In The Works...And Two Features!

I've been posting projects from my son's room while I took a little break from projects. I still have one more, the magnet board, which I will try to get done tomorrow. Just so you know, the break has been over for a bit. I've been working on a dresser and a vanity for my daughter's room. Here's a sneak peak of her dresser. 

While I've been busy in the background over here, some exciting things have been happening.  I've been featured on two "big name" blogs!  Jan, at Bobbypins Boardwalk, featured my PB Inspired Bulletin Board.

If you've been blogging for any length of time, you are probably familiar with Bobbypins Boardwalk.  If not, you've been missing out on projects like these:

Jan is incredibly talented and versatile.  You really, really should pay her a visit.  Tell her I sent you!

Just this morning I woke up to another nice surprise.  Amanda, editor of Home and Garden Craft Gossip, featured the Hubcap Clock I did for my son's room.

Craft Gossip is new to me, but certainly not new to the web.  There are over 4500 facebook followers...gulp!  They have several editors that take care of different catagories.  My clock is in the home and garden catagory.  They also have many other catagories such as sewing, jewelry making, stamping, and way too many more to mention here.

Basically they are a portal that lists crafts from all over the web, bringing them together in one place. From there, you can go out and visit any that interest you.  Quite convenient really.  Of course I am following them now, because they feature a lot of new crafts everyday.  Each catagory features one thing per day.  Check them out.  I think you will like it.  I already found some 'new to me' sites that I like!

Hubcap Clock

My favorite project that I did for Jared's bedroom was the hubcap clock. It was an easy enough project, but I had to make a tweak or two because of the shape of the "face."

I had a clock kit that I bought a couple years ago, but never used. I don't remember what I paid, but it was a Walnut Hollow kit.  I googled it and found them at Create for Less for 6.99.  You can buy them in several sizes (shaft length).   I had to adjust mine as you will see below.

The hubcap I found in the barn and hubby let me use it. You could probably find one pretty cheap at a car junk yard. I don't recommend taking one off your husbands car...just sayin.

The first thing I did was to shine it up with fine steel wool. There were some places where some black paint still lingered, but the steel wool took it right off. Then I marked the middle of the chevy emblem and drilled a large enough hole to insert the post of the clock works through.

Next I wrapped a plastic bag around it and taped around the emblem so I could easily paint it.  I didn't have red spray paint, so I just used the red paint I'd used for everything else in his room.  A couple of coats covered it.  

There were several little gold pieces that came with the clock works that I spray painted silver.  That was interesting.  They were so lightweight that the spray kept blowing them around.  I only needed to paint one side.

 I also painted the numbers that came with the kit.  I forgot to take a picture of that, but they came all attached together on a plastic piece, which made painting very easy. You can see what they looked like in the picture of the kit above.  After they dried, I cut them off the plastic holder, peeled off the backing and stuck them on the front of the hubcap.

Because I wasn't using a traditional wood clock face, the shaft on the clock motor was too long.  I needed something to use between the motor and the back of the clock, but it still had to stick out far enough for the hands to clear the raised lip around the middle of the hubcap.  I tried a piece of wood, but it was too thick.

I remembered a piece of dense styrofoam I'd saved. I've used pieces of it for different projects.

I shaved a small piece of it about 1/4 inch thick and sliced a hole in the middle for the shaft to go through.

Then it was just a matter of following the kit instructions to put it all together.  Easy peasy.  I used a nail with a larger head to hang it on the wall.  The rim on the back of the hubcap catches on nail head pretty well.  So far it's not fallen off!  I did hang it in a relatively "safe" corner of the room where it's not likely to get bumped.

Every time I see the Chevy emblem, I want to start singing, "Like a rock..."

Disclaimer:  In no way will the author of this blog bear responsibility for hubcaps missing from neighbor's cars nationwide.

Clock - (noun) A small mechanical device to wake up people without children.

My hubcap clock was featured at Craft Gossip.  Thank you Amanda!




