Garage Shelves For Dummies

Woo hoo! I'm getting closer to having our cars in the garage! I've been really wanting to put up some shelves in the garage to corral our storage bins and what not. We made that happen tonight. Poof! In three hours we had these puppies! 

I started by clearing an 8-foot space on the rear garage wall. The shelf will only be the length of the boards. 

Supplies were a little too much to fit in my trusty 'ol car this time so Dad brought the lumber down from HD (Home Depot, duh) plus some other handy tools like a stud finder, screws, and a neat-o laser level.  

Here are the supplies: 

(2) 4'x 8' sheets of plywood $9.75 each

(12) 2x4s $2.65 each

       *We got 13 but only ended up using 12. I'll use the extra for another project. 

Box of 3.5" screws $8.47

After lumber fees and tax, total cost to make this shelving unit: $67.54

We already had our sweet power tools to make all the necessary cuts but if you don't, those little darlings at HD will make  all the cuts you need for your project! 

We made a frame out of the 2x4s and secured it to the wall making sure we hit studs. The first one looked like this:

The spacing between the 8'-long boards is 2 feet. Those boards in between them are cut to 21".

You'll need to get out your tape measure and crunch some numbers but don't worry, it's elementary stuff. Just make your marks and HIT THOSE STUDS or all your yearbooks and camping gear and Christmas decorations and all that other crap you have is going to go crashing down in the middle of the night and you're going to have to run out in your underwear with a baseball bat because you'll think someone is breaking in. And you can't be tough in your underwear. You just can't. Now I'm all stressed out. So just hit the studs, ok?!

We cut those plywood sheets in half and they fit perfectly:  

Yeah, go ahead and attach those 2x4s on each side for support. Then make another frame and do it again!

Awwwww look at our Daddy/Daughter drills... It was really handy using both. One of us pre-drilled holes with a bit to prevent wood splitting while the other followed behind with the screws. How efficient! 

We even got Scotty out here to give us an extra hand. "Here, you just stand here and hold this up..."  He looks so happy to be helping! (He really was, I just caught him off guard with the camera)

 

You know I had to mess with him while he was stranded up on that ladder.  For some reason, he didn't like that, and he threatened to drop the shelf. What a bump on a freakin' log. ;)

Annnnnnd of course I got out a can of spray paint and gave these babies a little spritz-a-roo. I like everything colorful but you KNOW those black stamps on those boards were bugging me. So TA-DA!

I quickly put most of the things on the shelf just to get it off the floor but I still want to do more organizing and consolidating of boxes. I have some of those empty bins I want to use so I can get rid of some cardboard boxes. 

I have some wood scraps so I am planning on getting crafty and making some book shelves for the garage. Some of those boxes are filled with books and college text books and binders and I'd like to display them. Books don't get read if they're never seen! 

Also, those little bins you saw sitting alone on the shelf in one of the above photos were recycled, probably otherwise headed for a dumpster. I spray painted them before we started the shelves. I covered them up with purple and orange and they now hold electronic cords! They looked like this: 

I still have a half sheet of that plywood too so I may end up making myself a little workbench on another wall. Yay for more projects! :) 

Garden Mania!

Hi! I know it's been a while but I've been busy with more projects! We're all moved in and we are loving it here.  Each day I complete a little something more. Lots of small  things to do but they'll get done in time.

But there's something I've set as "high priority": the garden! I have been itching to grow our own food for years. It hurts my heart every time I have to buy a store bought tomato in the summer. Ugh! The easiest freakin' plant to grow and here I am forking out money for it. :|

I have been so antsy to put the winter garden in before it gets cold! Luckily it's still quite warm here in good 'ol Northern California. Since its way too late to start from seeds, I was on a mission to find some non-gmo starter plants. Because my beloved town of Chico had such an amazing farmers market with seasonal starter veggies, I thought I'd first check out the local fm here. I'd been wanting to check it out regardless. Before you locals call me an idiot, I KNOW the big market is on Saturday by the Convention Center. However, I was really excited to see what the Thursday morning market at the outlets had. 

WHAT. A. TOTAL. LETDOWN.

  

There were SIX tables. SIX. Doesn't it look depressing? And there weren't even any veggies. I almost cried. Don't call me dramatic. After looking around for seven seconds, I asked a friendly-faced older gentleman, "is this it?" "This is it, well, a few of us aren't here today, the pie lady is usually right there", he said. :|  I'm not here for PIE. But wait, what time does she get here?...

After that pathetic endeavor, I drove straight to Wyntour Gardens. When I walked into this nursery, my inner dialogue's sound effects crew made that heavenly "Waaaaahhhhhhhh" sound with harps in the background. I had been here years ago and knew it was good but here I was seeing it with new eyes! 

Look at that lettuce. LOOK! I wanted to just lean down and munch on it like a rabid bunny. Do bunnies get rabies? Also, why are bunnies so cute? Oh, don't the white ones with the red eyes gross you out? Me too. 

All these veggies are non-gmo. Woo! And quite the selection too. I loaded onto my 'ill blue wagon: 

Broccoli, cauliflower, sugar snap peas, onions, cabbage, spinach, butter lettuce, kale, and celery! 

