New Kitchen Table

This was by far the most time consuming project I've worked on.  I'm embarrassed at how long it took me to complete it.  Last year, Kim and I decided that instead of doing anything for one another for our anniversary, we would get wood instead to build a table.  I got a lot of the work completed in the fall but the weather got cold and stayed cold...and cold...and cold.  During the cold time I couldn't stain or polyurethane because the garage isn't heated or cooled.  Finally, after it warmed up, I finished the project and it's awesome having a table this big!

Here it is after stain

Nice and shiny after the polyurethane.

There it is in the house

Kim had one major request with this project and that was for the benches to have storage.  I won't tell you how long I just stood in the garage staring at these benches like an idiot trying to figure out how to make it work while hiding the hinges and keeping the seat flush.  I finally ended up using my router to trim out an area on the inside of the seat and outside of the bench apron.  Worked like a charm.

It's not the most elegant or extravagant table ever built, but as an amateur wood worker, I have to say I was pretty pleased with the results!  

Elise having her first meal at the new table.  This is the reason we wanted to build it.  It's super easy to get caught up eating on the go and gathering around the tv to eat.  We do it ourselves pretty often.  But, we at least wanted to have a nice big family table to sit at and enjoy some meals together as our kid(s) grow older. It's not that we couldn't have done it with the old table.  But, it was small and this is something that we (Kim and I) made.  Without going into all the details, the table top is poplar wood planks.  I used a Kreg jig to drill pocket holes and Kim helped with that part as well as helping me screw and glue the planks together.  In fact, she was there when I was trimming the table top and accidentally sawed a small divot into it with my skil saw.  I was using an attachment on my saw to make straight cuts and it blocked the guard from automatically coming back down.  I set the saw on the table when I was done thinking the guard was down, but it wasn't.  I was devastated.  Kim told me it was like having my signature in the table.  That it was.  I added putty and it looks like a small imperfection that makes it our own.  And we'll remember things like that over the years as we sit at the table.

New Youth Room!

The youth room upstairs in the gym was in desperate need of a redoing.  We were using an old stand up projector screen that got in the way more than anything.  Our projector never worked.  Our sound system got abused from people coming in and messing with it.  Plus, it just looked cluttered and messy.  So, we did some renovations starting with Mark getting a new projector for us.

Here is the final result.

I hung the projector on a 2x4 mounted between the 5' spaced purlins (which are like the metal version of a stud that I didn't know until this project).  Then, I ran the cables down the ceiling line and down the wall to outlets with HDMI and VGA access.  Our current projector doesn't support HDMI but I didn't want to have to rerun another cable if we ever got a projector that did.

To mount the screen, I had to attach 2x4s on two sections of wall and then attach the screen to those.  It worked out just fine.

I built and mounted shelves to set the speakers in the corners and ran the cables to them.  That way when we need the speakers down, the cables stay and it's easy reconnecting.

This is the sound box I built and equipped it with a latch to lock it.  I also built a shelf on the side for my PC when I'm running powerpoint.  I put a shelf on the bottom for a little extra storage.  And I attached wheels in case we need it to be mobile.

New Decor Upstairs

We recently redecorated the upstairs area and the stairs and the stairwell!  It was a long and intense process, but we got it all done.  Here are some pics.

We started by redoing the floor.  It used to be carpet, but with the dogs, it's hard to keep carpet clean.  so, we got some laminate flooring and laid it.  I pulled up all the carpet on a Thursday evening and Mark came over on Friday and Saturday and helped me lay down the laminate.  That's the first time I had ever done it (and Mark's second) but I'd say we did a pretty good job.

Our next step was Kim painting.  She did it over just a few days but hoofed it and got it done.  She did an awesome job making it a kid friendly room!  She also painted all the trim white which really made it look better.

 Here is a decoration Kim did with Elise's basketball "jersey" from the league this year.  We put it on the wall in her play area.

Kim painted the steps as well and they turned out awesome.  All different colors and numbered 1-10.  Elise loves climbing up them.

She also painted the stairwell which really brightened it up.  It used to be dark brown paneling.  This livens it up.

Here is the new fabric Kim put over the closet doors in the play area.  The doors themselves are pretty ratty.  This gives them a little more pizazz.

