Log Bench

Overview: I spent a little time in the mountains with my in-laws and got a lot of inspiration from the cabin that we were staying at. We stayed in a cabin at the Sundance Resort in Utah and it was awesome. The decorator of this cabin did a fantastic job and was extremely detail oriented. I do have to give some credit to my brother-in-law for helping me with this. It was really fun getting to work with him. Also this log bench was FREE because I re-used pieces from the tree that we recently cut down. It is the same tree that I used branches from to make our eco-friendly fence.

First we got three piece of wood and made sure that two of them were the same size that would be used as the legs.

We then cut the long piece lengthwise with a chain saw creating a flat surface to sit on.

We then used a bow saw to cut notches into the two leg pieces for the main piece to lay on.

We then cut two pieces of a branch that were the same size lengthwise and in diameter.

We used a drill bit that was close to the same diameter as the pieces of branch and drilled a few inches down into the legs and into the main bench to add for stability and secureness.

Here is the finished project. We then sanded down the top because there were a lot of little cuts from the chainsaw. We then spread some Tompson's wood sealer on it to make it more water and mold resistant.

I am going to make another one with a thicker diameter log which will be more stable and strong because although great as this one may be, it can still be improved upon. It will be the same concept but with thicker legs and a wider area to sit on.

Skirt for My Wife

Overview: Alright all you seamstress's, textile workers, quilters, and lumberjacks. Lay down your trade weapons and feast your eyes on this. This was a gift to my wife for her birthday. Once again I was a few days late giving it to her but it was worth it. Please don't ask me where this idea came from because I have no idea. I was thinking for a few days about what I wanted to make my wife and some inspiration came to my rescue. I had no idea what kind of skirt I was going to make her so I went to the sewing shop in faith that I would find what I sought after.

I arrived at the shop and the first worker I saw looked like she could stitch me up into a 1000 pieces and make a mosaic out of me faster than I could thread my needle. I then asked her for help. I told her I wanted to sew my wife a skirt for her birthday and asked her where I would even start. With her mouth wide open, nostrils flared, eyebrows raised, leaning with arms extended over the counter, looking over her fallen glasses that hung on her nose asked me "Do you even know how to sew because many guys come in here saying what you just said, expecting us to do it for them." I told her that I did know how to sew. I also replied that I have my very own sewing machine and I have sewed pillows before. She still seemed skeptical and I persisted thinking to myself "lookey here, now I know that I am not your 'typical' customer but I'm from Tennessee and my mother was a 'clothing and textiles major.' This stuff runs in my veins." I did not say this aloud for fear of the previously mentioned coming true.

She first had to show me how to even pick out a pattern. I looked in their books for about 30 minutes and according to the sizes on the pattern, my wife was enormous where in real life she is a size 6. I realized that I needed to call in the big guns so I called my Mother-in-Law for a quick interpretation of what the words on the patterns even mean. She explained everything to me and I decided on this pattern specifically the one on the far left side.

I then had the fiasco of deciding what material to pick out. The white skirt on the package looked great but I knew it would get dirty. I looked around for another ten minutes until I experienced love at first site on a floral pattern. I knew it would be great. I saw that it was $10 a yard and thought "Oh, I will only need a yard or so. How much fabric would I really need?" I took it to another worker that looked about the same as the first only younger and asked her how much I would need and she responded "3 1/2 yards." Holy cow that was a lot, but it was my wife's birthday and she deserved it. I then had to ask where to find thread, a zipper, and a hook/eye. I walked out of there spending $45 and was seriously questioning my abilities to perform such a task. I was overspent because my wife said I had a limit of $30 but once again my wife was worth it. We are poor college students remember?

I then got one of my wife's friends to take her to a movie so that I would be able to make the skirt in secret. I told my wife that the reason she didn't have her gift yet was due to the fact that it was on back order. She left and I had this project all to myself. I took the waxy paper out of the envelope and darned near ripped it. They don't make this stuff for men to use apparently. I laid out my fabric and cut the paper so that I could cut the shapes. I did break a sweat while cutting the pattern wondering how in the world I was going to do this.

Two hours later, all the pieces were cut and....wait....I just got a text. My wife is on her way home.......oh no! ....she just pulled in the parking lot. I frantically tried to hide everything by putting it in a bag and stuffing it in the back of our closet.

That was a close call! Oh wait, the sewing machine is on the kitchen counter! She then walked in and saw me trying to hide my smile I was making her something. She saw the sewing machine and I told her that I was going to try and hem my pants. Luckily she believed me.

