Daybeds inspired by Ana White
I have to thank +Ana White for her terrific free plans for the beds my husband built. Each Winter we plan projects for inside our lake house. My husband wanted to build beds for our lake home. I searched everywhere I could think of to find solid economical beds with storage, when I found Ana White's plans for a twin size daybed with storage. It has six storage cubes in each bed which gave me room to store linens on one side and a space for each guest to store their belongings while they visit. The design was perfect for our guestroom at night and a game room during the day. Please follow this link to get her plans, check out her site, and while you are there she has plenty of plans for many projects.
First we studied her list, changed the wood to oak sanded plywood, because we planned on staining it with Minwax Stain and Sealer(Ebony), and Ana painted the bed White. Then we added up what wood we needed for two beds, which was easy because instructions included a detailed cut pattern. We purchased the oak sanded plywood from Home depot for the body of the bed, and the facing was oak as well.
I was concerned about keeping the cost to a down. After giving the design a bit of thought I realized we could save even more money if we bought the cheaper pine sanded plywood for the inside of the cubes. The pieces that we cut out of sanded pine plywood included: Three bottom cuts, 4 sides of boxes, and 3 center cuts for each
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| Look at the cube in the background and top of bed on table. |
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| Original Design complete |
My husband followed Ana White cuts, supplies lists, and directions exactly on the first bed. We changed the cut pattern on the second bed to the make cutting, staining and painting easier. We tried making the top on this bed one piece of wood instead of three separate pieces. This way my husband was able to paint the bottom or inside of the cubes Oatmeal on the inside and stain Ebony on the top, ends and facing.
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| Close-up of bed |
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| The beds made but the room is not yet complete. |
You can see the daybeds in our guest /game room.
I added pillows that I made to ones I purchased. I also bought Colonial Mills round baskets to add colorful storage. I am still working on the bedding and decor of this room. I post more pictures later when I finish the guest/game room. I think Ana White will be proud my husband made these beautiful daybeds using her plans. We already had some guest stay over they gave the beds rave reviews. Please Leave a comment to let me know what you think of the beds or about Dragonfly & Lily Pads. Thank you again to Ana White for the wonderful plans hop on over and check out her site too.
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Mod Podge Miracle
If you have read my blog before you know our lake home is named Dragonfly. If you haven't read the story you might want to read here to catch-up. The first week we spent at the lake house was in middle of Winter 2012. We had plenty to do with picking out what furniture should go where, selecting how we would use the space in the house and what priorities should be on the top of our list. Well of course we all know that a girl must put her own touch on her home, with Prince Charming's approval. Tee Hee! Pier 1 Imports had a few items I was looking for, along with a coupon of course. So as any good husband would do, for his lady, off to the store we went, with coupon in hand. I found a beautiful dragonfly vase and bought two right away. One for my girlfriend whose Dad had passed away and one for the lake home. We saw a few other items we were interested in but wanted to be sure we would use them.
By early Spring I was on a first name bases with the Manager of the store, at that time it was (Steve). We had become Platinum Members of the savings club. Our home was shaping up nicely. I bought another dragonfly vase for my girlfriends sister for a birthday gift. As luck would have it my darling guy had a little accident and broke it while transporting it. Oh well accidents happen so we bought another. Is there anything better then platinum is what your thinking right? Ok, now three girls, who love dragonflies, each have a vase! Success Right? For a while every thing was perfect in dragonfly world, until one fine Spring day I bought myself some flowers, stuck them proudly in the vase, sat back, and took in the view. Brilliant you might say but, when it came time to clean out the vase that yuck line, that you get from the water, would not budge. Since it did not say," Do Not Use Dishwasher", clearly that would work. CLEARLY it did because that is exactly how it came of the dishwasher. Clean and glistening with not a touch of color, or a thought of a dragonfly. I thought I couldn't fix the vase, so I left it sparkle, filled it with fake flowers and called it day.
I toyed around with the idea of painting it myself. As you can see in the picture below my first attempt was not successful. I set the vase aside again, thinking about scraping off the painting I had started.
I found these napkins at Pier 1 Imports, on sale naturally. Bought +Mod Podge at +Joann Fabrics. I never used this product before but, I figured it can't look any worse then it already turn out.
To make the napkins more sheer I took two white layers of paper off the napkin. This made only pattern translucent. I painted on the Mod Podge and then applied the napkin on top. I was surprised it dried faster then the directions explained. After placing the first napkin, I figured I would just place the next one, matching up the patterns similar to sewing. Nope, the patterns did not follow one another, so I had to tear and paste the pieces together matching each one. A few places just did not match so I used my creative license to make the pattern pleasant to your eyes. This is what it look like before I put the final coat of Mod Podge to seal the vase.
Here is the vase in its current place in our Dragonfly Pad as we call it for blog. I am very pleased with the completed project. It does not look exactly like the original but, now I have a one of a kind vase that, I know Not To Wash It In The Dishwasher.
