DIY Pallet Coffee Table

Ok, so I found a cool idea on Pinterest for a DIY pallet coffee table. Our current coffee table had glass inserts on top, and somehow one of them cracked and broke. We needed a new table, & I asked Chad to let me try this DIY one instead of spending a ton of money on a new one.

This is the link to the website I found this project at. Here is what the original poster's coffee table came out like.

I thought it was super cute, and it's practically free. So first step, we needed some pallets. Luckily, Chad's work has pallets galore. So we shoved 5 of them in the back of my SUV and brought them home.

The first step was to take the boards off of them. I didn't take a real "before" picture, but everyone knows what pallets look like. They're a frame of 3 2x4's with a couple support planks (their dimensions vary) on the bottom, and an assorted number of planks across the top with gaps between them. Our first attempt was to simply hammer the planks off of the 2x4's. This resulted in a couple splintered boards. The nails stayed in the 2x4's and the planks split. So then we tried laying down one of the extra pallets, and flipping the pallet we were working on upside down on top of it. We took one of the broken planks, set it against the 2x4 on top of the plank we were trying to hammer off, and hammered the scrap wood. This distributed the pressure more evenly, and saved most of the planks we did this to. (I should have taken pictures of these steps.) The 2nd pallet we worked on was slightly larger than the first, and was just enough wider than the frame we were wanting to use, that we just took a skill saw to it and sawed the planks off of the ends, saving us from hammering everything but the middle. (Again, I should have taken pictures.) As a side note, it took 3 pallets to get enough usable boards because so many splintered trying to remove them, or were already missing chunks, were too warped, etc.

So once we got all the planks removed from the frames, the next step was to set the planks side by side (as opposed to spaced out, as they were originally), and hammer them back in place.

This is the two halves of our table (bottom and top), with the planks set in their new positions.

The excess frame will be sawed off, and the extra support planks on the underside of the frame will be removed as well.

Thank goodness for hubby & his drill. :)

So once the planks were screwed down, and the excess sawed off, next came sanding and staining. I was gung-ho to hand sand the whole thing, but realizing how rough some of the boards were, we invested in an electric pad sander, only around $30 at Menard's. It took me a couple days to get everything sanded down to where I was satisfied. Then came the stain. We went with a cherry color, as we didn't want something super dark or super light. The wood soaks up the stain, though, so it took a whole quart to stain both top & bottom.

This is the top half with its first coat of stain. I haven't taken any pictures recently, but the bottom half still needs its second coat, and then we're going to do two coats of a matte polyurethane on it as well. After that, we just need to screw some legs on (the legs are pieces of the excess frame that was sawed off earlier, cut to whatever height you want the table to be), and the two halves need screwed together as well. More pictures will come when the project is finished. :)

To give you an idea of the cost of this project, we invested in a $30 sander (not a total waste, as it will certainly get used in the future), an $8 quart of stain, an $8 quart of polyurethane, a couple of $0.89 paintbrushes, and a $3 box of screws.

To Have And To Hold :)

Haven't been on this site in quite a while, but I had a project I wanted to post about so I can look at it later if need be. But first, wedding pictures! 

Our wedding was April 27. The morning started out rainy, but cleared out to cloudy by the afternoon. Then, just before the ceremony started, the sun came out to shine on us. :)

My groom completely took my breath away. I cried like a little girl (multiple times), but it was the best day of my life. And I get to go through whatever journey life will bring next with this amazing man by my side forevermore. :)

Well that's all for this one. Next up is my first big DIY project! Happy trails!

Dinner time!

Well, that last snow storm was a joke. All we got was a light dusting that was gone as soon as the sun came up.

We desperately need the moisture, but a tiny part of me was glad we didn't get any the second time around. My horses' pen is already turning into a mud pit. I wish I had a place of my own with big pastures to roam & stalls to use to keep them off the mud, but I don't. I just have to make do with what I have available right now, so I'm tromping through ankle-deep mud to feed them twice a day. My poor Carhartts & boots. :( But (knock on wood), the horses haven't had any problems from the mud. Hopefully it stays that way.

On a different subject, I perfected my crockpot lasagna recipe last night. :) I'm super excited about it. Chad said he wasn't hungry last night, so we split a bowl of it. Then he went back for seconds, then thirds. If anyone is interested in trying it, here's the recipe:

• 1lb ground beef, browned & drained
• 2 cans (30oz) tomato sauce
• 4 cups shredded mozzarella
• 1 tub cottage cheese (the original recipe called for like a cup & some, but I like it really cheesy. It made a huge difference)
• 8oz uncooked lasagna noodles

Add the tomato sauce to the browned & drained burger. In a seperate bowl, combine the cheeses. I had some leftover fresh spinach that needed used, so I tore up a few handfuls & added that to the cheese. Spoon 1/3 of meat sauce into crockpot, then lasagna noodles (break to fit), add 1/3 of the cheese. Repeat layers twice. Cook on Low for 4 hours. Yummy!

Snowmaggedon/Snowpocalypse Part II

Well, we're in for it again. Last week we got probably 6-10" of snow at my house (If someone could teach me how they measure snowfall, I'd love to know. I have areas of 2ft deep drifts, & other areas where the grass is still poking through. I just guessed on a happy medium.) We're expected to get another 4-10" today & tomorrow.