A few days later I was able to get my wife out of the house again because of her friends. Bless all of them! I was able to sew four of the five pieces together but then ran into another dilemma. I didn't know how to follow the last part. I stood up and tried to wrap it around my own body but nothing looked correct. I ran to the neighbors home to ask their wife. She looked at the pattern and my sewing job and we ended up going to the next neighbor to ask their wife. By talking with them I was actually able to figure it out and said thank you as I sprinted back in the house to try and finish. I was then working on the very last piece before the zipper when I saw my wife pull up again. I frantically packed everything and no one was the wiser.

I then spent the next five hours cutting down a tree that was in front of our apartment using a chain saw with the neighbors. How polar opposite is that. One minute a tailor, the next minute a lumberjack. I guess Tennessee does produce weird offspring.

I then had to buy the zipper somehow without my wife knowing. I didn't buy it at first because I wasn't sure if, due to the layout of the pattern, if it would need to be brown or turquoise. On our way home that night from a friend reception, we stopped by WalMart to pick up some odds n' ends. I don't know how but I was able to convince my wife that I would be in and out and that she didn't need to come in. I bought the zipper and put it in my pocket so that she wouldn't see it.

The next morning I woke up bright and early before Church to finish it. I was sewing so fast I almost set off the fire alarm. I installed the zipper and was then finishing everything up by sewing a hem on the bottom of the skirt when the thread pulled out of the needle. I checked the bobbin to make sure it wasn't empty but upon putting it back in the machine, I put it in wrong by accident. When I started it up again, it would go for four seconds and then become tangled. I tried to fix the machine not knowing what was wrong for 15 minutes but it was then time to wake my wife up for Church. I really wanted to have it done so that she could wear it to Church. I decided to give the unfinished product and woke her up.

She woke up with me on the bed and a bag in her face. She asked what it was and I told her it was her birthday present. She opened it up and was silent. I examined it and asked me if I made it. I said "yes" and she jumped up and while giggling with joy, ran to the mirror to try it on.

She put it on and it almost fit perfectly. I did have to put another hook/eye in more around the waste but it worked. I told her it wasn't done and that I only needed to sew 20 more inches that I refused to do by hand. The song "The Eye of the Tiger" jumped in my head and I tried one more time to fix that sewing machine. With five more minutes of fiddling with the machine I was able to put the bobbin in correctly that finished the hem!

She then wore the skirt to Church and kept exclaiming that it was her favorite present that I had ever given to her. That made me feel great! Below is a side view to show the cool zipper going diagonally.

Above is the front view.

Overall, I still need practice and my Mother is going to give me some serious lessons and tips when I go to visit her in a few weeks. I don't know how many skirts await for completion in my future, but this much I can say.....I sure did show that lady at the sewing shop!

Eco-Friendly Fence for $8

Overview: This fence was inspired by this huge pile of brush that has been sitting in front of our house for a few weeks now screaming to be cleaned up. We cut down part of a tree because it was growing into our 4-plex apartment and are waiting to cut another one down. Meanwhile in front of our apartment there used to be two metal posts with rope running the length between them (28 feet) to keep students from crossing into our yard on the way to their apartments. I thought that the roped fence was not as aesthetically pleasing to the eye as one with a pattern (no offense to the previous tenants) and I had a lot of brush that I could use so why not? It only cost me a few hours and $6 worth of rope. Plus when it snows all of the surrounding area will be covered in white with a few brown sticks sticking straight up. How Cool!

Here are all of the branches that I cut into different sizes to make a fence that had a wave pattern. This was the easy part. I laid out all of the sticks in their appropriate places according to size and then spaced them out eight inches. I then wrapped the rope around each branch four times and tied the very ends.

Once we hung the fence up between the two posts, I pounded two 5 ft long pieces of rebar as additional supports.

Here it is in all its glory! I do have to thank my friend Scott and my wife for helping me put this up because it was definitely not a one person job. Plus, if I hadn't done this then I all of those branches would've ended up in a compost or as mulch for gardener Jane.

To see what else I was able to build with parts of that tree click here: Log Bench

Refinishing our Front Door

Overview: This was definitely one of those "Needs to get done" projects that I have undertaken this year. The sun is such a wonderful thing but for wood, it is the worst! This is our front door and as you can see by the first picture, it is badly injured and needs help! It is a good thing that it called dajacreations to come to the rescue.

It has had many years of sun damage. Over all this was only a day project and was pretty simple. Once the back breaking work of sanding was done, the staining was EASY!

