Built-In Bench

Two weeks ago, Matt and I went down to my sister's house to build her a built in bench. My sister found exactly what she wanted on THIS blog. We pretty much copied that tutorial, so just refer to that blog post if you want to see more in depth photos and explanations.

Here is the space before:

The construction process:

Matt built a frame out of 2x4's.

Then he cut the bench top out of 3/4" MDF.

He attached the 2x4 frame to the wall by screwing grabber screws into the wall studs. He attached the bench top to the frame with special screws that drill deep enough into the MDF that you can patch the hole (I'm not sure of the proper name for them.)

Then he added some board and batten and added trim to the front.

The shelf at the top is about 7 inches deep. Just deep enough to display some cute holiday decor...

My sister spent the next few days patching holes, sanding, and caulking.

Then she painted and added some hooks!

It turned out awesome! Now she just needs some cute pillows and the shelf decorated.

DIY Bathroom Vanity

I really don't have plans for this vanity Matt built. He designed it and built it as he went. I did find a few other tutorials/blogs that is the basis for our vanity. Go HERE and HERE to see what I am talking about.

Here are a few detailed pictures to look at. Maybe you can see what Matt did and go off and build your own...

We moved the vanity into the bathroom to make sure it fit. I kinda liked the lighter wood, but we decided that it needed to be darker. So after sanding it down we stained it. We also stained the butcher block counter top.

He attached the vanity to the wall by drilling screws through it into the studs. Since there is a gap between the vanity and the wall (the baseboards caused this) he had to add a board between the two.

We attached the butcher block counter top to the vanity by using four brackets, two on each end.

As you can see, we used nice metal piping under the sink.

I love how it turned out!

We spent $80 for the Butcher Block and maybe $80 for the vanity lumber.

Vanity Measurements:
Width: 57.5"
Depth: 25.5"
Height: 32.5"

Pottery Barn Knockoff- Flag Table Runner

On the Pottery Barn website, I spotted THIS table runner. I instantly fell in love with it. But the price tag made me gasp... I noticed that PB sells a pack of four navy blue and stars dinner napkins. Instead of buying them from PB, I went to Ebay and found the same pack of napkins for $22. I bought them immediately.

Supplies:
-Pottery Barn Patriotic Napkins
-1 yard white and red stripe fabric (I got mine at Joann's)

First thing you need to do is pick the stitching out of the napkins. Then trim the edges to the size desired. I cut mine to 19" x 22".

Cut the striped fabric to the size desired. I cut mine to 19" x 36".

Pin right sides together and sew it together.

Next, fold a 1/4" hem on each side and iron it.

Then sew the hem. I used matching thread on each fabric section.

So cute and it only cost $10.00!

Here is a smaller print of the Pledge of Allegiance Chalkart that is for sale in my Esty Shop.

I also decorated my shelf for July 4th. I really love the little wreath. I bought it for $1 at a thrift store.

Pledge of Allegiance Chalkart

I really love chalkart. I don't know why, but I do. For my boutique a few weeks ago, I designed a chalkart piece to sell in the show and for me to decorate my house for the July 4th holiday.

I really wanted a chalkart piece that was patriotic. I looked around the internet, but found nothing that I liked. So I set out to design my own. But before I could do that, I had to learn how to use Photoshop. Since my husband is a Photoshop pro, he showed me the basics, and after playing around with the program for a while, I got the hang of it and designed this Pledge of Allegiance.

I then submitted the file to Staples.com to be printed as a black and white 18" x 24" engineer print. It only cost about $2 to have it printed. Go HERE if you are interested in this service.

Just a hint, do not select the next day printing. It cost $5 and is not necessary. I have always submitted my prints the night before and they have always been ready for pickup by noon the next day.

As soon as you get the print back, trim the white margins off the print. I used my rotary mat and cutter to make sure I cut the sides nice and straight.

Next, cut a piece of 1/2" MDF to fit the size of your print.

After cutting the MDF, sand the edges, then paint a black 1" stripe around the front of the board. You need to also paint the sides.

After the paint is dry, spray the front of the MDF with spray adhesive. Make sure you coat it evenly. On a smaller print of this, I tried to use Modge Podge. It was a disaster. You can try it if you want, but I found that spray adhesive works just as well.

Next, carefully lay the print on the MDF board and smooth it down.

To add some cuteness to the board, I added some lathe slats to frame the print. I painted the slats red, let them dry then nailed them to the MDF.

So cute!

God Bless America!

If you want a make this project, you can purchase a digital copy of the Pledge of Allegiance Chalkart in my Etsy shop for $5.00!

Basement Bathroom Reveal

It's done! The basement bathroom is finally completed!!! We started this project back in November and have worked on it here and there for the past five months. This morning we added the finishing touches and now it's ready to show off!

SOURCES:
-Lighting- Home Depot
-Mirror- Home Depot
-Tile Floor and Shower Walls- go HERE to read more about it.
-Sink- Amazon.com
-Faucet- Amazon.com
-Drain- Amazon.com
-Vanity- custom built by Matt. I will do a post about it later.
-Butcher Block- Ikea
-Tub- Lowe's
-Shower Curtain- Ross
-Shower Curtain Rod- Home Depot
-Shower Fixtures- Home Depot
-Shower Light/Fan- Home Depot
-Toilet- Home Depot
-Bathroom Door- Stock Building Supply- You cannot walk into Home Depot or Lowes to buy this door, you have to special order it. It costs around $100 and it takes about a month to get it. If you go to Stock Building Supply its cheaper ($72) and you can get it within a week.
-Door Knob- Home Depot

Garden Box Sprinkler System

Last year, our garden turned into a disaster. The boxes were great, but the plants did not do so well. Since I had to water the plants by hand, they ended up not getting enough water, so most of the plants died and the only thing I really got was a million cherry tomatoes. This year, I told Matt that I needed a watering system connected to our secondary water. He was kinda peeved because he suggested that we add a sprinkler/drip system way back when we built the garden, but I knew better and said, "I'll water by hand, its better for the plants..." Needless to say I was wrong and he was right.

Matt was a trooper. He dug trenches (he despises digging trenches, he still has PTSD from digging trenches for our sprinkers) and connected the PVC pipe into our existing secondary sprinkler system.

We based our system on this article Matt found on the USU Extension website. Go HERE to read it. Every four inches he drilled a 1/16 hole into the PVC pipe.

Every three feet, he drilled a drainage hole on the bottom of the pipe.

Matt glued some end caps on the end of the pipes. Or you could add another length of pipe and connect it by elbows to make a square. My mom did her system like that.

Using some pipe, elbows, tees, and a connecter thing (it allows us to be able to disconnect the pipe) he created our garden box sprinkler system.

Matt then glued all the pipes together. He wished he attached more connecter pieces instead of permanently attaching everything. This way the connecter pieces would allow us to adjust and twist the pipe to better aim the water.

This picture was taken before Matt added a valve that would allow us to turn the pressure down. When it waters now, the water doesn't shoot so high in the air.

I spent an afternoon planting corn, pumpkins, cucumbers, tomatoes, basil, watermelon, and pepper. I have one box dedicated for strawberries.

We still have a lot of work to do to finish the garden area. We need to finish a cement boarder, lay more weed guard down (the weed guard we laid last year pretty much disintegrated) and then add some pea gravel. I'm just glad we got this major part done so we can actually grow things!