An Anchor Sign is Birthed from Loins of Kreg Jig

My tool acquisition phase is going swimmingly.  So remember my gargantuan treadmill box that I was trying to get rid of bestow upon some lucky person on Facebook?  (PS-still available..)  Well, that treadmill also came with a wooden pallet.  So since I didn't yet own my sexy circular saw (slow clap for verbal alliteration?), I worked up a sweat hand sawing and harvesting these planks from it. (Jewell's bf, Mike, helped, too. Thanks, Mike. Comma much?)  And then several months later, the trusty Kreg Jig came into my life, and this hog was my first experiment with it (i.e., whew, you should see the back of this thing...)  And THEN, still several months later, the Silhouette graced me with its existence and provided me with the stencil to paint this.  And then BAM!  Distressed anchor sign is born of stinky treadmill packaging--squeee!

My brain is kind of exploding trying to narrow down future design choices... I mean seriously--the world is my freaking burrito. 

My new favorite toy in the whole wide world

Well, my nephew Baby Solly recently arrived in the world; and with him is ushered in the dawn of my new favorite toy (not to replace DeWalter White by any means; just to supplement his splendor).  I took the plunge.  Amazon had a once-in-a-lifetime (or so I told myself) flash sale, so I bought a Silhouette (basically a printer that cuts a variety of materials for those who have not been blessed with an understanding of its greatness).  And we're just so in love.  Every time it finishes cutting some beautifully intricate piece, I tenderly stroke it and whisper, "I love you, Silhouette.  Thank you."  And I wish I were kidding...  I can't even sleep at night thinking of the infinite possibilities now available to me. 

SO, first up on the list was to cut out a stencil template and use it to make a nifty pattern for one of my name cut-outs.  And if I may say so myself, I just think it turned out just totes adorbs, yo. 

I just spray painted this puppy cream, then laid the stencil (made from an old file folder since I didn't have stencil material on hand) on top and used a stencil brush to coat on some minty green acrylic.  So now my brain is figuratively exPLODing wanting to try a whole bunch of new techniques... GAH, I can't even take it sometimes.  (Did you catch that? It's my passive aggressive attempt to get people to stop using 'literally' wrong... True story: a college professor told a crowd of us that the band members literally birthed this next piece of music.  How uncomfortable.)


I feel like if one has the capability to make Casablanca and/or animal print word cut outs, one should not waste time distressing them as pictured below...  Ah, the responsibility that has been bestowed upon me.  I see leopard print on the horizon. 

Planter Box Extravaganza

Since I've been positively itching to actually build something with our new miter saw and Kreg pocket hole jig (oh yes, it has arrived--ringing in the new era of buildin' stuff), I figured I'd start small.  So I went over to one of my favorite sites (Ana-White.com) and found some free planter box plans for the Mumz (plural) for Mother's Day.

And I quickly came to the realization that I really do NEED a nail gun--it's not just some whim.  Pounding those nails with a hammer brought back some rather haunting birdhouse assembly memories I had completely (and happily) forgotten about.  Like, I'm not sure if it was the nails, the hammer, or me, but dude, it did not go well.  My garage floor looked like World War III.  Luckily this first box (pictured below) only required a couple nails to finish the job that Kreg started, so I think it turned out right-nice. I drilled two holes in each side and knotted some rope handles through them.  Then I used a stencil to trace the letters and filled them in with some acrylic paint and an itty-bitty paint brush.  And we all know how French always classes shiz right up, so I opted for "Les Fleurs" to increase the Fanciness Factor.  The little flourish was free handed, so, heh, you know, don't look too closely.

And then this trapezoidal hog below was a bit more tricky.  The box plan didn't call for beveled edges, which would have meant the top and bottom of the finished box wouldn't be flush...  And I go out of my way to make sure the dish rag on the oven handle hangs at a 90 degree angle... soooooooo, yeah, I wasn't going to be able to stomach that.  So after dusting off a little handy trigonometry (soh cah toa, m'I'right??), I was able to shave off just the right amount to make this puppy flush.  I popped some handles on this one, too, and decided to stain it a dark walnut.... because dark walnut is cool.... aaaand maybe it also hides nail gouges from dumb nails...

Anywho, I had way too much fun putting these together (despite those dumb nails), so I think I'm going to tackle a console table and some Adirondack chairs next. So stay tewned, yo.