Here's a neat video I found that shows a time lapse of the last snow storm in Spring Hill, KS.

I really don't mind the snow. We definitely need the moisture. My Chevy Blazer's 4x4, so I'm not too worried about getting stuck...

But in my defense, my 4x4 only works when it wants to. In this instance, it didn't work in time for me to keep myself from sliding into that drift. Chad's used to non-4x4 vehicles, so he doesn't have any problem getting around in this thing. To me, SUV's are utterly useless without it. I just let Chad do the driving when the roads are bad.

As for the animals, they have varying views about the weather.
Rox is so little, he can usually walk on top of the snow, but when he falls through, the poor guy just about gets buried in it. He tries to stick to walking in someone else's footprints, but sometimes he has to blaze his own trail.

Cooper adores the snow. This dog prefers being outside, even when it's frigid cold & blowing snow. He runs through it, tries to get the other dogs to play with him, & when we try to bring him back inside, he usually just flops down in the snow & refuses to move. Today, even a treat wouldn't tempt him back inside when I left for work, so I unwillingly left him in his snow-drifted pen, where he was quite content to lay in the snow instead of his doghouse.

The horses usually don't mind the snow, unless it's blowing or coming down really fast.

And I do apologize for posting so many pictures. I'm a very visual person, & I love having pictures to go along with whatever I'm talking about.

If we get as much snow as they're saying we will, I'm very well prepared to sit at home with a cup of hot chocolate & marshmallows, snuggle up on the couch with Chad, & watch Roseanne re-runs all day. We've got a generator in the shed, a well-stocked freezer, & a Crockpot ready to whip up some delicious hot dinners for cold evenings. Bring it on, Mother Nature!

Happy Trails, all. Stay safe & warm!

The Cast & Crew

I might as well introduce myself & tell you a bit more about my family.

This is me & my fiance, Chad.

Me? I'm a student at K-State, studying Animal Science. I work part-time at an art gallery in a small town. I love our animals, the outdoors, spending time with family, weekend horseback riding with the hubby (soon-to-be!), attempting to become a better cook, & of course, spending time with my Prince Charming. :)

Him? He's a supervisor for a metal fabrication company. He is in charge of programming multiple machines & managing the guys who run those machines. He's a fix-it guy, fixing anything & everything that needs it. He's got a '79 Chevy Silverado he's working on now. He loves his video games (what guy doesn't?), & may or may not enjoy being the guinea pig for my cooking.

 This is Cooper & DK. Cooper is a 7 year old Australian Shepherd. I got him from the pound in May of 2011. I had an Aussie growing up & fell in love with the breed, so when I moved out of the dorm & wanted a dog of my own, I wanted an Aussie. I found him at the pound on a rainy day, sitting in the last kennel with a pathetic look on his face and a tick crawling across his nose. That was that. He is now a big fluffy ball of happiness. He thrives on attention, & guards us from coyotes and any bumps in the night.
DK is a 6 year old Lab/Border Collie mix. Chad got her from the pound as a puppy. Her favorite pasttime is holding down her favorite couch, but if you break out her favorite rope, game's on. She is the boss of the house. I love watching she & Cooper play, they are so rough on one another. Her favorite thing is car rides.

This is Rox, a 4 year old Papillon/Rat Terrier mix. We call him Fruit Bat, Radar, whatever nickname comes to mind with his gigantic ears. This little guy is just a happy little ball of love. His favorite place to be is as close to one of us as he can get. He goes to work at the gallery with me now and then, & is content to nap on my lap all day. He isn't afraid to try to play with the big dogs, & doesn't hesitate to give them a piece of his mind if they disturb his napping spots.

 Sage is my old cat. He's something like 11, or 12, he may even be 13 now. I found him at the barn many years ago. Someone was stupid enough to dump a declawed housecat and think he could survive outside, competing for food with a group of feral barn cats. So he came home. He loves to pester DK. He will block the hallway or a doorway & not let her pass. It's his favorite game. He does enjoy napping with Cooper on occasion. He also enjoys trying to sleep on my face at night. Not cool.

This is Chevy (gray) & Silverado (blue). I swear Silverado's blue, but he appears like a seafoam green color in every picture i take of him. These guys hang out in their cage, chirping at each other all day. When we let them out to exercise, they like to madly fly around the living room before they perch somewhere to hang out. Silverado loves to land on the dogs' or the cat's face. He thinks it's comical.

 This is Bubba. He's my 22 year old Quarter Horse gelding. I got Bubs when we were both 12. (He's 6 months older than me). He is stubborn, lazy, & hard-headed. He's also the best teacher I've ever had. He's teaching Chad the ropes now, & they're starting to get along really well.

Perry is my 15 year old Percheron/Quarter Horse cross gelding. He's my jumper. Perry is a big love bug, & has the biggest personality I've come across in a horse. He dearly loves to go to horse shows, go on trailer rides, or just generally be pampered.
Well, that's our family. It may be a full house & a bit hectic at times, but I love our life and wouldn't change it for anything. :)

Happy Trails!