Shed Building Plans

I did it! Good bye kitchen cabinet

So, as I posted previously, my large kitchen cabinet has started to fail.  The shelves were bowing and it started to pull away from the wall.  I had to make the decision to remove the cabinet,  restructure it, and put it back on the wall OR throw caution to the wind and remove it to explore new possibilities.


Yes, those are tree branches above the cabinets.  I use them with twinkle lights from Halloween thru winter.  It just adds a touch of sparkle to the drab winter.

I am not sure if it the promise of a new year or just an itch for change but I decided to remove the cabinet altogether!  Wait, what?  I KNOW!  Im a little crazy for removing a perfectly good cabinet but what is life without a little adventure, right?


I emptied the cabinet, removed the shelves, and questioned my decision about 1,000 more times before removing it.  I mean, whether I fixed it or decided to eliminate it - it needed to come down.






So as I decided to go with the open shelving, it was off to the home store to get some wood and supplies.  I decided to go with 2" shelves for the rustic elegance.  I found scrap lumber and after going through about twenty five pieces, I found two that were perfectly straight yet with interesting graining.  I went with 2 x 12s which were four feet long.  I cut them to the width I needed.  I also bought some 1 x 2 cedar boards to serve as both a ledge for the shelf and trim for the cubby I was also building.


Then I spied some unfinished shelving for only $2.78 each!  Wait, what?  So I put back some of the more expensive wood and decided to use this to build the cubby for my glass jars of flour and sugar.  SCORE!  I love saving money!


So this project took a lot of sitting on a stool, having a snack and mulling over designs in my head, options for mounting the shelves, etc.  It was really a trial and error process but finally I got started.  I used the cedar boards coupled with large brackets to support the bottom shelf.





Living in Chicago, sometimes DIYing in the winter has its drawbacks.  Since it was about 20 below zero when I began this project, I elected to cut wood in the kitchen.  I had no choice really but it has made a HUGE mess.  Oh well, it beats frostbite!


I wanted the shelf to sit flush on the wood ledge so I chiseled the width of the bracket out before securing it to the stud in the wall.  It worked perfectly!



Now that the first shelf support was ready, I proceeded to the cubby.  I needed a closed area for glass jar storage but also to continue to line of the cabinets and trim, crown molding, and over cabinet lighting.  I used the unfinished shelving to make a very basic box.  I trimmed it out in 1 x 3s and 1 x 2s.

I chose to use the large brackets again because I didnt want to worry about anything crashing off the wall and I didnt want to have to be limited in  what I could put on the shelf.  I painted the cabinet and the metal brackets white for a uniform look.  A little caulk and some sanding and it looked like a uniform and polished cabinet.  Yay.


This was just me goofing around with options of what to put on the shelves.  I still have to add the second shelf and decide what color to stain the shelves.


I found this awesome Kate Spade inspired polka dot grey and creme cotton duck material which I was going to use as a backdrop to hide the brackets and give the kitchen some pop.  I also found these wire baskets at Goodwill for ...... $1.99 for the two big ones and .99 cents for the smaller one!  SCORE!!!


So that is where I am so far.  The weekend was spent watching Notre Dame hockey and mens basketball in South Bend so I am looking forward to finishing this Sunday evening.  I am so looking forward to how it is going to turn out.   Even though there is more work to do, I think I made the right decision.  I am excited to post the final product in a few days!




I did it! Good bye kitchen cabinet

My iPhone was in ICE SNOW for 44 days and it WORKS! AMAZING!

On January 26th, the windchill was -51 degrees and we had about 36" of snow on the ground with blowing and drifting.  It was this day, 44 days ago,  I suddenly realized my iphone was missing.  There were two possibilities.... it was somewhere in the house or out in the snow.  UGH!  My WHITE iPhone - in the snow?  It couldnt be.  I was doomed.


I have continued to look for it in the house since that day.  That was, until yesterday!  It was a warm sunny day here - about 50 degrees and the record breaking snow was FINALLY beginning to melt!  As I was walking along the sidewalk, THERE IT WAS!  Not my phone, but a small piece of my phone CASE laying there in the matted grass.  MYSTERY SOLVED - I did indeed drop it in the snow in January and it had been outside the whole time!  But now, how to find the actual phone.  I grabbed a shovel and began to try to dig into the copious amounts of snow still remaining along the sidewalk on the grass with NO luck.  I decided I just had to wait for further melting and so before I went to put the shovel back into the garage, I saw something.  THE REST OF THE CASE!  It was there, over 20 feet away from the drop point!  But how could that be...... And then it hit me!  THE SNOWBLOWER!





As I ran over to pick up the case, I was hoping it was still attached to the phone.... and it was!  Resisting the urge to pick it up,  I borrowed a friends iPhone to take pictures of its final resting place.  I was flabbergasted by how it could have been chucked 20 feet by a snowblower and still be intact.  But it was and the mystery of my missing phone was solved.  My mind could finally stop trying to memorize and re-trace the steps leading up to misplacing my phone.  If you have ever lost an object, you know how excruciating and frustrating it can be.  It has been 44 days of trying to remember something that would indicate my phones location.
When I got to the phone and picked it up, I discovered the screen was shattered.  Other than that, it was in great condition.  I brought it in the house and removed the decorative case and threw it away.  I dried off the phone and put it in a plastic bad.  Later that evening, I put it in a bag of rice and let it sit for about 24 hours.


After work today, I decided I was going to plug it is just to see what would happen.  And lo and behold, the charging screen came up!  OMG!  Are you kidding me?  I cannot believe it!


