my new shelf - part 3

last night i remembered the perfect verse for my shelf.    it came to me right after i wrote "cost: $0, value: priceless". 




proverbs 31:10
"an excellent wife, who can find?  FOR HER WORTH IS FAR ABOVE JEWELS"

i wrote just the last part of this verse "for her worth is far above jewels" on the wall underneath my shelf. it says so much about this shelf. it didn't cost me anything but it's value is so great. it means so much to me.

don't give me diamonds or jewels.  that won't impress me or make my heart dance.  but if you give me a rustic old piece of wood, now that gets me excited!!!!

she also got a little "softening" -- i placed one of my grandma's old hand embroidered doilies under the mason jar.  i like how the flower on the doily is white too!

i don't know how old this doily is, but my grandma has been gone for 32 years.  i've got lots of things that belonged to her.  i'll have to do a post on them someday. 

their value is far above jewels too!


and i hope one day to be an "excellent wife".

linking to funky junk

so blessed!!!!

the circular saw project, part 2

i hated to have to make y'all wait for the reveal of this pallet shelf, but there were just too many pictures & yesterday's post would have been waaaaaaaaaaay too long. 


besides, i needed to have something to say today!!!!


here's the shelf in the process of being stained:

i left the wood all rough & rustic.
this sucker ate up 4 foam brushes!

i love the "character" it has -- all the gouges & knots & the ridges on the front board.....

she's beautiful!  now hurry up & dry, stain, so i can hang her up!!!!

yes, it's a SHE.  she's a beautiful old woman.  there ain't nothin' girly about her.  she's a tough old girl that's been around a long time & has the scars to prove it, but she's strong & she's a survivor.  she could have been tossed out in the dumpster, but she was saved.  (she reminds me of me.)  she just needed someone to love her.

and she's beautiful and she gives me courage & hope.  and i love her and she's mine!


the next day after church, i hung her.

(sounds like a western movie!!!!!  one that sam elliott would be in!!!!!)

 


it was a little awkward holding her, the level, the 2 nails (that were dipped in "widow's oil black paint"!) AND my girly hammer.  i could have used another couple pair of hands, but i managed.

she fit in the spot just perfectly!!!  i hung the old bibles picture above her.

she reminds me of a hymnal rack on the back of an old church pew!!!!

we drilled holes for the nails to go through the front.  i wanted the nail heads to be seen.  they're evenly measured & spaced on the top board.  i love how they look.  especially since they're painted black!


i wasn't sure what to put in her.

i knew i wanted a mason jar with a flower.
so i put a little box in her to prop up the jar so it could be seen.

the box was just the right height so the jar fit at the top of the board without the box being seen!  perfect!  i love the white daisy against the dark wood.

everything about this shelf is PERFECT!!

especially the imperfections!!!!

i didn't know what else to put in her, then i remembered i had some old picture albums that belonged to my grandma.  they look nice in there.  much nicer than stuffed in an old plastic storage box.

i hung her high so i could use the buffet for other things if i wanted, like at christmas when i have the garland on it & the nativities.  besides, i wanted her at eye level.

so i can look at her often!

i think she might need a Bible verse written under her.............i'll have to think of the perfect one for her!

cost:  $0

value:  priceless!!

oh - i just thought of the PERFECT verse!!!!   i'll show you tomorow!!!!

thanks, bryan, for all your help!!!!

i'm so blessed!!!!

linking up to:  Not Just a Housewife:  http://www.notjustahousewife.net/2012/02/show-me-what-ya-got-63.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:%20blogspot/lUkHL%20(Not%20JUST%20A%20Housewife)

savvy southern style:  http://savvysouthernstyle.blogspot.com/2012/02/wow-us-wednesdays-55.html

linking to funky junk

the circular saw project, part 1

when i moved the kids' bluebonnet pictures from the foyer to the living room, it left a big gap on the wall in the foyer. 

it didn't take me long to think of what i wanted to put there!

i've seen lots of stuff made with pallets on various blogs that i read.  i had a pallet out in the garage that i'd been saving for a project someday.  i knew immediately that i wanted to build a shelf to hang in that empty spot.

the circular saw left with the ex-husband -- it should have stayed since i used it more than he did!!! --so i found me a man with a circular saw & we made plans to cut some wood one day.  well, that day finally arrived this past weekend.


first, you get yourself a pallet.  i got this one at church.  the flooring we put in the pastor's office came on it.  it's a little "new" looking, but i'll fix that!

then you get yourself a man with a circular saw.  i got this one at church too!  (i love my church!!)




then you be sure to have your camera handy & inform him that you'll be taking lots of pictures for your blog!!!!  (i think i saw him roll his eyes at this comment, but he was a very good sport about it!!!)


we had to pry off some of the pieces of wood off the back because we needed a piece for the bottom & i wanted to fill in one of the empty spaces. 

we started to pry them up with my "girly" hammer, but the wood started to split at some of the nails.

so we used a heavy trailer hitch thing that he had in the back of his truck. why he had an extra hitch, i'll never know, but it sure came in handy!!

we re-used the nails, so this shelf is 100% original pallet.  nothing added.

we removed that bottom piece that was busted & replaced it with another slat.

