After growing out my hair for 6 years I was bored with the long hair and was completely over the headaches from wearing my hair up at work. So I went back to short hair and it’s been fun to play with it and try out some new styles! I’ve been adding a few more go-to pieces to my jewelry collection lately like this necklace, this ring, this watch and I’ve been looking for some nice simple hair accessories to go with my short hair. I’ve seen a lot of minimal hair clips out there these days and it brings me back to my childhood. I still have a little collection of barrettes that I wore when I was little – mini trolls, rainbows, pompoms, big bows… I loved them all! But these new, simple ones have a much more useable twist to go with my pretty simple wardrobe these day. I decided to make one of my own simple barrettes the other day because I had all of the supplies on hand already from other projects. Takes a minute to put together and I love it!What you need:
–1/8″ Brass Tubing
–2″ Brass Ring
–Tube cutter (if you want the ends to stay round) or heavy duty pliers that will cut metal (if you want pinched-in ends)
-Rough sandpaper
How to make it:
-Use tube cutter or pliers to cut tubing to desired length.
-Smooth out edges with sand paper if necessary. xo. Caitlin
One of the things that Caitlin is not lacking in her new house is plants! She may still need to put together a whole living room, a few finishing touches on her bedroom, get a washer & dryer, (she can cross that gorgeous kitchen off the list now!) but plants, plenty of those! We always seem to end up with a few new plant babies when running to the store for something else. Need some lumber – came home with lumber + a new plant! Need some glue & nails – came home with that + a new plant! 😉 Anyone else have that issue?! Then you start running into the problem of where to keep all those plants!
I’ve had this project on my to-make list for quite some time, but didn’t have the perfect spot for it (plus those “steps” look pretty enticing for little boys to try to climb, not something I want them attempting! And yes, as soon as this was made, the first thing Levi said was he wanted to walk up those “steps”! 😜), and I don’t quite have the green thumb that Caitlin seems to have – I’m usually buying new plants to replace my dead ones, so I don’t need as much shelf space for my collection! But now that Caitlin has a new place, I thought this step ladder plant shelf would be helpful in giving her some more plant space!Materials:
– 1x8x10 foot pine board
– mitre box
– 1×2 pine boards – 2
– tape measure
– table saw
– belt sander or sand paper
– framing square
– wood glue
– drill & drill bits
– nail gun & compressor
– polyurethane finish (if desired) Directions:
Out of the 1×8 board, cut 3 shelves to 28.5″ long. Cut one of the 1×2 boards to two 36″ pieces. Cut the other 1×2 board into two pieces measuring 40-3/8 from the tip of the angle at one end to the tip of the angle at the other end. The angle at the top is a 60 degree angle and the angle at the bottom is a 30 degree angle. Out of the left over piece of 1×8, cut four 1” wide pieces on the table saw. Sand (or use a jointer) to clean up the cut edges. With the mitre box, cut two 17-1/4” pieces, two 12” pieces and two 6-3/4” pieces. These are your shelf supports. Cut two pieces 27” long for braces to go across the back between the lower and middle shelf supports. Mark lines on your back legs of the shelf at 9”, 18” and 27”. Lay your back leg and front leg out flat with the 60 degree angle against the back leg near the top. Using a framing square, run the square along the back of the back leg and under the bottom of it, bring the front leg down or up until the bottom of it rests on the top edge of the framing square; make sure the 60 degree angle is tight along the edge of the back leg. Keep the legs in this position and using the framing square transfer the three lines from the back leg to the front leg, also make marks where the top and the bottom of the 60 degree angle are on the back leg. Repeat with the other set making sure that you are marking on the inside of the legs.
Drill holes in the center of the long and medium length shelf supports 3/8” from the end, countersink the hole slightly on one side. Using 1-5/8” screws, attach the two shelf supports to each end of the 27” braces you cut for the back.
Lay out one of your sets of legs with the marks up, place glue along the 60 degree angle and place against the back leg where you made your marks. Using the nail gun, nail through the front leg into the back leg. Glue the legs (place glue about 3/4” below the 9” mark). Take your lower shelf assembly and place it on the legs keeping the back flush with the back of the back leg and the top even with the 9” lines; nail in place. Repeat with the other two shelf supports. Repeat the process with the other set of legs but only attach the upper shelf support. (You will probably need assistance for this step) Stand the two sets of legs up after placing glue below the 9” and 18” line on legs without the lower and middle shelf support. Nail the lower shelf support to that leg below the 9” line and the middle support below the 18” line.
