Perks of a Teacher

Well, it's been quite some time since I've written a blog... I attempted to write one in January of 2014 and never finished it (according to by blog dashboard). Due to that being so long ago, I'm just going to start fresh. My goal is to get back into the swing of blogging this summer by updating everyone on some of my summer crafting accomplishments. If I can get into the blogging habit, I'd like to then carry my blogging over into the school year, where I plan to post all sorts of things dealing with my classroom and students! But for now, I'll just concentrate on this current post.

Being a teacher, summer is a time that is GREATLY enjoyed. I get to wake up whenever my eyes pop open, I get to spend days outside at the beach and pool, I get to spend quality time with family and friends, and I actually have time to do crafty things I dream about doing during the school year! 

This summer is a special one, because at the end of this month I will be moving into a house that I can actually call MINE! With such a blessing, comes the hard and daunting task of decorating a whole house the way I want to. I know, sounds horrible AWESOME right?! I have my future home's layout in mind and nothing but free time to turn it into my first dream house. This is happening at a time where I am lucky to have a lot of furniture being passed down my way.

My great grandmother, Mamaw Taylor, was recently moved into an assisted living community at the age of 95. She's been living in her 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom house all by herself for as long as I can remember, and up until the last few years she's been able to take care of the house and yard all on her own. Due to her age, she is now at the age where she needs some extra assistance in everyday tasks, so my grandparents thought it best to move her. 

It's been quite a process considering when you live in the same house for 50+ years you acquire a lot of things. So as a result, my grandparents allowed their children and grandchildren the luxury of being able to go to our sweet Mamaw Taylor's house and pick things out that we would like to have. Shockingly enough, to me at least, many of my siblings and cousins didn't find many things they would like to inherit; so that left me with the freedom to take just about anything I liked. I must say, I hit the jackpot! I was able to get so much nice furniture that simply needs some paint slapped on to it and a little TLC to be great and beautiful pieces again! Many of my future summer posts will be of me taking furniture I've inherited from Mamaw Taylor and "Up Doing" it!

As for today, I'm going to show you a pinterest inspired project that was SO simple and fun to make! I am a southern gal, and I love anything that has a southern or rustic charm to it. I've been searching the interweb like crazy trying to see how I could take pieces I already have and make them into southern gems. A few days back I came across this GORGEOUS book shelf that someone had made out of crates and I just had to give it a shot myself. Here is a picture of what sparked my interest. 

Isn't it fabulous!?

The picture above was all I really had to go on, but I thought I could handle it. So I jumped in the car and hit up Jo-Ann's. They had their wooden crates on sale for $8 (usually priced at $12), so clearly I took that as a sign that I was meant to make this bookshelf. I bought 5 of the crates and headed towards Home Depot. There I grabbed 4 2in wheels (and the screws, washers, and nuts to connect them) to attach to the bottom to allow the bookcase to be wheeled around. I made sure two of my wheels were ones that locked, but that isn't necessary. I just wanted to insure that it would stay where I wanted it. I also bought a can of wood stain. I used the 1 qt. Wood Finish Jacobean Oil-Based Interior Stain for $8 and used about 1/5 of the can. 

 Here's how the crates looked when I bought them.

When I finally made it back home, I laid out the crates and used a 3in foam brush to paint the stain on each one. This wood soaked up the stain really fast, so I would paint and side and wipe the extra stain off with a rag and continue that way until I had completely finished each crate. Once they were all stained, I let them sit and dry overnight.

Here they are freshly stained and drying!

The next morning, I drilled the holes for the wheels on one of the crates. I made the mistake of not thinking through how it was going to be sitting, and managed to drill the holes for the wheels on the bottom of the crate. Clearly, that wont work when stacking them on top of each other to make a bookshelf, so I had to go back and properly drill the holes on one of the sides so they could be stacked later on.

 Here is a view of the wheels from the bottom and top.

 Next it was time to stack all of the crates on top of each other. The picture I got the idea from didn't seem to have them actually fastened together, but I wanted to insure the whole thing wouldn't fall apart, so I took 3/4in black nails and nailed together each section 12 times [3 times (left, middle, right) on each crossing piece of wood). This made sure that each crate was tightly connected to the crate below and on top of it. 

If you look very closely, you can see where I put a nail on each crossing piece of wood.

 After that, the bookshelf was officially done being constructed!! I was SO happy with how it turned out and was rather surprised at how simple it was to get it done so quickly! It was such a pleasant experience that I've already agreed to help a good friend make exactly the same thing next week!

 I love how dark the stain turned out!!!

As soon as I had it all put together, I ran to Marshalls and Target to buy some decorative things to put inside it! 

 It took some buying, arranging, and returning to get exactly what I wanted it to look like...

but I couldn't be any happier with the final product!!!

I ended up getting a lot of my decorative things at Target (tall white vase on bottom shelf), Marshalls (clock on top shelf, bowl and balls on third shelf, picture frame on fourth shelf), Hobby Lobby (oil warmer on top shelf, books and white jars on second shelf, mason jar on fourth shelf, actual candles on top) and Goodwill (candle holders on top). Be sure to check the clearance sections in all of these stores because that is where 90% of these items came from!!! 

If you are going to attempt this project, I wish you the best of luck! Feel free to comment with any questions you may have and I'll be happy to answer them! As for now, this summer crafter is off to bed! Goodnight!