(i say "we", but it was "he".  i was busy taking pictures!!)


the cutting begins!

i'm holding the end of this pallet with one hand & taking pictures with the other!  i can multi-task!!!!

trimming off a little bit of one board so it'll fit in the gap

he's really good with that saw -- he even adjusted the angle plate thingy (technical term!)  for different cuts!

drilling holes to hang it.  that's MY drill.  he likes my drill & drill bit collection.  he said i have a "powerful, manly drill" -- ha!  silly boy!!!

and here's the finished shelf!

the middle piece broke, but i "dingged it up" so it looks like it's supposed to be that way & i rather like it better this way than with all 3 pieces  being pointy.   i LOVE the bottom front with the knick broken out of it & the knots on the piece we added & the knicks in the top piece!!!  adds a lot of "character"!


it was so easy, we decided to use the other end of the pallet & make another one!  and since we knew what we were doing at this point, the 2nd one went together in no time at all!

this time the end piece broke off!!  i'm going to glue it on though.


i could have done this project all by myself & all i intended for him to have to do was let me borrow his saw.  but he offered to cut the wood, so i let him & then he just took over the project!  he seemed like he was having a good time, so i let him!!  i got to hold the wood & take lots of pictures & it was fun.  and i must admit, it was nice having his muscles pry that wood apart & nail it back together.  we finished 2 shelves in less time than it would have taken me to do one & i didn't mess any of it up!!

it was my job to stain it.  i had just enough in this little can to do one shelf.  this can of stain definitely wasn't like the "widow's oil black paint" that i used for the whole-house-furniture-makeover!   i need to go buy another can to do the other shelf.

i'll show you the finished product tomorrow!!!!!  it's beautiful!!!  i can't stop looking at it!!!

i'm so blessed!!!!!


linking up to:   Not Just a Housewife:     http://www.notjustahousewife.net/2012/02/show-me-what-ya-got-63.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot%2FlUkHL+%28Not+JUST+A+Housewife%29

Savvy Southern Style:  http://savvysouthernstyle.blogspot.com/2012/02/wow-us-wednesdays-55.html

well, now..........!

i was told yesterday that i have a "girly" hammer.

well..................


................if i had a "manly" hammer,
what on earth would i need a man for????

silly boy!!!!!!


"she" worked pretty good! 

stay tuned for the project reveal tomorrow!!!!!!

have a blessed sunday - & if you have nothing to do, come on over & help me weed the yard - or the field!!!!

sneak peeks at my circular saw project!!!

so my "man with a circular saw" came over this afternoon & we did my project!!  in fact, we did 2 projects!!!!

i stained one of them this evening after i came home from dinner with some friends.

i'm only going to show you these peeks...............

i'll show you the rest of the pictures of us making it & the finished project after it's all dry & in place!!!!  


i LOVE it!!!!! 

it makes me happy just looking at it!!!!

it's been a great weekend - hope your's is blessed too!!!

country livin'

my sister in law lives in lumberton which is just north of beaumont.

out in the country.


when i was painting her house this weekend, i took down the air vents so we could clean & paint them.  i unscrewed one of the ones in the living room & tugged on it.  some dirt & dust & other "crud" fell out when i pulled it down, along with something else.

i thought it was just insulation.

it was hangin' & i didn't take the time at the moment to pull it down.

the next day,  i took a closer look.

that AIN'T insulation!!!!

that's a snake skin!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

that thing hit me in the face when it dropped down the day before!!!!  YUCK!!!!

well, this girl doesn't care if it's just a skin, doesn't care that it's dead, doesn't care that it's any empty skin.  this girl ain't gonna touch it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  it's a snake for all i care!!!  once a snake, always a snake!!!!

i'd rather come up against a bear or a mountain lion, but not a snake!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   it makes no matter that i grew up on a farm out in the country.  i don't like snakes!!!!

but i was the only one home & i was the one doing the painting & i was the one that needed to get rid of that thing!!!!

but i ain't touchin' it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

so i did what every smart girl would do----i got 2 forks & speared it like salad & pulled it down outta that vent!!!

it's about a foot & a half long!!!!

thank goodness it was empty (& dead!!!)  or i would have run all the way back to houston in record time!!!!!!!

 i saved it for my sister in law - she wanted to throw it away, along with the fork!!!!!!!!!

makes me want to reconsider my desire to move the the country!!!!   NOT!  i'd move in a minute!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   (but someone else is gonna have to hunt & kill the snakes!!!!)

i always said, "if it had been ME instead of EVE, i would have RUN from that snake.......!"

be blessed!!