First Pallet Sign

I've been admiring the extremely trendy and rustic-chic pallet signs in stores lately. Unfortunately, the price tag and the cheesy sayings have prevented me from buying one. Okay. And my DIY attitude, too.

My desire to make one finally came to a head when I realized I had no ideas for my sister's Christmas present. She has a big-girl job now, so what do you buy the independent young woman?

After consulting my carpenter (aka, my wonderful father-in-law), we (aka, my wonderful father-in-law) assembled a pallet sign pretty quickly. Again, I am cheap, and even though I wanted gray stain originally, I borrowed leftover stain from a friend's project (Minwax Jacobean 2750).

The hard part was picking a non-cheesy, non-cliché, non-attitudinal statement. Another challenge is my horrible hand-writing and minimal skills with paint. I intended to use a projector to stencil out the letters, but the weather kept me from running to school. I wound up lettering freehand based on some art I found online. Here's the final result:

A few people have asked me "be still and know what?" Check out Psalms 46:10. Overall, not too shabby! I used Waverly semi-gloss acrylic in "Plaster" and "Celery," both found at WalMart.

Pallets: free

Stain: free

Total cost: $3.52

I'll definitely be repeating this project in the future. It probably took 4 hours in total to make a beautiful statement piece.

Desk Makeover: "New" Nightstands

Alternate title: how to offend antique enthusiasts.

This project was a looooong time coming. I bought this desk over a year ago, at my hometown thrift shop:

My initial impression: old, heavy. battered, worn, and UGLY. I hear the antique lovers screaming in protest already. If that already got your panties in a twist, hold on tight. It's going to be a bumpy ride....

So why did I buy this hunk of junk if I hated it so much? Because I had been searching and searching for matching nightstands to replace my current college-budget IKEA-wannabe set. This desk might have been ugly, but it was oozing with character - the quarter-round trim, the delicately curved drawers... I saw the desk and wished I could could just chop it in half! Oh wait. I actually *could* do that. More accurately, the man-thing could do that:

I hear more agonized screaming from the antique-lovers. The worst is over now. We patched up a water-warped drawer bottom and sanded the two pieces. It looked like the desk was used in someone's garage for nails and other repairs. All surfaces were pretty badly scratched and dented. I used wood glue and wood filler to repair what I could. My skills are pretty rudimentary, but it seemed to work.

 Unfortunately, there was not enough of the fancy quarter-round trim salvaged from the desk to complete an entire circuit of the two "halves" that would become my new nightstands. I decided to buy some from my local hardware store. That stopped this project in its tracks for 3 months. No one in town carried anything like the original trim. Nothing in my mother's woodmill magazine was worth ordering. I finally found a simple rope-twist quarter-round. It was a pale imitator, but it would do. I learned how to use a miter box and cut everything out.... and it was HIDEOUS. the width of the new trim was significantly less than that of the original, and the "twists" in the rope pattern were so extreme that the mitered corners were irregular and wouldn't match up.

I almost gave up! Let this be a lesson - never throw anything away when repurposing furniture. I still had salvaged pieces of the original trim. While I didn't have enough to trim the entire top of the two pieces, I had enough to miter the ends and place a decorative trim on the fronts:

This will sound obvious, but the original trim looked so authentic and genuine to the overall feel of the piece. I don't know why I didn't think of it in the first place!

The man-thing and I had many discussions on how to finish the nightstands. I argued that I had snagged some deep teal paint from a previous project for my mother, and it would match our bedspread. He is adamantly opposed to painting wood. Having been stained for so long, the wood didn't sand to an even color; I had my doubts about re-staining. Ultimately, I took the plunge (while my husband was away, heh), and used the paint. It was so much lighter when wet, I was filled with immediate regret:

But as it dried, it began to match my vision. Finishing touches were new hardware, drawer liner, and felt pieces for the feet. Let me just say that Ace Hardware makes the best self-adhesive felt pads. The style I use is linked in the tally at the bottom. These are great for avoiding scuffs on hardwood, making heavy furniture easier to move, and, in this case, preventing any paint that still needed to settle (I'm impatient) from hitting the floor.

Due to the height of the "new" nightstands, I purchased bed risers to make the top surface more accessible. I also bought new lamps, since man-thing admitted (after two years, guh) that he hated the color I painted the last pair. The final staging:

I love it! My husband was really impressed that I finally finished the project on my own after a year. I think he was worried the desk was going to be in the garage forever.

The break-down:

Desk: $40
Wood glue, wood filler: $8
Felt pads: $4
Paint: reused, $0
Sand paper: left over from previous projects, $0
Quarter-round: $19
Hardware: $2.69x8 + tax = $23ish
TOTAL: $94, lots of elbow grease, and patience.

