Negative: Beautiful Work Bench All Covered Up

Positive: Customized Work Bench

The best gifts are handmade because they are a product of someone’s hard work and dedication. One of the best Christmas gifts I’ve received was my work bench made by my husband and his friend. His behavior became a little suspicious when he went to go watch football at Brian’s almost every weekend.

On Christmas morning he brought me out to the garage and to my surprise a work bench was set up!

 

 

He had tried to use adhesive to center my logo on the top of the bench but the paper just didn’t come off all the way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7 months later I finally got around to customizing my bench.



Look how I treated it :(

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I used a pre-stain (two coats) on the entire workbench.

 

I used a stain called “Honey” but decided it was way too light.
 



See the splotches from leftover glue.

The second coat of stain was called “Espresso”. I only did one coat of this because the darker the stain the harder it would be to see the logo in black.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then I painted my logo. I used an engineering print as a guide. I centered the logo and made holes in specific places within the words. The painting ended up like a huge connect the dots game.

 

After I painted the logo, I traced it once more.

Two coats of poly and some dry time is all I need now.

 

 

Don’t be afraid to free-hand custom writing. Sometimes I create my own design and go with it. See this nursery artwork. At other times I print a template and try to copy it.

Have a home design need? I would love to give your home a custom look. Get in contact with me here.

Portable Ballet Barre

Negative: Working Out

Positive: My Own Dance Studio

 

I will find absolutely any excuse not to workout. I have had gym memberships go unused and many loads of laundry completed when I should have been running outside. I’ve always loved to dance and ballet is a natural workout for me.

My husband kindly made me a ballet barre so I could outfit my own studio in our garage.

 

 

He started by making the legs in a T shape and attaching casters.

 

Next, he added a mounting block to one leg so the beam could be attached with two screws.

He repeated this with the other leg, making sure the beam was level.

He attached the bottom beam first and then the top.

Hints for beam height: If making this barre for a child or adult, the beam height may very. The top beam should be for the dancer's hand. Have them stand next to the barre and find a position that is comfortable. The bottom beam should be somewhere in the hip level, where a dancer could easily place their foot at 90 degrees.

Looking to have your own in home dance studio?

1.       Buy long mirrors from IKEA and place side by side for a mirrored wall.

2.       Use a white board to sequence a workout or write down steps to a routine.

3.       Don’t forget a fan if you’re dancing in your garage or basement. It can get hot very quickly!

 

 

Menu Planning Made Easy

 

Negative: Fruits and Veggies Gone Bad

Positive: No more “What’s for dinner?” questions

I tend to write my meals for the week on my grocery list. The problem with this method is that my grocery list gets accidentally thrown out or disappears in the abyss of one of many handbags never to be seen again. What ends up happening in my house is that the ingredients bought for the meal go unused and at times thrown away. For example, my chickpea curry recipe has been on a rotation for months now and many bags of snap peas have been thrown away.

 

What you'll need for this project:

A light weight frame

Paint

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scrapbook paper

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When looking for a frame, I choose a wood frame because I prefer painting wood, but plastic will do. If you are okay with the color already then skip the next step.

I wasn’t okay with the color of my $1 find. It clearly hailed from the 70s.

I used the teal paint from my Storage Saving Kitchen Island Project (click for link) to match the bins.

 

I cut scrapbook paper to fit and a few hours after drying my project was complete. (I used two coats of paint)

 

 

 

What I love: I can plan out my week on Sunday according to what activities we have going on in the week and REMEMBER what I was supposed to make.

I don’t have children of my own, but I do have almost 100 middle school students. One thing I know is that they will ask you the same question a million times: When will you go over our homework? Will we get our permissions slips? Did you grade our papers? When will I present?

I made a classroom agenda to avoid those questions. Now the kids feel more prepared because they know what the day will entail and they even remind each other to check the agenda. Success!

Maybe for you this means your family will stop asking the age old question “What’s for dinner?” Now, the days I go to workout after work, my husband knows what to get started. Or if it's a crockpot meal, we may start that recipe that morning before work.

What I would change: I originally hoped for this project to be magnetized so it would stick on the fridge; however, the magnets I purchased were not strong enough. Did you figure out a way to make it work? Let me know!
 

Flower Arrangements for Beginners

 

If you’re a beginner like me, here’s a simple guide to easy and beautiful flower arrangements that will make you look like a pro!

You’ll need a vase or other container.

If you need structure for your flowers, line with a trash bag and insert floral foam.

 

 

Use flowers that are full like hydrangeas.

Helpful tip: If you want to save money on the cost of flowers, consider a candle, lantern, bird cage, etc. to fill space.

 

 

 

Choose the same flowers throughout your arrangement for a clean and elegant look.

 

 

Helpful tip: When you buy roses, they may take 2-3 days to achieve fullness. Buy a single rose from your florist ahead of time and see how long it takes to develop.