Notice the huge gray spot caused by sun damage. Also notice that you can't even see any of the wood grain. How sad!

This is after I had sanded the bottom 1/3 of the door. Such an amazing difference. I started out using a 60 Grit sandpaper on the whole door. I then went to a 100 Grit sandpaper and repeated the process. Lastly was the 150 Grit sandpaper which I once again sanded the whole door. It is important to do little circles when you sand so that everything is sanded uniformly.

This is the whole door sanded and ready for stain. Before staining I got an old towel and wiped down the door a few times to get all of the dust off.

I first used a pre-conditioner stain that was oil based because I used an oil based stain as well. I then brushed on the first coat of Pecan colored stain using a foam brush and let it dry for six hours. I repeated the process once more and.....

Tah dah! Look at how it turned out! The door is happier now! You can now see the grain patterns and there are some remnants of the dreaded sun damaged spot but the door is now more protected to do battle for years to come. The lesson to learn here is to not let your door or other outdoor furniture become deeply damaged by the sun as it may permanently scar it!

I hope you enjoyed this and it has given you some motivation to fix up that "old" piece of furniture to make it look brand new again. It is an easy process and will enhance any type of wood furniture you have.

Cream of Chicken

Overview: I was making my Chicken Cordon Bleu today for my Wife and Mother-in-Law and was trying out a new sauce for it that Leesha suggested I use. Her recipe called for a can of Cream of Chicken which we frantically searched for with 14 minutes to spare but could not find. My Mother-in-Law suggested that I "google" it and we actually found a recipe! You can find it here or look below. It was very fast, easy, inexpensive, and healthy. YUM!

Introducing the "Life Saver." This stuff is great and costs $5 at WalMart and will save you lots of money over its lifetime. It makes broth that tastes better/is healthier for you than buying the actual canned broth. All you do is mix this with hot water and you have chicken broth. On the back it tells you how much to use for a canned serving or more. Amazing!

Once you have made 1/2 Cup Chicken Broth from the above, in a sauce pan pour:

1/2 Cup Milk
1/2 Cup Chicken Broth
2 Tablespoons Butter

Warm these up on Medium Heat

Then add 2 Tablespoons Flour

Stir all of these until there are no more clumps.

To Make the Sauce for Chicken Cordon Bleu which Leesha gave to me add:

A little less than 1/4 Cup Lemon Juice
1/2 Cup Sour Cream
Up to 1/2 Cup Milk or less if you want a thicker sauce
1/2 Cup Cheese

Bring these to a boil and then simmer for 3 - 5 Minutes

Proceed to pour over chicken and amaze your family or guests!

The Mighty Couch

Overview: This was by far the biggest, most expensive, and most time consuming project that I have done thus far. I had a total blast. My wife and I needed a new couch because our futon from WalMart that was only 7 months old was curved where you sit instead of flat. I did not make for a comfortable sit. We also didn't want to buy a nice couch yet so I set out to solve the problem. For all of the wood and hardware, I spent $88 at home depot and then we bought a new futon mattress at Big Lots for $100. Not bad for being married college students I say. Plus, this couch that I built I think will last a lot longer than any that we would've bought with our price range. It took me between 15 -20 hours to build it but I learned a lot about wood working. My goal was to build it using common construction products i.e. 2x4's, 2x6's, 2x10's, 4x4's, and even some carriage bolts. The downside is that you have to look for a while to find some good straight pieces of lumber and you have to do more sanding than usual. I hope you enjoy.

Lime Light: I have to give a special thanks to Jeff A. for letting me use his shop and some of his tools. Really without his facility, I don't think this couch would've even been a possibility.

I started out building the legs. I know it looks like there are six legs here but I only used the four in the middle. The outer two were used to help stabilize my router and aid in measuring the three grooves I wanted to put onto each leg.

These legs I sanded first with a 22o grit, 150, and then a 100 grit before I used the router. If I would've used my router first, then the grooves might have had varying depths which nobody likes. So sand first then use your router.

I did the same with the front and side fascia pieces by rough sanding them first and then using my router to make a 1/2" curved groove along the top and bottom of each piece.

I used the 3/4" bit to cut out a 3/4" on the ends of each piece so that I could make a tighter fit. I applied glue and put a lot of clamps on all areas to let it dry. After I clamped it down, I hammered in some nails.

While that was drying I started on the part that would hold the people sitting on the couch. I measured the inside of the base and took off 3 1/2" on all sides for the legs to fit in.

