If you are anything like us, you hate it when things go to waste. Decorations from the various events we host always end up pilling up in the corner until we find someone to give them to. After our wedding, we had over 40 vintage books lining our bookshelves, in the coffee table shelf, on the corner shelf, in the cupboard, you get the idea.
So because we were lacking storage space and wanted to display some of our books we decided to redecorate this weekend and create these invisible books shelves!
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I know, it's been a while since we posted a new craft - but not because we stopped crafting! Making a DIY wedding took 5 very long, stressful months, so we just started getting settled down and relaxed in our new apartment. After many evenings lounging in our new home (and rewatching Game of Thrones), I finally said "Let's make this project!" (It was 9 PM, on a weekday, and we had already gotten into our pajamas, cuddled in our blankets on the futon.) So the dutiful, wonderful husband got up, and started gathering our supplies. When I was thinking of what to get Lynn for her birthday I was indecisive. I knew that she didn’t want anything unnecessary. She was at a point where chocolates and fancy dinners couldn’t offer much anymore. Jewelry was too cliche and not something she particularly wanted. So I decided to go for a practical gift. I went to ikea while she was at work and picked up this drink cart for only $29.99. The design is very modern and simplistic which is exactly Lynn’s style. However, there is one fatal flaw with this design, the colors. Lynn’s decor revolves around one color. Gold. All day, everyday. Everywhere, on everything. I knew what she would want.
One problem we have always had is forgetting what food we need to eat, cook, and buy. Food will go rotten, or leftovers will have to thrown away, and we will sadly regret not eating it earlier. Or that feeling in the pit of your stomach when you get home from buying groceries and realize you forgot something. Our solution to this problem was to create a set of 3 chalkboards to keep track of our food. Hence the three:
Materials:
Organizer
Walking down the streets of San Jose, I stumbled upon this half finished woodshop project. As the students began to move out for the summer, they discarded many things, leaving bed frames and couches out on the sidewalk. When I saw this wood frame, I immediately called Keith and asked him to pick it up for me. He was skeptical of its potential, but I insisted. Especially when wood was so expensive to come by, I couldn't resist taking it home. And so began our new project! With the frame already made, we made a few adjustments to create smoother transitions. Some of the vertical wooden pieces were awkwardly placed on the corners, so we used a handsaw ($1.50 from Daiso!) to trim the corners. We also removed the top bar. The original makers of this project had made one triangular shelf, so we took it to Home Depot and asked to have a piece of wood cut to a square of that size. Since we have yet to invest in a good saw, we were able to take it to Ace Hardware to have the square piece cut in half. Much thanks to Ace, who cut it for us for no charge!
Then we stained the entire frame, making sure to cover all the corners and undersides (we were too lazy to do the backside, however, so don't ever peek behind!) Once everything was dry, we used wood glue to secure the three shelf pieces onto the frame. The last (and most fun) part was decorating! I bought a $1.50 vase from Michaels and spray painted a small gold strip between the white and cream colorblock, immediately upscaling it from a cheap vase to an elegant Anthropology piece. The other pieces came with their own story, a book folded page by page, a typewriter restored from history, and a lantern glowing in the warm late nights. |