Oh my goodness, it's here! It's Pinterest Challenge Reveal Day! Woo to the hoo, I think I might be more excited than a kid on Christmas. Although I have to admit, I have rushed to put this post together because finishing up my project to reveal has taken way longer than I thought it would (isn't that how it always is?)

{Via Young House Love}

If you remember a couple of weeks ago I posted about my need for a large desk space that both me and the boyfriend can sit at and also double as a great place for crafting. Thanks to furniture goddess Ana White, I can check "desk" off my list of things to do.

The inspiration for this project came from Pottery Barn. I fell in love with the Bedford Project Table when I searched for craft tables on Pinterest.

{Via Pottery Barn}

But its $1000 + price tag me no likey. So after a bit more searching on Pinterest I found a knock off version on Ana White.

Though the magic of the internet, here is what I created! Ta-Da!





There are still some kinks to work out and some styling that needs to happen in the room in general because right now it is basically a box with desk in it. But hey that is what spring break is for :)

But let's back up a second, how did this table come to fruition being that I own no power tools? Nor a car that could transport giant pieces of plywood or lumber. After considering going to Lowe's (then not considering after many people I talked to said that often time their cuts were crapola) I found a wonderful local lumber yard that cut all my wood to size for free! Boo-yah!



They even marked all the sizes on the wood so I wouldn't have to re-measure. Talk about the most wonderful customer service that made this DIY newbie feel all warm and fuzzy. Total cost of lumber, screws, wood glue, and finishing nails: $124.37.

Following Ana White's plans was easy. We (my handy Aunt Cyndi and I) had everything put together in about 3 hours, which included drilling pilot holes and screwing everything together. When we were finished it looked like this:

This thing is solid as a rock but surprisingly not too heavy and it is actually three pieces. The only part I can't lift by myself is the top. Next came the finishing which is where my project when from being quick and easy to long and challenging.

There was one snafu with the Ana White plans, pieces that helped finished the shelves were too short, so I was left with a small quarter inch gap in four places.

Nothing a little wood filler can't fix. Actually it took a lot of wood filler. The first go around gave me the above. A second coat and some sanding left me with this:

I am happy to report that after priming and painting, you can't even tell there was a gap.

After filling all the holes and sanding everything within an inch of its life, I was ready to prime and paint. Check out my gansta sanding gear - yes, I was too cheap to buy a mask. I may have been sneezing dust for a week.


There aren't any pictures of the painting process mostly because it took two weeks. I made sure to let everything dry completely before painting additional coasts. I used Zinser Cover Stain Oil Based Primer, some off the shelf satin white Valspar paint, and Minwax Polycrylic.


 After one coat of primer, two coats of white paint, and two coats of poly, this baby is dunzo.



 Unfortunately the room is too small to fully capture its glory (these picture were taken from the closet so I could get as much of the desk in the frame, haha).

Total cost of this project was about $200, luckily I taught one section of 6th grade math last year so I know that I saved 80% of my hard earned dollars by crafting this baby myself. Heck yes!

 Now I just gotta move everything from our spare bedroom, organize, and style...my favy! Definitely stay tuned for some updates over spring break. I am thinking the color palette in here is going to be with some cool blues with pops of yellow. Design Seeds provided some color inspiration.

{Via Design Seeds}

{Via Design Seeds}

I can't wait to check out all the other great Pinterest inspired projects on Young House Love and Bower Power. If you are stopping by from the link up be sure to leave a comment with a link to your post - I would love to see what you did and see some new blogs.

Just checking in - I have tried to make it a habit to always get a post up on Sunday but today I just have a quick little bit because I have been working my butt off trying to get my project ready for Wednesday. What is Wednesday you ask? Why it is the deadline for the winter edition of the Pinterest Challenge!

{Via Young House Love}

It is the quarterly call to "stop pinning and start doing" and it is my hope that I can link up my $@^&* craft table. Yes, it now has expletives in its official name. This thing has been a thorn in my side to finish...between the sanding and the drying of primer, paint, and poly, I am dunzo with this project. But it is looking to turn out pretty good. I will be back on Wednesday for sure with final results of the table, the craft room, however, is just beginning.

Anyone else missing their hour of sleep today? I slept in a little too late, cough cough 11:30 cough and I'm finding it pretty hard to hit the hay. I only have to make it through four days this week and then it is heaven on earth...SPRING BREAK! I will never get tired of being a teacher for the simple fact of regularly scheduled vacations.

Have I ever mentioned I'm a John Mayer fan? Well I am. I was so sad to learn that he had to cancel his entire Spring tour because his throat condition worsened. That man is ah-mazing live (seen him four times) and it just won't seem like summer without a visit from Mr. Mayer. I will be anxiously awaiting his new album, Born and Raised, which is scheduled for release on May 22nd.

I will be back on Wednesday, have a great week!

Browsing around Pinterest I've seen quite a few pins about cleaning gas stove top grates with ammonia.

I actually tried cleaning mine a few months ago but I was really impatient and also needed to cook so the results were less than satisfactory.

But last Saturday, I woke up a little too early and for some reason I really wanted to clean. So I set my sights on my stove and away I went!

First the before...


This is what I was working with. Almost one year of my cooking gunk on top of probably years of caked on grease and grime from the previous owners. I'm guessing they never cleaned these bad boys based upon how gross everything else was in the house when we moved in.

