Project Update

As promised, a whole lotta pictures and project updates.

The story about the changing table:
I bought a used changing table online for $5. It didn't have the original screws and was a bit beat up, but I figured all of that could be easily fixed. I spent one evening fixing up the paint.

The next day, Fritz ran to Lowes for screws while I made lunch. Unfortunately, they were the wrong size. We went back to exchange them. Came home, and they were still the wrong size. I was too embarrassed to go back to Lowes again, so we ran to Home Depot.

Yes, you see where this is going, they still didn't fit. We decided to drill out the holes bigger. They were lined with metal screw holders (that's as technical as I can get - I have no clue what they're called), but Fritz said he could drill through them. He started drilling, and the wood started splitting. Even worse, when he pulled the drill out, the metal screw holder came too.

"Fine," we said, "We'll pull them all out and use dowel pins to hold the thing together." Pulling out the other screw holders split the wood all over the place. We figured we could fix it with wood glue and clamps, though. The next day, we bought dowel pins (this time in two sizes). Fritz had to go in to work early, but I was eager to start.

I grabbed the smaller of the dowel pins, and they were too big. Too. Big. So I ran over to Lowes to get the only size smaller. Of course, they were too small to fit snugly. I decided to drill the holes out again to fit the larger dowel pins. The wood split a bit more, but it eventually worked... kind of. See, the dowel pins still weren't holding the table together securely. I decided to shelve it for the night and wait for Fritz. I may have thrown something.

The next day, Fritz tried to nail the outside edges together for a bit more stability. Of course, the nails we had were too weak to go all the way through. They split the wood some more, too. My patient saint of a husband ran back over to Lowes for better nails.

He finally got the darned thing together. (After we wrestled with the shelves for a few hours.) I gave it another coat of paint and gloss.

And we were finished! I was so excited, I insisted we bring it in right away. There was a moment of panic as we wondered whether it'd fit through the door. Thankfully, it did. So we were able to sleep with paint fumes that night.

The changing pad was pretty gross, so I sewed a cover for it with some beautiful fabric I found on the dollar table at Wal-Mart. (Actually, I sewed one with fabric I already had, but the color clashed horribly, so I had to sew a second one... because nothing about this project could be easy.)

Anyway, here it is. Our wretched changing table that ended up looking pretty great for $8.50 and some serious elbow grease:



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The story about the rocker:
We bought a glider and ottoman from Craigslist for just $15. It was in good shape, but the upholstery was gag-worthily ugly. We found some awesome fabric on sale at JoAnn's for $7/yd. My grandma recovered it for us and did an absolutely beautiful job. Basically brand new custom glider and ottoman for $30 all said. Bam! It's right across from Fritz's computer desk, so it's already getting some use as I keep him company while he plays Texas Hold 'em.






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I had a few of the picture frames my mom gave me left over, so I painted them with an old can of orange spray paint I had laying around, then created simple collages out of scrap fabric. I hung them in the window seat in the nursery. Free wall-art. Fun!






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Finally, some photos of my little sister and her pup, Tippi. This is how the silly dog sleeps all the time.


Bums is the comfiest pillows.