Building Anna White's Farmhouse Bed Using Pocket-Hole Screws

I am finally getting to scratch that itch to build something that I've had for a long while. I am building the Farmhouse Queen-size bed from Anna White's wonderful free plans. I have been a follower of hers since her blog was named, "Knock-Off Wood". Now it is just, "AnnaWhite.com", and if you're unfamiliar with it, please go and check it out - NOW! Then, come on back here. I wanted to share a couple of mistakes things I thought about before I started drilling into the wood to make this fabulous bed. For the panels, make sure that you position your pocket-holes (using the Kreg jig) close enough to the edge of the board so that they will be covered by the trim at the top and bottom of the panel when assembled.  That is, if you decide to use the panels - this bed would look just as great with a flat plywood panel instead of the individual boards - a bit more urban, perhaps) Use the 'C' shaft for the right-side hole, and the 'A' shaft for the left side. For the 15" tall footboard panels, I only used two holes, but for the 30" tall headboard panels, I put a third hole at the center of the boards for stability, aligning the 'B' shaft at the 15" mark. These won't be seen from the front side of the headboard, since it will be against the wall. If you want to float your bed so that the back will be seen, you'll have to putty these center holes. 

 

http://www.kregtool.com/Pocket-Hole-Jigs-Prodlist.html

After drilling the holes, using the dust removal attachment that came with my Kreg Pocket-Hole Jig K4 Master System, I used my Porter Cable orbital sander to sand all edges and clean up the pocket holes. I decided to slightly round off the long edges of the front-side of the boards, so that the panels would be distinct. I figure, why bother using panels if you can't tell they're panels. 

The bed is coming along. I'll post more pics as it progresses.

Dill Dip with Pumpernickel Bread

My son texted me a bit ago, wanting the recipe for a dip I used to make years ago, to serve with pumpernickel bread. I haven't made it in ages, but my mouth started watering just thinking about it. I went through my recipe box - not there. I went through my old handwritten cookbook from my early days of marriage - not there. I began to freak a little. I called my mom, from whom I'd originally acquired the recipe - she called back with a recipe for Spinach Salad : ),  which is, indeed, great, but not what I was looking for. I went online; I knew it had Worcestershire sauce in it, and none of them did. I finally pulled out all the recipe discs I have burned through the years, and chose the one from 2002, the earliest one I had, and there I found it. So here it is, in case anyone goes looking for a really great (dill) dip recipe.

Dill Dip with Pumpernickel Bread

2/3 c. sour cream 

2/3 c. Hellman's mayo 

1 T. dried green onions 

1 t. parsley flakes 

1 t. Lowry's seasoned salt

1 t. dried dill  

1 t. Worcestershire sauce

1 t. celery salt

1 t. Accent

Drops of hot sauce to taste

Combine all ingredients. Flavors blend better if made several hours (or a day) ahead, but it's still good served right away. Serve with dark Pumpernickel bread, cut in 1” chunks.

Milk-aholic SVG for Avery Round Labels 5293 - 1 2/3"

I am working on a baby shower for our daughter - her first (so excited!!!), in the darling Milk-aholic theme that's all over Pinterest. Although there are lots of pix for ideas online, there are very few actual templates for making some of the cute things that made the shower look so good, so I will be posting whatever I design for it, so that it might help out someone else that wants to throw this shower.
Although these labels have the Milk-aholic designs on them, you could easily pare down the graphics to get the actual template for the round labels. (After the shower, I'll get this done and post the blank template.) I tried using the template available on worldlabel.com, but it wasn't accurate. Hope someone can use these!
To download them in svg format, click here.
To download them in a pdf version, click here. (I haven't tested the accuracy of the pdf file. You may have to fiddle with it.)

PS - Just to explain my labels, "Sparkle" is for club soda to add fizz to juices, "Sunrise" is for grenadine.

Glaucoma, My Eye!

This picture has been the header for my Facebook profile for a while, now. It is funny (in a black-humor sort of way), that I chose my left eye to highlight, and made some comment about "still having a twinkle in it". I was diagnosed with glaucoma in that eye three months ago, and started on an eye drop regimen that will continue for the rest of my life (unless I actually go blind in that eye, in which case...).

