Craft Table

I realized while doing all these crafty type things lately that my current "craft table" (aka, my desk moved around from bedroom to living room) was simply not doing it for me anymore.


And it's not exactly like I can afford to buy something new, or have the room for something big enough for quilting to stay in my living room on a permanent basis.

So what's a gal to do?

Mods. That's what. I added spiffy new things to my desk to give more organization space and an extra large work surface when needed, while still being able to fit through my bedroom door for when I have people over.

Plus, what better way to make it extra mobile than casters?

Maybe I'll even get to use my handsaw again . . .

So this is what my "craft space" currently looks like. A hot mess, with stuff on the floor and on the couch and just about everywhere. 

How to transform my lowly computer desk (that I got from Wal-Mart years ago for $25) into something worthy of the name "craft table"?

Ikea shelves, a piece of 3/4 inch particle board, casters, and a set of heavy duty drawer slides, that's how. To get the right size of particle board, I measured the distance between the legs of the desk and had them cut it at Lowe's. The drawers slides need 1/2 inch of space on either side (the package tells you) so I had them cut it one inch shorter lengthwise. It's also a few extra inches deeper than the desk, I just needed to make it narrow enough when the extra work space is pushed in to fit through my bedroom door. Having the extra workspace (ie, the particle board) on drawer slides means I can slide it in to save room when not in use. It also means it's not as sturdy as the desk part, so I'll never put my say my sewing machine on it, but for cutting, ironing, and to catch big projects as they spit out the back of my sewing machine, it's perfect.

It's also a great place to store my rotary cutting mat. 

To begin with, I wanted it all mobile. Which means casters. $10 for a 4 pack from Ikea attached to the desk legs with 2 inch screws was the first step. Then, I decided I wanted the additional workspace to be slightly padded, like an ironing board. So that I can iron on it, of course. To do that, I used spray adhesive to attached a thin layer of batting to the particle board.

Then I flipped it over onto a piece of spare fabric with two inches overhang of fabric on all sides. Pulling tight, I secured the fabric with a rigged combination of nails and spray adhesive. It would work so much better with a staple gun. I kind of finagled the corners into something that didn't look terrible.

Then I installed the drawer slide according to the package instructions. It was super simple.(Hint: the particle board is the "drawer component" and the desk is the "cabinet component")

As for the shelves . . . I wanted shelving on the table itself so I could easily grab whatever I needed. But I didn't want closed shelves. The piece is large and I didn't want to clutter my small living room when it's out here. HGTV has succinctly informed me that openness can make a small space seem larger. So I wanted open shelves. Ikea to the rescue! I got 6 wall shelves with their brackets for $3 apiece. I then installed them to the legs of the table just like I would to a wall, with the top shelf flush to the desktop.

And that's it. It's done. A half day of drilling and I had myself an awesome new craft table.

License Plates

Last year when the registration on my car was up, my baby turned 7 and got new license plates.

If only that were a good thing. I hate, hate, HATE, the new Texas plates. I think it's the shade of blue used for the sky, but they annoy the crap out of me. And the mountains. Let's not forget the dang mountains.

So, clearly, I have to find a use for my old, lovely plates with the cowboy and the night sky.

And what better way to do that than a food tray that lives on my counter for everyone to see?

I found this wood plaque at Michael's and some square dowel rod type things.

Using wood glue, I attached the Ross to the plaque, creating a rim.

After letting the glue dry, I stained it with the leftover mahogany stain from the corner shelf project. That streak that didn't stain is where I had too much wood glue and it leaked out. I could sand it down and fix it, but I kind of like it. It adds some character.

Then, using a paint pen, I wrote on the wood. The license plate isn't attached yet, just there for spacing.

After the paint pen dried, I sealed everything with polyurethane.

Finally, I used small screws with a large head to attach the license plate.

Then drilled holes to create handles.

For handles, I used a red bandana, twisted and threaded through the drill holes.

Ta-Da! A great way to display my state pride. 

Lemon Spaghetti

Back in undergrad, my mom and I would watch Rachel Ray's 30 Minute Meals  when I was home during the summer.

30 minutes for her maybe. An hour and a half for us.

One night we made her lemon spaghetti. It is super delicious, however, it calls for heavy cream (something I don't usually have on hand and never use the whole container) and parmeseano reggiano cheese (I probably butchered that spelling). When you live in the boondocks, it's hard to find such fancy cheese. And when you do find it, it ain't cheap.

So I said screw that, I'll make my own recipe on the cheap. I usually eat it with fish (Gorton's grilled tilapia). If I set the water to boil just before I put the fish in the oven, everything gets times perfectly. I also usually add some grilled zucchini, but I didn't have any this time around.

Ingredients
1 package thin or angel hair spaghetti
2 lemons
1/3 cup milk
Fresh rosemary, oregano, basil and Italian flat leaf parsley
4 cloves garlic
Shaved (or shredded) Parmesan cheese

Boil 1 package thin spaghetti or angel hair according to package directions (I use whole wheat thin). While you wait on that, chop some fresh herbs.

