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Category: crafty creations

  • Playhouse- Part II

    We decided to make the frame for the house in the garage and then attach each wall.  We knew once we had this done, that we would need to then put the sides and roof on quickly.  Here is the frame completed and on the deck.  I realized after it was put together that I did not take any pictures.  But that is ok…because in the next few weeks I will have a chance to take them step-by-step…and will explain in a later post.  😉

    The boards on the top are making sure the 4x4s stay straight and in place while we work on building the house around it.

    Part I
    Part II
    Part III
    Part IV
    Final

  • Playhouse- Part I

    I follow way too many blogs to even talk about…but this one in particular is AWESOME!  It is called Knock Off Wood.  It is a lady in Alaska that spends time designing and making furniture that looks like something you would buy from Pottery Barn.  She posted plans for a playhouse a couple weeks ago, so Wade and I decided it was time to start rebuilding ours that we tore down last year.  With our teeny-tiny backyard and VERY unlevel ground, we started working.

    We built the frame first so that we could square it up and use it as a template for the 4 posts.

    Next we put the posts in the ground then leveled the template and put the bolts in it through the 4 posts.  The girls were very helpful during this part.

    Sydney helped Wade hold down the wood as he cut the pieces.  Stacey, well I don’t know what she was doing.

    Then we added the underneath supports for the deck.

    That is when I got to go to work on the deck.  Notice how the girls have a hammer and crowbar???

    Here are the girls just before the storm in the background moved through.  We had most of the deck finished…we just had to rip 3 boards for the ends and middle.

    Part I
    Part II
    Part III
    Part IV
    Final

  • The NEW Art Room

    Isn’t it funny how it took only 2 hours to empty a room but it took over 2 days to put it back?

    We have been painting and installing laminate flooring.  I am not sure why we decided to do it at the end of the summer/beginning of the school year…it is not like that is the BUSIEST time of the year (except for maybe Christmas)!!!

    I have been dreading the day.

    I swore that when we moved into the house, I would not move the art room until we moved out.  The shelves were NOT easy to put together…and well…I have an art room most people would be jealous of.  It is the one room in the house that I am overly anal about.  And as Wade says…I have a container fetish.

    First, a little history behind the room.

    The day we signed on our house and got the keys, I drove over and ripped up the carpet in the study and painted the floor.  I had asked that they not even lay carpet in the room, but since the builder owned the house until we signed on it, they refused.  So we have lived for the last 3 years with a rust colored, painted floor in the front room of our house.  Pretty tacky when you walk in the door.  Wade insisted on putting doors to the room so he could close it up so no one had to look at it.  In hind sight…that was a good call.

    Here are the before pictures.  I am not sure why I do not have a whole room picture.

    But the time has come.

    We started in the back of the house laying floor and worked our way up to the front room.  There is only about 300 feet of laminate left to lay.  We cannot do it without taking apart the art room. 🙁

    And apart the room came.  I had to put stuff in 5 different rooms to get it all out of the front room.

    Wade…he is such a trooper.  He hates the stuff…but he finally is ok with it.  He felt like our “playroom” never really had a purpose.  It was an ugly catch-all room that was just there.  A space that was totally under-utilized.  Not any more.  He had a good time adjusting the shelves with me to make it all work.

    And the final product…

    Wait for it…

    Ta-da!!!

    There are a few things that still need to be rearranged, but for the most part it is finished.  I am so glad.  I was dreading the day.  Now it will FOR SURE not be moved until we move out of the house.

    The girls have their own space.  We use a sheet of MDF cut in half for their desk.  They can color, paint, glue on it, etc…  Every once in a while, I sand it down so it looks a bit cleaner (and it gets the glue spots and paint globs off).  They also have a computer to share right next to me.  I am within arms reach of helping with anything we do.

    Stay tuned for the house remodel coming up in a few weeks!

  • Learning New Things

    This morning the weather man told us to get a bunch of movies and just stay inside…it is too hot to do anything!  Crazy me…I decided to go roller blading this morning and it was already 83 at 6:30am!  Yuck!

    So we followed directions and stayed inside.  I taught Sydney how to make a lanyard…something I learned in 1st grade at Girl Scout camp.  I have to say, she did better than my 5th graders when I taught them!  I only had to show her 3 times before she had the hang of it.

    Stacey, not wanting to be outdone, showed me she knew how to tie her shoes.  Mind you…she just turned 4 last week.  I am a FIRM believer in getting them tie shoes until they figure it out.  No velcro in this house!  It is a HUGE PAIN to constantly be tying toddler shoes, but now both of my girls learned at 4 how to do it.  🙂