pallet bookshelves

 While on one of my recent visits to pinterest I found a lot of fun projects to do with pallets.  Yes, nasty, old pallets.  I fell in love with the idea of chopping them up and making bookshelves.  I was talking to my sister and SIL about this and we were talking about how to get a hold of some pallets.  Well, turns out my brother can get some.  Hurray!

So sweet Matt got me some beautiful (actually really dirty and old ones, but I saw the potential!) pallets and away I went.  I was able to get 3 shelves per pallet.  I have to say though, there is NO saving the slats of wood you take off to use as the bottoms.  The wood is so old and splintered and the nails are so old, rusted, and so far down that I don't know how people say they save them.  I had some strips of MDF left over from another project that I put on the bottoms.

I also didn't have to stain them or anything.  After giving them a good sand I loved the natural colors and oils that came through.

I made some cute littler ones for my little girl's room since I know she feels jipped that she didn't have any books in her room.  I also cleaned out and white washed an old wash bucket I've had to put all her little plushes in.  She is a big time stuffed animal lover and we've been needing a solution for them.  Done! :) 

 

 

 No, she did not pose for this picture.  I just happened to be able to snag a shot of her enjoying her new space.  She is feeling pretty big in her new room with no guard rails on her bed!

 Next it was on to the boy's room.  They have had two big bookshelves of books in their room.  Too many.  They love books and reading, but with that may books in their room there were always books everywhere.  I love this wall of shelves much better.  It doesn't take up a lot of space, and it limits the amount of books we have to clean up.
I was worried about the kids not being able to reach the top shelves, but then saw one of my boys climb up the shelves to the top.  Good thing I now know my work is sturdy!

 

 We moved this antique recliner (a family heirloom) that we recovered into their room to be their reading chair and they just love it.  They have been spending a lot of time up in their room rediscovering their books again.

a cup a day...

...keeps the dishwasher empty!I've seen so many cute ideas out there for how to have a place in the kitchen so that kids use only 1 cup a day.  I've loved them all, but wasn't sure how I wanted to do this myself....until I went through that pile of great antique boxes from my mother-in-law.
I found this beauty and she was perfect for the task (the words on it couldn't be more perfect either!) :). 

My kids are great at choosing a cup each morning and then keeping it in their box.  This is also helping us be better at drinking out of cups and not just water bottles and sippies!

These cups are life savers.  They are so cute and fun.  The kids get excited about choosing a different one each day.  They were in a huge bin (or can be found in the party section) at WalMart and were $.87 each.  We bought a bunch.

laundry room

I have been wanting to figure out a way to make my laundry room look a little cuter.  It seems to be the place I just dump and stash and hide things.

 I "went shopping" at my in-laws and found these amazing wooden boxes.  They are so great!   A little stinky and a little dirty, but awesome!  True treasures.

The newspaper lining them was dated January 2, 1950!  What treasures!  The advertisements in them were so fun to see!

So after a little cleaning (okay, a lot) they were good to go.  I love how they look. 

I still need to label my detergent jars and I want to build a table top to go over my machines, but everything around here happens in baby steps.  So probably in another few years that will be done too! :)

tool box = book box

If there is one thing our house does not lack it is books and bookshelves.  But we didn't have any place to keep our library books when we brought them home.

As I mentioned before, I like to "shop" at my in-laws.  I am always able t find the best treasures.  This time I was able to find all of these great wood boxes and tool boxes.

This told tool box made the perfect place to keep our library books...and it looks wonderful too!  Just a little cleaning up and a vynil label and there you go.  It makes me happy every time I see it!

magnetic board with 9 lives

This magnetic board was quite the project.  I wish I had taken pictures of it after all it and I have been through! 

It was found at a thrift store by my mom and she thought it would be so cute if it was redone so she had me save it to give to her granddaughter for her birthday.

Well, that day finally came and I had to figure out what to do with it.  It was green and banged up pretty bad and someone had painted the metal yellow. 