It sits atop an antique back bar from a lake home in Kansas City, MO.
I love the red flowers, purple dragonflies and soft shades of green. There is also pink, white, lavender, yellow and deeper green flowers in
the paper napkin pattern. I think it turned out beautiful, which is why I called it a miracle because, I thought I had melted my dragonfly vase. Who knew napkins with Mod Podge & gold paint could save my vase.
Valentine's Project Round-up
A concept hosted by Meredith LeRoy of The Silhouette Challenge. Thank you for taking on this task, of coordinating a bunch of Creative individuals, into one blended mix of Beauty. I hope you all enjoy what we have to offer today.
My project was created last year, to celebrate two different spectrum's of life. A beautiful young lady about to get married, and my parents 60th Wedding Anniversary. I have to give credit to Pinterest (link here) for a bit of inspiration but, I did change the concept to fit the needs of my events. One of the best parts of this Heart Swags or Streamers is it can be used for many events, or even a photography background.
Make hearts the size you would like on the silhouette machine. I also had different textures, shine, weight and glitter paper. some of the card stock I chose had only one side finished with color. Of course as the weight or texture changed I had to change the settings on the silhouette blade and speed according to the on screen directions.Some of the card stock I chose had only one color side and the other was white. I just glued two colors together to make both side finished. I punched holes in each heart with Recollections two hole punch. My thought was with the twisting and turning the Heavy Card Stock might tear. This turned out to be a good decision because they lasted through two parties so far and are ready for the next one.
I used fishing line to tie the hearts together with a simple knot. Nylon Thread may work but, I knew we would be outside. You can see how I spaced the fishing line and tied the hearts on the floor because I needed a bigger spot to work.
You all know we have worked in some weird places to get the look we intended to create.
The hearts danced in the trees, and swagged on the railings. I am sorry, I do not have pictures of the railing swags, or the 60th Wedding Anniversary to show you how they were hung as swags from the curtain rods.
After cutting out the hearts I did realize I could have put the holes in as part of the design. At the time, I was not sure how big to make them because, I did not want the holes to show.
I hope you LOVE the VALENTINE'S ROUND-UP.
Now make sure you visit the other Silhouette Challenge members too.
Sometimes in life we have Glitches. Please See the other projects on http://www.unoriginalmom.com/25-valentines-day-projects-for-your-silhouette/
By early Spring I was on a first name bases with the Manager of the store, at that time it was (Steve). We had become Platinum Members of the savings club. Our home was shaping up nicely. I bought another dragonfly vase for my girlfriends sister for a birthday gift. As luck would have it my darling guy had a little accident and broke it while transporting it. Oh well accidents happen so we bought another. Is there anything better then platinum is what your thinking right? Ok, now three girls, who love dragonflies, each have a vase! Success Right? For a while every thing was perfect in dragonfly world, until one fine Spring day I bought myself some flowers, stuck them proudly in the vase, sat back, and took in the view. Brilliant you might say but, when it came time to clean out the vase that yuck line, that you get from the water, would not budge. Since it did not say," Do Not Use Dishwasher", clearly that would work. CLEARLY it did because that is exactly how it came of the dishwasher. Clean and glistening with not a touch of color, or a thought of a dragonfly. I thought I couldn't fix the vase, so I left it sparkle, filled it with fake flowers and called it day.
I toyed around with the idea of painting it myself. As you can see in the picture below my first attempt was not successful. I set the vase aside again, thinking about scraping off the painting I had started.
To make the napkins more sheer I took two white layers of paper off the napkin. This made only pattern translucent. I painted on the Mod Podge and then applied the napkin on top. I was surprised it dried faster then the directions explained. After placing the first napkin, I figured I would just place the next one, matching up the patterns similar to sewing. Nope, the patterns did not follow one another, so I had to tear and paste the pieces together matching each one. A few places just did not match so I used my creative license to make the pattern pleasant to your eyes. This is what it look like before I put the final coat of Mod Podge to seal the vase.
Here is the vase in its current place in our Dragonfly Pad as we call it for blog. I am very pleased with the completed project. It does not look exactly like the original but, now I have a one of a kind vase that, I know Not To Wash It In The Dishwasher.
It sits atop an antique back bar from a lake home in Kansas City, MO.
I love the red flowers, purple dragonflies and soft shades of green. There is also pink, white, lavender, yellow and deeper green flowers in
the paper napkin pattern. I think it turned out beautiful, which is why I called it a miracle because, I thought I had melted my dragonfly vase. Who knew napkins with Mod Podge & gold paint could save my vase.
Stay warm and toasty while crafting your way through this Polar Vortex!
You have taken your time to view my blog. Please leave a comment so I can thank you personally. I would love to read your cleaning blunders show a girl some blog love.