It took a while but at least it seemed to be charging.  And then it happened.  About 20 minutes later, I heard a few noises and my phone powered up!  You could have knocked me over with a feather - I could not believe it!  Not only that, the time was correct AND even adjusted itself for Daylight Savings Time!  OMG OMG OMG!  No way!

I have no service because I put it into lost mode with ATT that first day when it was missing.  And of course, I had NOT downloaded the all important APP - FIND MY iPHONE!  If you own an iPhone, iPod, or other Apple product, DOWNLOAD this NOW.  Through iCloud, it can show your phone on a map if you have lost it, and it can send a tone to it so you can listen for it.  It is pretty amazing.  I am not sure it could have helped me outside in the snow, but it is the first thing I am going to do when I get service restored.


When I bought my 4s in December of 2012, I did buy AppleCare a few weeks later.  I had AppleCare on my MacBook Pro and it was indispensable!  Any glitch that I had was taken care of absolutely free of charge.  Since I normally keep my phones for way longer than two years, I decided AppleCare for my iPhone 4s was the way to go.  It was $99 and it covers anything.  Even snowblowers.  ;-)  I will only have to pay $50 for a new phone but it will be worth it.  With shattered screen, I am concerned about cutting myself on the jagged glass or having pieces actually fall off the phone.  

So, there you have it.  My amazing iPhone story.  I cant believe it.  Record snow fall, weeks of below zero temperatures, deadly windchills, two days of rain and the crushing blades of the snowblower.  I am now an Apple iPhone customer for LIFE.   I am on my third Volkswagen convertible car because I believe in them.  I was in a very serious car accident when a giant Ford Bronco caused a terrible collision.  I walked away without a scratch.  A little VW against a big bad truck and my VW won.  I am loyal to the brand for that very reason - I have faith and they have  served me SO well.  This is the same loyalty I feel towards my Apple iPhone.  I know some people think it is all hype and that android is the way to go, etc.  But, actually, in my eyes, the Apple iPhone is pretty amazing.  I feel sorry for this little phone and all its been through, but it is a survivor.  I now know what the "i" stands for in the name iPhone........ INVINCIBLE!  Bravo Apple, Inc., and thank you for making such an amazing product!


My iPhone was in ICE SNOW for 44 days and it WORKS! AMAZING!

Creativity Is Contagious Pass It On

Creativity Is Contagious Pass It On

It Wont Win the County Fair

It Wont Win the County Fair

Do It Yourself Homemade Shed and More

Shed and Woodworking Plans

You can start your own homemade shed or woodworking project. Ryan Henderson, builder of outdoor sheds for over 20 years, has put together a package of shed and woodworking plans.

Create a homemade shed or woodworking project and avoid the countless man-hours spent planning and compiling a materials list.

MyShedPlans offers over 12,000 woodworking projects. You will find plans for birdhouses, garden furniture, do it yourself shed building, full size decks, and everything in between. It seems anything that can be made out of wood is included in the resource. Toys are included, too. All plans are complete from start to finish and include material lists, detailed diagrams, and explicit step by step instructions.

Multiple designs for do-it yourself garden or storage sheds are available. Hundreds of designs for outdoor buildings, from small sheds all the way up to a complete stable are included. You can pick the shed plan or woodworking project that is right for you.

In addition to plans to build your homemade shed and woodworking projects, MyShedPlans offers information for all your home projects. Plumbing, foundations, plastering, wallpapering, decorating, tile, stone work, working with cement and mortar are some of the tasks discussed.

The package is filled with guides and provides the blueprints for your chosen shed architecture. Other plans for woodworking projects include: Dog Kennel, How to Build a Fence, Nursery Wagon, and more.




Do It Yourself Homemade Shed and More

I Did It!

I wanted to share with you my weekend accomplishment.... No it doesnt have anything to do with gardening but Im still proud of myself! We ran 3.1 miles and it went very well. I went from a couch potato (computer, really) to a 5K runner in 8 weeks. The program is 9 weeks but I only had eight to do it in. Great program if anyone else is interested and if I can do it, anyone can~


There I am, out in the crush, doing something stupid with my arm! (Still not sure what that is.) We waited for 10 minutes or so to even start since the pile of people didnt begin to move for quite a while. The problem with that logic was then we had to pass them all, which my friend and running partner said was like playing Frogger with humans.







I Did It!

I did it! Painted my patio doors black!

I have been thinking about doing this for a while and finally decided to dive in and do it.  NO REGRETS - I love it!  I dont want to show off too much of my kitchen until it is closer to being done but I just had to share my new black doors.  (Pay no attention to the green ceiling and messy room).

I decided not to paint the door casing so it is consistent with the rest of the trim in the room and I love the way the white frames out the black.  It also keeps the black from being too overwhelming.

I painted the doors with a brush and used about four coats of Martha Stewart paint which is on clearance at Home Depot since it is discontinued.  So I was able to get this huge change for less than $7.00.  YAY!  I spray painted the window grids outside.  Here is the before:


I have removed the wall treatment on the slanted wall and I have bought blue ceiling paint to cover the green ceiling that is there now.  I bought blue wall paint to cover over the very bright green and I love the few changes I have made already.

I am working on the slanted wall treatment.  I had an idea of what I wanted to do and then I found a picture which perfectly exemplified the idea in my head.  (I love Google!)  Here is my inspiration picture from the blog Infarrantly Creative.  She did an amazing job on her wall.

Ok, that is my progress thus far.  I have all of my paint and materials so hopefully in the next few days I can make some headway on the entire kitchen.  More pics to follow!


I did it! Painted my patio doors black!

A bird doesnt sing because it has an answer It sings because it has a song

A bird doesnt sing because it has an answer It sings because it has a song