quick projects Archives | Old Lake George

Quick Project: An Industrial Phone Holder

by Wendy Scheel | Jul 27, 2016 | DIY

Spencer and I were texting back and forth the other day and he asked what my next big project was going to be. Without hesitating, I told him that redecorating Jack’s bedroom into a guest room was next on the big project list.

The quick thinker that he is replied….”That should be fun. I can see the headline now. “Teenage Boy Bedroom to Guest Bedroom: A Total Transformation. From Stink to Chic”

He cracks me up. But seriously, I am going to use that for the post title. We are taking Jack to college on the 19^th of August and the bedroom demolition starts on the morning of the 20^th. Too soon??? Nah. 🙂

Empty Nest here we come!

This might be weird but I find big projects easier than little projects. I have an entire little project list on the white board in my office. Little project ideas pop into my head, I write them down. Big projects pop into my head and I start on them.

However, today was a little project day.

I have an IPhone 6S. It is big. I picked the 6S because I can make the font REALLY BIG on the already huge screen. I like to cook. Or should I say bake? I have a sweet tooth so cooking desserts is my favorite and reading the recipes that I find online from my phone is wonderful. But I have found that I need some kind of a holder for it because when it lays on the counter it gets dirty from all of my slopping around.

When Wade and I went to IKEA last weekend I bought three cutting boards. I didn’t quite know what I was going to use them for but I got them anyway.

Looking at the cutting board a little idea popped into my head and I actually started on it right away.

I grabbed a cutting board, two carriage bolts with hex nuts that Wade had on his workbench and a slat board left over from the serpentine dresser makeover.

Using the same milk paint as the dresser (Trophy), I quickly painted the cutting board. Then I measured how long to cut the slat by putting it on the cutting board and eyeballing it. I like to wing it sometimes 😉

From here it was a matter of marking both the board and the slat so I could make pilot holes for the screws, which hold the slat to the board.

Putting the slat like this allows for the cutting board to stand up.

By simply creating a couple holes, this time using my drill press, I could easily slip the bolts and nuts into place. So quick and easy.

I think it looks kind of industrially. Is that even a word? It is now.

Time to bake.

Wendy

Quick Little Projects

by Wendy Scheel | Feb 26, 2016 | DIY

Earlier in the week our local meteorologists forecasted a cold week. Then on Wednesday, they changed their tune. What was originally a forecast of cloudy skies and temperatures in the upper teens, changed to sunny skies and mid 40’s!

What? Something was said about El Nino and jet streams. Don’t care why it changed, just happy it did!

I took total advantage of the 30 degree difference and went to work in the garage. Over the winter months, there is very little time spent in the garage doing any long projects. If anything, I grab whatever tools I need and bring them into the house to work on things.

Case in point: Wade adding the hooks onto the metal level….in the livingroom…..on the floor…..on the carpet.

I am not the best at putting everything back where it belongs. It’s cold out there so I just toss everything on the work bench. That has made a big unorganized mess at Wade’s work bench area. So I buckled down and put levels back on the wall, screwdrivers back in their holders, drills went where drills should go and on and on. It really didn’t take that long. I briefly thought about tracing the shapes of the tools onto the peg board.

Briefly thought about it. We still have a lot of cold days and projects ahead of us. 🙂

Standing back and admiring my handiwork, I realized how much I still loved the black door that goes into the house. Previously it was white. A dirty, creamy white.

I had used a canyon black Rust-oleum American Accents brand paint. In addition the handle was taped with green frog tape to make it easier to paint around. The coverage was excellent which made for another quick project.

Here is the after and after. I forgot to take a picture of the before so just imagine the door as white orginally.