The Notebook vs. The Garage

As you can see, I'm all "Ms. Organization" this week. What the hell is wrong with me that I think it's ok to work like this? (Don't comment on that one, Mom.) At some point, I'll get really sick of the mess and clean/organize it all but only when I feel like I'm not drowning in orders that need to be done by the end of the week. There's some irony for ya! I would probably be faster and get more done if it were organized...

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Vacation Photos That Have Nothing to Do with Wood

I realize these really have nothing to do with the title of my blog but what the hell! We had a great time in San Diego. I really enjoyed not lifting a hammer for 4 whole days!!! As you might have guessed, 1/2 a day back and I already have dried green paint covering my hands -- and went that way to the Olive Garden tonight because when you're there, you're family.My sweet, handsome son. How did he get to be almost...

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Gracie Toy Box in Birch

Before we took San Diego by storm, I finished and delivered this lovely all-birch Gracie Toy Box. Just wanted to share because I think it's lovely. It's the first time I've been asked to build one and keep it in its natural birchness (that's really not a word, is it...

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I forced myself to shower and shave because....

....we're on vacation!Sorry I've been absent from blogging for a few days. I think I forgot to mention we took advantage of a mini-vacation with the kids down in San Diego. We're enjoying the time away from wood, work, cleaning, all of it. I'll be back to my wood-workin' ways at the end of the week. In the meantime, rest assured that I'm far from a table saw floating in a pool in San Diego whilst drinking something with one of those paper umbrellas in it....

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Day of Beauty

I've been knee-deep in furniture construction over the past few days but yesterday, at the insistance of my friends and husband, I had a "day of beauty." So basically, that means that I was in desperate need of a hair cut/color job and on a whim, after running to the hardware store, I stopped by a salon and asked if they could get me in. They did, I'm blond, and my hair is shorter than I wanted. Why does that happen? I said trim, she thought major layer. It's a good cut and it'll grow but SHEESH! I always get suckered into getting it cut...

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Kung Fu Father's Day!

Everybody was Kung Fu Fighting...da a na na na na is playing over and over again in my head. While we LOVED Kung Fu Panda (saw it today with the fam), I fear I'll never get that out of my head. And when I do, one of the kids will walk by me singing it. There's no escape from the Kung Fu song on this here Father's Day.Speaking of, I want to wish a Happy Father's Day to my wonderful father, Barry Parsons, who is enjoying his Father's Day in Defiance, Ohio. I believe steaks and lawn mowing were involved so it'll be a good day! He's such an amazing...

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The Bertie Gets A Mention on Domino Magazine's Online Gallery

Holly Becker of Decor8 recently put together a gallery of her favorite furniture finds on Etsy and she was kind enough to include on of my pieces!Check it out when you have a moment by clicking this link. The her furniture finds on Etsy are incredible! Really, such great stuff!!!!Thanks, Hol...

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School's Out!

YEAH! School's out!!! WHOOHOOO!On second thought, SHIT.....school's out! How do I cut wood, run a business and do wonderfully engaging, fun (sometimes educational) things with my kids? I know lots of work-from-home parents go through this but sometimes I get so frustrated trying do good on all fronts, I just become paralyzed and really freakin' annoyed.But not this year! I'm going into it with a positive outlook and a good life perspective. I'm planning on not getting annoyed when Grace whines from her pool raft that she never does anything fun...

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Free wood on my lawn!!

Biscuit joiners, eco-friendly wood, slow-closing lid support...AHHH!!! If someone would've told me in the beginning how complicated making furniture could get, I would've gone into knitting. No that's a lie. I can't knit worth a damn and have trouble concentrating on which line I'm on when Grey's Anatomy is on. So furniture it is....Today, Scott and I carried 10 pieces of eco-friendly white maple plywood to my front lawn with a sign that says "free". Sadly, that particular type of plywood, while very expensive and thankfully gifted to me after...

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Oh my aching everything

When I got this hair-brained idea to make furniture, I failed to take into consideration that it's actually manual labor. A lot of manual labor. And those 4 x 8 sheets of lumber are a lot heavier than one would think. So a year into Mod Mom Furniture and I've developed sciatica (from leaning over a work table that wasn't tall enough...duh) and the carpal tunnel syndrome in my right hand is back which affects my jigsawing abilities. I know...I know...YES, I'd love some cheese with that whine!I can already tell this will be one of those nights when...

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Table Saw Assembly Day!

I just ran in to sit down for a second. I had to assemble my new table saw today and (fingers crossed) so far, so good. I even put the safety guard over the blade so I'm all "safety girl" now. Gotta go cut some more....

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