Sunday, December 28, 2014

Latest D.I.Y. Project

DIY Logo with Border

We had a spare bedroom that housed our treadmill and a pull-out couch, but we wanted to convert it to a nice 2nd guest room.  A friend of ours made a headboard and we said we could do that.  Furniture is so expensive so we tackled the headboard, painted an old dresser & mirror, and we’re almost done building a custom night stand.  We have a complete bedroom set for under $190 including the primer, paint, wood, foam rollers, & hardware (less the actual bed, mattress, pillows, mattress pad, bed frame, which was only $550).

So here’s what we started with.  Three old oak doors at $4 each and really inexpensive decorative molding from Habitat for Humanity.  We used 4x4’s for the pillars, MDF to frame in the oak doors, and other misc wood from our scrap bin.

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Our detailed and well thought out plans (Hank is the master mind behind this).
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The most expensive thing for this bedroom set was the primer and paint.  We bought Zinsser primer that covers and seals really good.  I had done a lot of research to find out how I could apply a primer to cover oak wood and knot holes without sanding and doing a bunch of prep work, and Zinsser does the job.  Applying 2 coats of primer and 2 coats of paint was a lot of work, but it turned out good.
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This old oak mirror was my Dad’s.  I took it apart, primed and painted it and put it back together which is now over the dresser.
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I bought a complete oak bedroom set when I was in high school, so this dresser is about 44 years old.  That was our bedroom set up until last year, then we sold everything on Craig’s List EXCEPT this dresser.  For some reason we just could not sell it so it’s been sitting in our garage.  Now I know there must have been a reason that we weren’t able to sell it.  I told Hank let’s just paint it instead of buying a new or used dresser… let’s use what we have and that’s what we did.  Here’s the oak dresser and mirror before painting.
Dresser & Mirror Before

Here’s the dresser after painting with new handles.
Dresser After

Priming
Oak Dresser 1Oak Dresser 2

Room before…
Before

Room after…
I bought some inexpensive sheer curtains at Big Lots that matched the color scheme perfectly.  I hemmed them and used a decorative curtain rod that I already had that was just taking up space in my closet.  I love the room, I’m excited to paint the nightstand, and to hang something on the wall over the bed to complete the room.
After, Almost Finished 2nd bedroom

The nightstand will be placed on the right side of the bed once we’re done with it.
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Saturday, December 27, 2014

Signing off with the last quarter in 2014

Peter & Kaija were in the U.S. for 3 weeks in October and they spent several days with us.  They also went to Hawaii for a week, and stayed an additional week with some other friends in Lincoln.  We had 2 dinner parties with some of our neighbors and a good time was had by all.

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During our July trip to Germany, Peter was BBQ’ing one night and caught Kaija’s favorite pot holders on fire.  Needless to say they were destroyed.  So after we got home I bought an apron and pot holders, ironed on some pictures from the mishap and gave it to Peter during their visit.  We all had a good laugh over it.
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Here’s the story to refresh your memory from my last post on the story.

pot holder 1pot holder 2


Trick or Drink – 2nd Annual Halloween Party

We got together with our neighbors once again for another fun and crazy “Trick or Drink” Halloween party… costumes mandatory.  We had tons of great food and lots of beverages.  Hank was a baby and I was half man/half woman.  Here are just a few of the pictures.

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Since I was half man & half woman, Hank kept telling everyone at the party that I was his Mommy & his Daddy… LOL
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The baby was hungry… something is just not right with this photo.
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Fast Forward to December
Hank & I attended a neighborhood holiday party so we took a couple of pictures before we headed out.  We actually clean up pretty good… LOL

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Kaia FIT Logo

Here are some miscellaneous pictures over the last 2 months of me and my Kaia workout buddies.  We have so much fun working out together… what a great support group of awesome woman.

Dec 13, 2014 Working out with the girls

This picture is labeled “crazy wall sit gone bad”.
Dec 13, 2014

A few of us were selected as K.A.T. girls, “Kaia Alpha Team” and we’re sporting our Kaia sweatshirts that were given to us.  As a K.A.T. girl, we will support and mentor Kaia newbies, demonstrate exercises, and be ready to push ourselves out of our comfort zone and that of our fellow teammates.
Kaia Alpha Team Nov 15, 2014Michele & Kathy Kettlebell Swings Oct 2014Michele & Kathy Partners Oct 2014November 19, 2014October 2014


Celebrating Christmas…
so much fun with the kids

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Papa & I gave these head mounted lights to all the little kids and they were a bit hit, they loved them.  They were wearing them around the house, they wore them when we went for an evening walk, and of course they had to try them out in the dark closet.  Just too cute! 
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Jessica made little “house” cakes for the kids to decorate and they did a fantastic job creating their houses.  They were all very proud of their designs.

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Darth Vader even showed up for Christmas!  The statue is almost as tall as 3 year old Alex!
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Of course opening stocking stuffers and gifts is always so exciting.
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You can see from this video how excited the kids were to open their gifts.

Excited kids opening Christmas gifts


Last of the Homemade Greeting Cards for 2014

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