Weekend DIY {Pipe Shelf}

So many people have been asking about the pipe shelves that Andy and I made for our family room. I thought I would give you some quick instructions to help you create it in your own space. This project was fairly simple and required a weekend to complete! 

Here’s what you’ll need: (makes one shelf)
 – 3/4″  flange (x 10 – 8 for wall; 2 for ceiling)
 – 3/4″ x 10″ pipe (x 8)
 – 3/4″ x 18″ pipe (x 2)
 – 3/4″ 3-way tee (x 6)
 – 3/4″ x 10″ pipe (x 6)
 – 3/4″  90-degree elbow (x 2)
-Wall anchors and screws (we used wood molly/screw combination)
-Wooden planks – 4′ x 10″ (x4)

PREP:– Wipe pipes to remove any residue or excess oil/grease (if you purchase the piping from an online store, like we did, they will have grease on them. I used baking soda/water and a rag to get most of the residue off and it worked well.)
– Cut shelves according to wanted size (4′ x 10″ in this illustration); stain if desired. (we used a ebony colored stain from Lowes)


Step 1
Use a 3/4″ 3-way tee to connect your 3/4″ x 10″ pipe and attach 3/4″ x 10″ “horizontal” pipe. Attach 3/4″ flange to open end of “horizontal” pipe.

Step 2
For the bottom shelf, attach “vertical” pipe to 3/4″ 90-degree elbow. Attach “horizontal” pipe and flange.

Step 3
Attach top “vertical” pipe – 3/4″ x 18″ – to the top of 3/4″ 3-way tee and screw flange to open end of pipe. Note: Make sure you are attaching the piping to a stud.

Step 4
Hold assembled unit against the wall and flush with the ceiling. Use a balance to ensure it is straight and mark the walls to screw anchors. After inserting anchors, align unit and screw in place.

Step 5
As we were using 4′ x 10″ wooden planks, we placed the 2 assembled units 3′ apart to allow the shelves to overlap by approximately 6″ on either side.

Step 6
Place wooden plank shelves in unit and that’s it! You may have to adjust dimensions depending on the placement of your studs. 

I am so happy with the way it turned out! My hubby is one amazing craftsman!

making home.

We are slowly getting settled into our new house and daily it's starting to feel like we belong here. Our brave boy has already occurred some battle scars from the unfinished backyard and our sweet girl spit up on the carpet the week after we moved in (at least we made it a week!), so I think we can call it home now.

There are so many things that I love about this house. There are too many to list but here are a few of my absolute favorites!

the kitchen windows
Growing up our house had a kitchen window over the sink. I loved having a view when I washed dishes. Didn't make the chore too bad after all. The city lights are gorgeous at night too.

the piano room
My parents acquired a new piano for my sister and when they needed to find a new home for the old one, the one I learned how to play when I was little, my in-laws graciously babysat it for me. Now I finally have a place for it in my own home. It is so fun to dabble on it when I have a free minute and I love hearing Levi 'play' from the other room.

the fireplace
everyone that has walked in has mentioned that our house feels like a 'fall house'. I am so excited to cuddle up with a hot cup of coffee on a crisp day and watch the fire... and Christmas! I finally get a place to hang our monogramed stockings. Eeek!!!

the garden
Let me just start by saying that my hubby is amazing! Before anything else went in he made me a garden box and helped me plant it. Even though we got a late start on it, it's flourishing! So excited to eat some farm to table veggies in the not to distant future!

most of all... it's these faces that make it home.

It's just a house... with SO many memories.

A friend posted 10 things she loved about her house right before they moved out. I thought it was the most amazing idea and a great way to put it in writing so as the years fog our memories about this beloved place, we will be reminded of how amazing our time here truly was.

{Oh, sorry! Did I forget to mention we are moving? Yep. That's right... onto a new adventure. We decided to put the house on the market and within 6 hours we received our first offer. This was great and all, except the fact that we needed to find a new house and we hadn't quite figured that out yet. With the way the market is, we had to put this house up, get under contract and then a seller might, just maybe, take us seriously. Stressful you ask? No, not at all... especially with a 2 year old and 8 month old. I WAS FREAKING OUT! This whole time we knew God wanted us to take this leap of faith and trust him. We felt him pushing us to our knees and surrendering all of the details to Him. It wasn't easy by any stretch of the word, but when He speaks... you better listen! Long story short, we accepted an amazing offer on our house and within 24 hours God provided a beautiful new home for us. We had sold our home, and were under contract on another all in one weekend! INSAIN!}

It is so hard to pick just 10 things that I love about our home, but in order to keep this post relatively short and avoid having to re-do my makeup (if I don't already have to... from crying) I'll keep it to 10.

