Microwave Cabinet

I needed to save the precious little counter space I have in the kitchen by hanging the microwave on the wall somewhere.  So I took this little double door cabinet that hung in the basement and rebuilt it into a cabinet for the microwave.


Cabinet Before:

I took off the doors, sawed out the middle strip that stopped the doors, ripped off the back, and then built a framework for a ventilation screen at the back, as well as a hole for the cord to go out.

I made the back frame out of different sized pieces of wood.  I had a hard time making the hole in the wood for the cord guide.  I made a ring of holes with my drill’s largest bit, and then tried to cut the rest out with a saw. Wasn't the prettiest approach, but it functioned as a hole, and then I got one of those cord guides you see built into office desks and put it into my not-so-perfect hole.

I bought a piece of radiator screen and painted it white so that the heat from the back of the microwave could escape from the cabinet once on the wall.

Then I used an old shelf from the basement to make a ledge/inner base in the cabinet that was strong enough to hold the microwave.  

Painted the whole thing white, and hung it up.  


After:

I was so proud of it because I designed it myself and I think it is pretty and matches the pantry below.  Hooray! ~ Kellie

New Kitchen Pantry

Before:

This is an old cabinet I bought for extra storage in our tiny kitchen.  I got it off of craigslist for $50.  It has sliding glass doors for the top section, but I took those out so I could store deeper stuff there.  It was painted black with a dark teal inside the section with the doors and the top inside was cream. The hardware was brushed nickel.

I took off knobs, sanded, had to fill some gaps and damaged areas with wood filler, then painted it and put on new oiled bronze knobs.  The splurge was the glass knobs, but I really love em.  This cabinet was a gift from God, because not much else could've fit in that little corner! ~ Kellie

Wedding Gift

I made this throw pillow for Mike’s cousin, who is getting married later this month.  I took velvet and a very small amount of bridal lace, stuffed it and stitched it.  I am usually working hard to make pillows that have removable and washable covers, but the lace would have to be dry cleaned anyway, so it made the whole project a lot easier. I got my inspiration from a website that Jen showed me where someone used old lace over a pillow. ~ Kellie

A (late) Housewarming Gift

I took some boring, yellow cloth napkins (goodwill) and gave them new life with some scrap fabric and embroidery.  I'm just an amateur embroiderer, but it does seem like such a nice thing to do this time of year.

I just used fabric I had previously found at Goodwill or scraps from mom's stash (!) and I had the embroidery floss from my sister. 

The reason the pictures are so dark is that I forgot to take pictures until I was headed out to the post office to ship these to my sweet friend.  The kids were already in the car waiting and I cleared a spot off the dining room table, snapped a few pictures and ran out to the car.  So, I apologize.

-Jen

A Cat, a Princess and a Shark

The Cat

Black sweatpants and black shirt - his closet

Tail - black dress sock of dads stuffed with grocery bags and pinned to pants

Mask - ears and eyes $1 at Michaels and nose egg carton with pipe cleaners left over from spiders

The Princess

Dress - mom's old flower girl dress

Belt - cardboard with jewels she glued on ($2 at Hobby Lobby)

Tiara - from her dress-up box

Wand - leftover trim from the kitchen cabinets decorated with tin foil star and other 

embellishments from the craft basket

The Shark

Sweater - hoodie from his closet

Teeth and Fin - $2 for felt squares at Michaels

Eyes - scraps and buttons

Lots of money left over to buy the important stuff....CANDY!

Egg Carton Spiders

Here's a project for the kids.  Mine (ages 4 and 5) actually picked out the book at the library, chose the project and then did most of it. My two-year-old just cut up extra egg cartons with scissors.

Here's how it works:

We used an old egg carton, some pipe cleaners and some markers or paint.  Cut out the individual egg sections and color or paint them. I don't recommend using markers as they (the kids and not the egg cartons) were covered in marker by the time we were done (also because we used styrofoam egg cartons), but we live and we learn!  Then cut two black pipe cleaners in half so that you have four short pieces.  Poke them through one side of the carton and back out through the other so that you have half sticking out one side and half sticking out the other.  Repeat with the other three until you have eight legs total.  Make a face on the front and then my daughter came up with the idea of putting "hats" on each of them....which works great if you want to hang them like we did!

These are really the only kind of spiders anyone would want in their house.  

Smiling spiders.  That never move.  

Cozy Kitchen

This is the story of a kitchen.  A sad, ill-fitted little kitchen that looked rather like an afterthought instead of the warm center of a home.  The slot for the fridge was too small for a fridge of today.  The counter space was lacking.  And with no pantry, the cabinet space was skimpy at best.  But most of all, the pale pink hue of both cabinets and counters, left a sickly feel to the room no matter how much her dwellers tried to disguise it.

notice the pink aura

After much research (and a tight budget) those dwellers decided it was time for the pale, sickly kitchen to become the warm gathering place that they knew was hidden underneath her pallid, cracked countertops.

notice the edge of the fridge to the left....it was in the middle of the floor

The fairy god(father)* was called and a weekend makeover was arranged.  He worked wonders fitting in cabinets that warmed her space and cutting countertops (with such confidence) that polished her edges. 

the fairy god(father) himself and his crew

getting there...isn't the space overwhelming?

More counterspace, more cabinets, a pantry and a space for the fridge!  All who entered her home remarked on her charm.  "Surely", they would say, "this is not the same bland, pink kitchen we knew before!"

the fridge in its proper place

and the endless counter space

complete with pantry

and butcher block

And her dwellers look at each other across the room and smile at the new life that she breathes into their home and the magic created there!

Cabinets - Craigslist
Counters - Lowes
Butcher Block - Lowes

*Thank you Tom!