Name Plates

When we first started the beds I wanted to find a way to make them girly and I wanted the girls to really feel like this was something special just for them. I looked all over pinterest, scoured the aisles of michaels, hobby lobby, and joanns, and I finally settled on making name plates to attach to the beds. I had to wait until Heather and the girls had settled on a color scheme and bed set but I already had an idea forming in my mind. 

So off to michaels I went, armed with a 50% off coupon and more excitement than a person should have about balsa wood. 

Here is a picture of what I had finally decided on, this is about 3 weeks before a color scheme was decided so I just brought them home and stared lovingly at the plain wood. 

After a morning of intense shopping with a 4 year old, a 5 year old, a prego, and me covered in paint and lacking food and caffeine, we stumbled upon this beauty. Made more beautiful by a target cartwheel coupon for 15% off

You know what this means right??

I get to go pick paint colors!!!!

take a look at these gorgeous Martha Stewart (40% off) colors 

 I also used some white paint I had laying around 

I used my trusty  sponge/foam/craft thing

and got to work!

once the paint dried I used wood glue to put it all together and my grips to hold it all together as it dried 

so pretty!!

Once the beds are done and moved, I will attach the name plates to the beds. 

oh. and I need to figure out just how I am going to do that... 

:)

Painting Laminate Furniture

I know you are thinking it can't be done. That crappy $20.00 bookshelf you bought in college that has some how made it 5 years past its probable life expectancy is going to forever be flat black, or laminate oak. But have no fear, it can be done! You can update book shelfs,side tables, and even that Ikea furniture you bought 10 years ago. It is easy but it is not a fast process, I recently started updating and redoing a laminate bunk bed set for my nieces. I know you are probably thinking "why redo laminate when you can just buy something new and pretty" well, because I am a cheap bastard. That is the short answer anyways... 

I also like making something exactly as I see it in my head because I can't always find what I am looking for in the stores. 

So about 3 months ago a deal happened to fall into my lap, almost literally. I was sitting at work minding my own business when the guy next to me stood up and asked if I knew of anyone that would want to buy a bunk bed set with desk. Go back another 4 months and we are just finding out that my sister in law is pregnant with her 3rd and my two nieces are going to be moving into a room together. So I immediately got excited asked how much and got a hold of my sister. A trip to the bank to get cash, and one drive to anthem later my sister was the proud new owner of a kids bunk bed set. There were only a few problems. 

Problem A: The bunk bed was oak laminate (gross)

Problem B: some of the wood slats were broken and/or missing

C: It had been a boys bed and needed a girls touch

Now this is going to be a series of how to update/paint laminate furniture, each step takes a little bit of time and I will be updating as I go

Here is the stock image of the bunk beds

its a good solid foundation for my imagination to go wild. 

.

Stay tuned for more updates!!

-L

Updating Chalkboard Signs

My parents own and run a restaurant in downtown Phoenix, they also sell an assortment of their product at the local farmers market on Saturday mornings. They recently took over a coffee and tea business and needed to update the signs. As soon as I saw the signs my mind started rolling with ideas of how to update them and make them stand out. My parents asked that I stay with fairly neutral colors and I had to keep the logo as part of the business deal. 

Here are the Before's 

As you can see they need a little bit of a kick in the ass. 

I started by cleaning all the boards with a towel, soap, and warm water. I just lightly cleaned them to take the layer of dirt off. I let them dry and then the painting began. I had seen so many posts of amazing looking chalkboards on pinterest and I used that as a jumping off point. I painted them with the plain black Chalkboard paint that can be found at any home improvement store or craft store. 

Once that dried I started to re-do the logo. This part was a little rough because I did not have a template to follow, only the pictures I had taken before. 

I think they came out pretty good and my parents are happy. I want to add a frame around it but that is another project for another day, it also requires sweet talking my husband into helping my use the saw because honestly that thing scares the crap out of me. 

Here are the afters! 

Just a girl and her power tools

First let me say welcome to my new blog, my name is Lauren and I love to do stuff myself and save money. 

I have recently taken over my husbands set of power tools and even bought a few for myself as I started the journey of updating our home while staying within a small budget and teaching myself along the way. 

I have done big projects such as the man cave and small projects like redoing my parents farmers market signs. This usually involves a lot of coffee, a lot of cursing, a few injuries, some wine, and every now and then a few tears. This is not for the faint of heart or the easily offended.

 

I will be posting my projects and take you through the steps so that you can do them yourself

I hope you stick around to see whats next! 

-L