Building Bug

It may or may not be a good thing, but I tend to have a “if they can do it, so can I” attitude about most things in life. Now, I don’t have the desire to do everything, but when my friend Kara posted the bookshelf that she made, I was interested.  Then she made a bed.  I was inspired.  I headed over to ana-white.com, where she got the plans for the bed.  Then I really started feeling the itch.  There are so many great projects, and the blog is written by a woman.  And that’s when the “if she can do it…” kicked it.  I looked at all of the projects over and over, dreaming of making beds and armoires and coffee tables.  For a long time, that’s all it was – dreams.  When Carter’s bookshelves fell apart, I asked my neighbor to help me make some cuts and build a new set.  As much as I would love to take the credit for them, mostly I just watched him cut and then assembled them.  I still really wanted to make something on my own though.  For Christmas, Mike got me a Kreg jig.  If you don’t know, it’s a system to make joining pieces of wood much easier than just nails and glue.  So then I was waiting for it to get warmer so I could do my cuts outside.  Finally I just decided that I needed to just get going on something or I wouldn’t ever get to it.  So I did.  Every workshop needs a good workbench, so I started with that.  I know that these are horrible pictures, but it’s in a corner in the basement with a lot of other crap.    And then I got to work on some more bookshelves for Samantha.  Since we put her in her own room, she has been keeping her books in cardboard boxes.  Real classy, right?  I had been promising her some for a while now.  At one point she told me I should just go buy some.  But I’m glad I didn’t. Once I finished building hers, I finally painted Carter’s while I painted Samantha’s.  And here are the finished products: 

Carter’s painted and ready to go back upstairs: And Samantha’s all finished! 

It may be a small thing, but I love it.  I feel so much pride when I look at them.  They aren’t perfect – for my next project I will look harder for better wood.  But I love that I made them from start to finish on my own.  I love that they are so sturdy. I love that I can make something with my own hands for my kids, even if they don’t understand how great that really is.  I love the confidence it gave me.   And now I can’t wait to do more!  I’m thinking a new bed for Sammy.  Or maybe a coffee table?  Workbench for the garage?