Sand shelves before installing them. Place glue along the top to the upper shelf supports and then set the shelf in place keeping the back flush with the back of the legs; nail in place. Place glue on the first 6 inches of the middle shelf support, put the shelf in place making sure the shelf sticks out past the front of the shelf support by 1”; nail in place. Place glue on the first 5-1/2 “ of the lower shelf support, put the shelf in place making sure the shelf sticks out past the front of the shelf support by 1-1/2”; nail in place. Let dry. Sand smooth where needed. (Apply finish if desired).And since we do love our plants, we’ve got a few other planter ideas you can try out – find more DIYs here.
Natalie-This is so lovely I never would have thought to make a display out of plants, maybes if I make them into a feature I might manage to keep them alive
Back to the bathroom projects again! 😉 I had put a hold on finishing up a few more of the smaller projects I wanted done in that room, just because I needed a break from working on it. While it’s still currently my favorite space in the house, I just was done with constantly being in there to work – I wanted to be in there soaking in the tub! We had put up temporary towel hooks until I was ready to finalize what I wanted in there and was ready to get back to it. And now that I’ve soaked in the tub – I guess that time is here!
We made these simple wooden towel hooks, but really, these can be used just about anywhere in your home as wall hooks – for coats, closets, accessories, etc. I chose spalted maple wood, because it’s one of my favorite wood varieties – we used that for the toilet paper holder as well. For those worried about wood having wet towels on it – it does have a finish on it and we’ve used wood towel hooks in our other bathroom for years, and as long as they are finished properly, they hold up to wet towels! I’m loving this new small addition to the bathroom and how it ties in with our toilet paper holder.Materials:
– wood (we used a piece of spalted maple)
– table saw
– miter box
– tape measure
– belt sander & sand paper
– dowel screws – 1/4″ x 2″
– drywall anchors – 5/16″
– drill & bits
– pliers
– scrap wood (optional)
– water proof finish (we used Minwax indoor/outdoor clear satin finish)
Directions: Cut wood to size (we made 1-1/4″ x 1-1/4″ strips). Cut angle at 40 degrees to the length desired – we made ours 2” to the short side of the angle. Sand all sides smooth with belt sander; sand corners with sand paper. Drill an 1/8” hole in the angled side near the top of the angle in the center about an 1-1/4” deep. Using pliers, screw the dowel screw in a little more than half its length.
Drill 3-1/8” holes into a scrap piece of wood (about 10” long), keeping the holes about 3” apart. Screw the other end of the dowel screw into these holes enough to make them stable – this will help you to be able to apply finish to all sides. Apply finish following directions on can.
Drill 5/16” holes in the wall where you want the hooks to go. We had 1/4” dowel screws which were a little bigger than the drywall anchors, so we pre-screwed the dowel screws into the inserts holding the inserts with pliers. Unscrew the dowel screws from the anchors and close the end of the anchor that popped open. Push the anchors into the holes in the wall and then with a hammer tap them in until they are tight against the wall. Screw the hooks into the anchors.If you haven’t seen it yet – you can see the whole bathroom reveal here! And a couple of the other projects from that space: DIY Leather Shower Curtain Rings, DIY Floating Sink Shelf, and DIY Toilet Paper Holder.
Monique | WritingMonique-Aaah! This is such a good idea, and it looks so minimalistic and still so awesome! (Also, I absolutely love your towels!)ReplyCancel
Thursday, January 12, 2017 - 7:51 pm
Cierra Mais-These are SO cute! I need to do this when I own my own place!
Well, friends… we’re finally moved in and I’ve been doing all sorts of happy dances around here. And by here I specifically mean this BEAUTIFUL room.
Some background info if you’ve missed any of this – my cousin bought a house back in May and we’ve been working on it ever since so that her and I and one of our friends could move in there. My aunt and uncle literally worked on the house almost every day and did such an amazing job on everything. There was an old mudroom/shed (haha) that was open to the kitchen so we decided to knock down the other section of wall so my cousin could have a huge kitchen – girl loves to bake! The house was built in the 1800’s – so when we started ripping walls down we saw all of those old beams and decided we couldn’t possibly cover them back up and designed around the exposed beams. If you had walked into the kitchen 6 months ago, you would never have imagined that it could possibly look like this. Keep scrolling down to the bottom of the post for some SERIOUS before and after proof of that as well as source info!
