New Year Gifts

So I had a stressful, busy December and I didn't get gifts done for my close friends.  I have just a few I like to do gifts for, but it was still a few too many to fit into the end of the year.   Instead I decided to do "New Year Gifts."   Mostly because I saw an adorable free printable calendar from Skip To My Lou that looked perfect to gift.   At first I just printed out four sets and got them trimmed and cut.  That lovely stack of calendars inspired me to create this:

A stack of calendar hangers!  

You'll need a 1x6 board, small cup hooks, and sawtooth hangers to make your own.

These were really easy to make.  I cut a 1x6 into 12 inch pieces.   I have a miter saw, but it's a narrow board so a circular saw or even a hand saw would work fine.    I sanded, stained, and polyurethaned the boards doing all the proper steps the experts recommend (ok, so I skipped a step or two, but they still came out fine.)  I thought stained wood worked best with this calendar, but paint would be pretty too.

The calendars are hanging from a simple hole I punched with a standard office supply hole punch.  Make sure you don't punch farther than 3/8" from the top edge so they fit in the hook.  It's easiest if you mark and punch the first calendar page and then mark all the others from that one.  Just lay it exactly over the other sheets one at a time and trace the inside of the punched hole.    Punch that pencil circle out on each sheet.  They should all be lined up perfectly.

To place the cup hook, measure down 1" plus the distance the hole is from the top edge of the paper.   Mine was 2.5" over and 1.25" down.   If you have a hard time getting the cup hooks into the wood, you can pre-drill holes with a very fine drill bit.  check your cup hook packaging to find the right size.

To hang them on the wall, I put sawtooth hangers on the back 1" down.

This was a super fun project and it only cost me a few cents for paper and ink because I already had all the supplies for the hanger boards on hand.  Shockingly, I even had the sawtooth hangers.   I would say that cutting, sanding, staining, etc. all together took maybe an hour for all four boards.  It's a super quick project and I can't wait to give them to my friends.

(PS.  I've joined a link party at Remodelaholic to show off my calendars.)

The Awesome Closet My Awesome Husband Built

We have three girls sharing one bedroom with a walk in closet that was pretty much useless.  Across the shortest section of the closet were two rods and that was it.  I neglected to get before pictures again, but it was pretty bad.  There was no space for dresses and their shoes were always in a pile on top of each other and impossible to find or organize properly. 

Recently, we decided it was past time to get that closet useful and organized.  We found plans at Ana-White.com for a fantastic shoe organizer with lots and lots of room for shoes.  Since two of our girls are teenagers, we needed the space.  

We had Home Depot cut the wood for us, which made things a whole lot easier.  It's possible to get straight cuts along a sheet of plywood with a circular saw, but it's a pain.  My husband took a cut plan with him to the store so he could have everything cut the way he needed, then he could just come home and start building.  

The plan for the closet gave the girls two shirt height rods the same length as they already had (we were able to reuse the poles) and we added a full length dress rod, as well as a shelf across the top.  Their closet was so pitiful they didn't even have a shelf before.   Obviously if this were my closet, I would have made an effort to organize things by color for the picture and make it look nice.  The girls organized it by owner and garment type so it's useful to them.  

 The wood is 3/4" maple plywood.  It was very reasonable priced.  Steve also added the laminate edging to the ends so make it look more finished.   It looks good doesn't it?

The "shoe shrine" was a very tight fit.  We altered the plans to make the tower the full depth of the closet and boy howdy was it a pain to get it in.  We actually had to *ahem* cut the top off and then put it back on once it was in place.  So basically, if you're going for a tight fight, make sure you build in place to begin with.

Ana's plans were great.  She does a great job of breaking things down step by step.  I appreciate the cut list.  It made putting together a cut plan for the plywood sheets really easy.   It can be very easy with this tower to get the edges misaligned, so do be careful and build on a solid, flat surface so your front edge looks good and lines up.  We don't own a pocket screw jig, so my husband took advantage of the fact that we were putting the edging up by putting screws on the ends of the boards under where the edging went.  It made the tower very sturdy and we didn't have to fill any screw holes.

