Jenna

Our Big Massive Shed Update

Published on November 12, 2014November 12, 2014 by Jenna1 Comment

The hubs has been working very hard the last few days to get this project finished and just has a few details left to wrap up. There were a few hiccups in the process, but it looks amazing, especially since he did it all by himself.

Luckily, now that the roof is complete and the siding is up, except one spot in the back wall, he can start taking things out of the garage and putting them in the shed. Which means I’ll soon be able to park in the garage again – something I’m very excited about with winter snow just around the corner. And now that it’s done we can start cleaning up the job site. All the debris and tools laying around has made me twichy the last few weeks, so I’ll be glad to get everything organized and tidied up before winter sets in.

There is one spot on the front above the door where he pieced together two scrap pieces rather than buy a whole extra sheet of siding, so he’s going to caulk that seam to make it less noticeable. Then he plans to add some trim over the siding joints and around the corners to finish things off.

Another big project checked off the ever expanding to-do list. Now he gets a little breather, before we tackle another. 🙂

All gave some, Some gave all

Published on November 11, 2014 by JennaLeave a comment

I had the privilege to photograph a soldier’s homecoming last night and it was the perfect way to start Veterans Day. Yes, I drove an hour and a half each way in the middle of the night to be there when he came home, but that’s nothing compared to the sacrifices he, his family and thousands of others who have served have paid.

We have a long history of service in our family, including my grandfather who served in WWII, my brother-in-law who put in 20 years with the Navy, his two sons who carry the torch in ROTC – one of whom will soon be attending Navy flight school, my retired Coastie hubby and his Pop who served as a Navy fighter pilot and performed several of the flight scenes for Top Gun! And we have friends in just about every other branch of the military, as well.

It takes a different kind of person to serve. I knew I wasn’t suited for military service, but I support those who do, regardless of the politics. And I thank them, sincerely. To me, they are the backbone of our country, not those who call the shots in DC.

America has many problems, and one of our biggest is forgetting our veterans. They endure hardships and trauma in the name of our freedom and return changed in ways they can’t even explain. Many are able to find their own way to cope with the help of friends and family, but unfortunately thousands don’t and end up suffering even more once they are home. There are many programs out there to help, although they are often overwhelmed with demand and not enough resources. So I encourage you to think about small things you could do to serve those who have served and are still serving for you. They don’t expect a hand out, but they will truly appreciate the small things such as:

Visit a local veterans nursing home and talk with the residents. You will be amazed at the stories they have to tell.
Invite a local military family to join your holiday celebrations. Often times they are stationed far away from family and miss having a large group to gather with.
Cook a meal for those staying at a Fisher House. They are often consumed with the details of their loved one’s treatment that they forget to take care of themselves.
Offer to babysit so an active duty member can an enjoy a little alone time with his or her spouse – or so that spouse of a deployed member can have a break from the constant demand of parenting solo.
Tackle a few home maintenance tasks for a disabled veteran who is unable to perform them. But let him or her help if they want – it will make them feel useful and capable despite their injury.
Have a yard sale and donate the proceeds to programs like Wounded Warrior, Fisher House, Honor and Remember. Even if it’s a small amount, it helps.
Help organize, fund raise or donate airline miles for local veterans to take an honor flight. If you live in the areas of the memorials they visit offer to cook a meal for the group or host them if you have room.
Raise or help train a service dog for a veteran. The programs that do this will support you in doing so.
Foster a single service member’s pet while they are deployed. It will give them the peace of mind they need to focus on the tasks at hand.

These are just a few ideas. You could also contact local organizations like the USO, VFW and VA to ask what specific needs might exist in your community. But perhaps the easiest thing to do is to thank active and retired military members and their families for their service when you see them in the community. They may only briefly acknowledge your comment because they see their service as normal every day life, but I promise that taking the time to acknowledge them resonates on a deeper level and they do appreciate it.