I built this shelf and Kim painted the frames white and we added our little family picture and trophy section from the basketball leagues.

Kim used the same fabric from the closet doors to make this valence with stitch witchery.

Easel

This is an easel I made for Landen.  Kevin and Alicia said he was wanting something they could set his whiteboard on that they could adjust as he got taller.  This is what I came up with.  I just ripped some 2x4s to one inch strips.  Then, cut my angles and started patching it together.

They had given me these furniture legs to use as supports for the whiteboard, but the original screw in it was way too short to fit through the one inch board.  So, I went over to Wagner's and he gave me some longer ones.  I pulled out the old screws, put the new ones in, and attached wing nuts.  

Crafty

Recently, Kim got the idea of putting Gracie and Sammie's names on the stove using wooden letters.  So, we  got some letters and Kim put scrapbook paper on the big ones and painted the small ones.  Then, she put magnets on the back of them.  I thought they turned out awesome! 

She also put together a shadow box with some of Elise's things.  She did a great job on it as well!

4th of July Float

I thought the 4th of July float turned out really good this year considering we lost a few days of working on it due to power outages.  Our theme was "Don't waste your sports" as we were advertising our basketball camp this month.  Here are some pics.

The goals are actually perfectly to scale in every way that was possible.  They are 72"x42".  The rim is actually a few inches higher than it should be, but the only reason I did that was because originally we planned on having them sit on the float floor itself and I didn't want the nets just sitting on the floor.    

Side view.

The rim is made out of pex piping with a PVC coupling.  It's as close to 18" in diameter as I could get them.  When I got them painted, I used them to draw my arch on the wood and then cut it.  I attached the pipe with screws.  Then, I had a 2x4 base to attach it to the goals.

 

Kim did the signs and as always did an awesome job!

Here is the finished product!  On the float it Katie Caldwell, Xander Fisher, Evan Eaton, and Julianna Eaton.  

Big thanks to Doug Hunter for pulling the float this year!  Also, thanks to everyone who helped stuff the napkins!!  That's always the hardest part.  

Cool Baby, Martin House, and Bird House

Some pics from our big day outside..

We put her sunglasses on to protect her eyes and we thought for a minute that maybe she didn't like them.  So, we pulled them off and she started squinting some kind of terrible so we threw them back on and she never fussed.

Cool baby with her mom 

We got the Martin house up!  Yesterday, I put the bottom of the three tier pole in the ground and put in concrete and leveled it.  Then, today I went out and put up the house.  It looks pretty awesome out in the yard.

Here is "Mama Bird" feeding her babies.  Kim named her Mama Bird.  I put this bird house up at the beginning of Spring, and within a week we had a bird with a nest already made.  Mama Bird's babies hatched recently and we've been watching her take food to them.  Every time she shows up with a bite, you can here the babies chirping like crazy.  I was able to snap the next two pictures today while she was feeding them a worm.

Puzzles

Kim and I both enjoy doing puzzles.  It would be nice to have more time to do them, but of course it's difficult.  Even so, we finished the top puzzle about a week ago.  We had a couple of others glued as well and just sitting upstairs but they weren't glued very well anyways.  Before, I had used those small bottles of puzzle glue that had tiny brushes to complete an entire puzzle which was horribly time consuming.  They also went on clear which made it hard to see what you had already covered.  On this last puzzle, we used Mod Podge and it worked wonders.  The lid is huge and I was able to fit a whole sponge brush in and get the puzzle done quickly.  It also went on white so I could see what I had covered, but it dried clear and glossy.  So, using the Mod Podge was a huge success.  I even went back over the older two puzzles as well to fix them up.

The next issue was wanting to put them around the room, but fearing the expense of frames.  So, I grabbed a 2x4 from the garage and ripped it to maybe half an inch or so, mitered the corners, and stuck a few frames together.  They actually turned out better than I expected.  Then, I just stapled the puzzles to the backs of the frames.  I'm not, however, a great photographer.  The pictures make the frames look a little unlevel, but they actually sit flush with one another across the walls.

Book Shelf Finished!

Here are a few pictures of the finished product.  I thought Kim did a good job of making everything look good on it.  She painted it as well.  My painting skills are not quite up to par.