DIY Nightstand Charging Station

Our guest room is always changing in some way, shape or form and recently we added a cute little cabinet which has been in the family for years. It has been used as a buffet/server in our grandparents dining room, a cabinet in our parents family room/office and now I have repurposed it to use as a nightstand in our guest room. 

The first thing we did was tighten up and glue some loose parts.

The drawers were lined with beautiful paper which I decided to switch out for this project, although, I did save it in case I ever want to change it back. Instead, I used drawer liner that would hold things neatly in place. It is not nearly as pretty but will keep everything organized.

Next, I wanted to bring it up to date by making it electronic device friendly, or in other words, create a charging station. Our outlet is located directly behind the cabinet so to do that I needed to figure out how to make our outlet more convenient without having a bunch of visible cords. My first thought was to drill a hole in the back so that I could run the cord inside the cabinet from behind and into the top drawer which just happened to have enough clearance.

When I turned the cabinet around I discovered two small pieces of paper glued to the back and could see that they were somewhat covering knot holes and then painted or stained to match the boards.

The top patch was right where I wanted to drill the hole and I could see the paper was not attached along the side so I gently pulled on a loose corner and it came right off along with the knot which fell out on its own in two pieces. 

The paper patch was interesting as it looked as if it was part of an old advertisement from a newspaper or maybe a magazine. It would sure be fun to know the history. Oh, if only cabinets could talk. 

As far as the knot hole, it turned out to be just big enough to get the plug through so I decided not to drill a hole after all which was somewhat of a relief. That way I could replace that knot and glue the paper back over it if we decided to do something else with it.

Next, I put a Velcro Command Strip on the back side of the front of the drawer to hold the electrical outlet strip firmly in place. That way it will not move when unplugging devices. 

Last but not least I lined the drawer with some liner I had on hand and then added some small removable lined trays to organize devices and other items. 

The Nightstand Charging Station is ready to go and I am anxious to have overnight guests so they can try it out. Hopefully the update will prove to be much more convenient. 

Happy Monday!

DIY Cup Holder w/pen

During the summer it is fun to entertain outside and when we do we try to keep things casual and easy. For larger groups we bring out the disposable serving supplies which includes cups. In doing so, we know that it is hard to remember which cup is yours, since they all look alike, so of course we write our names on them. That works well until the pen goes missing. In addition to missing markers there is always the possibility of a strong breeze and the chance the stack of cups will fall over and be scatter everywhere. So, to help keep the cups secure and cut down on lost cups, we decided to make a little cup holder with a built~in pen holder. 

Last summer we were making a lot of DIY pallet board projects for our nieces bridal shower and wedding so we repurposed one of the cute boxes to use as our new cup holder. 

It was quick and easy. Mr. Wonderful just drilled a hole on one side and then I added some cups and a marker and voilá our cup holder was finished.

It works great and will certainly be a handy and versatile little DIY box.

Happy Monday!

Our Love Story Timeline: DIY wedding sign

Wood Pallets are great for DIY projects and we made good use of them this past summer. Our most recent project was a wedding sign. We had been using them to make chalkboards for our nieces wedding and when those were about finished we asked if there were any other signs they needed or if they would like any routed signs like Mr. Wonderful made for the bridal shower. The reply was yes and the idea was a rustic Love Story timeline sign. It did not take long to come up with an idea and then for it to all come together. It was a good thing too because we only had about a week left to complete it.  

Once we had the style of sign figured out and how to display it we needed to decide on what to use to connect the boards. We knew that it needed to be easy to take apart to transport so we bought some heavy chain and used a couple links on each side between the boards. 

The rustic, personalized sign was ready in no time.

It proved to be easy to pack, quick and easy to assemble and  it was a fun addition to the entrance of the arena.

The new router tool has been used to make reserved parking signs, direction signs, bridal shower signs, and the list goes on. I think some fun holiday signs might be next on the wish list.   Hopefully we still have a few pallet boards left but if not we will just keep our eyes open for another one.  

Happy Wednesday!  

DIY ~ Wood Flower Box & Shop Stand Cabinet

The hubs has been busy lately with a couple quick DIY wood working projects.

We used to have beautiful window boxes full of flowers on the front of the house but like all houses ours needed repainting and the boxes had to come down. Unfortunately putting the window boxes back up never made it to the top of the to~do list after painting, until now.

 Finally, after all this time, we are planning the return of the window boxes for next spring. So, in preparation, the hubs made a sample box for fun and to help us determine what style we like and would work best. I am not sure if the practice version will be the final design however the finished boxes will need to be larger and painted white to match our house trim.

In addition to the flower box he also made this storage cabinet for his Panel Cart/Shop Stand.

A couple weeks ago he happened to find plans online that were designed specifically for his cart and was so excited he began working on it the following day.

The cabinet is now finished and he is a happy camper. 

This was a good little break during the hot weather however he is already back to his yard project.

Happy Saturday!

DIY Baby Shower Cupcake Picks

Here are the fun elephant cupcake picks I made this week for a zoo animal themed baby shower on Saturday. I used a little elephant rubber stamp and brown ink for the image and the edges are tinted with brown ink for contrast. 

The toppers were for two different batches of cupcakes I baked for the shower

which I will post tomorrow.

Happy Monday!

J & C's Kitchen Makeover ~ PART 3: DIY custom kitchen cabinets { paint }

All the lower cabinets have been painted!

Next...
construction of drawers, doors and shelves.

Happy Friday!

J & C's Kitchen Makeover ~ PART 2: DIY custom kitchen cabinets { construction }

J & C's custom kitchen cabinets are 

currently under construction.

The interior of the new cabinets will be upgraded. They will feature sliding shelves, soft close doors and easy glide, self closing drawers.

The cabinet that will replaced the island will be approximately the same size but will be moved against the wall which will open up the kitchen and provide more floor space and the ability to add an upper unit for additional storage. 

Next step...Paint!

Have a wonderful day!

J & C's Kitchen Makeover ~ PART 1: BEFORE

Our oldest son and his wife bought a house this summer which was very exciting. It is a wonderful house in a nice location however it was in need of some updating, especially the kitchen.  Plans were made right away for

painting

and a 

DIY Kitchen Makeover.

The entire interior was primed and painted before they moved in. A majority of it was professionally painted however a few areas were left for a 

"family paint party".

The first thing to go was the old refrigerator which was donated.  The new one, which is not shown here, fits the space much better. The kitchen cabinets are old and not in very good shape so they will all be replaced by new DIY custom kitchen cabinets. The configuration will be about the same except the island will be moved to the wall and an upper cabinet added for more storage. I will be posting progress of the cabinets soon. 

Have a terrific Tuesday!

DIY Shop Tool Box { organization }

This is Ron's latest DIY project. It is a multi~purpose shop tool box which will be used to organize his over sized and specialized car repair and woodworking tools. He designed the tool box the same height as his table saw so that he can also use it as an out feed table for cutting panels and long boards. The wheels on the bottom make it easy to move around to various work areas and then roll back into its designated storage space when not in use. 

Tomorrow I will be posting pictures of the 

custom sized 

mini storage box 

that he also made last week. 

Happy March!