Summer Jewelry Love

Mr. T is over taking suggestions from my BFF when it comes to gifts...for Mother's Day I secretly wanted this...

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but instead, I received this...

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...and to be honest, while I didn't exactly want a clamp set for Mother's Day...I could use one and will probably be thankful for them soon. Not to mention the price difference between the two...

But back to the subject...recently I've noticed a ton of really great bracelets on Etsy. They are all so cute, it proves you don't have to spend a lot of money on jewelry. Here are a few of my favorites:

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Some of these would be easy to DIY, others...not so much. I am trying to get Marlene to open an Etsy store, but the conversation went like this:

I really didn't get very far convincing her of a store before she had moved on to diamonds...her specialty. I'm batting zero these days when it comes to the art of persuasion. Maybe I need to sharpen my skills...

Rachel :)

The Dutch Door

I've been noticing a lot of these recently...and they are making my heart beat a little faster...

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I'm trying to convince Mr. T how great a dutch door would be leading out the kitchen...so far my attempts have been less than stellar. Our handy dandy contractor was over this afternoon for a different project (more on that later) and when I tried to convince him how much I needed a dutch door. His response was..."well, you have a saw..."

Rachel :)

Recreating a $500 Wooden Sculpture

Pinterest. Ugh. Not only does it make my mind race with a million ideas, it was the source where Marlene found a wooden sculpture she fell in love with. A $500 wooden sculpture. Seriously.

Pink Door Decor

So for her birthday a few weeks ago...I (as in not really me, but Marlene) decided that I could recreate this and make it for her for much less. I can't complain...it's wonderful to have friends that believe in you more than you believe in yourself.

Mr. T bought a jigsaw for me for Christmas that was still in the box, so this was the perfect opportunity to break it in. After putting the blade in backwards, I did more than break it in, I almost broke it and cut my finger off when I made my first cut. It didn't take long and after a few cuts I was ready to go. I made a 12" pattern to use for each "petal" and used a cabinet grade 3/4 inch plywood.

After cutting and sanding with an 80 grit followed by a 220 grit, I used MinWax Weathered Oak to stain the petals.

I cut the base from a two inch thick piece of old wood, sanded it down, and stained it with Special Walnut followed with a second coat of Ebony.

The petals were put together with wood glue and held in place overnight with clamps...no nails or screws, which makes this two sided...yay! I cut a wooden dowel rod to hold it in place and used my wonderful Porter Cable Forstner Drill Bit Set to drill all the holes for the dowels. If you don't have this set, get it...it rocks my socks! After everything was dried and drilled it was ready to put together...

And again the $500 original...

And my $11 creation...

Happy Birthday Marlene!!!



Rachel :)