Steve even added moulding at the base and crown at the top to really finish the organizer off.   He did a great job, didn't he?

The girls are very happy with it and I do have to say that they are doing better picking up their shoes and getting them put away now.  It's also a heck of a lot easier to find the pair they want to wear.

My sewing machine table

I've got a small house without much space for crafting.  I tend to take over the dining table, which means we eat at the counter for dinner.  Not exactly great family meal time.   So for Christmas my sweet husband made me this:

 The shelves hold my machine and have plenty of room for me to store current projects and notions.  I just need to get some cool boxes to hold everything in.

The table is nice and wide with two drop down leaves so if I ever do decide to sew a queen sized quilt, I've got enough table space to hold it. 

 Here's the leaf lifted up.  (Yes, he missed a few spots with the yellow.  I'll touch it up eventually.)

He used the Sewing Table For Small Spaces plan at Ana-white.com.   It was pretty easy to put together and he did a great job.  If you are making this though, I would measure your machine before installing the shelf.  I didn't need as much space as the plan allows for and I would have liked the upper shelf to have 12" of clearance.    It is only 10" and it's going to complicate buying bins a bit.  Other than that, though, it's been great.  It's nice to have a place to sew and still have a place to eat.

In the works is finding space in the basement for the table and getting my laundry room finished so I can hang the ironing board back up.   I so miss that ironing board.  I'm sure you all are holding bets on which color of ugly bath towel I use as a pressing cloth next.   Will it be green?  Purple?  The all time ugly not quite blue?  I have no clue.  But you will see ugly beach towels for a little longer because the laundry room still has bare studs.  I'm not looking forward to mudding dry wall again.  Not a favorite activity.

Collapsible Chessboard

 It's a bag.  You can put your chess pieces in it.

 Why would you want to put chess pieces in a bag like this?

Because it's really a chessboard.

We invented this because my oldest daughters thought her buddies at school needed a new chess board.  The one they were using is currently being held together with a bungee cord.    She thought they needed a board that would fit easily in a backpack and be portable for a bunch of teenage boys. 
It doesn't quite collapse quite as much as I had hoped, but it's still fun.   It opens back up again quite well and it's great for playing on potentially uneven surfaces.  Each square may not line up perfectly, but they will be more stable than a plain fabric board.   And it's cooler than a plain fabric board.  

To make your own you need 64 little blocks all exactly the same size.  We used half inch plywood cut 1.5"x1.5".   We found that thinner wood did collapse together better.  My husband set up a jig on his miter saw to make it go a little faster when cutting the blocks.   Next you need to stain half of them dark and half of them light.    Fit them together, and depending on how well you cut the blocks this may take some time to get them lined up well.   Then you get to flip it over (unless you are a much more graceful person than I, you may want to flip these over one piece at a time in order to avoid sending chessboard squares flying around your living room.  We did find the one that went under the couch eventually.)  Let it sit while you prepare the bag.

Cut a 24" circle out of heavyweight fabric, of course, if you do smaller blocks you may want a smaller bag.  Bigger blocks will need a bigger bag.   Find the exact center and make a grid identical to your blocks on the backside centered over the center of the board.   You might want to use a quilting marker that fades over time.   I also used my quilting ruler to draw the lines.  It made it very easy to draw perfectly parallel lines 1.5" away from each other.    Make a drawstring pocket around the edge.   I put in button holes to draw the cord through.

Now go back to your blocks.  They should all be upside down and pushed together tightly.   Put a drop of E6000 glue on the back of each and every block.    Gently set your fabric down over the blocks, lining up the grid with the edge of each block.   Make sure that's as perfect as you can make it, because it's your guide for the next step.   Now you need to put one 1/2" screw through the center of each and every grid square.  If you lined that up correctly you will have the screw in the center of each block. 

