I can not believe how fast this year has sped by… my boys have grown so much; I’ve had such fun building and crafting and blogging!

I started the year with a master bath makeover which I did during the New Year’s Eve weekend… (only 5 months pregnant at the time) seems like an eon ago and just yesterday all at once (isn’t that weird?)

 

Master Bath Makeover: my favorite mini remodel and the biggest bang for the buck of the year.

 

Then I tackled faux board and batten wainscoting with a cute little picture ledge and shaker pegs in what would become the new baby’s nursery.

Nursery with wainscoting, picture ledge, and shaker pegs.  A lot of love, refinishing and little craft projects went into this room for my Little Man.

 

A very popular post (which was a surprise): my pegboard book for tools. 

Guess y’all like practical tool storage (me too ;)

 

Little Man was born on April 20.  He’s been the best blessing of the year…  can you believe he can stand by himself already at 8 months!

 

I want to make a dozen more of this tripod lamp – a personal favorite of mine!

 

I am still in love with my curtain headboard.  I also love hearing from those of you who’ve done this in your home!

 

I’m glad to have inspired some guest post love with my Pottery Barn Armillary KnockOff (the metal version was popular too).

 

Another crazy popular one – Easy DIY Drawers.  Since I made these I have bought the supplies for a dozen more, but haven’t had the time (yet – which is weird because it was a pretty quick project).  I plan to build drawers like this in the garage and in my son’s bedroom (and maybe the playroom and under the kitchen sink too ;)

 

My Built-In Bookcase was a HUGE project that literally took months (working in 10 minute shifts ;)

It still has a small section of crown molding waiting to be nailed up, but it’s pretty close to done.  I’ve added some lighting, and I want to build a library ladder and cabinet doors (I suppose I should share it’s current state with you… can you wait til next week?)

 

 

That was the tip of the iceberg (it’s been a busy year!!!), but there just isn’t time to list everything that I have so enjoyed making and sharing with you… sigh.

 

Finally, I want to give huge props to those ladies who’ve been the biggest source of traffic to my site.  Whether it was a linky party, a feature, or a guest post I did – these gals have been more than friendly, supportive bloggers – they’ve been fantastic friends!

 

Someday Crafts

Tatertots and Jello

Just A Girl

Between Naps on the Porch

The DIY Showoff

Funky Junk Interiors

Shanty2Chic

 

And last but not least – I truly appreciate all my followers- thanks for making this year so special!

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I am so excited to share my new Recycling Center with you!

It wasn’t much to build because I used an Ikea shelving system I already owned (but am so over that knotty pine).

The biggest impact comes from the addition of some lattice wood, which is cheap and easy to use!  I love the difference it makes!


What I had:
IKEA Husar shelf and drawer unit
antique drawer pulls (10 for $3 at the thrift store)
pocket jig and screws (optional)


What I bought:
~30 feet lattice strips (~1.3” wide)
1x8 pine lumber
1x4 pine lumber
hinges
hinge supports
Minwax Bombay Mahogany PolyShades stain


The Husar is discontinued (and I really miss it – decent solid wood products do not seem to interest Ikea much these days), but you may be able to find something second-hand.


I removed the drawers and shelves and firmly screwed the two units together.

Then I just started putting on the lattice – which was pretty fun.   This stuff is easy to cut and just needs a little glue or small brad nails. 

Attach strips of lattice to the sides with wood glue (I used Gorilla Glue) and clamp or nail.

I also put strips across the front and sides where the drawer unit meets with the shelves, and around the drawer fronts.

I don’t have pictures, but I built a new top out of a 1x8 and 1x4 lumber screwed onto the old top.  I cut a bevel edge with the table saw for looks.
The footer was cut out of 1x4 with a jigsaw and screwed on from below.


The hardest part… adding a divider and building the doors out of the old shelves.  Here’s where my pocket screw jig came in handy…

used pocket screws to attach the divider inside the shelf unit.


The shelves that I removed from the unit weren’t wide enough, so I screwed a narrow strip of lumber to one side (with – what else - pocket screws!)

They received the same lattice treatment and stain.

The antique pulls from the thrift store were a serious score! I just needed to drill holes in the doors for them.

Attached the doors to the cabinet with some hinges at the bottom.

Added a single hinge support to each door.  These will keep the door in whatever position you place it in and helps to hold it shut too. 
 

I put a simple double-roller latch in each door also, but probably didn’t need to (well, I’ve got toddlers, so maybe I did need to).   


I love it!  The red tone of the stain goes well with my kitchen (I am thinking a third coat so it’s really dark – and maybe that’ll even it out too?).

Storage and (finally!) a place for recyclables and trash!  What’s not to love!

I’m taking the rest of the week off for Christmas!  Hope you all have a great holiday weekend!

I'm linking this post with

Shabby Chic Cottage's Transformation ThursdayDIY ShowOff's Inspired to OrganizeFunky Junk's Saturday Night SpecialShanty2Chic's I Made It Without My Hubby

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I used Fireflies and Jellybeans’ Vintage Photo Gift Tag tutorial to make these cool and personalized tags for my family.

Since I have a love of genealogy, these tags were printed off with scanned images from real vintage photos of my family’s ancestors…

so I didn’t need to turn them black&white or change the contrast… they already look old because they are!

How cool an idea is this!

 

Thanks Fawnda!!!  I loved this idea like you can’t imagine.

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I love Shanty2Chic’s easy photo displays! 

I wanted to make some for Christmas presents, but I didn’t have a piece of 2x8 lumber…  so what’s a girl to do?

I did have some of these left-over pieces of beadboard though…. hmmm….

So, I made some easy photo display gifts (a la Shanty2Chic) with my own twist… beadboard!

The beadboard gets an aged look with some Ralph Lauren Glaze in Smoke applied thinly with a brush.

I sawed a small piece of scrap 1x4 at a shallow angle (just eyeballed it) for holding the beadboard… and nailed in on the bottom.

I hammered some upholstery nails on the bottom to hide the ugly nails ;)

Hot glued a scrap piece of cap molding (spray painted Heirloom White) along the top,

hot glued a mini clothespin on the top,

covered the base with scrap paper.

It was pretty quick and definitely painless… until I have to give it away.

Maybe I’ll make one to keep!

That’s my precious baby up there… I really love this photo display!!!   

 

Finally, here’s a sneak peak of an Ikea furniture transformation I’m working on.

Can’t wait to show you!

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Here’s my Christmas Village – the kids love it!

This year I tried something different and put it behind the sofa instead of on the side table in the dining room.

Also, I do not like to have my village sit all flat on the tabletop, so I put some of the packing material under it.

In the past I’ve used vintage tableclothes (very pretty, but they were a little too yellow).  Now I use cheap IKEA sheer curtains.

All the cords run under the sheers in back.  It takes some work, but I’ve got room for (almost) everything.

Pretty cool for a little spot behind the sofa… now where will we put the remote?!?

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