I'm slowly making progress at starting my business.........

Facebook page-Check

Craigslist-Check

Etsy Store(nothing listed)-check

Next up: making some items to take to local consignment shops to see if they will let me put a few pieces in their stores. I'm planning on taking....AG bunkbeds, cubbie/shelf, farmhouse doll bed, kids table, kids bench, craft paper holder, and a step stool. Whew! Hopefully I can place at least a few items at each place and sell some stuff!

I'm still really excited mostly nervous! And on a side note, I have the cutest appretice........EVER! Yesterday we were in the garage. I was building, he was coloring on his giant roll of paper. I finished all my building/sanding and started painting. He realized all the noise had stopped and came to investigate my silence.

Jake: Mama?

Me: What buddy

Jake: I LOVE painting.....

Me: K give me a sec and I'll go get your paint stuff and you can paint your paper....

Silence......

Jake: I actually only really like builder paint.

So I gave in and let him "help", this was the end result:) Good thing his outfit was mostly black anyway! That way the paint just blends in :)

Etsy or No Etsy.....

That is the question. For some reason I totally misread the word fee and thought it said FREE! Yep I'm a genius. So now I'm trying to decide if it would be better to just spread the word locally, possibly some farmer's market/craft shows, consignment shops and word of mouth. Not have to ship stuff and pay etsy a 3.5% free fee. What to do, what to do! And of course my husband is sleeping. He does get up in like 3 hours but still......:) I did kind of start a FB page, but I need his help in writing my description, he's way smarter! and I did start a new blog kistenmacherkarpentry.blogspot.com. and Andy is helping me figure out a logo so I can get business cards printed. Yes, I do things totally backwards, are you really that surprised? ;-)So for now it is to be continued...........................

My ledge

It's finished! I'm thrilled with how it turned out and even more thrilled with the price! Yes, I'm super cheap! I bought one piece of trim which cost $6.36. For everything else I just made what I had (left-overs from other projects) work :-).

And just disregard by lack of photography and bed making skills!

This is what I'm making today....

Or attempting to make that is! :-)

The Ledge!

 I've been looking at this since it first came out......like months ago. Right around the time I built the boys' beds...yeah like marchish! I couldn't find any plans that where as close to the real deal as I wanted to I just decided I was going to pretend I was a master builder today! I was just going to jump off a cliff and try. My neighbor had brought me some "scraps" that he wasn't going to use and so I figured worst case I wasn't really out any money and its soooo long I could still salvage pieces from it. It looks pretty good. but I still need to add some trim and pieces and paint/stain. I'm hoping to have it ready to reveal tomorrow! It's going above our bed in lieu of the headboard/foot board I haven't made yet because I opted to pay bills :)

So since I couldn't make my own Farmhouse bed I decided to make one for my niece's birthday!

It's big enough to fit an American Girl doll, or a kitten, or and infant......see its a versatile piece:) and Bella doesn't have an AG doll but she does have a new kitty and will have a new baby soon!

 And this is what I made for my other brand new niece! She was born on Father's Day! I was lame and hadn't built anything in time for her shower so I just gave a lame card promising a handmade gift by me! Thankfully my SIL is super gracious and understanding and still speaks to me even though It took me 6 weeks to get it done!

Sorry about the poor quality pictures... I keep forgetting to take a picture before we deliver these projects so I'm constantly snapping last minute pics on my cellphone.

Only one more week until school starts....where did summer go? :(

I'm thinking of starting an Etsy store to try selling a few things.....So I'm wondering, out of my 5 blog readers:), if anyone has a suggestions for a store name/maybe a new blog name? (Since I pretty much write nothing.about.running.) I'm seriously lacking creativity today!

AND

if I use the name you suggest you.will.win.something.AMAZING! I'm not sure what yet, but you know me it.will.be.cool! Or coolish for sure:)

So leave me a comment with your name suggestion.

Thanks!

I'm in love....

With building! AND my husband, of course! I found out today that they filled the job share with one full timer (It would end up being cheaper that way). So I'm at square one again trying to figure out what to do. In the mean time I've been in the garage every day building away! I think I'm an addict :)(I just finished a kids size table for my newest niece as well as a slightly smaller version of the cubbie shelf I made for myself and my MIL, pictures to follow soon!) With being outside all.the.time comes seeing the neighbors all.the.time! Thankfully we have been blessed with AWESOME neighbors its like having an extra set of parents next door and grandparents across the street. They truly are incredible. They both have been checking the progress of my builds, sharing tools, giving advice and are totally encouraging me to start selling some of the items I've been making. I'm really excited, scared, unsure of the prospect. I will have 3hrs/4days a week (Jake made it into preschool) to do whatever I want i.e.build uninterrupted.....so I wouldn't be taking away from the family as much. I'm just not sure that my ability it sales worthy, and I'm a little nervous that once it became a j.o.b it would lose the fun aspect. I also have no idea where to start for a price point on things. Several things I have made are a pottery barn knock-off but that just gives me a super high-end price that doesn't transfer over. So I'll be working on that and wondering where SUMMER went. School starts in 2.5 weeks :( So I better enjoy every.last.bit before I have a pre-k, 1st, 4th and gasp......7th grader!

It's done!

Well mostly! I have a few more details to add, but it is functioning! So without further ado.........

Our new KITCHEN!

I'm so excited! It went together really quick (1day).

Then I got kind of hot.....and lazy so it took 2 days to sand/stain.

Then I started a few other projects (ie:3 cubbie/shelves, kids picnic table, kids regular table, a mini bench etc.), Hey I have undiagnosed ADD :) And had a garage sale.(that made hardly any money:( )2days.

Sunday was another hot/lazy day.

Today I painted the white, finished the oven drawer and installed the oven glass, I also sewed the ruffle!

Since my wood was all "reclaimed" this was a super cheap project! Here is where I spent it:

Hardware $13 (target clearance a couple months ago)

Stain $5 (it was a gallon of "oops" stain in the exact color Ash wanted!)

Sink $4 (crock from GW)

Faucet $5 (bought at the restore)

(4) Door Hinges $11.50 (reg. price)

Plexi-glass $4 (reg. price)

(4) Caster wheels .09 (yep that is 9 CENTS! Thank you GW)

I already had the curtain fabric and the white paint as well as the other random hardware I needed.

Grand total!!!!!!!

= $42.59