Built from scratch....

Brace Yourself:

We built a bed.
From Scratch.

Can you believe it? I hardly can! I have been stalking this blog for awhile called Knock Off Wood. You have to go visit this site! It is a woman, Ana, whose passion is carpentry (self taught) and she comes up with knock off plans that match the high dollar pottery barn, crate & barrel, etc furniture for next to nothing compared to the real deal. She gives the plans for free & loves to compare the finished peices to the real deal. Our specific plan for this bed was called the farmhouse bed with an arch... you can view it here if you are interested! What would have cost us literally thousands from pottery barn, we were able to build ourselves for $150- total. That includes screws, wood putty, wood, wood glue, nails, etc. ALL for $150. And it looks fabulous! We started with all this wood....
We borrowed Randy's brother's miter saw because his had a laser & would make a bigger cut than his. So then, Randy gave me a "miter saw tutorial." I have to admit, at first just the noise was intimidating. But once i did one cut & saw how easy it was, i insisted on making all the rest of the cuts! It was empowering!! Yep- that's me working a POWER TOOL! It was quite easy, actually. Knock off Wood's plans made it simple. She laid out all the cuts you needed to make & labeled them with a letter so that the plan to put them together worked just like a puzzle. First off choose the right size wood piece (i know way too much about cuts of wood at this point...2x4, 2x6, 1x6, etc....) and label your board.... (by the way, if you wanted, the home improvement store will cut your peices for you for a minimal price per cut if you didn't have a saw)Then measure your length.....
and line up the laser on the miter saw- slightly to the right of the mark (according to carpenter Randy) for a more accurate measurement...Then, (if you want to be organized about this whole affair) stack your like pieces together (all A's together, B's together, etc....)

Then you get out your nail gun & wood glue & get to work! The only hang up we had with this project was the 4x4 posts. Lowes didn't have any 4x4's that weren't treated. So, we made 4x4s out of (2) 2x4's. But this was a lengthy process. It took Randy the entire time it took me to make ALL the cuts for the project just to make 4 bed posts. First he ran each 2x4 over the joiner (for a more flush connection between the 2 boards... Then, he glued & screwed the 2x4's together (countersinking the screws so we could putty over them later & you wouldn't see them). Then he ran them over the joiner a second time... Here is the difference in how they looked before....
and after.... (see? You can't really tell that they were glued together! Perfect! And after finishing the piece of furniture, you really can't tell at all!) I have such a smart hubby!



And what were the kids doing while we were working??? Well, They played a lot in the garage with us while we worked AND covered their ears when we had to work any power tools!
Anyway..back to the project! We took each panel piece for the headboard & footboard & chiseled off a little on the sides to give it more of a finished edge before attaching the piece.
When we attached... we used wood glue first & then the nail gun to secure it immediately. This is the beginning of our headboard!
The arch to the headboard was "free form!" Randy drew out one half with a pencil, then cut it out...
And he used the first half for a template for the second half to make sure the arch was even. Again.. SMART hubby!
Proud of the arch!!!
Then we used the nail gun & some more wood glue to attach the arch & the bottom of the panel. Again, that's ME with a another power tool. I LOVED the nail gun!
Here's another look at the headboard in progress....
We had to predrill some holes on the 4x4 posts in order to attach them to the headboard & foot board panels.... I don't love the screw driver as much. I used it a little, but mainly left that to Randy!

Here is the finished headboard!! (Jackson took this picture for us!)
After this, we moved onto the footboard & completed it just the same as the headboard minus the arch. Then attached the side rails & cleats. We decided we had better check to make sure our bed fit it properly before doing any sanding/finishing stuff. So, we moved our box spring down to the garage for a few minutes just to be sure!!
Once we knew it would fit, we puttied all the screw and nail holes and sanded....
Then we painted it an antique white that we scored off the return paint section at Lowes awhile back. ($5!!). After that i painted on a faux glaze.....
And then wiped it off... can you see the difference? It makes it have a much more "aged" look to it. I loved it!

Once it dried.... we hauled it upstairs & set it up!! Isn't it fabulous? I don't think i've ever been so proud of a project (or loved it so much!!)


We are going to paint the walls eventually, but for now, i am totally pleased!! It is a MUCH higher sitting bed now, which i have always loved. Jackson had to give Eli a lift up there! And you see who else was working on getting up there too....

Don't worry, Zack got his turn to try it out too...


He even got to stay there until bedtime! Lucky dog!