A couple months ago, I underwent laser surgery to blow a hole through my iris to relieve the pressure that was causing my iris to bulge. The surgery was a piece of cake. In fact, my doctor said she'd never had it go so well before: she only had to make two "shots" - one with the hot laser, and one with the cold laser - and ...voila!...a perfect hole in my iris, which has not closed up since the operation, which often happens. (BTW - she said she usually makes 12-15 shots with the hot laser, and 15-18 with the cold laser to get a big enough hole!!!) I had a BUNCH of good friends praying for me, and I can only give the glory and praise to my Heavenly Father for seeing me safely through the procedure.

 I have recently taken a turn for the worse - I developed a white "haze" in that eye - like looking through gauze or fog - and went from seeing 20/20, to not being able to read the top row of letters on the eye chart - with my glasses on. My doctor increased the dosage of steroid drops to 4 times a day (up from once a day), but a side effect of the steroid is that it increases the pressure in the eye, which is basically what glaucoma is. The other two medications I'm taking are drops that limit the production of fluid in the eye, thus reducing the pressure. These drops seem to be making my eye "shrink" - it is not as pronounced as my other, healthy eye, and my eyelid has a decided droop to it. Consequently, my eye doesn't look much like it does in the picture above. My vision does seem to be improving ever so slightly, day by day, though, so keep those prayers a-coming - please! They are mighty powerful stuff!

Unfortunately, I cannot do much work on the computer, as my eye tires easily, and that means blurrier vision, so I am not able to do much design work right now. The Lord has given me the wonderful opportunity to watch my beautiful little granddaughter on a daily basis, which takes all my time, anyway, so I probably wouldn't be getting much design work done anyway. (As proof, notice the "Hello Spring" header on my blog. Sigh.)

Anyway, I just wanted to let some of my peeps know what has been going on with me. Thanks for thinking of me.

Laura

Update: I am doing fine and dandy as long as I use my eye drops twice a day. My vision is clear and pressures are low, thank the Lord and all the docs who've worked on me, and especially all those of you who have prayed for me. Prayer works!

Luring Grandkids to Grammie's House

I don't know where this idea came from...I saw it on Pinterest and couldn't get the original source to open (it was a Spanish site - all I know.) But I LOVE the idea. I corrected the color a bit, from the overall yellow of the original. Gotta do this!

A Cute Wedding Favor Box

Here's a little larger favor box I designed, that would hold a couple of cookies, or a small slice of wedding cake, or whatever. The box measures 4"L x 2½"W x 1½"H. "I DO!" pops up through a slit in the top. The popup sentiment can be personalized in Inkscape, bearing in mind that there is only 2½" in which to fit the sentiment on the band.
This file is available for free here.

Painting Foam Board - To Prime or Not to Prime? - That is the Question

I just finished a project where I had to cut foam board, then paint it, and had trouble finding a definitive answer to the question of whether or not to prime it first, so I thought I'd post my experience with it. The foam board - also called foam core board - had a fairly matte paper finish on both sides of it (I used Elmer's brand), so I painted right onto it without priming. I had read that the stuff doesn't warp when paint is applied to it. Wrong!  It did warp while wet, but as it dried, it flattened back out. I would recommend letting it dry on a flat surface because of this.

I also was painting a piece of rigid foam insulation, which I was using as the surface to which I would be mounting the foam board. This had a plastic film on one side, and foil on the other, but the same recommendation applies to the plain foam insulation with no coatings: PRIME IT! I used Zinsser Sealer/Primer. It rolled on smoothly, and dried very quickly. The can says 30 minutes dry-time, but it was more like 15. It gave a nice "tooth" to the surface, so that the acrylic paint could grip and hold. I used a foam roller to apply both the primer and the paint. The acrylic paint was dry to the touch after 15 minutes, but I gave it 30 minutes before applying a second coat. Only two coats were needed for the black parts, but a third coat was need for the parts I was painting red, which is usually the case when you're painting anything red. It is a "weak" color, even though it wouldn't seem so. Hope this helps someone else looking at painting these two types of foam products.