Living Room Built-In {post 6: Make A Pocket Hole Plug Jig & Pocket Hole Doors}
If you use a pocket hole jig to assemble cabinet doors, you are left with holes on the back of the door that can be seen. This may not bother you, and I decided it didn’t on Pip’s built-ins for her room because I didn’t want to deal with it and it wasn’t going to be seen by many. For the living room built-in, I decided I needed to do something about them. Using the plugs that Kreg makes is an option, but Kreg intentionally leaves them long so you can trim them for an exact fit. I decided that if I needed to trim them anyway, I’d do it a little cheaper. Here’s my DIY pocket hole plug jig.
Here’s a picture of one of the doors I put into the built-in for the living room. I actually didn’t mean to construct them this way…I meant to do it the same way I constructed the drawer fronts on Pip’s closet organizer. But I remembered that after I had already routered the edges on all the 1x3s I used for the rails and stiles. Oops. Constructing them this way makes it more difficult to assemble the door perfectly square and end up with cuts that meet exactly right on the corners.
One door was perfect and it was the one I did second. For that door I assembled 3 corners, and then used the clamps in the picture to square up the door before screwing in the pocket holes for the last corner. To make sure the door is square, you measure the diagonal corners–each measurement should be the same. If not, adjust the clamps until they are. The one that I did first, and didn’t square it up with the clamps before attaching the last corner, did not turn out exactly square…I had to shave off the top edge. Next time I construct a door or drawer front that is going to be inset, I’ll plan on making it a little oversized so I can shave it down to perfect (thanks for that hint Dennis!)
Now onto the pocket hole plug jig. First step is to take a piece of scrap and drill the pocket holes into both ends. I used my miter saw to shave off some of the ends of the boards after I drilled the holes, so that the screws could move freely without catching on the wood. Don’t take off too much though, then the screw falls right through the hole (I did that the first try…). Put screws into each pocket hole. Read More…
Living Room Built-In {post 5: How to install crown moulding}
Ahhh, crown moulding. How I covet thee. I want to put it everywhere in this house, but it seems so hard!! This was my first attempt at any kind of crown. Up until now, every built-in I have done has been capped off with casing (I think…or it is base…either way, it hasn’t been crown). I’m pretty happy with how it turned out on this project, so I’m not as afraid to give it a go in other places now. Here’s how I went about it!
First I did some research after I discovered that I wasn’t sure which way was up. If you read my little rant, you already know that apparently other people don’t know which way is up either. I had a little bit of a sticky situation though…I didn’t have much room before I hit a corner, and the crown I had picked out takes up more room depending on how you put it up. Lucky for me it worked out.
The research said that the bottom of crown most times has the more decorative elements. Also, the crown should take up more space on the wall than it does on the ceiling (that is what saved me from having to apply mine upside down–it gave me enough room before I hit the corner of the wall). This is all in general–it might not be applicable in every instance. Just don’t ask anyone who knows anything about crown to come into your house and you’ll be fine either way (I crack myself up sometimes).
Anyone interested in coming in and refinishing my floors for me? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller? (Who can name that movie?) Look how scratched up they are–and I want them a much darker color now. Uggh. I don’t look forward to that project.
During my research, I read this article from DIY Network.com where they put base moulding on upside down before the crown to build it up. I loved it, so I did the same thing on mine.
But it kinda ended up being a good thing I had planned on this. I originally had a top to the cabinet that was separate that I was going to add between the cabinet and the shelves. Then I made a big mistake and had to modify the plans, but the separate top was 1.5″ thick and I already left 2″ of clearance at the top. That meant there was only air to attach the crown to on the cabinet and that wasn’t going to work. The upside base gave me something to work with!
Living Room Built-In {post 3: The Reveal}
First we had a flurry of activity around here to get the Living Room built-in finished before Christmas hit, and now I’m settled in by the computer with a flurry of snow accumulation happening outside, as I write up the reveal post for the Living Room built-in (we think about 6-7″ right now and it’s still falling). I’m breaking from my regular format and doing the reveal before all of my write ups on the process this time, for no other reason than I want to 
My goal was to have everything done but the doors before we had Christmas at our house, and it ended up that the entire thing was done! Yay!