Quick DIY Thanksgiving Decor

Published on November 4, 2014November 18, 2014 by JennaLeave a comment

Now that Halloween is over, I’m in full Thanksgiving mode and that means the decorating has begun. This pretty plate was a left over from a recent work event and it just screamed to be made into a sign. It fit perfectly on one side of my entry table and I thought a simple “Give Thanks” was the perfect way to welcome guests during this season.

I loved the texture it already had and new simple white letters would play well off that. I took some quick measurements and played with a few fonts on my Silhouette and came up with this!

I do wish it filled the space a bit more, but I still love it. And it only took about 5 minutes to create! All with materials I found for free or had on hand. That’s my kind of decorating. Here’s a quick sneak peek at the other side of the entry way table.

I found that little owl lantern at the thrift store for a few dollars earlier this year, and the wooden tote started out solid black as a clearance find at JoAnns. I sanded it down on a whim one day and loved the texture the left over paint gave it. And because it’s so simple it ends up being used in many of my vignettes throughout the year. And you might remember my little lace votives from this project.

Looks like someone approves of my Thanksgiving entry way decor! I’m still working on a few things for the other areas I’m decorating, but I’ll share those soon. 🙂

Constructing A Massive Storage Shed

Published on November 3, 2014November 7, 2014 by JennaLeave a comment

Even though we have a three car garage in our new home there still isn’t enough room to park our two daily driver trucks, my classic truck and our side-by-side and still fit all the things that tend to end up stored in the garage. To solve this problem the hubs decided to build a shed. But this isn’t just any lil ‘ol shed. It’s a mega shed. Seriously. It’s 11′ wide by 20’ deep! But it has to be pretty big to house the lawn mower, yard tools, our side-by-side and various other odds & ends.

I don’t have much of the step-by-step info since he’s been doing the construction solo while I’m busy crafting, cleaning and editing photos but hopefully these pictures give you a good idea of the basic framing and set up. He started with freebie I-beams that were headed for the dumpster at a job site to lay out the base of the shed. Because the location of the shed was a bit uneven, he used cinder blocks we had on hand under the subframe on one side to make everything level.

The I-beams were topped with a layer of plywood and OSB so the floor of the shed has a solid surface and additional strength. Next he framed up the walls, figuring out the angles needed to create the pitched roof line. The side walls were made in two panels.

Once those were ready I helped raise the walls and held them in place while he nailed them in. That’s when you start to get a sense of just how big this thing will be.

The side closet to the house will be taller than the far side, which should help reduce snow build up during the winter and eliminate any water build up during the rest of the year.

He’s now moved on to framing the roof and adding the clear panels which will let in natural light. Both sides of the roof have a bit of overhang, which should help keep water away from the base of the shed.

That’s the progress thus far. He’s hoping to get it finished and filled before winter hits, but we’ve already had one snow (as seen in the first pictures) so who knows how long that will be. I’ll post another update once we have some more progress to show, so stay tuned!

He’s added supports between the rafters for additional strength. After the first few rows he had the ingenious idea to use left over pieces of the I-beams to save the more costly wood for other areas.

Going Gothic for All Hallows Eve

Published on October 30, 2014October 30, 2014 by Jenna3 Comments

This is our first Halloween in the new house and I knew I wanted to switch up my decorating style to be more Pottery Barn ‘gothic’ than the typical ‘cutesy’ or all out ‘gore’ you often see this time of year. I purged my decorations and sold quite a few items on the buy/sell pages to fund the purchase of new items. But I ended up only spending about $18 for this new look!

I started by pulling out anything in my décor stash that was black or white and tackled the mantel first. A couple of candle sticks topped with flameless candles, a doily wrapped pumpkin, some spooky artwork, a skull and my pretty raven make up a simple, but spooky arrangement.

The artwork was a free printable quote from Michal Jackson’s “Thriller” that I found here and an oversized numeric cut out I made with my Silhouette. Both frames were items I already had on hand, so I just repurposed them. The skull lights up and was one of only two items I purchased this year. Originally priced $12.99 I got him on sale for 20% off, saving me a few dollars and the time I was planning to spend to create one that looked similar!

