Line 'Em Up

While I was home in Ohio, after the Texas trip, my mom put me to work. Welll, I kinda put myself to work. I felt like I had to make up for my mud-loving dog that left his huge paw prints everywhere. My goal was to finish the bench Jeremy and I had made for mother's day and get her master bedroom bathroom painted. After some careful deliberation, my madre decided to put the bench in the screened in porch. She recently hung some white sheers to get a light and airy feel, so we thought painting the bench white would go great. So I got to work.

First step: Priming.

 I'm pretty sure it took longer to paint this than to build it. And I'm not sure why I didn't flip the bench over.

While the primer was out and I was doing the work (haha) my mom had me prime a planter stand, and a kids tabletop too. Again, I was making up for Mr. Mud, so it was ok. I have to admit, I kinda like helping out, so I was actually more than willing. I got about halfway on the planter stand before I remembered a before picture:

And here's the kids table:

My mom started to sand off the shiny top.

Here's everything primed and ready:

The doggies wanted to get in on the action too:

My Izzie girl!

Harley got a little too ambitious and got paint on his nose.

The kids tabletop was being primed so it could become a chalkboard! We used the spray chalkboard paint. I got the honors of painting it since I primed it. Trust me, even my brother gathered around to watch, so it was an honor. He even gave it a spray so he could "feel the power." I don't even know what that means, haha.

Here's the after shot:

My goal was not achieved though because although I did get a lot of painting done, I only got one coat of paint put on the bench and one on the bathroom walls as well. So when my mom finishes both of them, I'll make her figure out her camera and send me proper after pictures!

Linked to The DIY Showoff: DIY Project Parade and Tools are for Women too!

Coffee Table or Bench?

My sister, Julie, has been awaiting my upcoming trip to Ohio for one reason. No, not to see me, but for me to bring up the table that she requested me to build months ago. She sent me plans for the Rustic Bench, again from knock-offwood.com. JJ and I went to Lowe's and got all the wood for $21, not including the stain and began to build. The plans are fairly easy until you reach the ending, where we kinda winged it. I measured the boards and JJ cut on the miter saw I got him for our 2 year anniversary.

That's me pretending to cut, haha. Once we, I mean JJ, got the boards cut, he pre-drilled the holes and I screwed in the screws. We're quite the team. It was both of our first times countersinking screws and we now will forever do it to everything else we build. It looks so much more professional! I wish I could go back and do it to the other tables! But anyways, we soon came up with the legs:

This is about the time when I called my mom to wish her a happy Mother's Day. I told her we had started to build the bench and she thought Julie wanted a coffee table. So after a bit of confusion, it turned out my sister doesn't know how to read--considering she sent me the plans for the Rustic BENCH. It worked out ok, because my mom has a thing for benches and gladly said she would take it. So back to building we went. Everything went really smooth until we got to the cross supports. Pain in the rear. We couldn't figure out the angles, neither of us are very "mathy." So after struggling for a good half hour, I just laid the boards down where they would go and drew the angled line. And surprisingly it worked!
Here's JJ in progress:

And the finished product:

All that's left is staining or painting, whichever my mom chooses. I'll post pictures of what she decides. This bench was very easy and ended up very sturdy. JJ said he wish we didn't have to give it away! Haha. Looks like we'll be making one, or something similar to it in the near future!

Linked to The Sunday Showcase Party!