Befores and afters:
Scrap wood heart collage
I’m getting closer and closer to having ONE room in this house that is completely and truly done!!!! I can’t wait for that day Pip is really liking her desk hutch, but the project I am writing about today is one of her favorites for her room and it turned out a lot easier than I imagined. And it used up a lot of scrap plywood I had been accumulating–high fives all around! Here is the scrap wood DIY heart collage I put up on one of her walls:
I started this back in the summer and then procrastination hit…sometimes it is the silliest things that throw me off the finish line for a project. Picking out the pictures is what did it this time! I had a niggling of a feeling of wanting to do the picture-picking-out last weekend so I jumped on it, and now the project’s got a check mark next to it on my to-do list.
This used up a surprising amount of scrap 3/4″ and 1/2″ plywood. I wanted both sizes because I thought it would add some visual interest to the picture collage. Most of them are 4 x 6, but a few were smaller because it was what I had left. Read More…
DIY Ruler Growth Chart
My nephew turned one last July, and his mommy had discovered that generally, by the time you get to child #2, you have all the toys you will ever need without getting more! And she had recently discovered Pinterest and its plethora of great ideas, which resulted in a request for a growth chart similar to the ones floating around in cyberspace. I looked around and found a good tutorial and then like any good aunt, got right on it–4 months later. Just so you don’t think I should be locked up for nephew neglect, I did have some gifts for him to open on his actual big day! Not that he really noticed through all the icing and cake he had smeared all over
I am really happy with how it turned out:
I did change a few things from the original tutorial. I made two short lines at 1.5″ and then a longer line at 2″ (so 1.5, 1.5, 2, 1.5, 1.5, 2″ and so on) and then each number line I marked at 2.75″. I also printed the font (I used Book Antiqua) at 300. I used the tutorial’s transfer technique and I also used a black Sharpie to make the lines and fill in the numbers.
The stain was a custom mix of two stains I had in the basement–which one was already a custom stain to begin with, so I can’t even tell you what the two are to reproduce mine. I didn’t topcoat it with anything because my sister wanted it to look worn. I prefer that look on it as well. Keep in mind that if you are using it for an actual growth chart that you will write on, you will need to be able to mark over the top of your topcoat if you choose that route. If you use a wax, that may present problems.
And in the interest of full disclosure, not only was it 4 months late, but I finished it at their house while visiting last weekend. That actually does border on nephew neglect. Wonder when I’ll get around to sending out Christmas cards this year…would it be inappropriate in May?
Adding a hutch to a desk {post 2}
Boy was I ever rusty in my woodworking skills for this build!! I’m glad I am here to show you that multiple mistakes during a build can still result in a usable piece of furniture…
First off, my plan. Wherever did I think that I could fit the amount of shelves I had planned for is beyond me! I had an extra cut out that the plan called for. You know how I have warned you that using my plan “as is” is probably not advisable? I had a good laugh at myself as I was laying out the pieces on the garage floor for a dry fit!
Which reminds me–I really, really need to get a workbench made so I can quit using the floor.
Where would one more shelf fit??!!
And then I realized that I was going to have to figure out how high I wanted to make the first shelf, because it was going to be permanent and not moveable. I had not figured that in–I wanted it to all be adjustable. BUT this will not be attached to the actual desk because the desktop is formica. In order to keep it square I need to have it fastened in the middle. This ended up being a monumental decision–I went back and forth on it. Right now she doesn’t need a ton of head room for that first shelf, but I want this to work for her as long as she is at home. I went with the shelf being at 17.5″ (16.75″ once I added the face frame) so that she can fit a bigger monitor under there if need be someday. (I was really irritated with myself for making that such a big decision because it ate up precious time! Sometimes I can be so indecisive.)
Then I got to use another of my birthday presents–my brand new Kreg Shelf Pin Jig. Love it.
Adding a hutch to a desk {post 1}
I promised plans today and here they are! Hopefully I’ll be seeing how a sheet of plywood fits into a Honda Pilot today. A Home Depot employee and I had a discussion on this matter several months ago, and he assured me that the old model Pilot fit a sheet with no troubles, while the newest version fits a sheet, but just barely. We traded on our 12 year old van for a Pilot in July–the Honda salesman was a little bewildered by my interest in fitting lumber in the trunk We bought the old model, so hopefully no worries.
I’ve kept the pictures at a large size so that you can click on them to enlarge and see the dimensions better. I don’t know if that will work, but we’ll try it out.
Obviously this is not to scale. As a general rule I like to use graph paper and get it somewhat to scale so I am not surprised by how the project ends up appearing. Today I am walking on the wild side.
And here goes the disclaimer: Use these plans at your own risk!! I already modified some dimensions, that affected other dimensions, and although I think I did a good job going back and making the changes, I’m not guaranteeing that!! From here on out I’ll be in the garage and lucky if I remember to take the pictures I need, much less jot down the corrections to the mistakes I’ll probably find.
