DIY oversized growth ruler and Duvet winner!

Firstly Congrats Toni Mahana! sorry It took so long. You won the custom duvet cover!!!! 

Been a crazy week, or month for that matter. In the process of redoing our living room, which includes taking down some sheet rock from the door frames to bring back to studs to install a door frame. Good by drywall bull nose edges!

So needing do get a little craftiness out I decided to do a project I had planned to do for quite some time.. and here it is. Its so simple and the kids love seeing how tall they are.

This was such a simple project I really enjoyed the quick gratification. Lately our projects have been drawn out ones. Such as my coffee table that's still out in the garage waiting to be sanded.. reveal to come soon :).

This was  a nice evening project in front of the TV with my husband asking questions like What the heck is that.

All you need: this list is embarrassingly short.
a 1x5 pine board from your local lumber yard.
briwax turdor brown or a stain of your choice and a ploy..
black paint maker
speed square
tape measure


First I laid out the board on some trash bags to stain and wax. After the wax had time to dry I buffed to smooth finish.  Then I took my tape measure and put a small tick mark every inch from one end to the other.

I then took my speed square and drew the lines across.
1 inch for the inch markes
2 inch line for the 1/4  and 3/4
4 inch for the 1/2
and 5inch for the foot lines..

I then just hand drew the numbers on but you could use a stencil also. I just didn't have one on hand.
I the just nailed a picture frame self leveler on the back so it could be hung on the wall.

and... Kinley approves! short and sweet!

Give Away Time!!!!!

Needing to get a little more committed to my blogging.. So I'm doing a small give away.

The goal is to share my blog.. Id love requests for some new ideas or diy type stuff readers might be interested in. 

So here we go! Enter below. For you chance to win a custom made pin tuck queen size duvet cover. Winner can choose color.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Pottery Barn Inspired retro kids kitchen. Finishing and plans

  We have finally finished and the verdict is already in. Kinley loves it...and Ryker does too. Is it wrong to consider it a gift for both of their birthdays.. I mean it was a lot of work.

I think she likes it. 

Lets start with some fun photos. I'll try to share where we got things and price break down. Get ready this is going to be a long one.

Kinleys stove.

   

So onto what we did.....

This isn't going to be a step by step photo process since I have plans drafted that you can follow. See link below. I also recommend using the plans as a guide. Alway measure your piece and build as you go. 

We made a few changes that I can think of.. we omitted the top shelf in the sink. And made the bottom front panel the same width as the others. Which meant we set our bottom self a little higher. 

Here are some tips for things we did to make it look more like pottery barns... 

bought a retro freezer thermometer on ebay. 

We used this routed circle from hobby lobby it was in the wood section. Adam drilled a hole in the middle so that the thermometer could fit inside..To make the two little wings.. I place the circle on mdf scrap and traced the profile of the circle then drew out the shape. I cut it out with the jig saw... sanded and then sanded some more :) and glued it all together... I sprayed it with metalic spray paint before glueing in the thermometer.

http://shop.hobbylobby.com/products/5-circle-wood-plaque-179663/

We used the same idea for the clock... I taped off the circle part with frog tape using an xacto knife to cut close to the edge. I then used the same metallic spray paint to paint the clock and the circle separate then glued them together. 

http://shop.hobbylobby.com/products/2-3/4-fitup-insert-clock-637868/

Here is an awesome tip we got from a friend who builds custom cabinetry.. he knows his stuff. 

This would have been probably the most challenging part but this idea made it so easy.. 

To make your rounded shelfs would have been extremely hard to make them all the same with a jigsaw. So here is what you do instead.. 

You have to cut a template piece.. go slow and do your best with you jig saw.. to make mine we cut the shelf to size. Then I took one of the burners and made it touch both edges then traced the curve of that to take off the corner..  then cut out with a jig saw and sanded and sanded until it was even.. 

Next take your template and nail it with two small nails to the piece you want to cut.. 

Your going to need this little router bit. we got ours at lowes. 

http://www.lowes.com/pd_24097-353-85216MC_0__?productId=1068625&Ntt=flush+triming+router+bit&pl=1&currentURL=%3FNtt%3Dflush%2Btriming%2Brouter%2Bbit&facetInfo=

Set your router bit to where the bearing will be inline with your template piece and the blades will only hit the bottom.. like this

All you have to do now is rout out your design. your top template piece acts like the fence.  I even thought ahead and filmed adam doing it for you :) I know your so excited to watch. but hey for the visual learners out there... I appreciate stuff like this. 

