Crafty Productivity

It's been a rough beginning of the year for us, not gunna lie. We can't seem to shake illness at our house no matter how much we supplement and eat right. Still, I hate just doing nothing, even when I feel rotten. I like to be up and doing things which isn't always a conducive mindset when you just need to stop and rest. Keeping this in mind, I've been trying to find little projects that don't expend a lot of energy but still allow me to feel as though I've been productive. So as I sit here coughing typing at my computer, I feel that swell of excitement over a project I found on pinterest.com and attempted just this afternoon during naptime.

Super cool floating book-shelf

Neat, right? After wading through lots of websites and blogs, I finally found a gal who had put together a very detailed tutorial that looked easy enough to follow. You can find it here.

So! First thing's first. I needed a cool looking book for my shelf base. I wanted something old and a little larger than she used so it could support more variety of books. I loaded Squirt up in the car and we headed to Savers. Now Savers is not my favorite store. In fact, I usually feel like I need to dip myself in a huge tub of disinfectant after shopping there. But, they aren't joking when they boast about their great prices and I've found this to be especially true of their book section.  I scored three large, old hardback books for $2 ea.

This book, Great Houses of Britain, caught my eye instantly. With the cover off, it was in great condition and just the right size. The only problem...I didn't want to turn this fabulous book into a shelf. 

So I kept looking and came across these interesting Civil War books. I had hoped to make two shelves so this seemed to be my best option. Just like the first book I had found, these were in perfect condition and were a really rich brick red color. I probably shouldn't have skimmed through the first volume after we got home because, bookworm/history junkie that I am, I ended up wanting to read the whole thing. I knew I would be desecrating this poor book and I went and got myself attached anyway. Stupid, stupid, stupid! It was my recollection that I have too many books already that snapped me back to my mission of creating the shelf. Still, I didn't like what I was about to do to my new book.

Building My Book Shelf

Step 1: Measure and mark the middle of the last page. Ok, painless enough.
Step 2: Cut out a slot for the L-bracket. Check (No big deal, right? It's just a few pages out of the index...)

Sorry book!

Step 3: Cut a piece of the cover out so the book can be mounted flush with the wall *gulp* No turning back now. Be strong Chelsea, be strong.

I think a little piece of me just died inside.

Step 4: Screw 2 short wood screws into the pages.  The tutorial encouraged hand screwing but I used my drill. I love using my drill. It makes me feel way handier than I actually am.

Great, now I really am a book murderer. :-(

Step 5: Apply glue to the page with the screws and make sure to put some around the bracket. The tutorial used Elmer's glue but I prefer E6000 for it's heavy duty hold.

Step 6: Shut book and put something heavy on top to help the binding process. Leave overnight.

Two heavy cd boxes on top.

So there you have it! I'll post pictures as soon as the glue dries and I can mount the bracket! 

A year and a half later...

Time flies when you have a busy one year old. It flies even faster when they turn 2! All the sudden those slightly annoying comments once made by well meaning people at church about how I'll wish he never started crawling/walking/talking are becoming a little less obnoxious to me and contain a ring of truth. However, I am very happy to say that, while I must admit to occasional frustration with these milestones, I absolutely love being able to take walks with my boy and, more than anything else, I love to hear his sweet little voice chatter away at me. He's always been a pretty quiet kid and it wasn't until he was about 22 mo that we started to wonder if he struggled more than he should with words.

Thankfully the wonderful state of Arizona will send a speech therapist to your house to do a free comprehensive testing of your child's learning capabilities. We were blessed to have a wonderful Christian gal come out and put my fears to rest. She was very encouraging and let me know that Luke was a little behind his contemporaries but not by much. So with that relieving piece of information we just watched and waited for the inevitable barrage of words that was sure to come.

Now at 28 mo, we're really are hearing a plethora of words and sentences even. He repeats everything until we acknowledge what he's trying to tell us. This can be a challenge since he still is very "dutchy." My favorite thing that Luke says and that I will miss terribly when he grows out of is his version of "Thank You." which is  "Manoose!" Who knows how he came to the conclusion that those two sounded similar but as "th"s are pretty challenging for a 2 year old and the simple fact that he's so stinkin' cute, I don't have the heart to correct him just yet.

We look forward to what 2012 will bring. More time with our Luke, strengthened friendships, new ministry opportunities, and hopefully, Lord willing, the growth of our little family. We wish you the very best this coming year and hope that it is full of the richest blessings!

All Our Love,

The Withems