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DIY Outdoor Table

June 7, 2015 By Erica Deuel 4 Comments

DIY_outdoor_tableWe have been eating outside more than inside most days thanks to my amazing husband.

When the snow melted, we started playing outside for hours a day. It was hard to finish our homeschool year with the days becoming so outstanding. We did finish our school year though this past Friday, and we are thrilled summer is here!

Once we started playing outside so much, we started dreaming of an outdoor table. We searched and scoured the internet on what would be the best deal and table for us. After comparing the price tag of buying a table verse making our own, we knew we had to get out our tools and Ryobi Compound Miter Saw and build our own. We could save so much money.

We found the this table on Remodelaholic created by the geniuses at Kruse’s Workshop to be the perfect table for us.

Matt started the process and did an amazing job.

garage_work_shop

garage_messy_work_shopThe poor guy worked in what was our garage that had turned into a left over moving boxes storage unit and work shop mess.

making_a_table

making_a_patio_table

putting_legs_on_a_tableI jumped in when I could, but Matt did this table pretty much by himself at night after work or on the weekends. I’m so thankful for this man of mine.

Once the table was built, we had to try it out. We bought some chairs from Ikea to put down the sides, and I love how they work with the table. They are thin, so we get three down the side and they don’t distract from the beauty of the table either.

patio_tableAfter one coat of wood conditioner, one coat of stain, and three coats of indoor/outdoor spar urethane, the table was complete! We were thrilled to start using it!

staining_a_table

DIY_patio_wood_tableI can’t count how many meals we’ve eaten on this table already. I will often work on something at it as well, while the kids play in the yard. It’s perfect.

You can see the full table here, while Reagan dances in the rain.

outdoor_patio_tableWe are so thankful for our new house and how we have been making it home. As soon as I get some of the rooms clean enough, I will take some pictures for a new home tour!

With our move and school year behind us, I hope to pick blogging back up regularly. I miss you all! Thanks for journeying with us.

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Tips for Creating a Growth Ruler

August 26, 2013 By Erica Deuel Leave a Comment

DIY_wood_growth_RULER

I have been wanting to create a new growth ruler ever since we moved into this house. Our old growth ruler was on the back of the boys’ bedroom door at our old house. It was hard to leave that door. I contemplated in my mind switching it out and bringing it, but I decided that would be too much work. Before we moved, we took our last measurements, lot of pictures, and wrote down the measurements to transfer to a new growth ruler.

how_tall_are_you

I finally set out to do this project, and of course I thought I could just figure it out. I looked at some pictures of other growth rulers out there. There are so many beautiful ones. They are all over Pinterest, and I should have clicked on at least one of them for the tutorial. Instead, I decided I would just try to figure it out. I did, but it was hard, and I could have saved some serious time and brain cramps. So, I encourage you to read a tutorial! I learned some things the hard way on this project, and I will share them with you. Hopefully, your growth ruler will be easier to create.

DIY_wood_growth_chart


I’m not good at math. At one point I had I four different measuring tools in front of me (ruler, yard stick, tape measure, and a Speed Square), and I was trying to decide which one was best and how to do it.

1. The Speed Square was perfect. It has a little ridge that caught on the edge of my board, so I could make straight and accurate lines.

2. Sharpie is ok to use and stain over it. I was afraid to use a sharpie for fear my stain would smear it, but it worked great and was much easier than trying to paint all those straight lines. All my measurement lines were done in sharpie.

3. I started my ruler at 6″ inches. This meant that when we hung the ruler up on the wall, we needed to make sure it was hanging 6″ off the ground. You could apply the same principle and start your ruler at any height you want.

4. I first did all my markings, and I went back and added my big stenciled numbers.

5. I used a wider board than most. My board is actually 10″ wide. I liked the wider board to allow for bigger numbers and have plenty of room for names and dates.

6. The length of my measurement lines across are 4″ inches, 3″ inches, and 2.5″ inches long. The 4 inch line is for the foot measurement, 3 inch line for the half-foot measurement, and the 2.5 inch line marks all of the other inches.  My foot and half-foot measurements are the width of two sharpie lines.

7. I should have used a pencil to stencil on my numbers. I used a sharpie, and I had to sand my board several times to cover up the poor placement of my number four.

DIY_growth_chart

making_a_growth_chartThe measuring was the hardest part for me. Once I had my numbers in place, I dabbed painted them in to create a more rustic look, after I liked their placement, just like I did on my inspirational pillow. I then stained my whole piece. I think if I had read a tutorial, I wouldn’t have been as stressed trying to figure it out. Lesson learned.

Now that it is done, we are excited to hang it up!

GROWTH_CHARTI hope this post can save you a little stress! If you find a tutorial you think is perfect-let me know! I’ll add it to this post for reference!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Just a reminder my Wake Up & Do Good sign is still available. I am also having an instagram sale tonight at 5:00pm EST, if you are interested in any of my embroidered hoops!

embroidery hoops

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