I always feel better after saying all that, ha ha. But the changes I made allowed me to utilize the entire sheet of 3/4″ plywood more effectively, just by shaving off 1/4″ of the width on the sides of the hutch (which also changed the width on the shelves). I went and measured some of her books, and 10.25″ is plenty of width for even the biggest ones she has. I am using up some various pieces of scrap ply I’ve got from other projects, for the sides of all 6 drawers–love using up scrap! I would have preferred to use 1/2″ ply for the drawers, but I’d rather utilize the entire sheet, so 3/4″ it is.
There you’ve got it! I’ll be trying out my brand-spanking new Kreg Rip Cut on this, as well as the Kreg shelf pin jig. I got those back in June/July for my birthday, if you recall. Sad that it has taken me this long to break them out of their packaging, but I can’t wait to use them now!
How to make a camera bag insert for a purse
I discovered, as I was completing my teaching degree in recent years, that one of the state standards for Ohio’s school children is teaching them the difference between a “want” and a “need”. Many people in our great country have got problems with this concept IMHO and although I feel that I have pretty much mastered it, at times I may slip. Like when I mentioned on my Facebook page that I might need a digital SLR camera. This would, in fact, be a want not a need. But I have been wanting one for quite a while now, I had some Christmas money + other money I’d been squirreling away, and I finally bit the bullet and bought one. And now I need a camera bag and I want it to be pretty. So I made one. Because OMG are the pretty ones expensive.
Pinterest had a plethora of choices for a DIY bag. I pinned four onto my Photography board, but the one I chose was from VanillaAndLace.blogspot.com. Some of the tutorials actually put the foam pieces under the purse liner, which was kinda cool, but I want the option of removing. And I loved her purse/fabric combo. Here’s mine:
The purse I chose was a Nine West. Now I am not a fashion diva, although you may think that from this post, so I’m not quite sure the original price tag of $72 was accurate, but I paid $24.99 at Burlington Coat Factory. Read More…
DIY Geometric Painting
I’m not big on store bought art for my walls. If I do purchase something, I like for it to come from a person and not a machine–or at least have some meaning if it comes from a machine. We have bought art while on anniversary trips and family vacations that we treat as souvenirs. Some of my favorite art on my walls came from my mom’s camera–I sent her out with some 35mm film (back in the days before digital!) and I printed it in black and white. She came back with photos from a barn near the house I grew up in–you can see those in this DIY wall art post. This time I’m the one who is creating the art and it’s going in the kids’ bathroom.
I was inspired by this quilt I saw on Pinterest.
Being the pack rat that I am, I already had this canvas sitting waiting just for this moment. It was just under 20×24, so I drew 4″ squares–6 across and 5 down. Read More…
The kids’ bathroom…FINALLY
Holy guacamole was the kids’ bathroom project ever going to get started??!! The creative juices were running dry for this one…and the motivation wasn’t exactly flowing either. But it is at least a good jump toward finished now. You may recall (or you may not, it hasn’t exactly been that recent) that the kids’ bathroom was not on my radar. It is a room that I consider finished, and with so many other projects that are screaming to be completed after 11+ years in this house, I was not interested in redoing one that was already complete.
And then this happened:
We built the bathroom in anticipation of kids needing to brush their teeth or dry their hair while another was showering. It is two rooms–you enter into the one with the sink and go through another door back into the porcelain throne and tub/shower room. The problem is that it is an interior room (no windows) and it is small, and my boys like to take very hot and very long showers. Water-running-down-the-walls-from-condensation kind of showers. Mold really likes those kind.
Hence, the bathroom moved to the very top of a list that it had previously not even been on. And since I was going to paint anyway, it might as well be updated all around. Especially because my boys are growing up fast and the decor was probably not keeping up really well:
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The only plywood I use
Pink Toe Projects (click on the picture to get to the post)
Build your own crates:
Under Sink Storage:
Closet Organization:
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Pottery Barn Statton knock off in twin:
Pottery Barn Inspired Bedside Table:
Twin Storage Bed with Drawers:
Hide washer & dryer hookups:
Built-In Cabinet and Shelves:
Entryway Bench:
Board & Batten:
Laundry room cabinet & hutch:
Painting the dining room table:
Leaning wall shelves:
Thrift store lamp revamp:
Refinishing door hardware:
The $20 (or not) storage closet door:
Ruffle Flower Pillow:
Luggage Tag Tutorial:
TeePee Tutorial:
Fresh Eggs sign tutorial:
