Pull up/Sit Up Bar

I had a family friend help construct some sturdy bars for me to use as a pull up bar or sit up bar.

After I moved I decided I needed to try and make the padding more durable for the rain and things...and something that was easy to take off and on.  So why not a pool noodle?

I just cut it down to size and made a slit using a knife from the kitchen.

And of course not necessary but I spray painted them black.

Now....just to use them.

Patriotic Coffee Table

Jared hinted to me a while back that he wanted a coffee table similar to this, thought it was a good enough plan for a birthday present.  I actually used some scrap wood from a deck my mom's neighbor took down that they let me have.  I was going off of a similar table someone submitted on Ana White's website.

DAY 1

#1 The drive to my dad's shop scared me and probably most of the drivers behind me.  Although I tied it all down, it always makes me nervous when I can hear the highway breeze going down the road.

First thing was to get the old rusty nails out of the boards.

Then I cut them all down to size.  The 3 boards I brought were extremely long and I was trying to keep the dimensions about the same as my coffee table but it turned out a little bigger.

Don't be scared of that green moss or whatever that is, remember they're used...don't worry I'll sand them all down and make them look brand new again.

I used the Kregg jig to put all the pieces together and to attache the legs.  The table ended up being 22" tall.

Seriously, this jig is awesome.  (those holes are a booger to stain though)  Tried to do the rest at home but I needed to do some more cutting, so back over to dad's workshop I went.  Not too shabby for a days work, eh?

Later on that night, probably 11 or so I started to paint the top.  I just used a white spray paint that didn't cover all that well...but after two coats I thought it looked alright.  Then I stained the rest of it using dark walnut from Minwax, I know...surprise, surprise.

DAY 2

This morning, after getting a little sleep I decided to try and tackle the top.  I started by using painters tape and taping off the stripes.  I also taped around the edge of the top because I wanted that to be stained instead of painted.

Talk about scary.  With every project I have a moment where I say, "oh my gosh, what did I just do?!?".  This was one of those moments.  IT'S SO BRIGHT!  Not the look I'm going for obviously so hold tight everyone...I do have a plan to tone it down a bit, so don't be too alarmed.

Removed the tape and used a stamp I got from Joann's to do the stars.  I got this wooden star that was much larger that would have looked so cute...but I know that probably would have bothered Jared having a table with an American flag on it that didn't have the correct amount of stars.

You can never have bare hands around here...

Last step, I used the dark wax I got from Valspar at Lowe's to tame the top a little bit.

See? Not as wild.

And a little side view 

Super Hero Letters

Continuing on with the theme of B's room, I bought wooden letters at Joann's fabric to put comic book strips on for decoration on his wall.  Each letter was $3.49, I also got a big thing of mod podge (matte finish), and some foam brushes.  The bulk order of comic books I purchased on ebay and most were one's I've never heard of but there were a few known one's in there, I bought those for $20 I believe.

We ended up making this a girl day, and I had a couple friends come over and make them for their sons also.

I didn't get a whole lot of pictures during this process because by the end we were a sticky mess, even our foam brushes were sticking to our hands!

A picture of the girls hard at work.

Set them off to the side to dry

Here's a closer view...

And a group photo to seal the deal.  Not even kidding, it took us almost 5 hours.

Shelf (B's Room)

Didn't do really a whole lot here, when I bought my house there were some shelves left hanging on the wall.  I saved them not knowing if I could use them somewhere.  I used a little dark wax on it and used 1 in Benton's room for his sports pictures.