat of paint.  Take one.....

Hmmm....It was a FAIL....Looked liked plum. 

One of the drawers. 

Another drawer...color was BAD.

Just bad. 

Before I get into the final project.  My painting mis-hap.  First coat - was like plum like.  Then the next color was a really plain light brown....yuck!  So I spoke with my mom...and she recommended a Rustolium paint - it is Kola in a Semi-Gloss.

So - then we painted it...Next day - so excited to go down and see it.  It is crackled...sigh...so I sanded it lightly trying to make is smooth before the next coat went on.  I went upstairs, and my husband got the sand paper, and went I came down - there was a patch of white - and the paint was peeling.  So - we spent all Saturday stripping, and sanding...but it was for the best.  It turned out great - a day later than I wanted - ok about 5 days later than I wanted.  But - here you go!

Do you like those white shelves in the backgound - I made those too - you can find them here

Here is my little man..yes he is wearing Christmas pj's and it is march...What do you want from me :) 

We put the caster wheels on it - so he can push them in and out.  Highly recommend them - the kids couldn't come close to pulling them out without them.  Warning - it is expensive!!! 

No lie - it was about 30 seconds after we brought the table in - Mikey climbed right on top - sat down like he owned the place.  It's his new jungle gym - but at least it is close to the ground and sturdy - right! 

Love to know what you think!!!!

Linking up to these parties:

Between Naps on the Porch , DIY Show Off Project Parade , C.R.A.F.T.  Dittle Dattle , Keeping it Simple , Under the Table and Dreaming - , Chocolate Sundaes - Sundae Scoop , Skip To My Lou, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Making The World Cuter , The Girl Creative , Mad in Crafts , Sew Chatty, All thingz Related - Anything Related, Tip Junkie - Tip Me Tuesday , Todays Creative Blog - Get Your Craft On, Hope Sudios , Craft Edition , A Diamond in the Stuff , Primitive & Proper , Domestically Speaking - Power of Paint Party , Blue Cricket Design , Tea Rose Home , My Backyard Eden , Savvy Southern Style , DIY By Design, Someday Crafts , Sew Much Ado , SevenThirtyThree, The Shabby Chic Cottage - Transformation Thursday , Somewhat Simple - Strut Your Stuff Thursday , Beyond The Picket Fence , Tales from Bloggeritaville , Brambleberry Cottage , Gluesticks, Fireflies & Jellybeans , Momnivore's dilemma, At the Picket Fence, My Romantic Home , The Shabby Nest, Remodelaholic, French Country Cottage , Fingerprints on the Fridge, Fun to Craft  , Chic on a Shoestring Decorating, Funky Junk Interiors - Saturday Nite Special, Tatertots and Jello - Weekend Wrap Up Party, Craft Envy - Saturday Spotlight , Along for the Ride, A Vision to Remember, Under the Table and Dreaming, The Girl Creative - Just Something I Whipped Up ,Chocolate Sundaes - Sundae Scoop , Yesterday on Tuesday