This made it so much quicker to make our shelfs.. I also recommend when you go to cut them get your table saw measurement right for the width cut all your width pieces so they are the same.. then do you length.. that way they should all match.. there are two on bottom and an additional shelf.. 

Another idea I had was I wanted to get kinley a mixer. So I headed to walmart and found this beauty.. lol cheap much.. but something amazing can happen with just a change of color.. 

before

after!!! doesnt it look so much better.. i just bought a pink spray paint..

one last thing to make the doors on the fridge appear like there are 4 instead of two..  we set the table saw blade really low and ran the door over it to make a small groove... 

cost break down and supplies list

Stove grates                                4@ 6.86         27.44

Stove knobs                                4@                                                  15.97

Oven Knob                                 1@                                                    6.99
Freezer thermometer                  1@                                                  12.99

Clock                                          1@12.99(40 percent off)                 7.79

Faucet                                         1@                                                  18.46

Sink                                            1@                                                  13.86

Handles                                      6@3.97                                           23.82

Knob                                          1@                                                    1.86

Blender                                      1@                                                   15.55 

Pots and pans set                       1@                                                   24.99

Mdf                                            3@ 33.67                                        101.01                                  

oven shelves (walmart)             2@                                                       6.99

hinges                                      10@2.38                                              20.38     

Paint                                        10@4.98                                              49.80
paint                                          2@3.76                                                 7.52

                                                                                                             327.98


so there it is.. you could of course save more buy going cheaper on some of the accessories but for basically 1/2 less than what it would cost at pottery barn we love it!



WE worked very hard on this! Be sure to share, facebook it pin it ect.. we would appreciate it.. Also we love to hear feedback on the things we do or any ideas you  might have to make them better! Thanks so much!

LINK UPS:

http://www.tipjunkie.com/post/handmade-projects-add-yours-1-21/

Pottery Barn kids retro kitchen diy plans

build your own pottery barn kids kitchen

Our daughters birthday is approaching fast and........ I fell in love with the pottery barn kids kitchen. No way no how am I spending 700 dollars though. So I drew up some plans to build our own. I figured I'd share for those of you who are handy and dont have the money to spend on pottery barn priced items..

These are designed to be built out of mdf. The same thing the pottery barn ones are made out of.  Using the Kregjig system to assemble.

We are in the process of building ours so I should have finished photos up soon, along with links and info on where I got the little accessories to finish out the build.

Quick tips: To mimic metal make sure you sand down all the sharp edges some. Some we even used a router. 

Fridge 

Fridge build assembly step 1. 

Start by assembling the tops bottom and sides. If you don't want to dado your shelves you can just cut to the inside measurement and kreg jig your shelves in place. 

tip: place your  kreg joints toward in inside and bottom so they are hidden. 

Next slide your shelves in or kreg jig in place. 

attach your back

Install your doors with hinges on left side. 

Tip: to mimic the roundness of metal we used a 1/2 round over bit and did a half bullnose on the door edges. 

Stove 

Start with the stove back. Start by cutting your rectangle then draw out your curved top and cut it out with a jig saw. 

Next attach your sided and middle divider. 

add your shelves.. in the smaller space our drill wouldn't fit to attach our kreg screws you can try a right angle drill or my husband used a ratchet and hand tightened.

Add front trim pieces. We routed the outter edges to mimic pottery barns.. 

Add top and bottom trim pieces.. 

add stove top. Cut your circles to fit your burners..

lastly add your doors. You will have to cut them a little smaller than what is written to allow for closure. Then  make sure you inset your hinges some. 

Sink

Start with back. then attach sides. Nest attach bottom.  We cut a design out on the left side bottom the same as the front bottom profile. see photos later down. 

add in your shelf. 

add your front trim pieces these can be glued and nailed in place. 

this parts a little more tricky follow the measurements and cut out your profile on a template..save your template to make your other shelves and tops. If you cant do the rounded edge you can always do them square. Just looks more retro with the rounded edge. 

add your top and bottom trim. 

add your top you can keep the same profile just add an inch to the back and to the side.

Add your doors. inset your hinges.. 

add your backsplash. first cut a rectangle then cut out your design. 

cut your sink to what ever size you have for the insert. 

whooooo your all done! 

paint and other tips will be covered in reveal post.