Project 525: DIY Entry Table

One off the neat things about our new house is the georgeous entry, it has rich blue slate/stone flooring, exposed brick, and a doorway to the "second entry" made of reclamed wood!  It is amazing, in addition to its beauty, it's the perfect water proof room, the flooring actually flows in from the outdoors. So I wanted- needed an entry table but being the frugal (ok cheap) girl that I am I decided that I was going to build one.

During the move I came across this planter that was amazing and fit perfectly in the space. It had the slight instustrial feel to it that I love and I knew I could make a top that brought in the rustic feeling of the house.

So I set out to make a top,at  first I just cut a piece of shelving board to sit on top and yes, it made a table but it wasn't quite the look I was going for.  So when my dad was here for Easter I beggged for his help and he obbliged. 

We took old boards and cut them the 4 inches wider than the width of the board.

Then we attached them to the shelving board, my dad is much more percise than I would of been.

Finished project, we just set the top on the plant stand!

Perfection!

And yes the old boards are that amazing all on there own! 

Project 525

 Early in November we finaly closed on 525 Atkins Drive. I say finally but considering we weren't even looking for a home on September 25th it has actually gone pretty quick.  As excited as we were to get in the house and start the remodeling it was pretty nerve racking to think that we now owned TWO homes and starting January 1st had TWO mortgage payments.  (Random fact, since we had to postpone our closing it actually happened on the same day as our closing on our current home, 4 Mechanic St.) But fears have been laid aside and God has provided, we are in the process of closing a Lease to Own and they will be moving in Jan 1st and purchasing in September!! YAY no double mortgage payment. 

Since the home is a foreclosure and has sat empty for over a year there are many things that need "help" before we can move in.  The carpets need to be ripped out, a rotten joist replaced, and the 12+ months of grime need to be cleaned up. The biggest pre-move in project is to create bedrooms, the house is currently a one bedroom, however there is a 32x18 rec room on the second floor. We plan to divide it into three rooms; two bedrooms, and an office. The rest of the projects are cosmetic and can be done once we are in the home.  Below are the current floor plans and proposed floor plans

Current 1st Floor 

Proposed 1st Floor - tear down wall between kitchen and famly room 

Current 2nd floor- Master and Large Rec Room

Proposed 2nd Foor-  Create 3 bedrooms, and add a 2nd Up-Stairs bathroom

Before we move in we will have built out the three bedrooms, the next project will be to replace all the windows, then to tear down the wall on the first floor, we will have to replace the roof and the HVAC at some point after all that is done we will add the second bathroom upstairs.   Also at some point we will be creating an entrance from the greenhouse into the main house, not sure if we will use it as an office or a garage.

sprout 7: Bottle Cap Magnets

A few months back I saw magnets similar to this in a store, a set of 12 for around $20, I thought... "hmm, I could make those." I needed to collect bottle caps and then some magazine images that I liked.  So, I need to say thank you to all the people at Jarrett's surprise party last night, they didn't act like it was too crazy when I asked them to save bottle caps for a project I wanted to do.  I took home a 20oz cup full of bottle caps.  I had some images of birds that I liked so I used a quarter to get the right shape.  Also I spray painted all the caps white so they would be unified.   I think I may refine this project and make L-O-V-E magnets for valentines day with my special needs class, I am there version of an art teacher.  (the rest of the time I teach personal finance) 

Every thing was recycled, the caps, images, glue, paint, and magnets, so the cost for this project was 30 minutes of my time! Woo Hoo!

Sprout 2: Cake Plates

 Sorry for the delay, Joey and I just returned from a trip to Philadelphia and I had high hopes of posting this project Wednesday, the day after our return, but have been playing catch up with other things since.
Cake Plate:

About a year ago the cake plate given to us when we got married fell and ended up with a rather large chip on the edge of it. Now I don’t know about you, but it doesn’t seem to be a great idea to serve cake off a broken glass plate. It wasn’t a priority to get a cake plate immediately; I often would just place a glass or bowl under a dinner or serving plate to make things work. Although this seemed to get the job done I was still keeping my eye out for a cake plate that I liked, that was unique and most importantly inexpensive ($5 max). So about 2 months ago I saw a Rachel Ray episode with a DIY party planner and she was “making” cake plates for elaborate parties the same way I was making them at home with just a few tweaks.

The idea - find an interesting plate and base at your local thrift store and glue them together. Page One, the local thrift shop, has odd hours so I had to wait until school was out to make the trip, but lucky me the day I went they had buy one bag get one free. Page one sells its fantastic wares at $5.25 a trash bag, so I went crazy and decided on a few plates I liked and them some candle sticks, candy bowls and other things for bases.

I also got some picture frames and unique buttons for later projects.  All total I spent $.07, yes that is SEVEN CENTS on each item purchased that day. The single tier plates have 2 parts (14 Cents) and the two tier plate has 4 parts (28 Cents).  My only other cost was $1.27 for a tube of dishwasher safe adhesive. 

step one: get your stuff together

Step two: tip your plate upside down, find the center and glue together following the instructions for the adhesive (mine called for sanding the surface first).

     

The finished product:  L- Cake Plate R- Candle holder

So in my excitement I made 5 single tier and 1 two tier.  To make the two tier you need to follow steps 0ne and two, using a taller candle stick for the top tier.  You may adhere the whole thing together or keep the pieces separate like I did (see top photo).