The process:


 I used four ZipLoc Slider bags with the slide closers removed. The grates wouldn't fit in the bag unless I removed them so off they went. I then sprayed about a teaspoon of ammonia in each bag. It really doesn't take a whole lot of ammonia to do the job, from what I have read it is more the fumes inside the bag that do the cleaning not actually bathing the grates in ammonia. I then taped the bags shut and moved them outside because the smell was a little more than overpowering. As you can see I also did other parts of the stove top in a smaller bag. I let them sit outside for about 8 hours and would recommend even more time if they are super dirty. I probably should have let them sit overnight but again my impatience kicked in.

The after:


Success! After marinating in ammonia for eight hours, then soaking them in soapy, hot water, and then scrubbing every crevice with a Brillo pad, I had four amazingly cleaner stove top grates. They still aren't perfect but they are a million times better than what I started with. Don't expect the grime to just fall off like some of the pins on Pinterest would make you think - I had to scrub my little heart out to get most of the gunk off which was made a whole lot easier thanks to the ammonia.

So, has the spring cleaning bug bit you yet? In less interesting cleaning news I have already mopped the kitchen floors this weekend and I am eying my dusty bedroom fan blades as my next cleaning project. Wonder what else I need to tackle?

Linking up with:

After a crazy week I am finally unwinding. Every night this week I either had to work late or did something around the house that needed to get finished - grad school projects, parent teacher conferences, and desk painting. But it wasn't all work and no play, I did get a chance to go see The Vow last night with some friends. I had been wanting to see it since I saw the previews and had heard that it was pretty good and overall, not a waste of money but I wish it would have ended differently.

With all the craziness I completely forgot to share my February Birchbox that came almost two weeks ago. Oops!


This month's box, came with one particular interesting product that you can see above, Violent Lips Temporary Lip Tattoos. Can't really say these would be something I would wear to the classroom but definitely a neat idea. Maybe something I would wear on Halloween? I am continually surprised by the quality of the samples I get each month, for instance there were three lip tattoos included in my box. I looked on the Violent Lips website and they sell a pack of three for $15. My Birchbox only cost $10 and still was packed with 4 other samples. Too cool!
 

My favorite sample this month was Jouer Luminizing Moisture Tint. I put it on before my foundation and it gave me a really subtle glow and not too sparkly. I think I might make this my first full size product purchase.

Also in the box was a beautyblender, some hair oil (that just sounds weird), and a cute heart shape nail file.

Can't wait for next month as I elected to get the special Teen Vogue Birchbox, hopefully it will be filled with some extra special goodies!

I've been busy this Presidents Day, building and prepping my new project table!

 Excited doesn't even begin to describe how I feel about this baby. I am ecstatic! I keep going downstairs just to stare at my handy work.

Update: I finished the project table (like a month later but hey it's done!) Check it out here!

The design might look familiar...a quick search for "craft table" on Pinterest will bring up plans for the lovely Modern Craft Table by Alaskan furniture goddess, Ana White.


The plan to make this table has been on the books since the beginning of the year and this weekend was finally the right time to get to work. My very handy aunt helped me put it all together and it was really quite simple. However, I have to make a huge disclaimer. I had all of my wood cut for me at the hardware store. The only tools I own are a hammer and screwdriver so cutting huge pieces of lumber just wasn't doable for me. Luckily, the awesome folks at Hackmann Lumber helped me out by cutting everything perfectly to size. They even labeled all the pieces so I wouldn't have to remeasure. Some truly awesome customer service!

Right now I am in the prepping stage for painting my new table, filling screw holes, caulking seams, sanding, and priming. This is the first time I have ever used oil based primer...the label was not kidding when it said to use in a well ventilated area. Holy fumes, Batman! Luckily, I'm still breathing but just a little lightheaded. Not too different than usual ;)

I'll be back with the finished product hopefully by the end of this week even though it absolutely crazy town this week at school, two nights of parent teacher conferences, a field trip to the botanical gardens, and I am teaching my first ever online class tonight. But it will be so worth it to get it finished!


What did you do this long weekend? Tackle any projects that you've meaning to get done for some time? Or did you get your party on for Mardi Gras? Tell me all about it!

Chris and I are keeping the schedule of newborns lately, pretty much sleeping and eating. I think the only thing we did successfully this weekend was convert oxygen into carbon dioxide. So. Lazy.

6pm. Seriously.

How is it possible to be so tired all the time? And the sad thing is we don't even have anything to really make us super tired. No kids. One job between the two of us (for right now). Our evenings of making something to eat and watching television are literally sending us to bed early every night barely able to keep our eyes open.

Things should pick up in the next couple of weeks. Chris was officially hired at Wal-Mart today but unfortunately has about another two weeks until he can start. Guess I better put a "honey do" list together to keep him occupied. Ha! Maybe after Valentine's Day...

Speaking of V-day, got any great plans? We haven't even uttered the word around here so I'm not expecting anything grand. But I'm not empty handed this time (unlike Easter), putting together a little homemade present for the cost f-r-e-e. I am totally one of those people who loves homemade gifts no matter how cheesy or silly they are.

I remember Chris asking (jokingly) for a coloring book for Christmas so I printed off some coloring pages that I did a quick Google search for and made a quick card. He will get a kick out of it and maybe keep him busy during his downtime the next two weeks.

So how about you? Make anything for your sweetie? Or did you go the store bought route? Or did you get yourself something? Let's hear it!