Needless to say, after a lot of scraping, removing the metal and turning it around, and a lot of paint I got it looking pretty good so I left in on the garage floor to dry.

Well, my husband came home and didn't see it and ran it over!  I couldn't believe that after all the work I put into it that this would happen.  I decided I could put a little more work into it and get it looking good again.

So, with a lot of wood glue, jimmy rigging, and more paint to cover the tire marks I got it put back together.  Add some cute stone magnets that match the banner in her room and you have a cute metal board.

Here's to hoping nothing else happens to it before it gets to the party! :)

garden stakes

We had a great time making our own garden stakes.  And yes, this was another great free project.  I just picked up a bunch of paint sticks when I was at Lowe's the last time.  I busted out the paints and brushes and let my kids go to town. 

 They had so much fun and I was so proud of myself for letting them let loose, make a mess, and get paint everywhere.

 They came up with some pretty cool colors and designs.  I was so proud of them and I could tell they were happy with themselves too.

 Let's just say that this is one of those times when I am so grateful for my granite countertops.  Everyhing including all this paint just comes right off.  It's a mother's best friend when it comes to projects like this.

 My oldest wasn't into the painting, so he helped me label the stakes for our plants.  They look so great outside and brighten our yard up a lot.  I love that they made them and love to go see them and have me read them to them.

chore chart boards

I finally got the boards done for my chore charts.  I had waited on this because I was looking for some great cheap frames.  Well, after a community garage sale and a great deal at Hobby Lobby, I have 3 gorgeous frames.
My crafter-in-crime, Aymee, and I are always borrowing, trading, and stealing various supplies from each other and she happened to have some extra metal sheets laying around.  Gotta love shopping next door! :)
So all in all, another great project for cheap.  I love how they look and I love that my kids manage them themselves.  Okay, Chloe just likes moving them back and forth, but she'll get there.  Give the kids a break.  She's only 1! :)

growth chart update

With my dining nook being redone I had to do a little updating to my growth chart to make it a little more fun and meaningful.  I decided to include what each person wanted to be when they grew up each time they were measured.  I think this will be a fun thing to look back and read over when my kids are big.

My husband and I of course still hold on to our dreams of what we will be when we grow up too! :)

For the tutorial of this growth chart click here.

chore chart tutorial

I finally decided on how I wanted to do my kids chore charts.  I don't know why it has been so hard for me to commit to one.  It's just a chore chart!  But those are the types of things that I get stuck on.

So here goes it.  It was simple, cheap, and quick.  All you have to do is know how to color, cut, and glue.  And all the child needs to be able to do is tell what the picture is of.  It only costs about $5 (plus glue cost-I already had it).  And you can finish it while you watch a movie.

You will need:

Crayons

White Card Stock

Scissors

Black Sharpie Pen

E-6000 Glue

Clear Rocks

Magnets

 Trace your rock with your sharpie.

 Draw a picture to describe the job.  Remember that you will be cutting on the inside of the line.  Allow your picture to fit.

 Color your picture.  I have found that two tone colors have a nice effect and show through the rock well.

 Make sure to keep your rocks in order since each is shaped differently.

 Cut out your circle and put a dab of glue on the middle of the picture.  You will use the pressure your put on the rock to spread the glue until it covers the whole picture.

 Allow time to dry.

 When dry flip them over and use the same gluing method for the magnets.

 Be sure to lay them far apart when drying the magnets so they don't attract.  This will cause problems. :)

 When dry, place on magnetic board.  I simply wrote on mine with an EXPO marker.  The jobs that don't have to be done that day are next to the name.  The ones that need to be done are in the "do" pile.  When a job is completed it is simply slid over to the "done" side.

Jobs pictured:

Scripture Reading

Get Dressed

Make Bed

Feed Fish

Homework

Pick up Toys

Brush Teeth

Say Prayers

Take out Trash

Dishes

Set Table

Jobs not pictured above:

Dust

Vacuum

Sweep

Mop

Laundry

Still need to make:

Snow shovel

Weed