I've linked to these awesome parties.  Be sure to check them out for tons of  fabulous ideas:

The Shabby Chic Cottage - Transformation Thursdays
Tools are for Women Too
It's so Very Cheri - Spotlight Yourself 
Beyond the Picket Fence - Under $100 Linky Party 
Somewhat Simple - Strut Your Stuff Thursday
Suzy's Artsy Craftsy Stitcom - Commercial Break Thursday
My Romantic Home - Show and Tell Friday 
The Shabby Nest - Frugal Friday 
My Repurposed Life - Catch as Catch Can
Just a Girl - Show and Share Day
Funky Junk Interiors - Saturday Night Special 
My Backyard Eden - Make It Yours Day
C.R.A.F.T. - Making Monday Marvelous

Funky Junk Giveaway

Donna at Funky Junk Interiors is having a junk giveaway in celebration of 3000 followers.  I have to post about it for one entry in the giveaway.  It's just junk ladies.   You really don't want to enter this one.  You don't want her cool junk.

So just ignore this post.  Whaaaat.  I see you.  Step away from the button and no one will get hurt!  Arrrrgh.  You did it didn't you!  You just lowered my chances of winning!

Whirlwind Weekend and Award

I am still reeling from a whirlwind weekend!  Although it was all good, I am wiped out.  Our daughter came home for a visit this weekend, arriving at midnight Friday night.  Yipee!  It was sooooo good to see her. 

I had spent all morning baking and prepping for the next days lunch, as we were having my parents over to see Jamie.  Much of the baking was to send back with her.  I baked some of her favorites...banana bread (with chocolate chips), chocolate chip cookies and chocolate marshmellow bars.  Do you detect a theme here?

We stayed up until 1:00 a.m. talking, then got up the next morning to go to Jared's soccer game.  After that, we rushed home to get the grill going for grilled chicken, one of her favorite meals.  My parents came over and we had a nice visit.  As soon as they left, we got ready to go to Ken's sister's 40th wedding anniversary dinner.  Everyone was glad to see Jamie and we got to visit with some of his aunts and uncles that we don't see very often.

Sunday we went to church, then took Jamie and a friend of hers, as well as Tyler's girlfriend out to lunch at Pizza Hut.  After that we took Jamie over to her ride's house (friends of ours) and visited for a little bit, before saying goodbye to her. (Only 4 1/2 weeks before she comes home for Thanksgiving...Yay!)

Are you getting tired yet?  Not finished yet...next we went back to the church, picked up the church van, ran home to get changed, then drove half an hour to pick up a large family, whose car had broken down, to take with us to our church's harvest dinner at the church campgrounds.  Afterwards, we took them back home, drove ourselves home and fell into bed. Whew!!! Just writing about it wears me out.

Needless to say, I am pooped!  The boys and I slept in today, so our homeschool day went late.  I am moving very slowly today.  And I don't need to eat for a week! 

In other news, I received a lovely blog reward from sweet Courtney at French Country Cottage.  She has the yummiest blog, which is dangerous to my keyboard, because I drool all over it every time I visit it!  She posts things like this:

And this:

And this:

Go visit Courtney and drool away!  Tell her I sent you.

Some wonderful blogger friends

I have been totally remiss. It's been at least two weeks since I received two more versatile blogger awards from Michelle over at Emerald Cove and Jennifer at Southern Inspirations. It's been incredibly busy around here, but I've had a few days off from projects and it is past time to acknowledge these awards and these lovely ladies.

I feel so blessed to have gotten to know Michelle through our blogs. It feels like we've known each other for ages, though it's just been weeks...and we've never met in person. She is the sweetest gal you could meet. I am listening to the playlist on her blog as I type this.

Here are a some projects Michelle has shared on her blog:

Oh yeah...you are definitely going to want to pay Michelle at visit at Emerald Cove.  You will thank me later!

I just met Jennifer from Southern Inspirations recently and hope to get to know her better.  She is a new blogger on the block and has some seriously cute projects like these:

Please pay these sweet gals a visit, and tell them I sent you.

Now I am supposed to tell you 7 things about myself and pass this on to 15 new to me blogs.  I told 7 somewhat silly things about myself in a previous post, so this time I will be a bit more serious.

• I married my highschool sweetheart 29 years ago and he's put up with me through thick and thin all that time...I think I'll keep him ;)
• I have had the honor and pleasure of homeschooling our three children their whole lives. 
• My faith in God has gotten me through some very tough times like when my husband had a very bad heart attack at the age of (almost) 43 and we almost lost him.  God has been faithful to us.
•  I used to be painfully shy growing up.  Something happened somewhere along the line and I lost most of that shyness.  Now you might have a hard time shutting me up!
• I wanted to be a decorator since I was a young girl...never have except in my own home...but I really, really enjoy it!
• We have the most wonderful family and friends.  God has blessed us richly.
• I can hang a spoon on the end of my nose...LOL!  Sorry I couldn't help be a little silly.