Thursday, January 30, 2014
Sweetheart Garland or Streamers
A concept hosted by Meredith LeRoy of The Silhouette Challenge. Thank you for taking on this task, of coordinating a bunch of Creative individuals, into one blended mix of Beauty. I hope you all enjoy what we have to offer today.
My project was created last year, to celebrate two different spectrum's of life. A beautiful young lady about to get married, and my parents 60th Wedding Anniversary. I have to give credit to Pinterest (link here) for a bit of inspiration but, I did change the concept to fit the needs of my events. One of the best parts of this Heart Swags or Streamers is it can be used for many events, or even a photography background.
Make hearts the size you would like on the silhouette machine. I also had different textures, shine, weight and glitter paper. some of the card stock I chose had only one side finished with color. Of course as the weight or texture changed I had to change the settings on the silhouette blade and speed according to the on screen directions.Some of the card stock I chose had only one color side and the other was white. I just glued two colors together to make both side finished. I punched holes in each heart with Recollections two hole punch. My thought was with the twisting and turning the Heavy Card Stock might tear. This turned out to be a good decision because they lasted through two parties so far and are ready for the next one.
I used fishing line to tie the hearts together with a simple knot. Nylon Thread may work but, I knew we would be outside. You can see how I spaced the fishing line and tied the hearts on the floor because I needed a bigger spot to work.
You all know we have worked in some weird places to get the look we intended to create.
This Picture is at the Wedding Shower
 |
| The hearts splash of color in the trees. |
 |
| Even the weeds are beautiful. |
The hearts danced in the trees, and swagged on the railings. I am sorry, I do not have pictures of the railing swags, or the 60th Wedding Anniversary to show you how they were hung as swags from the curtain rods.
After cutting out the hearts I did realize I could have put the holes in as part of the design. At the time, I was not sure how big to make them because, I did not want the holes to show.
I hope you LOVE the VALENTINE'S ROUND-UP.
Now make sure you visit the other Silhouette Challenge members too.
Saturday, March 1, 2014
Blog Designs
I bet there many of you out in Blog World, who have faced the same decisions I have been make recently.
What decisions you asked?
Well here is a part of the list:
1. website hosts dedicated, shared, and free servers
2. $$$$ cost is is right for me or you?
3. Raise your SEO and Page traffic.
4. WordPress vs Blogger?
I am filled with information overload after searching, reading, and questioning. Now I feel like I am tossing the pros and cons like a juggling act. Many of you are right now in the same boat, with your mind steering the boat in circles, well I took a little break and Jumped off the Boat!
Since I am still debating these thoughts I needed to accomplish something.
What decisions you asked?
Well here is a part of the list:
1. website hosts dedicated, shared, and free servers
2. $$$$ cost is is right for me or you?
3. Raise your SEO and Page traffic.
4. WordPress vs Blogger?
I am filled with information overload after searching, reading, and questioning. Now I feel like I am tossing the pros and cons like a juggling act. Many of you are right now in the same boat, with your mind steering the boat in circles, well I took a little break and Jumped off the Boat!
Since I am still debating these thoughts I needed to accomplish something.
We all know, that a creative spirit has got to dance, clear the cobwebs, to be able be inspired, to transform, and create.
Hey, I think I just worked on simplifying my Header!
What did I do?
I created new art work for my blog.
I have been working on creating one continuous logo for my types of social media and blog. I have been chatting with someone who I value their opinion. She knows who she is for now we will keep it that way. Her suggestion is simplify your design and header.  |
| The first idea was layering paper, an image from the +Karen Watson Graphics Fairy(Lily Pads), and my own image the Dragonfly. |
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| When I worked on this I used my computer to wash in some color to appear like a water color. |
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| I added in words I feel describe my blog and dressed up the Logo a bit. Did you notice the color of the year? 
Happy Day
I Have something to Celebrate with all of you who have shared this blog journey. We Have hit over 5000 page views ahead of my goal. This would not be possible, with out each reader, who has given me their vote of confidence by reading
Thank you, from the bottom of my heart! Now is the part where I need your feed back. This entire blog is about the people who read it, try new things, and create. Please leave a comment below answering any or all of these questions?
1. Which is do you like the best?
2. Do you like the message?
3. What would you change?
4. Does the Title Stand out enough?
5. Any other thoughts!
Constructive comments will not hurt my feelings. Being honest with your thoughts will help me better to serve you.
The Black and white Graphic of the Lily Pads is from her site. I can not wait to see your responses, Please take the time to share your input. I assure you it is truly appreciated. ~Let Your Creative Spirit Dance This post is linked to: http://eastcoastcreativeblog.com/2014/03/creating-stars-2014-contest-link.html http://tatertotsandjello.com/ |
1 comment:
Love them, very clever and I think better than the pallet bed ideas that I love, but think of dust bunnies galore underneath them.
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