Oh yeah, I probably should have told you that I built some little garden beds. Check it out:

They are embarrassingly simple, short, and shallow. Don't criticize them. And the drill wasn't here when I made them so I had to use a dumb hammer. Look how dumb:

What is this? The 1500's? I'm a simple gal but I love power tools. Those nails were tough. Too tough that I switched to these tiny nails that went in easier.  I'm not even showing you in detail because it's so pathetic. I knew that I just wanted them up and I could reinforce them later.

After planting this morning. I still had tons of veggies that didn't fit in my infant beds so what's the solution? MORE BEDS! I ran on down to Payless Building Supply and grabbed six more cedar fence posts at $1.19 each. That price makes me happy. Then I got crazy and did THIS:

They're.... TRIANGLES! These are just the boards making the shapes but I ended up securing the frames using brackets that I bent to fit and now they're nice and sturdy. I just need to get more soil and pack it in there. Oh, and I really hope I don't kill all this stuff.

Also, since I've had (until I planted this morning) basically oversized litter boxes in my backyard for the past two days, I've come out to find a freaking cat turd in one both mornings. Those skanky wild cats next door, pooping in MY garden. I've taken to scaring them (running at them in my garden Crocs loudly yelling and waving my arms). I'm hoping that will deter them. ...Unless they want to get revenge, they hate me and they hate Crocs, and I'm most likely going to wake up tomorrow morning and see 10x the amount of cat-butt logs laying amongst the newly planted veggies. Nope, I won't let that happen. I have plans A-D in order, I just hope I won't have to resort to that.

By the way, Crocs are the nerdiest shoe ever made but have you ever tried some on? Wow. Wear them in your garden, not in public. 

Also, I started painting rocks the other day. I have a life, I promise. That just made me think of The 40 Year Old Virgin when he's defending that he has a very fulfilling life then it cuts to him doing things like this by himself.  This is actually a lot like my life... and I'm married. It's not sad, I'm just independent and know how to entertain myself when Scotty's not here or is in a coma because his 4th graders wore him out.  Here, have a laugh. It's good for you:

Ok, look at some of my rocks. Joe Dirt reference, anyone?

We had a ton of these stepping stones in the yard so I decided to add a little color to them.  It's just acrylic paint with a decoupage seal.

I plan on adding some more beds and planters around the yard, some smaller yet taller beds perhaps.  I've been looking at repurposing ideas for planters so stay tuned.

Ok, that's all I have for you this time. I'm sure I'll find something else to update you with.  I'll let you know if I start painting cats or something equally as cool.

DIY Framed Bathroom Mirror

First of all, HAPPY OCTOBER!  Fall is my absolute favorite.  I was told to wait until October 1st to put out my pumpkins and other festive decor. 1. I can't believe I actually abided by that. 2. You can believe that stuff was put outside as soon as I woke up this morning!

I've seen several pins on Pinterest for framed bathroom mirrors that I've been wanting to recreate.  While picking up baseboards at Home Depot, I just added a 16 foot piece of moulding to my cart.  I just got the least expensive one at .68 a foot.  If you want to get your board even cheaper, measure your mirror first. ;) I didn't end up using the whole thing but paid around $10 for it. The way I see it, I paid $10 for a new mirror. :)

While my cousin was here generously cutting the baseboards with his fancy machine, I measured the mirror and had him make four cuts. 2 for the sides, 2 for the top and bottom.  All 45 degree angles.  Since they are thin, you could easily cut them with a handsaw and miter box. 

Look, Woody is posing for you.  I told him to get out of here but he didn't listen.

Miraculously, I still have paint left from doing the armoire, all the kitchen cabinets, AND the bathroom vanities. ONE GALLON of Behr Espresso Beans, Paint and Primer in One (~$27.00 at Home Depot) allowed me to do all these projects. Score!  I put 2 coats of paint on the boards:

All painted.  I took them in the house to see how they'd fit on the mirror and realized I needed to paint half of the backside too since you could see it in the reflection. : |

I picked this caulking up at Home Depot as well:

Squiggle the caulking on like so.  Try to avoid the brown area (part that shows).  On one of the sides, I got a little close and the caulking squeezed out a little further than I wanted.  It's only slightly visible. D'OH. 

Stick 'em on and make sure they all line up!

By the way, I'm really growing fond of the fact that my house has no doors.  It's actually feels so much more roomy! I am not a private person, so it kind of works out.  Sorry Scotty! If I don't get around to painting and hanging them all, I'll at least do the bathroom doors before the housewarming. ;)

Hooray! My mirror is all jazzed up now! Oh look, you can kind of see my creepy prints of animals wearing assorted hats. I just love those.  What am I going to put on that blank wall? Help!

I really would have preferred to use thicker moulding for this but since the mirror was already so small, I didn't want to decrease the size of it even more.  I may end up trying to do a chunkier frame in my master bathroom vanity area.  I also really like the way white frames look but I wanted it to match the color of the cabinets. This will just have to work.  

Go frame something! 

PS: I did this today because I'm avoiding the painting of door trim...