Christmas Festivities!

December was a full month! There were holiday trains to ride:

Lights to see!

Gifts to share:

Family to visit!

A Merry December indeed!

Spontaneous Projects

Thanksgiving was super late this year. An unexpected consequence of this arrangement was that I started thinking about Christmas decorations a little earlier than is typical. We usually go out of town for the holiday and try put up our tree the first Saturday of December.. but this year, that was essentially two days after Thanksgiving. And, this year, we ended up staying in town and our family came to us so I had more energy to devote to spontaneous projects that happen to pop into my mind.

This townhouse I live in is tall, with a very small footprint. I do have a front entrance, but it's really not big, and it faces a big, tall fence. Historically, it always felt so small that decorating would be silly.. However, this year, for whatever reason, I really felt like decorating my tiny front area - *I'll* see it, after all. And Christmas lights are cheery! So I went for it.

The first step was pretty simple. I discovered some stick-on clips that are especially for hanging lights and put them around the front window with a couple strings of lights and added a wreath. Done and done.

All this Christmas decorating action woke some creative energy in me. A couple years ago, I found a picture of some cool, folksy, outdoor, lighted Christmas trees that looked pretty simple to make.. ...but I never actually did anything about it. However, this year, I found the motivation to make it a reality! First, step: Sketch it out and figure out the dimensions.

For a long time I'd been eyeing a miter box and hand saw. Specifically, a low-end plastic one that would get the job done without any fuss; it would be just the thing for a project like this. Finally, this year, I went ahead and got it. The very same day, I started sawing.

The beauty of pine is that it's really easy to saw through, so the cutting went quickly; the miter box worked great and all the angles came out wonderfully. A little bit of sanding and on to the next step!

To fast-track the process (and make use of a serendipitously warm day), rather than brushing it on, I sprayed on the layer of primer.

After that, came adding some color. I decided to keep the slabs pretty simple and just alternate with the traditional red and green.

This project was cool because almost all of the wood came from my scrap pile in the garage. However, I did outsource one bit and bought this little folk art wood star on Etsy. It seemed like just the thing to top if off.

It took a couple coats of red and green to be just right, but soon all the pieces were ready for assembly. A touch of wood glue and a few nails later, it was looking like a tree!

There was a little bit of a hiccup with the littlest, top piece.. the nails split it into three separate pieces. However, a little more glue and some spackle and it was good as new!

Next, I attached the base and the star on top:

"Ho ho ho!"

Finally, I wrapped some lights around it and voila! Gorgeous festiveness.

I even pulled out the fancy camera to get a good picture with starbursts:

Bring on the holiday season!

Upcycling a Toy Kitchen

So, for Christmas this year, our whole family got a really nasty case of stomach flu. Poor Townshend got it the worst.. he missed almost an entire week of school before we got to winter break, where it continued on for a little while longer. We opted to not carry this nasty bug to our family out on the West Coast (also to skip any unwelcome and contagious expulsions while on the plane heading out there) and stayed home to convalesce. This was a great disappointment to all.. however, it did afford me some time to work on my last diy gift of the season.

Way back in early 2016, when putting together the baby room for Moon, we got this cute little end table:

At the time, it was just what was wanted. However, in the years since, it got phased out and ultimately landed in the garage. I held on to it out of indecision - to use it elsewhere? - to get rid of it? Then, a few months before Christmas, as my mind was beginning to explore options for gifts for the kids, I noticed that the old sensory table that lived in our toy closet was starting to really fall apart (which is reasonable, it was made as a gift for Townshend's first birthday nearly 6yrs ago)...

Here it was then (look at that little guy!):

and more recently:

Upon really noticing the state of that old table, an idea began to form. The whole closet could use a face-lift and a reorganizing.... and Christmas seemed just the time to do it!

The table from Moon's room had been in the garage long enough that it had mostly faded from my memory. I'd decided that it'd be cool to get a little toy kitchen for the closet and started dreaming of possibilities for new layouts for the tiny space, but how would I find a toy kitchen small enough to fit in the closet?? Make it, of course! I started plotting and planning where to get a table.. even wondered if the one currently in there had any life left in it, when I remembered that we already had the perfect one, still in great condition, in the garage. It was like it was meant to be! I love it when I can use stuff-on-hand to make cool things.

So, I surfed through Pinterest for inspiration, borrowed a bit from here and there and drew up some plans:

This project was one that sat on the back burner the longest. With mailing deadlines for other gifts looming, it sort of stayed on the sidelines.. then we got sick. Still, amid all the chaos, slowly, there was incremental progress.

A little spray painting (way back while the weather was still nice):

Some stripes:

Chop a hole to drop in the sink (jigsaws are awesome!):

Cutting the curvy back panel for the stove (way harder to get a good curve than I'd thought) from wood left over from other projects:

And then, once the curve was sanded smooth and painted gray to match the stripes, it was put on, with a little extra lower-back support too:

Next, came some details on the drawer to make it look more "oven-y" and some burners on the top:

Once it was all dry, I put on a layer of spray-on enamel to seal in the paint (in hopes of it lasting a bit longer before wearing off), and then the assembly came together pretty quickly!

Then, on New Years Eve evening, Hubby and I cleaned out the old, busted-up table from the closet, swept up all the dust and whatnot.. and set up the new table inside. Boom! It looks so much better!

Then we wrapped the doorway so, on New Years Day, the boys came down to a surprise.

Might've been a little late, still...

...I'd say it was a hit.