I wanted the entry way to feel like a witch’s potion brewing station, so on one side I filled a pedestal that I DIYed forever ago with several different size and style bottles holding various items you might expect to be in a spell recipe. I planned on creating vintage-looking labels for each, but ran out of time. So here’s what they are labeled in my head:

Full moon dust (sugar)
Goblin teeth (candy corns)
Eye of newt (white pebbles)
Black magic beans (navy beans)
Spider venom (purple glitter)
Toad tongues (split pea)

I added a little flameless votive in a small jar and a chalkboard sign to round out the vignette. On the other side I used another free printable, found here, paired with a fun little jack-o-lantern votive and a cast iron frog under a cloche. The jack-o-lantern is part of a set with metal hook posts that are meant to be put along a walkway, but I always worry that they will get blown off by the wind and break so this is a much safer option.

I finished off the area with a pretty orange and black bunting from my photo props and my ‘welcome’ ghost sign on the opposite wall.

Out on the porch, I added a new welcome mat with an adorable ghost and some spooky pumpkins. Pay no mind to that empty pot on a pedestal in the corner by the door. I had plans to add some painted branches to it with lights and spider webs, but I never got that far and at this point it just ain’t worth the effort for one day! Those spider webs are the other item I bought and since I didn’t use them they will be in my tub and ready for use next year!

In the dining room I used two more jack-o-lantern votives from the same set I mentioned earlier and paired them with my cherished “Boo” Ghost lantern.

So that’s my Gothic Spooky Halloween décor. It’s not much this year, but it’s a good starting point for next year. So what do you think? Is the old fashioned gothic look better than the cutesy scary stuff or do you prefer a more “goriesh” style for Halloween decorations?

A New & Improved Doggy Door

Published on October 29, 2014October 26, 2014 by Jenna2 Comments

When we first moved in we installed the sliding door doggie door insert we’d used while in Kodiak. It worked fine, but we could never seem to get it seal well against the slider door sine it was shorter than the door opening and it reduced the width opening to the deck considerably, which was a pain when the hubs was going in and out to grill on the deck. So we decided to install a new door in the wall.

The hubs picked out a double flap model to improve energy efficiency. I’m hopeful that it will keep the outdoor debris at bay a bit more as well. Because it sits a little higher, we don’t have an issue with water seeping in when it rains like we did with the old door, which should also be handy when it starts to snow.

We originally planned to hire a handy man to do this installation, but the hubs’ co-worker convinced him that he could do it, so I dug out the pictures I’d taken of the wall during construction to make sure we knew what he’d encounter inside the wall (I’m so glad I documented every step for this exact reason!).

We knew there was electrical wiring to deal with because of the outlet and light switch nearby, but the pictures showed us where the wire ran so he made sure to watch for them and then just tucked the wire to the side of the opening once he had the hole cut as you can see below.

Thankfully I wasn’t around for most of the install process due to a photography session, so I missed out on the messy “in-between” stages, although I’m sure they looked similar to the scene above. The hubs did say he reframed a bit around the new opening since he had to cut the stud that was in the middle of the opening and he added spray foam insulation behind the interior panels that make up the portion within the width of the wall.

We’ve had a couple of windy days since it was installed and it seems to do better at staying closed than the slider insert door did, so I’m very happy about that. And because there are two flaps, even if one doesn’t catch all the way the other keeps the opening closed for efficiency. The hubs still plans to add a bead of clear silicone around the entire opening on both sides, but overall it seems much more weather tight than the old door was.

We did have to relocate the dog’s water bowl since this is exactly where it was before the install. For now we’ve just moved it down the wall a bit, but I have plans to incorporate it into raised feeders for all three of them very soon. It took everyone a bit to get used to the new door. Both Bacardi and Stoli kept going to the slider door and pawing at first, but after a few times they’ve got it figured out. And even Luna has adapted, although it did take a gentle push through the first time. 🙂

My New “Old” Fruit Bowl

Published on October 28, 2014October 27, 2014 by JennaLeave a comment

Some time ago, my fruit ‘bowl’ became the hubs’ catch all spot for when he comes home and empties out his pockets. In the meantime I’ve just been using a bowl from our regular dish set, which worked just fine but I knew that wasn’t a permanent solution. So I’d been on the hunt for a simple and inexpensive replacement.