One. 
This home brought a new chapter in our lives as we build it from the ground up and started our grown up life in it. We began big people jobs and came back to our oasis.

Two. 
The joy (and sweat&tears) of making it home. From laying sod to planting trees to creating a garden space with yummy fruits and veggies.

Three.
It's the place we found out we were pregnant with both of our sweet babies. We also brought both of them home from the hospital here.

Four.
Where our strong boy learned to sit, stand, crawl and walk and where our sweet girl found that sitting wasn't so bad after all...

Five. 
Our covered back patio allowed for baby pool playtime, summer patio dinners, and lunchtime fun.

Six. 
The front porch where we sat on our porch swing and waited for Daddy to drive in. It was also the perfect spot for morning devotionals and watching the storms roll in. (oh, and I can't forget the calming effect on screaming newborns!)

Seven. 
Our driveway acted like a racetrack to see how fast Lightning MacQueen and Tow Mater could speed down it.

Eight.
In the Winter our backyard became the perfect toddler sledding hill (wasn't too steep or fast and gave our boy all the confidence in the world).

Nine. 
The yard became an oasis for our puppy to get away from loud kiddos and a great place for a nap in the sun. It was also home to a crabapple tree, burning bush, and rhubarb plant that was gifted to us by family.

Ten. 
The neighbors surrounding us and the blessing that they have been in our lives. We will forever cherish the conversations over the fence and the graciousness that each one of them has shown us.


This house has become so much more than we ever imagined it would and we are forever grateful for the opportunity to have taken care of it. The memories we made here first as a couple and then a family are priceless. We learned how to become parents here and love each other through it all. It became home.

(I made it through... only went through a few kleenex boxes! ha)

We are so excited for the next adventure and the memories we will make in our new home. God is so good and we feel extremely blessed by it all.

DIY Inspiration|Dictionary Paper Wreath

I know that it has taken me awhile to post my fun fall project that I promised a few weeks ago... well, wait no longer. Here it is...

I had so much fun creating this new piece of art. With a little help from Pinterest and my sister, I was on my way. I got my inspiration here, and then created my own twist.

Instead of folding the pages like it showed in the inspiration tutorial, I simply cut the page in half and rounded the corners. Like this.

Next, I scrunched the paper from the middle.

After you have your paper cut and scrunched, you can start hot glueing the paper to the foam wreath. Glue it one layer at a time and then when you have completed all the rows of paper, you can go back and fill in where you still see the foam insert.

It was a simple, fun project and didn't take very long to create! Plus, I love reusing things that one would normally throw out... it worked perfect! If you have it on hand and have a use for it, why not?

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On another note. The flooding across our state has been catastrophic. We are safe and have had no issues but the water sure has piled up in the low lying areas. Here are a few pictures we took Saturday evening.

Continue to pray for everyone affected. Want to help the victims? Click here.

belly pics

Everyone has been asking to see belly pictures... so we finally broke down and took some! My parents and Jess were gracious enough to come over and shoot a few. Here are some of our favorites! Thanks Mom, Dad and Jess! They turned out great! 

 Most of my photo ideas came from Pinterest. Love the inspiration!

complete my first Pinterest project... check!

it all started.. when Andy and I were looking around at Lowe's for a few things that we needed for the house. Without really considering of doing a project this weekend, i asked one of the salesman if they ever gave away wood pallets.... after looking at me very strangely, he took me to the back of the warehouse and let me pick out the one I wanted. i found a perfect one lots of character! at that point,  i guess i had to think about doing a weekend project! haha.

since we brought our little Honda to the store, we knew we couldn't fit it in the car.... so my amazing mama came with the truck and brought it to us.

they are calling for snow tomorrow, so i thought that we better start and finish this little project today. Thanks to my wonderful hubby's help, we put it together in a few hours and now my new shelves are hanging in the hall! here are a few pictures of the process and finished products.

the best thing about this little project was it was really easy to put together and completely FREE! love that.

for this shelf, i did not put another board on the front. instead, i used hooks and put them on the pieces of wood that already existed on the original pallet. (andy's idea i might add)

these were the original designs of the Pinterest pallets. I loved being able to showcase some of our favorite pictures as well as a few antique stamp collector books from Andy's Poppop. I also put a antique music book that my Grandpa used when he played his Saxophone, in New York City, on one of the shelves.

