worldoffuturemedtechs

It has been one year and 7 days since we removed the carpet and tacking strips, one year since we repaired our crank jalousie windows in the bedrooms, and painted the trim, walls, and ceilings.  Last April, we braved replacing electrical outlets, installing two ceiling fans where there had been none, and removing a ceiling fan where we didn't want one. I expected to complete three kitchen projects this weekend: our kitchen backsplash, ledge shelving, and our second Squared2 Chair, but our plans spontaneously changed.  As if propelled to stick to our word, my husband and I cleared out the "Master Bedroom" of all the renovation supplies and relocated tools and leftover material into the poor little Nursery.  I scrubbed the Master baseboards, having been untouched in there for a year, swept the floor, vacuumed, microfiber mopped, and steam mopped the floor after we removed the king size mattress and box spring.  Through multiple tiresome trips up and down the stairs, ...

I have some exciting news to share on this Good Friday! 1) I've taken the plunge and started a Youtube channel.  I've posted two videos thus far: Finishing Wood Naturally with Coconut Oil and Egg Carton Paint Palettes I'll be sharing more about each of these separate projects this month. 2) And, shut the front door, my royal indigo entry door with frosted glass is being featured on Remodelaholic this evening! I'm so excited to share how possible making your own personally designed door can be, even from scraps.  :) Please be sure to check out all the other amazing door projects and hacks featured on the site this week, too.

After a week of having our entire 3-person family in our home, the nursery looks nearly untouched.  The changes are slight, but this is a room we wish to grow slowly, like I wish our little girl could. I spotted that one of the bins in my daughter's closet said 4T and 5T.  I wondered if any 3T clothes was lumped in there too. Lowe and behold, I found enough wardrobe treasure to nearly fill my daughter's closet with some new-to-her dresses, tops, and bottoms given to us by friends a year or two ago. I also found another bin, folded in the 4T and 5T bin.  Now, with all 4 bins, I decided to store diapering things in one floor bin and home clothes in another, for now, until I build a little cubby in which to house the bins, or place the bins atop. Henceforth, I moved the mellow yellow side table out of the closet and into the corner opposite my daughter's crib... ...and topped it with little things I had been collecting for a day such as this.

As soon as I wake up, I take a peak at my kitchen; well, more than a peak: I stare at it for minutes at a time in an attempt to figure out what I could do to improve it. Our kitchen has been looking rather black, white, and stainless steel.  I've been craving something light, feminine, and sea colored to add a subtle nod of "Sea Garden" wonder to the space. I thought about the teal color I have inside our cabinets and on a small part of our dining chairs, and decided, on a whim, to make a watercolor of it and paint kitchen shades. By lunch, this is what my inkling had manifested into: Hand-painted watercolor blackout shades.  :) Here's the creative journey I took today: Materials: For the hand-painted fabric Leftover blackout fabric (from our living room home theater curtains) Leftover paint (thinned with water) Paintbrush Paper Scissors Cardboard Contact paper X-acto knife For hanging the shade Miter saw Drill 1x2 the width of th...

Today my daughter had a field trip with my mom and brother as they went out to eat lunch.  I haven't revved up any of my saws since I've been at home watching her, so this was an ideal time for me to get a quick project completed. In 3 hours, I made these two simple book ledges from first cut to installation and you could too. I made these shelves with leftover lumber from our coffee table build, which included a 1x4 for the back, a 1x2 for the bottom of the ledge, and a 1x2 for the front of the ledge.  I originally saw ledge plans from Ana White's $10 ledges.   Materials: 2 - 1x4 @ 28 3/4 inches (already owned, paid $0.40) 4 - 1x2 @ 28 3/4 inches (already owned, paid $1.00) Miter saw, wood glue, clamps, brad nails, hammer, nail set, wood filler, sander, paint, paint brush, drill with 3/16 bit and Phillips head bit, wood anchors and screws, level, and pen. Procedures: I wanted to fill the space between my daughter's bedroom door while open and...

Something exciting happened yesterday. My second video posted to Youtube last week was shared to Hometalk's Facebook page, and it was viewed 120,000 times in 12 hours! I was so delighted to see something I made reach so many people. On Fridays, I publish videos to my Youtube channel about my adventures in hand-making. Today, I'm sharing how I turned wood louvers and scrap wood into wall art. If anyone is interested in owning a digital copy of these paintings, I also opened an Etsy shop today. You can find the first 8 woodland paintings, digitized at: https://www.etsy.com/shop/Alawa Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

I made a channel trailer using some used and unused footage from my first 5 videos. The trailer is a 45 second overview of what viewers can expect from my channel, including: -  Raw and reclaimed material projects -  Repurposing everyday objects -  Before and After refurbishing/remodeling See it on Youtube here:   https://youtu.be/qsEgl8LCdbU Get new posts in your inbox and never miss a beat.

Reclaimed 1x6 Topped Media Console       Cost:   $28.70  using reclaimed wood and leftover plywood from our kitchen cabinets      Time:   26 hours over one week, including painting and staining      Plan:   No plan; built based on what we had available.  :) Ah, the work is mostly through, and our media console is in use.  Even though this birthday present arrived a week late for my husband's 27th year celebration, we did get to enjoy it on Independence Day, another important birthday.  :) If you'd like, take a peek back at the journey: Or take a gander at my husband's birthday console: Here's the embarrassing documentation of our life before building a media console: Notice how I have not claimed this photo?  Haha!  Selective watermarking. I love it when the projector is on and the media console looks moody, shadowy, satiny... <3  I even love seeing stripe...

In November, I had plans for working on a craft office in our garage to celebrate my jump into a woodworking business adventure, but life happened, and I found myself away from the online world until recently.  I'm back in time to celebrate our move-in anniversary with you, as April 7 will mark the end of our first year living in our own space, all 600 square feet of it. :) With Spring Break behind me and summer dangling ahead like a carrot, the burden of life has been gently lifted and the remodeling bug has hit me again when I was offered an opportunity to build pieces for a community college reading nook (more on that to come). I had to abandon my craft office plans temporarily for use as a storage space (again), but I've started work on a new space: the garage entry/mudroom/stairwell "foyer," the place that we pass through everyday, the space that has been the most neglected. Here's a few "before" shots of our main passageway: It's fun...

On Wednesday, I prepared myself for an afternoon of dining table top building.  I measured my first two boards twice, clamped them on the miter saw, and turned to the left to see my husband, who said, "We just lost power."  It seems a power pole was on fire in front of our city mall, and our power consoles were registering 80 instead of the usual 120.  Some fans turned extra slowly, while other things would not turn on at all, like my saw. Now, 6 days later than planned, we finally traded our deteriorating particle board computer desk for our own dining table!  I still have to fill and paint the inside frame and the underside of the pattern, but otherwise, it's ready to use.  =D I added glazier points in the corners due to the large areas without 2x2 support. Katja, of Shift Ctrl Art, set a word for August, which happened to be my Kitchen Basics month.  That word is: This dining table was inspired by several sources.  The leg...