From top to bottom, basil, rosemary, oregano, Italian flat leaf parsley. If you're going to cook with fresh herbs often, it really is worth it to grow your own. Mine grow in a window box planter that moves inside and outside according to the weather. Chop them all together. You can either tear, use a super sharp knife, or kitchen shears. I use a sharp knife.

Zest one whole lemon, and about half the other (or about 3/4 of each). This makes it super lemony, so you can always cut back if it's too much for you. Peel the garlic cloves. I peel them first so I don't have to stop and clean out the press between cloves. To easily peel, lay your knife over the clove and hit the knife with the heel of your hand until the clove flattens (don't cut yourself). Then the peel will easily come off.

When the pasta is al dente, ladle (or just dip in your measuring cup) 1/2 cup of the starchy water to use later. Drain the pasta and leave it in the colander while you make the sauce.

In the pasta pot, drizzle olive oil to coat the bottom, mince your garlic cloves into the heated oil. At this step I move the pot from the burner that was boiling to a new one at medium high heat. If you have a gas stove, it won't matter, but electric stoves can take forever to cool down, and you don't want to burn the sauce. Cook the garlic until it is sizzling and starting to get fragrant. Then add the starchy water (from the pasta) and milk and heat to boiling while *constantly stirring*. Don't stop stirring. You will burn your milk. Stir for about 2 minutes (it will reduce your volume). Then add the juice from those two lemons (to get the juice flowing, roll the lemons on your cutting board before cutting them). Stir well and remove from heat. Immediately add the chopped herbs and lemon zest and stir well (you want to add the herbs last because basil especially can get bitter if it cooks for too long). Mix in the pasta and add the parmesan cheese. I used up what was left of my container, about 1/2 cup. Stir until the cheese is starting to get gooey.

Now it's ready to serve. This makes 4-6 servings (depending on how hungry you are).

Fruit Smoothies

I love smoothies.

Love. Smoothies. Who doesn't love fruit in liquid and slightly frozen form?

Crazy people, that's who.

Anyway, here is my quick and easy and healthy smoothie recipe.

In a blender add 1 cup low fat yogurt, 1/3-1/2 cup orange juice (depending on how liquidy you want your smoothie) and frozen fruit.

I add 5 peach slices and 6 strawberries.

Blend until smooth.

  

This would be really good with a few slices of banana or a small amount of blueberries added. 

Upcycling - COMPLETED!

Whew. I finally got this sucker done. Just to remind y'all of the starting point . . .(here is where I did the inside)

Once I got the shelves cut, I stained them using a Red Mahogany stain (Minwax, of course).

And, me being me, I got it all over myself. I can't seem to do anything at all related to paint without getting it all over myself. Sigh. It's even splattered on my feet. (Yeah, it's woodstain, not some kind of strange foot rash or freckle pattern)

Anyway, I got those stained Sunday morning, let them dry outside all day, and then sealed with polyurethane and let that dry for 24 hours. If I had planned this better (ie doing the interior of the suitcase with the spray adhesive while the stain was drying and sealing the interior and the shelves at the same time) , the whole shebang would've taken about 2 days.

Monday night, I did the shelf install. I used that handy dandy iPhone level app to make sure it was straight, then marked where the shelf was going to go on the inside of the suitcase.

Since I suck at depth perception, I tapped a nail from the inside out until it was barely protruding and circled it using a white quilting pencil. That way I knew exactly where to put the nail.

Then I nailed that sucker in. I did both shelves on one side first, so then I could just kind of close the suitcase around the other side before securing it. This part was crazy frustrating. There's probably a better way to do it, but I sure didn't figure it out in time. It was also totally worth it.

And Ta-Da! A corner shelf.

Now to fill it with things.

And find a place for it.

All done. My first project that turned into a piece of furniture is complete! I even got to use a hacksaw.

PS: These pics look so much clearer on my iPhone when I take them. But my real camera is busted . . . :(

ETA: I might change how the shelves are attached to make them more sturdy. If so, I'll add how I did it.

Okay, so I did change how the shelves are attached. I got these square dowel rod type things from Michael's, and stained them to match the shelves. 

Then I nailed them in place, using the old spots as a guide.

Finally I set the shelves on the new supports. Simple. You can probably nail the shelves to the supports, but this was I can take the shelves out and close the suitcase when I finally graduate and move.

Adventures in Quilting - Part 2

The top is finished!

I ended up adding some more borders to make it big enough to be my summer bedspread. On to adding the batting and backing and the actual quilting of the thing.

Upcycling - Part 2

Okay, so I got tired of staring at that suitcase and got to work.

First, I ripped out the lining (it came out easy peasy) and confirmed that the suitcase is made from wood.

Then, using spray adhesive and my tattered copy of It, I papered the inside.

Now I'm just waiting for that to dry. Tomorrow I'll seal it with polyurethane. And if you get the adhesive all over your hands like I managed, some rubbing alcohol will take care of it.

I also measured for the shelves. Okay, fine, I held a piece of cardboard up and used a ruler to draw off the angles then cut it to size. The cardboard is a perfect fit, so I'll take it to Lowe's sometime this weekend to *hopefully* have the wood cut.