Clearly not one of my more thrifty projects, but I couldn't be happier with the result!

So what do you think? Was I wrong to hack apart an antique and repurpose it? Or did the end justify the means?

The New TV Console

Finally time for an update! This one doesn't count as thrifty whatsoever, but it sure is a pretty project...

We got a new TV recently. When the husband and I set it on our old particle-board TV stand, the flimsy piece of furniture gave a huge shudder - it couldn't take the weight! Immediately, I started looking for a replacement.

Bless my sweet mother, she collaborated with me to find an antique piece to repurpose before my husband could buy another "modern" particle-board TV stand. For some reason, I'm obsessed with little drawers right now. I had an old card catalogue in mind, but after a full day of searching through my mom's favorite store, we found nothing that quite matched my vision. As a last ditch effort, we stopped by Cornerstone Antiques. There we found this beauty:

The label read, "Monterey Hardware Store," which I have yet to track down. However, I knew immediately it must be mine. The measurements for our appliances and the new TV base were tight, but certainly do-able. This piece looks like it was pulled from under a hardware store counter and given a new recycled plywood back and solid oak top. Some of the drawers were a bit ragged on the edges. It features not only 6 rows of mixed-width drawers, but also unmatched porcelain knobs and labels and hardware pieces still glued/stapled to the drawers. There is so much history in this piece!

With the help of my husband, we came up with a plan of attack. We took out the top row of drawers (please don't send me hate-mail!) and knocked out all but one of the dividers for our electronics. On the side of our receiver, we completely removed the back to accommodate the tight fit.

For the other, we used a keyhole drill to create a hole, through which we passed the cords for our dish box and Blu-Ray player. Some of the drawers removed were used to replace some of the more worn and fragile drawers on the bottom.

This project took only an hour or so of our afternoon, but the visual impact in our living area is stunning! Despite my concern about the measurements of our electronics and the narrow depth of our new TV console, everything fit so perfectly that it must have been mean to be.

As an added bonus, the red tones in the original stain pick up the colored speaker covers on either side:

It raises our television about 1.5 feet, but it's a very comfortable viewing level. We've had the new TV console in place for a little over a month, and I am still in love with it. It's such an interesting piece with tons of character and history!

Easter Egg Wreath

I've never been a huge fan of Easter egg or bunny wreaths because I feel they trivialize the significance of the holiday.  However, the recent loss in my life has taught me to take enjoyment in the simple things.

Presenting: the Easter egg wreath!

Supplies are from the $1-$3 aisle at Target or were already on hand. Don't let your cat hog the painted grapevine wreath.

I originally tried using wire to affix the strand of glittery egg lights.

This didn't create the look I was going for, so I ultimately wound up using hot glue to attach each egg to the grapevine. The excess wire was also hot glued to the back of the wreath.

I still used the wire to secure the battery pack to the wreath.  The battery pack must separate completely to insert new batteries, so its attachment must be temporary.

 Quick test of the lights....

Then I hung it using some spare pink ribbon (also, incidentally, from Target).

Even if it isn't a cross, this glittery wreath makes me smile and want to celebrate - which, in the end, is what Easter is all about.

Costs:
Painted grapevine wreath: $3.00
10-bulb egg light strand: $3.00
Wire, glue, and ribbon already on hand: $0.00
TOTAL: $6.00


Cheap and simple for a little Easter spirit!

Moustache Neck Warmer

Stress = Crafting. Always.

Today's project was inspired by my lovely sister. Her car battery died, so she decided to bike the twoish miles to work. Our parents were less than thrilled that she decided to do so in the middle of winter, especially when it was snowy and way below freezing. My sister sent me a picture of herself one morning, scarf wrapped completely around her head, ready for the bike ride ahead.

The idea of making a neck warmer that could be worn over her nose was born! Since she loves moustaches, I decided to take a felt one onto this tutorial from Escapades in Sewing.

If you've ever made an infinity scarf, the idea is very similar, but the work is on thicker material in tighter margins. The tutorial called for 22.5"x18.5" of fleece to make a double-layered neck warmer. I was worried it would be a bit too large, as my sister and I both have very small heads. However, the size is PERFECT.

After cutting my pre-washed/dried fleece down to size, I took a piece of simple craft felt and used a moustache-shaped post-it as a stencil.

A thorough moustache test is encouraged before attaching it to the fleece. Remember to measure carefully! I knew I wanted the seams of the neck warmer to lay on the "inside" so they wouldn't show, so I pinned my moustache about 5-6" from the edge of the material. A simple straight stitch was applied down the middle of the moustache and for 1" centered along the top. This could easily be accomplished with hand stitching after the neck warmer is complete, as well.

The rest was a piece of cake! This is a fast project. Total time spent cutting and sewing was about ten minutes. I ran a zigzag stitch with quarter-inch seams down the long edge. Make sure the "wrong" side is out!