That's it.  A bit time consuming and fiddly when cutting and staining the blocks, but overall a pretty easy project.  It's also something that no one else will have, which should totally give you an extra pawn that acts like queen just because your board is cooler than theirs.

Video Game Shelf

Got a video game enthusiast on your gift lift this year?  I do.   This is going to my brother in law.  Don't worry.  Since he doesn't know this blog exists and since the blog isn't about video games, paint ball, or hunting, he's safe from having his gift spoiled.

I'd like thank my husband for building the shelves for me.  He's so great about helping out with the wood projects. I sketch them out and write up a cut list.  He puts them together.  I putty and paint.  We've got a good system going.   (It's not that I can't use power tools.  It's that he likes helping me and who am I to insist on doing more work?  My motto is:  less work=more time to read.)

So you wanna build one too?

To start you need one 8 foot piece of 1x6.  It's between $5 and $10.   You will also need a scrap piece of Masonite or thin plywood at least 18.25" square.

Cut four lengths 18.25 inches, but miter the ends with a 45 degree angle like this:

The should be 18.25" along the longest side of the board.  You can do that with a miter box, a miter saw or a table saw.  Your choice.  

(If all you've got is a circular saw, you're going to have to do butt joints.   That will change your measurements.  Cut two boards 18.25" and two boards 16.25".  The long boards are the sides the short boards are the top and bottom. )

Sand everything so it's nice and smooth.  Sand the edges to round them slightly, but don't do that to your miter cuts.  

Now take two boards and match your miter.  Apply glue to the ends and then nail or screw the two boards together.  We like using screws on projects like this.  It makes for a good, strong joint.  Since we're painting the shelf anyway, we can just fill in the screw holes with putty.   By the way, it's helpful to have a second set of hands to hold the boards in place while another person screws it together.   

Now put together all four boards to make a box.  Getting close.

Cut a square measuring 18.25" on each side out of thin plywood or Masonite.  Nail down on the back of the shelf.  Brad nails or finish nails are good here.  Your box may not be quite square, so use the Masonite as a guide.  Tap the corners lightly to square it up until your box is even with the backing piece before you nail it down. 

Ok, next you need to measure down 8" from the inside bottom shelf up the side.  Mark that on both sides of the box.   Measure across the box and cut a board to that length (90 degree cuts this time.)  It should be somewhere around 16.75 inches but may be slightly longer or shorter.   This is the shelf.  Sand it just like you did the other boards.

Now measure down from the inside top 8" on both sides.   Center your shelf between the two marks.    Attach with screws or nails. 

Fill in the holes with putty, put a light skim coat of putty over each knot hole, let dry.  Sand the putty and apply a second coat if necessary.  Sand that one.   Then prime it and paint it.   Want to know a secret?  My shelves aren't quite painted yet.  That's on my list for today.  (along with a monster, a grocery list, and running errands. Think I can do it all?  yeah.  Didn't have a book to read today anyway.)

Have fun with your video shelves!  It's a simple project that's so easy to put together my 12 year old made one for a friend.  You should be able to knock one out in no time. 

By the way, if you've got a chess player in your house, you're going to want to check back here next Friday.  I've got an awesome project to show you.

Farmhouse Doll beds and a mattress pattern

They're done! Aren't they so cute? I'm very happy with how they turned out. Ana White's doll bed instructions are really well done. Easy to follow and they build up quickly. Well once you've got the sanding done anyway. I didn't get full feeling back in my right arm for about three hours after sanding all this wood with a hand sander. It probably didn't help that I was using B grade lumber. It's cheap, just like me. And apparently, just like me, it's got some heavy duty rough spots.

I decided my girls needed mattresses for the beds so I sketched up a pattern for those.

Just a quick aside: if you want to make something and you aren't quite sure where to start, start with a sketch. Draw up what you want to make and put dimensions on it. It helps you picture the parts you need and know how big everything needs to be. It's also great for knowing how to put it together. I always start with a sketch.