So here we are with a dreamyyyy kitchen that’s perfect for her baking and my blogging! My cousin let me help make a lot of decisions on the design of the rooms… partially because she hates making decisions and partially because she knows I’m… a control freak. Oops. My favorite part might be the bar between the rooms that my uncle made using an old slab of walnut from my cousin’s grandpa’s farm – it went perfectly with our walnut butcher block counters and is just too sweet that she gets to have a part of that in her house.Alright and this is the part that makes all of the previous photos 100x more impressive than they obviously already were… 😉 A peek at what things looked like when we came in to start working last May. Put these before and after images side by side to give you an idea of just how much work was put into this room.Sources
Walnut butcher block countertops c/o Lumber Liquidators
Oak flooring c/o Lumber Liquidators
Farmhouse sink c/o Kohler
Faucet c/o Kohler
Lights above island & bar: Ikea
Light above sink: CLAXY
“Foods Before Dudes” poster: chickpea magazine
DIY pour over coffee stand: Tutorial
DIY coffee filter stand: Tutorial
Marble & gold bar tools: West Elm
Gold candles: Geo Supply Co.
We’re already having so much fun hosting friends and family here! So excited to keep working on the rest of the house and sharing more rooms along the way!
Amy-That looks amazing! You’re right, those before and afters don’t hardly look like the same space. I love seeing a good remodel, especially since we’re on the hunt for our next one haha! But seriously, great job, it looks beautiful ReplyCancel
Wednesday, January 11, 2017 - 1:59 pm
Courtney-WHAT!!! My jaw dropped when this came up on my bloglovin’ feed and dropped again when I saw the before and afters! Beautiful, beautiful job!
Sarah Esh-This transformation is amazing. Good work! It’s always so fun to pull out old photos, just so you can see the progress. I love how light and crisp and airy the kitchen feels now.
Also, that Food Before Dudes sign is hilarious. Keep it. ReplyCancel
Heather S -I have to ask, where did you get your coffee mugs from? They’re perfect.
xoxoReplyCancel
Saturday, January 14, 2017 - 1:47 am
Sarah -Looks amazing!!! Would you let me know where the bar stools from? Thanks!ReplyCancel
Wednesday, January 18, 2017 - 11:48 am
Caitlin McGrath -These are actually from Walmart. I didn’t link to them because I am going to be returning them because they broke after two weeks of having them! I will probably end up getting the similar ones that Target sells.ReplyCancel
Happy 2017 friends! We enjoyed soaking up time with family & friends over the last couple weeks and are slowly easing our way back here to blog world! We can’t believe it’s already a new year! We love the fresh start feeling that comes with a new year and have slowly been taking down the signs of Christmas in our homes and getting spaces re-organized. Caitlin recently moved into the house she’s sharing with her cousin (that they’ve spent the last 6 months renovating – we can’t wait to share the space with you over the next few months!!) and has been working on the final touches – like getting the pantry and kitchen shelves organized! We picked up some baskets at Michaels to store some pantry goods, and added some simple leather labels to keep things a little more organized & neat! These leather labels are an easy, simple way to upgrade storage baskets and help keep you even more organized!What you need:
– leather suede strips
– scissors
– alphabet stamp set
– leather punch
– water
– rag
– hammer
– baskets
– jump rings
– needle nose pliersHow to make it:
– Cut leather into desired shape/size.
– Dampen the leather slightly with water.
– Place a piece of scrap hardwood underneath the leather and stamp the letters.
– Use the leather punch to punch holes in the sides of the leather labels.
– Use the pliers & jump rings to attach the labels to the baskets.What projects do you have on your list for the new year? For more organization ideas, be sure to check out what the other Makers have shared here or on The Glue String!
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After growing out my hair for 6 years I was bored with the long hair and was completely over the headaches from wearing my hair up at work. So I went back to short hair and it’s been fun to play with it and try out some new styles! I’ve been adding a few more go-to pieces to my jewelry collection lately like this necklace, this ring, this watch and I’ve been looking for some nice simple hair accessories to go with my short hair. I’ve seen a lot of minimal hair clips out there these days and it brings me back to my childhood. I still have a little collection of barrettes that I wore when I was little – mini trolls, rainbows, pompoms, big bows… I loved them all! But these new, simple ones have a much more useable twist to go with my pretty simple wardrobe these day. I decided to make one of my own simple barrettes the other day because I had all of the supplies on hand already from other projects. Takes a minute to put together and I love it!.jpg)
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What you need:
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