There was an old woman who lived in a...

...century house. She had so many grandchildren, she needed a more economic way of tending to their birthdays, than going to Target. [Oh, you thought this was a nursery rhyme?] Who really eats broth, whips their children, and doesn't serve bread with a meal? This is the old woman in real life.

Here are some 'round-the-clock' projects destined for grandkid's birthdays this weekend.

The first, was a child's kitchen that my friend, Ken, scooped off a curb. All working doors and drawers, the little right hand bin needed a hinge underneath. The two bottom cupboard doors had rubber band closures. Genius. First, I peeled off old wallpaper and scraped tar-paper off the counter. Then, set about cleaning and painting.

I sponged painted the top cupboards, installed beadboard for the back splash and cut some maple for a counter top. I still need to tone down the top. Too blue. I was thinking of giving it a little more height, so tomorrow, I may build some legs onto it.

I put in an LED tap light so Little Toots could have some surface light, and rigged up a light switch to operate the "burner". 

I re-built the bin and found the right hinge. It works perfect. I know it is sideways. Tomorrow is another day for fixing things.

I was going to recess the bowl for a sink and install a faucet but NO ROOM.

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The next project was for a grandson who loves super heroes. His little chair kept breaking at dinner on Sunday, so a trip to Salvation Army the next day produced this sturdy little work horse. I painted it all red and made a stencil of the Superman logo. I printed off the logo from the internet and glued it to contact paper. Then used a razor and followed the lines. As each color dried, I would attach the next color and paint that. Finally, I sanded, glazed, outlined the logo, and poly'd it several times.

The "G" Man should like having meals in his Super Chair.

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This next present probably does not look like a 'gift'. It is actually an old, well made drawer from the turn of the century, that was formerly part of a built-in dining room cabinet. I got it at ReStore for $2. 

This the grandson who just turned "1", and what he likes to do most of all...is sit in any kind of box, basket or container. The drawer will be a 'toy box reading center', and maybe, even a good napping place.

I first put casters on and sanded the drawer well. I stripped the front and used a checkerboard stencil using all the colors of the fabric. After distressing and glazing, I gave it 3 coats of poly. The rest of the exterior, I painted my favorite go-to color. It matched the fabric I got for the lining. I used a 3M adhesive to adhere it and then cut foam which I blanketed in batting before sewing a casing for it. The fabric has old fashioned teddy bears.

The checkerboard lost something in the translation. Close-up, it is more appealing. The lining is a soft velour corduroy, great for diving in and rolling across the living room floor. 

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The next 'gift' is a huge school cork board. [Another Ken find] This is for the Presidential family who just had a series of birthdays (and a bunch of promises from me). Mom-Meg is an elementary school teacher on leave with a new born, and Ryan remodeled their basement to look like a classroom. The item missing is a bulletin board.  Here it is fresh from the curb:

And, after some clean-up and a little color and stain:

I already put it to use.

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My week in review:

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These cute pumpkins I made from old fence posts which I cut, sanded, painted, sanded again, glazed and poly'd. I drilled a hole on top and hot glued a branch from a willow tree. It should have some corn stalk foliage on it, but.... They were easy to make. I should attribute it, but just know I saw it on a blog, (forgot who) and immediately set out to copy it. 

This was a really industrious week. READ: BUSY. I don't 'do' stairs, but somehow, I managed several sets of them this week. They take their toll. There is a saying, "The forwarder I go, the behinder I get." Right now, I am going to get my behinder in bed!

'night all

La Verne

hope&salvage