Ok, so here's my sketch for the mattress:
I decided that I wanted to sew this out of one piece of fabric. I used the dimensions on the sketch to figure out how big of rectangle I needed to cut out of my fabric. However, my first mattress was a bit skimpy. Don't cut your fabric that size.

cut your fabric 33"x22". not the numbers in the sketch there. The larger piece will make a nicer fitting mattress for the bed.
Big rectangle. I use quilt cutting tools for projects like this. I get perfectly straight lines and square corners. So much easier. I almost never quilt but I use my cutting mat and rotary cutter all the time.

Next step is to fold the fabric in half so it creates a rectangle 16.5"x22". Sew a 1/2" seam all the way around, leaving a 4" gap on one side. I left the pins in the following photo so you could see the gap.
Trim your corners.
Now for the trick. The mattress stands about 1" tall. Match the seams together at the corners so the seam is directly in the center. Like this:
Then measure with a measuring tape 1/2" from the seam to the edge of the fabric on each side. This should create a straight line. (It's hard to explain, but the picture shows pretty clearly how to do that step.) Then draw a line along the measuring tape. This is a seam line.
Sew across that line. Now do this on all four corners.
Press the seams open and turn the mattress right side out. If you want the tufting to be perfectly even, measure and mark out six spots on the mattress to tuft. They should be evenly spaced across the mattress. Stuff it and sew the gap closed. I like to sew it closed by hand, but you can top stitch if you don't mind visible stitching on that section.

Next you get to tuft the mattress. I did a simple stitched tufting, but you can use a fabric covered button if you wish. On each mark, go down with a needle and thread all the way through the mattress. Pull through just enough thread to make a single 1/4" stitch (slip a button on if you wish) and send the needle back through the mattress. You should come up about 1/4" from where you went down. This will take a bit of maneuvering. Don't push the needle through until you've got that right.

Now, slip the needle between the threads right near the knot like this:
Pull it tight. The thread is now looped and will hold. The look of the mattress depends on how tightly you pull the tufting. You can leave it a little loose or pull the top and bottom fabric right up against each other. Tie off the thread and cut it close. Do this on the other five marks.



finished tufts. And you're done! How easy was that?

Bookshelves

So I don't always work in fabric. Recently my husband and I built a set of bookshelves for the play room. I love them! We went with floor to ceiling built ins with fixed shelves. We wanted height and easy build.

Since I wanted the shelves to be strong, we choose to not build them in place (I wanted the nails straight with no toe nailing and the back of the shelf nailed in place as well.) That meant keeping the unit shorter than the actual ceiling height so we could tip it into place when we brought it in the room to install it. The lovely moulding on the bottom is actually covering a 2x4 box my husband built to support the piece. So we built a complete bookshelf 3 and a half inches shorter than we wanted it to be and then tipped it up and set it on the box. It worked perfectly.

The shelves are nailed on three sides for stability and edged with 1"x2" for strength and looks. The whole thing was built with plywood and 1x2.

As you can see, the big shelf holds the kids' books. We've been collecting for awhile and it's such a relief to finally get a unit that holds everything!

Opposite the big shelf is another weird jog in the wall, so it got a little matching bookshelf for my books. It is not nearly big enough:
But I still like it. Same construction techniques.

And here's a close up of our pretty, pretty moulding:

We have a lumber yard near our house that specializes in seconds and over stocks so we got that beautiful 4" base for $6 a stick. Not a foot. $6 for the whole piece. We picked up crown for the basement at the same time and it cost us $20. Yeah, I can deal with a little bit of blade chatter for that price.

Sorry it's been awhile since I posted something. Getting my last post picked up by a big craft blog was really intimidating.

On tap for the next few weeks: Christmas presents. I have five nieces and nephews to craft for. I've got to figure out something a 13 year old boy who only plays video games would like to have. Wish me luck! (three of them are getting my version of the Ugly Doll.)