Re-Purpose Step 6 (part 2)

 Step 6 (part 2):
I am finally finished painting the back of the cabinet. They all turned out pretty good. As you can see it is not all characters.

Show time refers to the area that will feature puppet shows or really any kind of child acting. I think it will be a really great spot for that!

Now that the back is finished I will start on the sides of the cabinet. 

Re-Purpose Project Step 6

Step 6:

Painting in the characters. By now you have figured out my plan to paint characters from books. My plan was to make them as simple as possible so that they can be painted in fairly easily and then outlined in black. 

This is pretty close to being filled in with color. I use ordinary acrylic paints from the craft store. I also use fairly small paint brushes. 

Here I have painted in the larger black areas.

I then used a black paint pen for the black outline. It turned out to be much easier than painting in the outline, and faster too. 

This is the finished character. It's not perfect as none of them will be. The characters aren't meant to be perfect, just good enough to be recognizable for little ones. The painting for step 6 will also take me several days as each one does take some time. 

Re-Purpose Project Step 5

Step 5:

I finished drawing out all the characters, then cut them all out, taped them in the places I wanted them, traced from the drawing and then added in the inner lines.

Now I will be able to start painting. 

Re-Purpose Project Step 4

Step 4: 

Now it's time to attach the stair tread. I had cut it to size before I painted it, and now it has dried with two coats on each side. These are the small brackets I will use to attach the tread into the opening. 

First I set the brackets where they will be and draw a circle through the hole. Then I use my drill to drill a pilot hole for each screw. Once all the holes are drilled, I use my drill with a screw driver bit to attach the brackets to the back (brown side) of the tread. 

Once all the brackets are connected I set the tread into the opening, draw a circle in the open holes of the brackets where they will attach to the cabinet. I again use the drill to put in the pilot holes. Now I set in the tread into the opening and with the screw driver bit I attach the tread to the cabinet.

Now that the tread is securely attached I am ready to start drawing the characters I want to paint on the outside. I'll use white paper to draw out the characters.

When I have each character drawn out the way I want, I cut them out and use painters tape to place them on the cabinet. That way I can see how they look and switch them around before I will trace them onto the cabinet. 

Re- Purpose Project Step 3

Step 3:
I gave the cabinet a second coat of paint along with the stair tread.

This is the back side of the tread. I used a brown paint I had on hand. It will make sense when I show where it will go on the cabinet.

Re-Purpose Project Step 2

 Step 2:
Paint cabinet with first coat of the light blue paint. I only need one side of the stair tread painted blue. You will see why later on. Time for the first coat of blue to dry.

Re-Purpose Project: Step 1

So now I am up to this project I had lined up for myself. This is a solid oak entertainment center that no one wanted. I am going to make something new out of it with the addition of that stair tread you see sitting on top. Let's see how fast you can guess what it will inevitably be when it's finished.

 1:

Step 1:
I first measured and cut the stair tread to fit into the back of the cabinet. You'll see why later. Then I painted the outside of the cabinet and the stair tread with primer paint. Of course this will take time to dry.

And yes, as you see I have set up my project in the middle of the living room in the front part of the house. Don't worry, my family is used to me doing this kind of thing in the middle of where they are trying to live. Also I have no idea how long this will take.

Quilting for fun

I just finished this quilt for a little one. It's not quite a twin size but close. I saw the fabric I used in the middle of the squares and just had to get it even before I knew what I was going to use it for. I enjoy quilting but make many mistakes and learn a lot as I go. I don't worry about the "mistakes" in the end product as that is what makes each quilt unique.

The fabric featured these brightly colored owls with flowers and shapes. The problem with fabrics like this is if you don't buy it when you see it, it will be gone!! That is how you become a fabric hoarder. We won't even go into that!

So, if you haven't sewn before, go ahead and try it. It is a whole lot of fun! I have given lessons to children as young as 8, so if they can do it, so can you!!

Happy sewing!!

In the Organic Garden; Pick the Peas

Today was a great day to get out into the garden to pick the peas and do some other work. The peas have been really prolific and I will be sad when they are all gone.

Next I moved on to the beets. They are growing nicely but it's time to thin them again. I thinned them early on but I always leave a few too close so I can pick some baby beets too. These are way too close so I pulled the smaller beet.

Now they should be able to grow all the way to full size. I pull the baby beets which doesn't really disrupt the other beets nearby.

These baby beets will be a tasty part of dinner!!

I can see that I really dropped the ball on my kohlrabi. There are way too many that are way too close, but kohlrabi really can't be pulled without disturbing the other close neighbors so they have to be clipped.

I clip them as low as I can and it seems to be okay for the rest of the season.

I then moved on to thinning a few more baby carrots so that each carrot is about an inch apart. I do know if there are too many way too close you won't get any good sized carrots. Our bunny, Rigel loves those baby carrots and the greens.

I will have enough baby carrot treats for him for at least two days. He eats the greens first which makes me wonder if we are eating the right parts?

I also did a few more tomato tie ups to my stakes. Gardening is so mentally meditative for me. I pull a weed here and there as I go and maybe even my neighbor will come out to take a look at their own garden and we will chat.  I don't really believe there is one correct way to garden. We all learn from each other and by trial and error you can narrow down what is best for your garden. Many people have shared with me over the years. I hope you will share with me one day soon too!

Happy gardening!!

Organic Garden; Climbing Plants

The garden has been really taking off with the warm weather. You can see that my grass clippings are keeping the water in and the weeds out for the most part. I walk through the garden at least once a day and pull any weeds I see here and there.  If you are like me and only have limited space for your garden you have to make some plants climb. In the very front of the garden cucumbers are just starting to climb up the trellis on the right. The peas in the middle of the garden are almost to the top of their chicken wire and are loaded with peas! I had grown spinach in front of them, but since the spinach finished growing, I have planted a second rotation of green beans in front of them. That way I will extend my green bean season.

This is at the far end of the garden. These plants are my winter squash. I have been encouraging them to climb up and they have started to do so on their own. At first I thread a few of the ends of the plants into the wire, and then they usually take off.

One of my biggest challenges is that I only get a half a day of sun at best. I have to wait a little longer for most of my veggies, but they are well worth it. So if you don't have a full day sun you can certainly garden, but you just won't be as speedy as someone with more sun.

You can see that my Charlie Brown tomatoes are getting a few more leaves on them. They have even started to set fruit. The plants look good and it's only a matter of time! I can hardly wait!
Until next time, happy planting!