Less Pinning, More Doing!

In recent days I've become somewhat of a Pinaholic.  When I wake up, I'm on Pinterest. Before I go to bed, I'm on Pinterest.  Something is compiling, I'm on Pinterest!  It has become quite ridiculous actually.  So, I've decided to challenge myself.  Instead of sitting around pinning all day, I'm going to spend more time actually doing the stuff I'm pinning!

So far, I'm off to a good start.

One day while browsing the "Home Decor" board on Pinterest, I came across this pin:

Source: theorganisedhousewife.com.au via Ashley on Pinterest

I fell in love with the idea of storing pans in a basket!  Previously, I would have to rummage through the drawer under the oven.  It has always been a frustrating experience.

I found the most perfect sized basket at Target, and I picked up my pan rack from Walmart.  Put the two together plus all my pans and we get this:

Here's another shot from above. I'm so excited to pull my pans out from this guy. :)

Up next, I found this yummy looking herby mushroom pasta from BBC Good Food:

Source: bbcgoodfood.com via Ashley on Pinterest

This was really easy to make.  The only modification I made was adding a dash or so of salt.

Here's a shot of my bowl:

Finally, the cold weather has really put me in the mood for crocheting.  I stumbled across this super cute pin featuring these adorable teddy amigurumi ornamaents:

Source: allaboutami.tumblr.com via Ashley on Pinterest

This was a super easy project, and I finished it over the coarse of two days.  Here's my final product:

He's so cute. :)

It's sorta depressing sitting around pinning all this cool stuff all day, but not really acting on it.  I saw this on pin and found it very encouraging:

Source: Uploaded by user via Ashley on Pinterest

So hopefully, there's someone out there that find it as equally encouraging!

Clothesline Photo Frame

As a Christmas present for my sister, I built a clothesline photo frame with plans by Ana White.  I was motivated to make this for her, because I figured she has the same problem as me:  we moved out, but don't own many (if any) pictures of us growing up.  I thought this would be a neat way of displaying them. I ended to make two, one for myself. :)

It was a really simple project to build, and each frame probably cost roughly $10-15 to build.

It took a few hours to build.  I used a handsaw for all my cuts.  I'm sure if I had used a power saw I would have used a lot less energy.

Now I have a request to build a smaller one from another sister. :)

Crochet Owl Hats

For the two younger sisters I crocheted them these cute owl hats from this pattern I found through Pinterest.

I realized after the deed was done, the eyes are spaced too far apart. Ah well, it still came out cute. :)

Polymer Clay Sweets

Just a quick post showing a few polymer clay sweets I've been baking :)

This first one has a pair of candy corn earrings, two slices of pumpkin pie, a cupcake and a slice of cake. :)

This last one is lots of mini candy canes.  I made a bulk order because I did mini workshop on making miniature gingerbread houses. :)

Knitted scale mail gloves

While at Gen Con this year, I took a workshop on how to make scale mail bracers.  It was a great workshop and this was my finished project:

The only problem is, tying up the bracer is really difficult solo.  I wanted something with scales, but that was easy to put on and that when I found plans for knitted scale mail bracers.

I learned to knit, just so I could make a pair and here's how my first glove turned out:

It's a little too loose for my liking, so I'll need to make a version 2.0. :)

Speaking of workshops at Gen Con, I also learned how to weave chainmail.  I went through a spree where I was an addict at making chainmail dice bags.  I now have more than I need.  Here's a few that I've made:

Vintage Step Stool

I present to you, the second woodworking project that I've finished:

...a vintage step stool built with plans from Ana White. :)

This little guy was an easy project to assembly.  The hardest part was being patient with the jigsaw.  I spray painted it with a layer of white paint and then with a layer of this blue paint.  Once it dried, I roughed it up a bit to give it a more vintage look.  When I finally placed it my kitchen (the area where this guy will be primarily used), I realized that this blue doesn't really match anything in my kitchen at all! :)

Ah well, I have enough scrap wood to make another one, next time in a color that matches. ;)

Benchwright Dining Room Table

Aaaah! It's been a loooooong time since I've updated this blog. I'll try to keep it fresh with projects that I've completed.

So up first! I built this Pottery Barn Inspired Benchwright Farmhouse table with plans from Ana White.

This is the first woodworking project my husband and I finished.  We certainly took our time building it as well. @_@

Here is a picture of the work in progress:

When I first applied stain and polyurethane, I rushed and I didn't sand between the layers.  My lighting was really poor while I worked on it as well.  When the natural light shined on the table it looked terrible! We ended up spending a day sanding off my errors:

(Personally, I liked the sanded down version of the table) We reapplied the stain with two coats of polyurethane, and this is how she turned out:

The table looks great in the dining room! When it starts to warm up again outside I'll have to fix some of the new errors in the finish, but for now I'm just pleased with the project as is. :)