This little milk glass beauty fit the bill perfectly. I picked it up for just $4.50 at a local antique store I just discovered! I kept eying it as I wandered through the aisles and finally decided it spoke to me. There were actually two of the same bowl, but one was marked $10 and the other $6, so I took the cheaper bowl knowing I’d get an extra 25% off thanks to the open house sale they had going on!

Eventually, when the side counter is no longer a tool bench for indoor projects, I may rearrange the hubs’ drop zone and use something different so I can reclaim the original bowl. If and when that happens, I’ll use this one for centerpieces and other decorating. But until then, I think it does a mighty fine job as the counter top fruit bowl!

An Artful Disguise

Published on October 27, 2014October 26, 2014 by JennaLeave a comment

As promised, here’s my other bargain art piece from my recent Target shopping spree. I’ve been looking for a subway art piece for the wall between the entryway and the office for a while now, and actually purchased a canvas from Michaels to create my own. Luckily, before I got to that little project I spotted this on sale at Target for around $20. The color was a great contrast to the wall and I love the phrase, but what I really love is how it’s doing double duty!

How you ask? Well it’s hiding the not so lovely thermostat! How clever is that?! Of course I can’t take credit for this brilliant idea since I got it from Pinterest, but I’m still super happy with how it turned out.

All it took was a couple of hinges and it was bye, bye boring thermostat! The hubs did notch out the frame of the canvas just a bit so we could center it on the wall, but that was due to my preference on location.

This same idea could be used to disguise other wall mounted items like alarm systems or old intercom systems. Have you decorated around your thermostat or disguised something in your home? Tell me how with a comment below!

The Hubs’ New Desk Chair & A Few Other Bargains

Published on October 24, 2014October 26, 2014 by JennaLeave a comment

Check out the hubs’ new desk chair! Isn’t it pretty?! I’m loving it, not only because it can also double as a photography prop (whoop, whoop), but because I got a great deal on it. Originally marked at $218 at Target, I asked customer service to price match their website where I found it for $152. And to make it an even sweeter deal I used a $5 off coupon, plus $10 in ShopKick rewards and got another 5% off thanks to my Red Card. Let’s just say I was doing my happy dance!

I also found a couple of other bargains on that shopping trip. The first was this pouf, which the hubs has been enjoying using as a foot rest when he sits on the couch. It’s indoor/outdoor material so it can be used on our deck next summer, but in the meantime it can also serve as extra seating when we have guests over.

I snagged a couple of bargain art pieces as well. One became a little project I’ll share with you next week, but here’s the other. I found this pretty little piece on clearance for just $7! It was the perfect size for the blank wall next to the mirror in our guest bathroom and it fits the colors I’ve used in that space exactly.

Just another example of why I adore Target and shop there often! I think the only way it could get better is if they would pay me to shop! A girl can dream right?! 🙂

More Crafty Storage!

Published on October 23, 2014October 19, 2014 by Jenna1 Comment

CraftShelves I recently picked up some simple white floating shelves at Lowes and had the hubs install them above my craft cabinet for some additional storage. I originally planned to DIY these, but at $20 each it was worth saving the hub’s time for other more important projects. 🙂

Although they can only hold a few pounds, they are the perfect way to display some of my finished crafts and inventory as I prep for the upcoming holiday bazaars. Of course what I display here will change as my projects do, but it’s nice to have a spot to show off my work or stash things that are “in-progress” while keeping my table top clear for working.

That roll of kraft paper you see on top of the cabinet will soon be mounted to the wall just an inch or two above the table surface so I have a quick and easy wrapping station as well!