Now I wish to pass this award on to these lovely bloggers:

Marcy at Antique Chase
Courtney at French Country Cottage
Kolein at Kitchen Table Productions
Kathleen at Between Blue and Yellow
Tracy at Tracy's Trinkets and Treasures
Amanda at The Hand Me Down House
Bonnie at Creative Decorating on a Budget
Ali at Honey and Maple Syrup
Sarah at Modern Country Style
Karen at Never Enough Thyme Creation
Donna at My Shabby Chateau
Amy at Playing Sublimely
Lois at Frugal Decor Mom
Adrianne at Dream Book Design

A Night Stand with Attitude

As promised, I am going to show/tell you how my husband and I transformed a garage sale nightstand into a nightstand with attitude for our son's room. This one was a joint effort, because it required some skills that I really didn't want to learn at this point. More about that later.

Before I started, it looked like this:

After removing the hardware I lightly sanded just to make sure the paint adhered properly.  Next I distressed it.  It already had some dings in it; I just added some more. My tools of destruction were a hammer, a tiny nail set and some big chain. 

I used the claw on the hammer to make some longer marks.  I just banged it lightly.  This is pine so it didn't take much.   Then I used the chain and gave that poor thing a spanking, but not too hard.  Lastly I used the nail set to create "worm holes."

I gave it another light sanding in case I stirred up any splinters, then I sprayed it with a couple coats of black paint. After it dried I lightly sanded the edges to age it a bit.

Now to give it some attitude.  I knew I didn't want ordinary handles.  His room was getting a industrial/auto mechanic sort of remodel.  It had to be cool.  Tractor Supply was my go to spot.  It's where I got the curtain rod after all.  What?  You don't get your curtain rods at Tractor supply?  Check out this post and you might just change your mind.

Up to this point the remodel of this little piece was all me.  Here's where hubby came in.  We found large bolts at tractor supply.  I wanted them cut off to use as handles, but I was frustrated because I didn't know how to attach them.  Hubby said, "that's easy."  I said, "huh?"  He explained that he would cut it with a Sawzall, which is a mean looking saw that looks something like this:

"Uh huh babe.  You do that."  I'm just not ready for that one yet.  Then he said he would drill a hole for a bolt with a tap and die.  I really didn't want to tap dance until I died, so I let him have at it.  Turns out he used a kit like this called a tap and die set.

First he cut off the bolts to the right length for knobs, then he filed them smooth.

Then he drilled holes in the exact middle to start the process.  After this it's a mystery what he did.  It was freezing cold out in the barn and it looked like it was going to be awhile.  He used the tap and die set somehow to make the hole with threads to match the bolt.  Sorry I don't have pictures.  You'll have to google that one, or ask someone with a tap and die set.  Don't take your tap shoes along though.  You might get laughed out of their garage.

So now the knobs to the top drawer were in place and looking cool if I do say so myself.

But the bottom drawer presented another problem.  Remember the before shot?

See that handle on the bottom drawer?  It was attached with two screws, so I had two holes about two inches apart.  The same knobs would have looked funny there.  So I thunk, and thunk some more, then got inspiration from the curtain rod.  Back to Tractor Supply I trotted.  I got the shortest length of small chain link that I could buy (6 inches), and two eye bolts with nuts.

 Using bolt cutters, hubby cut me off a piece of chain 5 links long.  Then he opened up the eyebolts enough to slip the chain on and closed them back up again.  I just inserted the bolts through the holes in the drawer and secured them inside with the nut.

Another handle with attitude.  Kinda like my boy.  But that's another story.  Here's the finished night stand. 

Oh look...it's smiling.  I think it likes it's new look!

I've linked this to these parties.  Be sure to check them out!

Domestically Speaking - Power of Paint Party
Today's Creative Blog - Get Your Craft On
Someday Crafts - Whatever Goes Wednesday
Blue Cricket Design - Show and Tell
Debbiedoos - Before and After 
The Shabby Chic Cottage - Transformation Thursdays
House of Hepworth's -Hookin' Up with hoh
Tools are for Women Too
The Shabby Nest - Frugal Friday 
My Romantic Home - Show and Tell Friday 
Mustard Seed Creations - Furniture Feature Friday 
Just a Girl - Show and Share Day 
Funky Junk Interiors - Sat Nite Special