A giveaway, a workbench and a clean(er) garage

I won a $50 Home Depot gift card (and some awesome outdoor cleaning supplies) from Stacy at Not JUST a Housewife and I knew what I wanted to buy with it before it came in the mail!

Home Depot had this wood workbench for $69!  I saw Karen here at Sew Many Ways talked about this bench so I went to the Home Depot looking for it, checked it out and it was perfect!  First I had to make room for it…

So, on this beautiful day, I started to clean out my garage.  I swept up this pile of stuff…yep, that’s a frog mummy and that’s entirely fake money.  Lots of flat marbles and a vintage tootsie roll.  That was just the highlights…

So anyway, I digress…I dry walled one who side of the garage (with the help of a friend who got me started), replaced the insulation, added some insulation and painted it all up.  Eventually I want to dry wall the entire garage so I can work in there year round.

I gave away tons of stuff, sold some stuff and cleared off all sorts of shelves.

I found this wooden crate on wheels that my son had some play guns and toys stored in and cleaned it out and put all my wood scraps in the crate.  It rolls and is larger than the Rubbermaid tote the wood scraps were falling out of!

I reinforced the bottom of the crate and oiled the wheels and stacked the wood inside.

May not be pretty but it did the trick!!

Here’s the finished project with the new wall behind it and everything stored neatly.

And here is the workbench, I hauled it home from the store in the back of my Toyota Corolla…it’s seven feet long.  It comes out of the box and unfolds and is ready to use!  I painted the horizontal surfaces (with paint left over from the walls) to protect them.

The blue light in the pic above is just a plug-in swag I found 80% off at Hobby Lobby.  It was $11!  Works perfectly…I screwed a cup hook into the shelf above the work bench. I also have a stylish drop light for more lighting if needed…bet you want one too, huh?  So anyway, it may not be gorgeous, but it is a great work space for me with lots of room to create!  And hey, did I mention it was only $19 for me???  Oh, plus tax of course!

Some of my first projects on my new bench…

More about these later…

I will be linking to some of these great parties!

Recycled glass and driftwood mobile

Don’t you just love driftwood?  I made this mobile from a great piece of twisty river driftwood, straight out of the Missouri River, and a collection of glass pieces from old broken mobiles.  Three old mobiles to be exact…plus some oval and rectangular chunks of colored glass and a few flat marbles. 

The mobile was my first official project in my new garage work space.

I used fishing line to hang the glass pieces and made double knots to keep the pieces secure.  Then to make sure that the knots didn’t loosen up I used a drop of super glue on each knot. 

The glass makes a very nice tinkling when the wind blows…

The colors are mostly blues, with some clear and some frosted glass…

I drilled seven holes in the driftwood and tied knots around the ovalish shapes to keep the knots from pulling back through the wood.

The mobile isn’t entirely symmetrical but I like that part of it.  It balances well and hangs nicely. 

The mobile got two paws up from Baby Kitty…so I guess it’s OK!

I might be linking up to these great parties!

Summer fun

Summer is here, no doubt about it!

This is just a random post of pics…and some of my favorite people!

Coonskin caps are back in style…did you realize that? 

My SIL Roxanne and her two girls Molly and Maggie came up with mom for the weekend.  Jess and Kate and my great nephew Brady and Josh and Liz and my two great nieces came for a nice long visit.

Brady is 1 and he is learning to walk…

He has a great fake cry…doesn’t work to get him what he wants though!

He’s a busy little guy!

Happy boy who just goes with the flow…

Elena and her stuffed hippo…

The sparkler sisters!!

Uncle Charlie with his first nephew! 

And what post would be complete without a Puggles picture?

Brady and Kate and Jess came to my house one afternoon and we let Brady splash around in Milo’s pool.  Milo was curious, but he was courteous.  I was afraid he would try to get in there with Brady, but he maintained his cool.

He did keep a close eye on Brady though…just in case!

Me and Brady boy…he is the cutest boy!

Here’s Brady and his mama Jess.

Milo checking out Kate or Kate checking out Milo, not sure which…

Frogs…one in a flower, the other one on the window, picture taken from inside!  Sure sign of summer!

Milo playing in his pool…

Happy dog!

And this is me after I finished a taped interview with Paul Pepper along with the MD I work with.  Not my thing, but it wasn’t too bad!

Placemat Pillow

I was at Pier 1 eyeing these cool metal stools…

They are lightweight yet sturdy…and come in black and avocado green.

Then I saw these blue/green dishes…

And then I saw these turquoise striped placemats. So, I made this great pillow from two of the placemats.

I sewed along the previous stitching and just left the outside edges unattached.  I used a travel pillow I found at a yard sale still in the package for $1, it fit perfectly!

It’s soft and cushy and the perfect size!

Milo sat on it and smiled, so I guess he loves it as much as I do!

I am linking to these great parties!