$10 shelves

We've been living in our house for more than a year now and we still have tons of photos to display.  In addition, I have cookbooks I am constantly having to dig out of the pantry, where they were kept.

I found these very easy plans for small shelves from Knock Off Furniture.  These are the famous $10 shelves.  Here they are in the family room:

And in the kitchen:

It looks nice and tidy now.  These shelves were very easy to make.  The fronts were tacked on with my nail gun.

Child stool

Charlotte tries out her new stool.  It still needs to be painted.

Console, sanded and stained

The console has been sanded and stained.  I need to find a good resource for lumber.  The stuff from Home Depot and Lowe's is warped and bowed.  Very annoying to work with at times.

Here it is in the entry way:

Console in progress

I had fun today figuring out how to use the brad nailer and air compressor.  I remember when my dad bought his air compressor many years ago--it was a few hundred bucks.  I got a refurbished one for about $40 or so on Amazon.com.  Since we have Amazon Prime, two-day shipping was free!

Anyway, here's the console put together.  I'm debating whether I need to add a shelf.

Breakfast bar stools

We've been needing stools for the kitchen/family room breakfast bar.  Stools are kind of expensive for what you get, and I haven't really seen any that I loved.

I found a plan on Knock Off Wood for tall bar stools, and started my first one this week.  In between my job search and working on my web development course, I started putting one together.

Here is what I have so far:

Here it is modeled by my 12-year-old:

I think this is a good height for the bar.  Here is the stool with stain:

The plans for these bar stools can be found here:

Extra Tall Bar Stool

Home projects

I'm using my hiatus from the work force to take care of projects around the house.  Things I've been wanting to do for a while and haven't had time.  Here's the first project, a pair of benches made from a tutorial I found on Pinterest, which was a knock off of a Ballard Designs upholstered bench.

Ballard Designs knock off bench

We needed more seating in our family room, and I wanted a couple of benches that would fit neatly into specific spaces.  Here's what I came up with:

I purchased legs from the Home Depot as well as Lowe's.  They are pine and were about $10 each.  I stained them with Minwax Jacobean and sealed them with a satin polyurethane:



The blogger who inspired me to do this used MDF for the seat, which I don't see how that would hold an adult.  I used 3/4" plywood instead.  One large sheet was enough for a couple of benches, plus plenty of leftovers.

Another project I am planning is this console:

This will go in the foyer by the front door.  The space is empty and we just need something there.  I'll be grouping it with a mirror from the old house and some kind of non-breakable accessories (since we have both a cat and a toddler).

Thanks for looking!

Little Ruffle Skort

I've made a few of these skorts for Charlotte.  The pattern takes less than a yard of fabric, and it's a nice way to use up larger remnants.

Style Arc Abby cardi

Finally figured out why my camera wouldn't work, so I can take photos again.  Here is the Style Arc Abby cardigan, which I got for free with my February order.

Fabric from eBay

I got this awesome fabric from eBay, and I'm making a maxi skirt out of it:

Hancock fabric

I picked this fabric up at Hancock, $2/yard.  I spent $4 total and made an oversized scarf with it using the pico edge technique on my serger.

Kwik Sew 3880

This was an easy top to make with fabric left over from one of my Mission Maxis.  I've been wanting a "cold shoulder" top and now I have a great pattern to use in the future.

Burda mesh top

Burda swim coverup

This is from the July 2011 issue of Burda Style magazine.  Burda offers many of these patterns on line to download for a price, which is what I did.  The download includes the dress and top version.  I'll be making the top next.

I got the mesh fabric from eBay.  It's from the Italian boutique clothing maker Save the Queen.

Burda 9538, girl's pants

I made several pairs of these yesterday for Charlotte.  I'm not 100% happy with the result--they are too big in the hips and I used the size two for the hips, size 3 for the length.  Perhaps they will fit a bit better when she grows into them.  The fabric is super cute though.

Charlotte in bespoke dress

Charlotte having nutritious breakfast of peanut butter shots, in a dress I made her.

Style Arc Elle pants, in progress

Second pair of Style Arc Elle pants, made in a stretch patchwork denim.  Not sure if I love them.

My 12-year-old son loves them.

Edited to add a red pair.  I'm wearing them for Valentine's Day.

Butterick 6084

I am going to recreate this dress:

In this cobalt blue rayon jersey:

And have started the process with Butterick 6084.  Here is a top I've made with the pattern:

Cavallari knockoff

I saw this top on line and loved it:

It occurred to me that I could make something similar as I had some animal print fabric in a similar colorway and a pattern that was also similar to the cut of this top.  The Pattern is McCall 6288.

Here is my final result:

I also used my Coverpro machine for the first time to hem the sleeves and hem:

My stash

Here is most of my fabric and pattern stash.  I think I have between 200 and 300 yards of fabric, and roughly 450 patterns, not including the pattern magazines and the 27 patterns I just ordered from Patterns of the Past.

Dora dress, another view

Charlotte is getting a lot of wear out of this dress, especially considering that it's not really meant to be worn in January!

McCall 6308

My last entry for the stash contest, 2.5 yards:

Butterick 6223

I bought this cotton batiste a couple of years ago for a couple bucks a yard because there was a stain on the fabric.  I was able to work around the stain.  This top cost me about $6.

Butterick 5480

Another entry to the fabric stash contest.  I need to wear this a couple of times to see if I still like it as I had originally planned to wear it--over a white cami.  I'm wondering if it needs a few rows of shirring along the hem to give it more shape.

Butterick 5539

Another entry to the fabric stash contest.

New Look 6809

Looks like this would be an easy pattern, but the fabric just about killed me.  This is a very wispy silk chiffon with lurex threads throughout.  Very pretty fabric but it was really hard to work with.

Pillow for Chris

Not much to say here.

Grocery bags

Using up the rest of the fabric left over from the throw pillows I made for the game room last summer.