My Craft Table!!!

I can't even tell you how excited I am about this table!  For about a year now I've been wanting a craft table to put in our guest room where I can work on projects and leave them out without taking up all the space on our dining room table.  Nick said he would build one, but he's busy and never got around to it.  So recently I went to a junk market and was on the lookout for my craft table.  There was one that caught my eye, but it wasn't love at first sight and I walked away from it.  After an hour I was still thinking about it though so I went back, hoping it was still there.  Obviously, it was and my vision started.  Here is it.

Needless to say, it needed some work.  Nick was less than impressed that I actually bought this thing and he wasn't sharing my vision.  But I got to work and I can't even explain how much I LOVE it!  

What I'm most proud of though is that I thought up this whole project all on my own!  I don't consider myself to be creative because I rarely think of my own ideas.  I'm really good at replicating things that I've seen and I have no shame in admitting that.  But this beauty was all mine!

Isn't it pretty?!!!!!  We just finished it last night and I've already been upstairs a few times just to look at it.  Have a said how much I love it?  

And it really was easy too.  I just painted the legs, set plexiglas on top, added shelf covered in wallpaper, and added some casters. Done!  The paint is Old White Chalk Paint by Annie Sloan (I skipped the wax).  Miraculously the plexiglas came in the perfect size for a 2" overhang on each side, so all we did was pull the plastic off.  I don't plan to attach it permanently unless it becomes a problem - it's pretty heavy, so I don't think it's going anywhere.  

Nick cut a plywood shelf for me and I covered it with some wallpaper I got in a tube at Target.  The shelf is actually in 2 pieces for easy removal, and I think I did a pretty good job of matching up the wallpaper.

I knew I wanted to add some height so I can work at the table standing without straining my back, and I had planned to use chunks of a wood post, but then I realized the wheels would be WAY better.  This is in our guest room and while there's plenty of room in there, I wanted to be able to push it against the wall when someone is staying here, but when I'm cutting fabric, I need to be able to get around the whole table.  Of course there were no casters that matched up with the holes on the table legs, so we used pieces of an old 2x6 cut to size.  The table ended up a little higher than I had planned, but it's actually perfect.  It's about 2" taller than a standard counter height.   Now I just need to find the perfect stool to use!  

Have I mentioned how much I love this table?  :)

Throwback Thursday

I found these old videos on our computer this morning.  How cute and little are they?!!!

More Pinterest Reviews

Here are a bunch of crafts/project that I've tried after finding them on Pinterest and how my versions turned out!  And actually, these are all from last fall so the timing is pretty good.  I kind of went all out for fall last year, and I'm so excited to get all that stuff out again this year!

Fall Wreath

http://lizoncall.com/2012/11/02/fall-leaf-wreath/

I wouldn't really call this a wreath, but just a door decoration, but whatever.  Our front door is really big, so this looked much better than a wreath.  The tutorial had really good instructions and I love how my version turned out.

Jelly Bean Pumpkin Treat Bag 

I didn't find any instructions for this one, just a photo, so I just winged it, but it was super easy.  I made it using Reese Pieces though - SO much better than jelly beans!  Here's my version!

And here's a link to the tutorial I posted last year.

http://nickandlanae.blogspot.com/2013/09/day-24-free-time-candy-pumpkin-tutorial.html

Sweater Pumpkins

http://factwoman.blogspot.com/2012/10/how-to-make-sweater-pumpkins-tutorial_4.html

I first saw sweater pumpkins at a craft show and I figured I could make them, so I followed the above link for a tutorial.  I love mine so much more than anything else I've seen!

 I also made a tutorial for my pumpkins, here's the link for it.

http://nickandlanae.blogspot.com/2013/09/sweater-pumpkins.html

Fall Table

I saw this photo and replicated it for my dining room table.  I love how it turned out!

The place cards you see are actually Thanksgiving sayings that looked so cute at each place setting.  I found those free printables here: http://findinghomeonline.com/thanksgiving-table-printable-and-tutorial/

Here's the photo I saw for a painted initial pumpkin.

Here's my own painted pumpkin.  It actually turned out better than I had expected.

And I can't remember if I saw this somewhere - house number on pumpkins - or is it possible that I thought this one up all by myself?!  Nah, probably not!  I love how this turned out as well.  Finding perfectly sized pumpkins was the hardest part, seriously, it was so easy!

Mackenzie's Ariel costume from last year, another favorite of mine!  Here is the photo that inspired me to make it, because this particular costume was $95!

 Yay!  I made that!

Wynia Camping

In August we went on our annual camping trip with my Dad's side of the family.  We have such a fun time with everyone and as all the kids are getting bigger, they have so much fun together too.  We had lots of time to relax, but we played lots of games too.  Here are some shots of our water balloon volleyball.

Quick reaction to try to catch it didn't work, broke right above her head!

Look at that form!

We also did water balloon relays - this particular time they had to pop the balloons on their heads.  Other versions were sitting on the balloons to pop it with their behinds and between two people popped with their bellies.  There was A LOT of laughing and Nick got some great photos too!

One morning, my Dad ended up in the cabin with a bunch of kids watching cartoons on the iPad.  You can see this camping trip wasn't quite as rough as Rainy Lake.  :)  It was wonderful!

There are so many little girls on this side of the family, so the two boys had to stick together and do boy stuff!  They were so funny!

The girls put on a parade for us!

I love this picture of my Dad - he has the best smile!

The weather really was perfect and we had so much fun - we look forward to this trip every year!

4 Generations

Nick and I are so blessed to have such awesome families and this summer, Rylan got in some great guy time with these awesome guys!

Great Grandpa Russell Lawrence, Grandpa Randolph Russell, Dad Nicholas Russell and my sweet guy Rylan Russell.