Next on my Bucket List....

This morning I was surprised to see a hot air balloon fly over my house.  Thanks to my daughter, Kristy calling me to go outside and look up and it was passing right over my house. I had been watering my yard early this morning so I had not answered my phone since it was inside the house until my mother brought the phone out to me.  I notice that I had missed two calls.  Of course, my first reaction upon seeing that my daughter had tried to called consecutively, I panicked since I thought that maybe something was wrong with the baby.  But to my surprise, she said  "mom go outside and look up toward the sky!" I was so amazed to see balloon so close that I thought it was going to touch the rooftop of my neighbor's two story house, it was that close!

Passing over my house.

Going over another neighbor's house, towards the lake.

Heading to the Lake.

Landing at the lake, behind this house.

I ran inside to grab my camera and here is what I captured!  Isn't it amazing!  It landed on Pflugerville Lake,which is behind my house.  It was at this moment that I decided that this is what I want to do for my birthday in October.  I 've done pretty much everything else why not this, ride a Hot Air-Balloon.  So stand by and check me out toward the end of October and see if I actually ride one. Get this, my mother was so excited that she said she would ride the balloon with me too.  This from someone who is afraid to fly!  We will see if my mom will do it with me!!

Refinishing Emmy's Toy Box

Hi everyone!  Not to long ago I went on a errand and I ran across a garage sale on my way back and found this wonderful toy box. I thought this toy box would be wonderful for my granddaughter, Emerson so I bought for next to nothing!  I have to say that it was a little run down not to say dirty too.  So, I put it aside and wrote it down on my "To Do" list for one of those days I had nothing to do.  Well, a couple of weekends ago, it hit me to get on it.

So I gathered my tools (sander, sanding paper, cleaning stuff to clean, breathing mask, polyurethane and a brush) and began working on it in order to turn this neglected toy box into a jewel.
After cleaning the toy box really good, I sand it and cleaned the sanding dust and proceeded to paint on the clear polyurethane.

Doesn't look bad from afar but...

Here it is up close.

It was dirty inside the toy box.

Even along the bottom of the toy box was dirty.

Here are my materials I used.

Here I go to sanding the toy box with my sander.  I love my sander!

Two coats of polyurethane did it for a finish like new.

Here is the finished product!  Not bad if I should say so myself.  This is a level 1 restoration project.  So easy anyone can do it!  

Until next time my Friends!

Christina :)

Never ending projects!

Well, I finally did it!  I got my garage cleaned and organized! Yep, I finally put up two shelves to store some of my appliances that I don't have room in my kitchen.  Now they are handy and accessible when I need them.

Mind you, this was not a difficult project, just a medium level project that anyone can do if you have 1.) the patience; 2.) the drive; and 3.) the tools.  No, you don't need a man or aka husband or boyfriend to do this job.  You need yourself and confidence to do this job.  Here's how it is done:
1.  Look at your garage and decide what the shelves are going to hold and decide the length of the space in your garage and the location.
2.  Make a list for the materials.  For my project, I needed at least two boards 10 feet long and I selected 8 inches across.  Oh, don't forget the "L" brackets to hold up the shelves!
3.  I checked the materials I had on hand: drill, drill bits (to drill holes into the wall), measuring tape, screw driver (helps to screw the screws in place and then I use the drill to do the rest), hammer, pencil, screws for the wall, a level, and ladder.

These are the materials I had and the rest I went off to purchase.

Off I went  to the Home Depot with my list and bought the materials and came back home and began the job on Friday afternoon around 4 p.m.  Boy was it hot!  But, I was determined and I finished around 7 p.m. give or take.  Yeah, it took me some time due to measuring and using the level to make sure my shelves were straight.  Next, I marked where the "L" brackets were to go and then drilled to make the screws go in easier.  I don't have the upper strength that a man has, so I drill as a guide and it is much easier to put the screws into the brackets (this is what took more time, drilling).  When I drilled all the holes and then mounted the "L" brackets, then I could place the board on the brackets.  Finally, I was able to screw the bottom screws (without pre-drilling) it was easier to drill the smaller screws into the board.  That was one shelf completed! I followed the same procedure for the second shelf and the finished product, well take a look!  Not bad for a woman!

Notice the line I drew?  The line was drawn using my level to help me place the "L" brackets.

 The finished product!

My stuff is off the floor of the garage and the best part, the second shelf has my appliances that I need when I cook for my family/friends and I don't use that often.  I was pleased with the finished project.  Did I mention that this is phase 1?  My phase 2 is putting up a pegboard next month (budget) so I can hang my most frequently used tools I use along with extension cords, different tapes, the weed eater, blower, hedger and I am sure I will find other stuff that I use often.  Anyway, the whole propose of this project is to get organized and to let anyone else know that if I can do this, anyone can do it too!  After all, I am just a retired grandmother!

Until next time, see ya!