Hunting Success

Yesterday afternoon we decided at the last possible minute to take the boys hunting.  We grabbed a couple of things, threw them in the pickup and headed up to the lease.  Isaac, Silas and I sat in a blind together and Caleb, Elias and Jude were together in another one.  For some reason the timer on our feeder never went off and I'm guessing the game knew that it didn't work because we saw NOTHING from our blind.  So basically I sat through 2 hours of Isaac and Silas "silent" fighting.  You might not think that is possible but they managed to do it.  Right at dusk we heard a gun shot though so we knew the other blind was seeing animals.  Caleb sent a text that Elias had one down. In fact he sent several texts saying the deer were really moving and to be quiet and still to see them.  I guess the deer could sense the tension in our blind from the boys and steered clear! By the time we were all back together the deer was strung up and ready to be cleaned so the pix I took are kind of gross.  Consider yourself warned. When they had the deer skinned and mostly gutted Jude said "when we get home, I don't think I'm going to be hungry, I think I'm going to throw up".  Then 15 minutes later when we were at Buc-ee's he grabbed a giant package of jerky to eat on the way home. Maybe he doesn't quite understand the FULL circle of life.  He just understands the semi circle of life (or as he calls it, sunny circle).

Project - Faux Mantel

It's taken me a while to get to posting this project. I was waiting for my Brother in Law to bring me some birch logs from Idaho. I really wanted birch for the wood box and Houston just couldn't supply that for me (Thanks Gabe for slipping them in your suitcase!).  It has driven me crazy for the last 3 years that we've lived here that our house doesn't have a mantel.  This is South Texas so I clearly don't NEED a fireplace but when it's time to hang our stockings for Christmas I had no place to put them. As I was searching for bed plans for the boys' room I came across plans for the faux mantel.  I loved it right away.  Just behind me is our grand piano which has hogged the attention in this room.  Having the mantel on the opposite wall really anchors that side of the room.

You might wonder if I wish there was an actual gas or electric fireplace in the hole... Not really.  I looked into some wall mount electric fireplaces and found a couple that would fit the space but they have bad reviews and are not pretty. So for now I'm happy keeping it faux.

Once we made the cuts this project went together so fast with our finish nailer and a few screws. Caleb cut the base molding out so I could mount the mantel flush with the wall. I painted it with the same paint as the trim and caulked around the edges.  It looks like it was always there. 

In a week I will get to put it to the true stocking test. I'm pretty excited about that!!

New Hobby

 

A month ago Caleb showed me some plans for a twin sized bed he was thinking of making.  I didn't really like the plans but liked the idea of building beds.  So I searched online for some plans and found tons that I not only liked but thought I could build myself.  So began my new hobby.  Jude and Silas have been in bunk beds since forever.  Silas was tired of being on the top bunk (he has learned that heat rises) and Jude is too unpredictable at night to be a top bunker. We separated their bunks and I have hated their room ever since.  The beds were made to be separated but they're not the same size or height and it drove me crazy!  So I borrowed Caleb's pickup, headed to the lumber store, watched a few tutorials and jumped into their room makeover.  All of these plans come from www.ana-white.com

I made them each a beside book shelf.

 

 

These are their platform beds with headboards.  They are designed after the Pottery Barn Teen Fillmore Platform bed seen HERE

It has made it so easy for the boys to do a good job of making their own beds.

Silas made his bed all by himself for this photo.  He is loving storing all his little treasures on the bedside shelf.

Once I had the beds in place I decided they needed a nightstand as well.  So I took some measurements and adjusted a plan from Ana White's website to fit our needs.

Then of course I had to make a matching cubby/bookshelf.  This is made from the same plan as the nightstand only adjusted to fit between their closets.  I invested in a couple of specialty tools that  helped me finish this out so nicely.  My joints are all secured with pocket hole screws (thanks to my new Kreg pocket hole jig) and the shelves are all adjustable (thanks to my new Kreg shelf pin jig). These are not the only things I've made this month.  I built a couple more fun things that I'm waiting until  I have a few specific things on them to photograph and post.  My problem now is that I'm obsessed and want to build/replace nearly all the furniture in our house!