Not A Recipe Post!
What? No recipe? But this is Bakeaway Girl, not So You Think You Can Pinterest! I know, I know.
But it's been absolutely beautiful outside here for a little while, so I took a little hiatus from my kitchen and tackled a few projects that needed to be done in a backyard. Living in a cute upper floor apartment, I don't have a backyard, but my parents do and my mom enjoys having me spend time there (even if I smell like polyurethane).
You see, last summer, I decided to dive head first into the world of DIY and take this...
To this...
The man at the hardware store laughed at me when I told him what I was trying to do. He said I should start small for my very first wood project. As per usual, I smiled politely and ignored him and did what I wanted to do to begin with. He might have been right, but I think our dining room looks fantastic!
So this summer, I set out to refurbish a dresser into a new tv stand/media center. Unfortunately, I couldn't find the right dresser. Just when I had given up hope, we stumbled into a $5 little TV stand at Goodwill. Not quite what I was going for, but maybe even better. After purchasing all the materials, this sucker cost us a whopping $50 (as opposed to the $450 one we had our eye on at the store).
From my experience last year, I learned that you should use chemical stripper to clean the wood bare. This was much cheaper wood than our table, and I didn't care enough to cover my hands in chemical burns like last year. So I spent an hour sanding things down, called that a job well done, and moved onto painting. Two coats of paint, one coat of poly, and a little touchup once everything was installed and moved, and voila! The finished product...
Then, feeling quite satisfied with my Pinteresting abilities, I tackled this project. Hers is much more country kitchen than I wanted, but it was such a cute idea. I had to improvise a little with my materials, but I think it turned out perfectly. Still, a bazillion times better than the $30 Pottery Barn version that was her original inspiration!
Finally, it was back to school time, which is a DIY all in itself! As I dove into sprucing up my classroom, I realized that my window by my door was bare. We all cover that window for safety reasons, and most of us do it with some simple colored butcher paper. My butcher paper had valiantly stood for 2 years and apparently called it quits over the summer (as I found it in a heap on the counter). I had wanted something more permanent for a while, but was too lazy. Now was my opportunity!
So armed with my mother's barely-used 1979 sewing machine, I set out to make my own curtain. Having never used a sewing machine without adult supervision, I was a bit wary. I found a perfect bright teal fabric at Hobby Lobby. When I dug through my mom's sewing kit (also barely used), I stumbled on a never-before-used spool of thread... in the exact same shade as my fabric.
It was clearly meant to be.
My seams look like a 7th grade Home Ec project (that would've earned a C at best), but it fits perfectly in the window and brings a lovely pop of color. What can I say? You don't notice the seams when you walk by it.
So that, my friends, is why there has been a lack of recipes of late. Never fear, fall is coming... and with it, pumpkin, apple, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Nothing inspires baking more than that!
But it's been absolutely beautiful outside here for a little while, so I took a little hiatus from my kitchen and tackled a few projects that needed to be done in a backyard. Living in a cute upper floor apartment, I don't have a backyard, but my parents do and my mom enjoys having me spend time there (even if I smell like polyurethane).
You see, last summer, I decided to dive head first into the world of DIY and take this...
 |
| Light wood, green paint (yuck!) |
 |
| Darker stain, wine-colored paint (ahhh :) ) |
So this summer, I set out to refurbish a dresser into a new tv stand/media center. Unfortunately, I couldn't find the right dresser. Just when I had given up hope, we stumbled into a $5 little TV stand at Goodwill. Not quite what I was going for, but maybe even better. After purchasing all the materials, this sucker cost us a whopping $50 (as opposed to the $450 one we had our eye on at the store).
From my experience last year, I learned that you should use chemical stripper to clean the wood bare. This was much cheaper wood than our table, and I didn't care enough to cover my hands in chemical burns like last year. So I spent an hour sanding things down, called that a job well done, and moved onto painting. Two coats of paint, one coat of poly, and a little touchup once everything was installed and moved, and voila! The finished product...
 |
| My inspiration |
 |
| My version! |
So armed with my mother's barely-used 1979 sewing machine, I set out to make my own curtain. Having never used a sewing machine without adult supervision, I was a bit wary. I found a perfect bright teal fabric at Hobby Lobby. When I dug through my mom's sewing kit (also barely used), I stumbled on a never-before-used spool of thread... in the exact same shade as my fabric.
It was clearly meant to be.
My seams look like a 7th grade Home Ec project (that would've earned a C at best), but it fits perfectly in the window and brings a lovely pop of color. What can I say? You don't notice the seams when you walk by it.
So that, my friends, is why there has been a lack of recipes of late. Never fear, fall is coming... and with it, pumpkin, apple, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Nothing inspires baking more than that!
Comments
Post a Comment