Where I've Been

So, where have I been all this time that I've been M.I.A. on my blog??????

The short answer is

in my garage.

The really long answer?

Stay awhile...I'll show you!

Several months ago, my friend, Kenna, sent me an email with this picture attached:

She had seen it on a blog, and loved it, but didn't really have room for it in her house.  Since our house has a large playroom, she thought I might be interested in building one.

Kenna had NO IDEA that her email was about to open a HUGE can of worms!!!  :)

So I followed her link to this blog post, and after reading it, could not get my mind off of building.  Seriously.  I pored over the blog (previously known as http://www.knock-offwood.com/, now moved to http://www.ana-white.com/), and was fascinated with the idea that women- with no real training in woodworking, and only basic tools, could build some really amazing things.  I have ALWAYS wanted to learn how to build, but as I've mentioned several times on this blog, Ben and I are not handy people.  My dad (and his mother) are two of the most handy people I've ever met, but I figured I did not get the gene.  Many years ago, my grandma even built a treehouse for her kids.  She is amazing, and I've always wanted to be just like her, but I never really thought I had it in me. 

So...all the time the past months I should have spent blogging was spent looking at building plans and reading about building and tools and techniques.  And my mind was always occupied with thoughts of building.  Really.  There were several nights that I could not sleep because my mind was so busy thinking about building.

Since Kenna got me into the building mess in the first place, I forced her to join the fun.  She borrowed her grandpa's miter saw and her husband got some wood for us, and we spent an entire day building picnic tables (one for her, one for me).  Together, we have 8 kids.  At the time, school was still in session, but we had all 8 at some point throughout the day.  It was crazy.  I was pretty useless most of the day.  I have almost no arm muscles (building is hard work), and it seems like I was either nursing Sammi or caring for kids most of the time.  And I didn't know the first thing about building, so Kenna had to teach me everything (Kenna is one of those people who is naturally good at everything, so I'm sure she thought I was complete idiot).  I am left-handed, and making some of the angle cuts with the saw was kind of awkward for me- at one point, she was worried I was going to chop my arm off (I have since learned a bit about safety). 

But after 8+ hours of hard work, we had two of these babies built (minus the painting):

I'm sure that if Kenna had had a competent assistant, it probably would have taken about 2 hours.

After my first real project, I really, really, really wanted to be a builder.  :)  Of course, I had mentioned "building" to Ben, and I'm sure he thought it was just a passing interest. But I was getting so antsy to start building, and was so sick of not sleeping because I was so busy *thinking* about building, that I told him that I really, really, really thought I could do it. The only problem was that we didn't have any tools (except for an extremely weak Black &; Decker drill and jigsaw) and we didn't have any wood.  Ben wanted us to think about it for  few days before we made the decision to invest in tools and wood, but I had already been thinking about it (nonstop) for several weeks.  So we made an agreement- since our ten-year wedding anniversary was coming up (it's next week!), he offered to buy me some tools for my anniversary present, and I promised to build us a bed for his anniversary present (the Farmhouse bed with a canopy- inspired by Pottery Barn from http://www.ana-white.com/)!

I spent much time shopping on the internet for good tools, and was so excited to finally have them delivered.  Next up- buying wood.

I knew nothing about wood, and knew that I would look like a total loser if I went by myself, so I conned Kenna into going to Lowe's with me.

She didn't know what she was getting into, and spent a reeeeeaaallllly long time, helping me pick out good boards.  We even kept her two-year-old, MaKendrie, up way past her bedtime, but she was sooo good. (Sammi?  Not so good). 

Proof:

Finally, the guys at Lowe's had the truck loaded up, and we were good to go.

Except that Kenna is a total perfectionist, and decided the wood wasn't loaded properly (had we noticed what the guys were doing, we would have stopped them!), and we were worried that some wood would be destroyed in the hour-long drive home.  So we pulled over to the Target parking lot and took everything out to reload it correctly (thankfully assisted by the Target cart-pusher guy who seemed to think loading wood in our truck was more exciting than gathering carts).

{Thank you Kenna...you were a sport!}

So, I had a large pile of wood, a few tools I was scared to death to use on my own, and a few hours during naptime to spend building.  Kenna, and her husband, Chip, came over one evening to show me how to use my table saw safely (still scares me to death) and were so patient to answer ALL of my questions (everything from "How on earth are you supposed to sharpen one of those rectangle-shaped carpenter's pencils?" to "Which side of the marking line do you cut on?" and all sorts of other things that most people are probably born knowing).  When they left, I felt ready to tackle some building on my own.

I decided to start with a few cheap, easy projects from the website (ana-white.com) to practice building [mess up on] before attempting to build our bed.  Wnt to see them?

Drumroll please for my first-ever solo building project:

The most awesome thing about Ana's website is that she makes building plans inspired by amazing pieces of furniture (from Pottery Barn, Land of Nod, etc.), but makes everything cheap and easy to build.

She also comes up with awesome plans of her own, like this grocery store hutch that I build Lolly for her birthday (she's two!):

Ben was out of town, and I build it {all by myself!} in an afternoon (painting was a different story- it took days, and I do not love the fact that it looks fluorescent green).

Even the "big boys" love it. 

This bench was really easy, so I built another:

And my kids love to climb on the counter to get things and put them away (usually knocking things off or over), so I built this the other night:

(still waiting for a paint job- the part I do not like).

Up next, a farmhouse-style canopy bed.  I can't wait!!!

Anyone want to come build with me?

If you've ever been interested in building at all, you should totally check out http://www.ana-white.com/ or her facebook page at www.facebook.com/knockoffwood (it is so inspiring to see what others have accomplished). 

If you need me, I'll probably be out in the garage!