Jewelry Organization

During the move I had just thrown all my jewelry into a basket and that is where it remained, tangling up and collecting dust. After the third time knocking it over, I decided that I needed a better solution to my jewelry. 

I have had these frames since the move, begging me to use them. I decided to go with the one on the left and create a place for jewelry to be displayed and to also keep tangled free. 

I measured and cut using my trusty Miter Saw. 

I placed them in where I wanted them and when I was satisfied at the end result I flipped the frame over and took out all the boards. I used the bottom board in this picture to raise the top board closer to the back of the frame, so it would be inset a little for my jewelry to hang. Using nails, I hammered in two nails on each side of the board, careful not to go through the front. 

For my last board, since it was the only board I had left, I used scrap pieces that were left in my cutting to prop up the final board to nail into place. 

This is the last board that I nailed, I got better at the angle as time when on. 

My little helper was extremely busy. 

On the back of these frame was already a U hook so I tied a wire to it and twisted it around. 

I cut the wire and looped the end through the other U hook to create a wire hang on the back. Then I flipped it over. 

Not bad if I do say so myself. :) Like my paint jeans? 

I hammered in regular silver nails (small ones) and hung some jewelry up. I obviously didn't fill this up for display purposes only but you could triple the amount of nails and hang anything your little heart desires! 

There was a purpose for leaving the gap in between the boards, to hang my rings of course!

Bean pole house and country living!

I needed some vertical space to grow some vines such as grape, snap peas, and pole beans. Since I have a little toddler, I decided to kill two birds with one stone and make a little house for her to play in. I'm sure I will regret that when she picks off every living grape but it's a small price to pay for play time. I start out by clearing a square with a flat shovel. This way I know where everything will be placed. 

I dig down deep, rule of thumb is 2 feet but I think I only managed 1 1/2 feet for the four corner posts. I placed them into the ground. 

I then added four posts on the top that went all the way around. I secured these with screws. I then cut off the tops of the four posts. 

I started by making a A frame for the top. 

Then I placed three poles on the bottom to secure it. The idea is to make this unmoveable when shook to withstand play and climbing vines and the wind. 

I added two other poles in the front that did not go into the ground. If you feel you need to dig them in, do so. I added a middle U and then cross beams. Once the cross beams are in, this will eliminate a LOT of movement. I will post more pictures after I get things planted and things start to climb! This will double as a play place that is shielded by the sun and it will also be a vertical garden to keep your harvest off of the ground. The cost= screws and a morning worth of labor. 

I also have been seeing a lot of these guys around. Don't know what they are so I posted it here to see if any of you spider guys or gals know if I will have some major problems if I get bit! It seems harmless but then again, I'm no spider expert. 

In addition, here is 190 licking my hand before she dropped her baby. It's the weirdest feeling being licked by a cow. You gotta add it on your bucket list of things to experience. 

And here is her oreo calf. Such a cute pair and now she won't let lick me or get close since she is a mama now. Baby comes first, as it should always be! 

And for the record this is the little lady that I think is carrying twins, she hasn't grown much since this picture but this picture was taken last month. 

And time to time we find things on our property like this possum. It's playing dead. My husband had to drive right up to it and get me all nervous because it was hissing. I thought it was going to jump out at us and bite us, giving us rabies. But it thankfully just played dead, hissing occasionally, and as soon as we took off, it jumped up and ran off. Oh the wonders of living in the country! Why I never see this in 'country living' magazines I will never understand!

Reese's progress

For all of you that do not know... My son has a bilateral cleft lip and palate and has gone through 11 surgeries so far. I wrote a post about him not too long ago but I have been making updates on his care page, click Link.

If you would like to follow his journey please go to www.carepages.com and then search for ReeseDaily, it will pop up that we go to Children's Hospital in Colorado. Please follow us and show him your support!

Displaying Halters in your Home

If you have some collected halters (for those of you that are into horses or western decor) I want to show you a new way of displaying them. We have several pieces that are super special to my cowboy. For those sentimental pieces I wanted to have an organized place for each of them.

I started by going to Lowes and purchasing these door knobs. They match my kitchen's nobs. I found my favorite thing in the world (a piece of pallet wood from an old pallet). 

I start by placing the screw in the wood where I wanted the knobs to go in the back of the wood. 

When I flip it over, you can see the screw is through the wood. I then just have to screw on the knob. Pretty easy, eh? 

This is what it looks like with the knob in place. 

This is my daughter, counting in spanish, the number of knobs. :) Then she did it in english. (We love Dora the Explorer)

I use my favorite wood finish, Minwax in Golden Oak and after taking the knobs off again, I stain the wood. This time I just used an old rag to apply the stain. 

I then used a stud finder to locate the studs in my wall. Halters can weigh a lot and I do not want anyone getting knocked out by it falling. I placed it beside the knob so that when the halters are in place, the screws are hidden. 

The final result is a display of our halters besides my cowboy's coors guy. Happy hanging. 

Pallet bookshelf

Oh goodness I am at it again with more pallets. I mean how can you not love free wood?

I first use my trusty Milwakee saw and I cut apart the pallets, cutting along the nails.

Once apart, I place them together. I want a deep setting shelf that can carry my stereo as well as hold some of my baskets. 

I screw along the horizontal pieces into each board. 

Once I have the sides put together I set them up, facing each other. 

I place the boards together with screws. My daughter stole my camera so I missed about five steps but you can see that I screwed in the horizontal boards on the front first and then the cross pieces in the back. You can see from the picture below I then added more boards in the inside and screwed them to the cross pieces. 

I then placed all the boards on the ledge that I created and added boards on the top, middle and bottom and screwed them down. 

Once again, when putting the two sides together, I secured these boards first to connect the two pieces and then added the cross pieces in the back before adding all of the shelves.

This is the inside view of the back 'wall of the shelf. The pieces are by no means perfect but they covered the diagonal piece in back. 

Here is another view of the bottom corner.

Then we added our favorite Minwax stain in Golden Oak.

My favorite little girl helper assists with the stain.

End result. :) 

A little princess's wardrobe

If you have extra dressers laying around...in my case in my daughter's closet being unused. It's time for a revamp! 

We find some space. 

I then take out the door to the first dresser. 

This is my helper. She is placing a screw on my drill. I bet most of you would love to have a helper like this. ((btw she fell on a dresser and got some boo boos and lots of ice cream)). 

I remove the top latch shown below on the top. 

Then my daughter helps pour modge podge on the bottom layer and place pieces of purple fabric on the bottom. These were leftover pieces from our diy curtains in her room. 

We fold over the front and press down, from front to back. 

I then pulled off the strips of plastic because most of them were coming off anyways. 

I painted this brown that matched her paint in her room. 

The end result is a cute little spot. 

I added a bar across the top and we have an instant dress up center. 

Enjoy dressing up kiddos! I still need to buy a couple hooks for her chaps on the side. In addition I will be drilling holes in the sides of both white dressers to place the rod for a more secure 'fit'. You can adjust the size of the rod for as many clothes as you have.