I love being able to display as well as protect these special items and I am so happy with how everything turned out! (and i still can't get over that this didn't cost me a thing!... except some good quality time with my hubby.)

living life in 20.12

I know that this new years resolution post is about seven days late, but for good reason. I am not good at coming up with resolutions, not to mention keeping them, so I've just never bought into it. Instead, I think of how I want to make a difference for others and better myself not because I made a resolution, but because it is something that I feel passionate about and want to see it through...

Some may call it a resolution, I call it living life.

This coming year, I am going to make it a priority to cook more healthy meals. I have been researching easy but quality meals that are healthy... it is amazing all you can find, when you just take 5 minutes to do so. I want to use my crock-pot more often too... (if anyone has any good healthy crockpot meals you want to share, send them over!)
Here is a yummy crock pot meal that i found on Pintrest.

Mexican Chicken Lime Soup Recipe

I can't wait to tackle some diy projects that I have been wanting to try (also courtesy of Pintrest). Here are a few pictures of what I hope to accomplish in 2012!

                                                        

Happy 2012! Looking forward to what God has planned this year.

it's beginning to look like christmas!

After the flakes stopped falling today, we ended up with around 13 inches of snow! Welcome to winter... I love snow around christmas. In every way it makes it feel like a Christmas in Colorado is supposed to... snowy!

The baking is almost finished and the presents are wrapped, now it is the perfect time to cuddle up with a cup of hot cider and a good Christmas movie (we are watching It's a Wonderful Life as i write). 

Andy's grandparents are also coming to Colorado for Christmas! They fly in tonight, and we are so glad they are making it in after the brunt of the storm. Now it is time to let the festivities begin!

Here are a few pictures of our tree and decorations! So fun to spend another year here. We have truly been blessed. 

Don't know if you can see my log end tables... so excited
about them. Got the idea from Pottery Barn (which i obviously
could not afford) then i went to the man my parents get there
firewood from and he made them for a fraction of what they
cost at Pottery Barn! Love it!

Thanks to my hubby for picking out such a beautiful tree. 

sweet summer time

Happy August!
Today, it's almost 100 degrees. i love this time of year. not only because now all of the yummy veggies are getting closer to harvesting, but there is technically only a month left of summer. in other words, bask in the sun now and take advantage of it. soon, the snow will be falling!

Here are a few pictures from our garden and the food that it provided. Amazing what good soil, seeds and water can bring!

Not only is this a great time of year for healthy organic, straight from the garden food, but it's County Fair time! Jess will be showing her animals again and there are so many fun things to do in Castle Rock this week, exhibits, bull riding, livestock sale, parade and concerts! It is exhausting, but so fun.

Check out the link for the 2011 Douglas County Fair and Rodeo! Cowboy Boots and Country Roots.

Have a great week! Stay tuned for pictures from the fair!

i've had the best days with you!

Now that the days are getting warmer, we have been able to enjoy sometime outside. Yesterday, we headed to LoDo to welcome in summer with the Colorado Rockies Home Opener. The weather was beautiful. What a great way to spend a Friday afternoon. The Boys of Summer couldn't pull off a win, lost by one in extra innings, but it was still great to be there. Baseball season is the best and I know we will be taking in many more games in the coming months. (go ahead, call me a baseball junkie! but I will always be proud of it)

Last weekend, we went out and bought some new patio furniture. This morning it was so nice out, we made breakfast and took it out on our back patio for the first time this season. I love Saturday mornings... nothing compares!

Just one more thing to welcome in spring. Last weekend, we got our very own porch swing. When I was growing up, my parents had one under the back deck, I always loved swinging on it, reading my favorite book. Now I can continue this tradition at my own home.

No more time for now... hopefully another update will come soon. With all we have been doing, there are always great adventures to share.

                                                                                                                                    much love : Handy