Not so Hobbyless...

I have noticed, as I am sure you have also, that Im not doing very well at posting new stuff for you guys. I guess that I have been too consumed with doing some of my projects that I forget to come back and write. Which was the whole point of this blog initially, anyways.

I've got about 146 projects on the to-do list.... or so Josh says. I'd say I really only have about 60! But that's what happens when people start finding out that you are capable of making things, refinishing things, painting things, etc. And I can't help it that I WANT to do it all... for everybody who wants it. In fact, I try to get people to let me make stuff for them, because it makes me happy to do it, and it's fun to use my creativity for people other than just myself! 

So needless to say, I have 1 project that I am going to be helping my mom with (refinishing her dining room table and chairs), I am making a suitcase chair for a friend of mine, and I am refinishing 3 large wooden furniture pieces for my grandma as well as painting some of her kitchen items (knife block, mirror, mug rack). On top of that, I plan to refinish that bench of mine, make a whiskey bar, and reupholster an old lazy boy chair we found on the street.

So here is something new! 

I did finish the vintage suitcase chair that I told you about 2? blogs back... and it turned out amazingly! I am absolutely in love with it and have already gone out and bought another suitcase to make another chair soon. I am looking into renting a small space in someone's shop where I can sell some of my things, now. And I have a list of stuff that I will be able to make consistently as well as some of my pieces that I will probably only ever have one of. 

The thing I think I'll like about making these suitcase chairs is that you can find so many different colors, and styles of suitcases, and in turn you can have tons of different material print options and color combinations, etc. Not to mention making some accent pillows for the chairs, which also adds some character and makes it all just kind of pop!

I was fairly impressed with myself to have been able to figure out how to construct this chair and all it's parts (along with the help of my husband's ideas) without ever having found someone else's tutorial on how to do it. It all started with a picture I saw of one a girl had made, but it was ONLY a picture. And hers was done sort of crappily, where she just added some legs and kind of stuffed a couple of large pillows in the suitcase and called it a chair. I am not entirely sure it was made to hold any substantial amount of body weight... ever. Maybe it was meant to be a clothes rack for her bedroom?

It looks like a little pet or something! My 4 day old pet... the cool thing is that it can be closed with a cushion in it. Take the legs off, throw them into the suitcase, and you have a very easily transportable chair!

We walked around home depot for about an hour trying to figure out what to use to brace the bottom to the top, when we came across this yellow chain link- that an employee cut off and gave to us for FREE! Apparently I didn't need enough to make it worthwhile to charge. I'll take it!

All in all, I think I did spend about $80 in all the materials to make this. And I put in about 12-14 hours of work. I spent about 4 days on it, with a few hours each day. That sounds like a lot, but because it was my first I ran into unexpected issues, and had to figure out how to get around them. Now that I have done one, I think the next ones will be breezy! And I plan to shop a lot more thriftily for the next ones, too. I'd love to be able to make one for about half the cost if I plan to sell them and make any sort of profit. I didn't mind spending $80 for what I plan to keep for myself. And my own time doesn't cost me anything!

This is the suitcase I bought a couple of days ago. It should be a ton of fun to make! 

I'm still working on getting everything in order so that I can post a step-by-step on how this project was completed.

Until next time!

CookBook

Today, while talking to my sister-in-law, we talked about: how her fiance (who lives in England) may not even be getting his visa in time to make their tentative wedding date in California. How we're all going to have to save really hard to make our tentative Africa and Europe trip happen next October. How she needs to learn to cook well, but lacks time and energy, and non-complicated recipes (all the very important motivating factors) and so she therefore hasn't been practicing very much, but hopes it will come to her once they are married, because she wants him to eat well. Also, because then they wont have an 8 hours time difference, and have the impossible communicating schedule like they do now, which is half the reason I imagine she is tired, and lacking energy, on top of her having a job, and sharing in the full time ministry work!

Mind you, we didn't talk only of all the stressful things... but I could totally relate when talking about finances and cooking, because I am married, and work, as does my husband. We have bills, as well as desire to travel. But how do we do it all?

Most often, we don't. We compromise, or forego what things we really want sometimes. But that is life.

However, I wanted to come up with some ways that I might be able help alleviate some stress that many couples have at the start of a marriage, so, this gave me a good idea that I could make them a cookbook as part of their wedding gift, full of all of my tested and true, simple, not so time consuming recipes by going on Blurb.

In the starts of my researching the best way to go about this, and getting ideas from other people online who have done this, I came across this hilarious blog that someone wrote, basically mocking all of the people who for some odd reason feel the desire to post photos of all of their meals, or any sort of food/drink intake they have throughout their day. And these aren't the people who are traveling the world, eating exotic foods, at a fancy boutique or cafe that you would never find anywhere else. THAT would be okay...

And so I felt the need to share. Enjoy!

Wine Cork Back Splash

This is the month of do-it-yourself.

I know that in my 'about me' paragraph, I talk a big talk about giving you some DIYs and tutorials... and then for the first month, didn't have a single one. But at last, I live up to my own description!

This time, I decided to do a back splash made of wine corks (yes, it will show all the world, or just your friends and family, how much wine you really drink. Who cares?) to add to my mom and dad's new faux granite kitchen! And I do some day plan to make one of my own... though mine may be less classy, and made of beer bottle caps. We like drinking, but no, not in a way to be called an addiction.

*sips 12 year El Dorado rum*

This project was supposed to be finished along with the countertops when I did them, but I realized that a week to do the faux granite and this cork board was just impossible, at least for my first time on either of them! I could probably make it happen now that I think I have a clue what I am doing...

Getting on with it: Wine Cork Back Splash Tutorial

What you need:
Hot Glue Gun
Corks
Knife (exacto works splendidly)
Fiber Wood (if you don't want to glue directly to your walls)

1. The most important step to this project is knowing your space- measurements, mostly. That is measurements of space width and height, divided by measurements of wine cork height and width size (the average wine cork measurements. Don't go through measuring each cork you have)

2. The second, pretty important step is having the wine, drinking the wine, which then gives you number of said corks. Try not to get lost in all of these algebraic formulas!

Since I had to do this project from my own home for a space that was not at the same location, I took my measurements first and cut a piece of finished particle board to match the size of the space I needed to fill, and ended up gluing my corks to that board.

3. To maximize your usage of corks, cut all of your corks in half, vertically! This way you technically get two cork widths from one. Or if you're like me, and want to get really involved, you can cut slices. (I did some of both)

4. Now you want to draft your layout of corks. For me, I laid all of my corks onto the board, arranged, rearranged, replaced corks, etc, before ever touching the hot glue gun. You want to know that you are going to like the design and pattern first, before you make it permanent. Get Creative! If you use a board, you'll find this step is much easier, due to the fact that it can be laying horizontal, instead of working on a vertical space, such as directly on your wall.

5. Once you have the exact design or pattern laid out that you want, it's time to plug in that hot gluing bad boy and get to work. One by one, pick up the corks, put a dab of glue on, and replace it.

All laid out, ready to be glued!

I have seen this idea done in many different ways. I wanted to do a pattern, because I feel that nothing is ever truly random, even if you say you want random. And I am far too picky to be satisfied if I have just slapped a bunch of corks onto a wall and called it decoration.

This project was extremely simple, while being very tedious. So you do need to have a bit of patience to complete this project. But trust me, it adds so much character to the space!

Completion!