Sgt. Jackson

I told Jackson he could have a small "family" party this year for his birthday and since he has been telling us he wants to be a police officer when he grows up, i asked him if he wanted a police theme. He was thrilled. And then my troubles began...
Because i couldn't find anything "police" at the party supply store. Don't panic, i thought... because i can always work with a color scheme for the most part as long as i can come up with a few ideas. So i got to work on the ideas. I knew i was going to make some placemats for the kids to take home with them (have them laminated) & i knew that Jackson wanted the pioneer womans' pound cake (as long as i put sprinkles on it). And let me tell you- you want to make this cake. It is DIVINE. It is well worth the 3 sticks of butter that goes into it (among many other bad for you things!!) That was about all i knew in terms of planning. So, I searched online for ideas & came up with a few more ideas, but i couldn't find any of them (badges, police matchbox cars, etc).... It was very frustrating. I went to several stores looking for police cars, & finally found them at Walmart after DIGGING through tons & then again at my second trip to Target. I used them as favors. Here are how the favors turned out..... I called my local police station & asked for any goodies they might have & they hooked me up!! (great idea Rands!!)The only thing i bought to go in each one was the police matchbox car & a water gun. The police station provided the cup, pencil, ruler, pen, & a coloring book. Pretty awesome!Here is how the kids table turned out... The red cups were "respresentative" of sirens. I doubt the kids got that... but i did & it's all in the planning, people. All in the planning!Each kid had their own placemat & sheriff badge (closest i could find to an actual officer badge) that i hot glued a pin on about 5 minutes before the party!Jackson loved being sung to this year....Mmmmm... it's good, Mama....
Then we played "rook the crook" which was a scavenger game to find the hidden presents that Rook the Crook had taken. Here they are getting their first clue...Jackson opening gifts..... and yes, Eli's shirt is on backwards but he refused to wear it right since he did it himself & i have chosen to pick my battles. (proud of me?)

And speaking of Eli, about 10 seconds after this picture was snapped... He got going on a coughing fit & "tossed his cookies." Or should i say... tossed his blue kool-aid all over my carpet. And i was so proud of myself for going with the blue kool-aid despite my reservations of potential major stains in the new carpet. Oh well... we know how to throw a party don't we??

Our first report card!

When Jackson went back to school after the snow- he not only had to go back on his birthday, but he got sent home with his first official report card. The first nine weeks, they have a parent teacher conference, so the second 9 weeks was the first official card. I am pleased to report his progress...
All "S" and "S+"! He got 2 S+ in the only areas you can get them apparently- math & language arts. This means he "exceeds expectations" in this area! Way to go Jackson! And i just had to take a picture of the sweet note the teacher added to the card....
He is a "sweet & polite young man!" I have to say that for all the fuss Jackson gives me, he never has gotten in trouble at school- even in pre-k. I have always gotten positive responses about how sweet & polite he is. This is thrilling because i would rather him save the heartache for me than to give his teachers a fit!

I am so proud of him!!

Valentine Crafts...

I found some really cute ideas for valentines day on several craft blogs that i stumbled upon. One of them was this idea....They are heart shaped crayons! The idea was to use old broken crayons to melt down but just before Christmas, i cleaned out all the broken crayons in anticipation of new ones for gifts (typical, i know!). But anyway- i just bought a box of crayons, we peeled the paper off & then i chopped the crayons up on a cutting board. Then the kids filled in a heart shaped silicone ice cube tray i bought at Target for 2.50 in the dollar spot (for a 2 pk). Since they are silicone, i knew i could bake them. After they were filled in, we just baked them at 200 degrees for 20 minutes. After they cooled completely, we took them out & voila! So cute! I mainly made these for Eli's class at preschool, but we decided to make extras for all of their bible class friends.

Eli's valentines read, "You color my World, Valentine."

And Jackson's read "Be my valentine for "crayon" out loud!"And i will tell you in case you ever want to make these- if you want a little sparkle- add a few "glitter" crayons. They add a great sparkle!

I also picked up a pair of socks for each of the kids teachers. Target now has a separate sock section over with the actual socks, that has all pairs for $1. I found some that were "valentine colors" but not actually valentines with hearts (so they can wear them year round). I just figured that this would be a nicer thing to receive other than more candy from all the kids. And then i saw online where someone had added a little note to a pair of socks that read "We make a great pair." I was immediately sold! So here are the valentines to the teachers....

Will you be mine??

During our snow-in, we decided to get started a little early on valentines. Jackson had 21 kids in his class, so i figured that signing & labeling 21 valentines, plus stuffing them into envelopes would be quite a process. Plus i had other ideas in mind for Eli's class of 6 kids & the kids in both their bible classes. So, we started early this year!

Jackson was totally into it! He apparently has an admirer at school & he admires her as well. Her name is Kaitlynd & she is a brunette. The only reason this surprises me is because every girl he says is his "girlfriend" has always been blonde. I just figured he liked blondies, but apparently, his taste is varied! Anyway, with each valentine, he would say, "i am going to sign this one real neat because it is for so & so....." It was really sweet.I found a bargain at Michaels this year & was really excited. I am sure that next year this will be a no-go with Jackson because he will have his own ideas, but this year, he was thrilled. Instead of buying a valentine kit, i bought these.... A little girlie, yes- BUT Valentines day is one of those holidays that i think he can get away with it (at least this year in Kindergarten!)

They were marked .69c, & i thought, "surely not." I mean there were 12 in a pack. So, i had the woman scan them & sure enough, they were .69cents. So i bought 2 packs for $1.38 total! They are just little cards & they were the perfect size to put a candy on the inside & sign. I actually bought 4 (all the designs) & let Jackson choose 2. Then i gave the others to Emma in case she wanted to use them since they were so cheap. (And did i mention, cute?)

Jackson finished them all in one night & immediately wanted to know if we got to keep the extra candy!
And is this not the sweetest signature ever??
He was proud & very excited to hand out the valentines!
And when he was grinning so big at me, i noticed this (brace yourself, Nanny, i know the mouth isn't your thing - mine either!!) His new tooth is already coming in! And this was 2 weeks ago, so now it is already halfway in!!
Happy Belated Valentines Day everyone! Stay tuned for another post on the "other ideas" i had in mind for bible class kids, & the teachers at school....