All at the same time, I attached the legs and the framed piece to the base with 5/16" carriage bolts. I did two bolts per leg and notice that I put two smaller 4x4 pieces in the middle to attach the frame to so that the middle wouldn't sag over the years.

Next I worked on the back rest. I cut two pieces of wood which act as the visible side piece and then two smaller pieces which act as the support that I bolt to the base later on. I cut all four pieces at the bottom at a 15 degree angle which is the angle that the back rest will be from straight up.

I then laid out the spacing for my dowel rod top. The dowel rods are connected at their top and bottom. To make sure they are straight, I clamped the top and bottom pieces together and drilled the 1" holes at the same time. The middle marking is where the point of my drill bit goes and the outer two markings are for how wide my bit will be.

I cut the dowel rods long so that they stick out above the top piece. This is so that I can sand them down later and have a uniform flat finish at the top. Make sure and add glue to the tops and bottoms of the rods because I didn't be using any nails to attach them.

The base was then dry after a day of being clamped and I flipped it over. I made sure to have about a 3 - 4 inch drop from the top of the base to the top of the posts and framing so that I can put more padding underneath the cushion.

I then tested out the back rest. It fit perfectly but needed some additional support.

I matched the layout from the base to the back rest. I then cut the pieces at a 15 degree angle. I then added two more pieces that went from the bottom of the dowel rods to the bottom of the base that I then bolted down for the real strength. On the otherside of this 2x10 I attached a piece of 2x4 because my bolts were too long.

This is the couch before the final sanding.

I added some arm rests on both sides with two dowel rods each and then a bolt at the end for extra strength. I made sure to sand the arm rests before I attached them to minimize strength loss do to the sanders vibrating. I then cut out some 3/8" plywood to put where people sit. This makes a uniform seating area that will stay flat over the years. Don't worry the plywood will be covered with the mattress.

It is now ready for the stain. Before staining make sure to get all of the saw dust off of the couch and around it. I used an air compressor with a spray tip to spray off the entire couch.

I used a Pecan colored Polyurethane stain and stain conditioner for this project. I applied three coats total of the stain. I used the stain conditioner because it helps the wood to absorb the stain evenly so as get blotches. Since I used different types of soft woods, the stain might have been darker on some of the woods but the conditioner helps the whole project to be uniform in color.

It's done! The mattress is a little bigger than I thought so you can't really see the decorative top but it is great for giving your head a rest on a nice soft surface. Overall I had a great time trying new bits on my router and really understanding how many pieces can come together to make one masterpiece. This couch is very sturdy and makes me think I am in a log cabin. It has also inspired me to make some more furniture the same color.

I wanted to prove to myself and others that common materials can be made to look great and be strong. This project has also given me the confidence to tackle more difficult projects and when we save up some more money, being able to buy nice hardwoods.

I hope you liked it.

Pillows......Say What??!!

Overview: Well, I really wanted to learn how to sew and we were able to get this fabric at a pretty great price. i also didn't want to spend a lot of money so this ended up saving us a lot of $$$. For the two pillows and batting we spent $12-$15.

I made these pillows without a pattern but for some people it may be harder to visualize how the piece will turn out so a pattern is very helpful. Either or, if it is your first time, it might be a little challenging so it is nice to have someone there to show/coach you. Patience will be a great quality too look for in whomever you choose to teach you. Mothers are especially great.

Lime Light: I would like to thank Jenny B. for teaching me how to sew and also for letting me use her sewing machine. She was wonderfully patient with me as well. I would also like to say that my wife was the one who picked out this really cool fabric.

Start out by cutting your fabric to the desired lengths and widths. We chose a square pattern of 22" on both sides. Make sure and have some sort of cutting board underneath if you are using anything that can scratch the surfaces.

While we were at the fabric store we also got a product called "Interfacing" which you iron on and adds a lot of strength to the fabric.

I didn't want to have flat square pillows so I sewed a strip of fabric 3" wide along all edges to give it a nicer big feel.

This is Jenny helping me iron on the Interfacing while I sew.

Start out by turning all of your fabric inside out and pinning them so that as you sew, the fabric won't move causing you to mess up.

This is me sewing the 3" pieces onto the front piece.

Once you sew all of the sides, front, back, you need to leave a little gap to pull all of the fabric through so that it is right side out and also to use as an access spot to fill your pillow with batting.

We then bought some batting at Walmart for $3.00 a bag and used one bag per pillow. Be careful because the bags are very deceiving in their content. We bought four of them for two pillows and only used two for both pillows. You then stitch the holes up and there you have it.

Ta-Da! Now you are ready to really Relax on your couch or bed.