After this tube was created, I pulled one end "inside" the tube to pair the loose ends.

Since it had to be pulled through a gap in the seam, I didn't bother to pin the two layers together as I sewed around the circumference.

This is my favorite part of the project: pull the inside out!

I used the same zigzag stitch to close the hole. This was accomplished by "rolling" the seam-to-be a bit to the side and using the zigzag to pull the two edges together.

Last, but not least, a quick check to see how it fit...

That's it! This tutorial was very easy to follow and I know the double layer of fleece will keep my sister warm.

Here's the totals:

Fleece: $2.97/yd (I bought a whole yard because I am the worst at cutting fabric. Used about one-third of the material.)
Felt: $0.23 for a single sheet
TOTAL: $3.20

For a 10-minute project with high-quality results (and leftover materials to make at least 2 more), I'd call this neck warmer a win!

No-Hassle One-Dish Peanut Chicken

You've heard it from me before: I am not a great planner. One day, I forgot that one of my friends was coming over to dinner. I had practically NOTHING in my fridge and pantry. But, I had peanut butter and chicken. Thus, this dish was thrown together at the last minute. On a good day, I can knock out the entire thing (prep time and all) in about 20 minutes. Can't beat that, right?

Here's the ingredient list:
4-6 medium boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed
Veggies (I used a full head of broccoli in this version)
1/2 c - 2/3 c "natural" peanut butter
1/4 c low-sodium soy sauce
A splash of Worcestershire sauce
Red pepper flakes, ginger powder, garlic salt, and garlic powder to taste
A "finisher" (I used chickpeas in this version)

I have gotten many requests for this recipe, and I have to say the hardest part about winging a recipe is getting it down on paper with finite measurements. I believe my first trial suggested a "glob" of peanut butter. In any case, I'll explain the reasoning on some of the ingredients as we go! When I cube my chicken breasts, I keep them in relatively large bite-sized pieces (1-1.5" cubed). This makes them an easy forkful.

I preheat my pan on medium. When it's warmed up, I do a quick spray with some vegetable oil and throw the cubed chicken in! Then, I season with garlic salt, garlic powder, red pepper flakes and ginger powder. I'm very liberal with the ginger powder and garlic salt. I have a MAJOR addiction to garlic salt, though, so I'd scale back on that if you're sensitive to saltiness. I compensate for the extra salt by using low-sodium soy sauce. It's not just for your health! The chicken produces a lot of water as it cooks. Drain it periodically with a baster or a collander, or the sauce will be quite watery and won't thicken properly. This image is right before I drained.

When the chicken is almost - ALMOST- cooked all the way through, I add just enough soy sauce to cover the bottom of the pan in 1/8". This turns out to be about a quarter cup in my cookware, but it may vary. I also add a splash of Worcestershire at this time. I've left it out before and the flavor had a really cheap quality to it, so definitely don't overlook the power of a splash!

Once the liquids are added, throw in the chickpeas (if you're using them). I used canned, and I find them fairly salty of their own accord, so I'm extra careful to strain them thoroughly. The chickpeas are added a little earlier than the other veggies because I personally find that they take longer to heat and become tender. My husband prefers brown rice with this dish to chickpeas, so we alternate which one we choose. If it's a rice night, I just throw the peanut chicken on top of a bed of rice and call it a night. With the chickpeas in the mix, I allow the chicken to finish cooking all the way through before adding the greens.

The almighty veggie discussion: LOVE broccoli in this dish. I've also tried celery, carrots, peas, corn, green beans and cauliflower. Cauliflower is disgusting. Of the others, I'd highly recommend celery and green beans as veggie alternatives. I like all of my veggies to be warm, but still quite crunchy. If you prefer your veggies more tender, adjust your steaming time accordingly. For the steaming portion of this dish, I put my peanut butter in the middle - JUST DUMP IT IN - and lay the veggies in a circle around the PB. Steam for about 5 minutes or so. The key is that the peanut butter starts to melt. I wish the picture quality was better, but these are pre- and post-steaming:

After the steaming, the peanut butter is nice and soft and ready to incorporate! If the soy sauce and other liquids cause the mixture to be too runny, I stir the pot until the excess moisture burns off.

This dish can be adjusted for pretty much anyone. I have made strictly peanut chickpeas for vegetarian friends and turned up the heat with lots of red pepper for my spice-loving father. When there are weeks that I won't have time to cook, have cooked 5 pounds of this up for my husband and I to eat throughout the week. It reheats well.

It's not authentic. It's not high-quality. But it is hot, delicious, and fast. Omnomnom!

I've always wanted to try this with real ginger and watercress. If you give it a go with those ingredients, report back!