Blanket Ladder, an oldie but a goodie!

I just had to share this blanket ladder for so many reasons! 1. It was one of my first DIY projects 2. It was the first piece of furniture we moved into our new house and 3. It's one of the most used furniture items in our house (except for the couch of course...but a blanket goes perfectly with a comfy couch!) 

Building this blanket ladder was SO simple and the perfect first DIY build. I found the tutorial from the infamous Shanty2Chic blog, it was the $10 Wooden Blanket Ladder plans that I used. At the time I didn't have a jig so I enlisted the help of my little brother (who is NOT little by the way!) Instead, I used some wood glue to glue the 17'' pieces at an angle, 12'' apart on the 60'' pieces. The first one starting 3'' from the top- ya follow?! Then I had the "little" brother hold each piece in place as I drilled 3'' wood screws through the outside of the 6o'' into the 17'' piece. Whoa. Thats a mouth full! But thats how we did it- jigless! We repeated these steps for each rung. To attach the other 60'' piece we followed the same basic process of drilling from the outside of it, into the 17'' piece.  ** FYI - after this project I ordered the jig :) **

To finish the ladder off I stained it using a mix of Ebony / Dark Walnut Minwax Stain and a coat of poly. 

I love how useful this ladder is! I really want to move it in to our bedroom and try my hand at this Shanty2Chic Wood and Metal Pipe Blanket Ladder for the living room instead. What do you think?!

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Berry Cobbler

I was looking for a light yummy treat last night, I stumbled upon this recipe and just had to share! Sweet tooth....satisfied. 

Ingredients:
3-4 cups of Frozen Fruit (I used mixed berries and peaches)
1 box of yellow cake mix (I used the Pillsbury Sugar Free mix) 
1 can of Diet Soda (I used Diet Sierra Mist)

Directions: 
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Spread the frozen fruit into a greased 9x13 pan. Next, take the dry cake mix and sprinkle it over the top of the fruit. Last, pop open the soda and pour it all over the top of the cake mix. DO NOT MIX! Place in the oven and bake for 45 minutes. Let cool for 5-10 minutes before eating! 

Enjoy!
Sam

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DIY Citronella Torches

A few people have  asked how I made my DIY Citronella Torches....so here ya go my friends! 

1. Here's what I bought: pint size Ball Jars, 1/8 size lamp wick (I found these at Hobby Lobby)  and any type of torch fuel.

2. I took apart the lid and drilled a hole in the middle of each with my Ryobi Drill  (I'm pretty sure I used the 9/64 bit, just a little bit bigger than the 1/8 wick).

3. To get the wick through the hole I wrapped a little piece of tape at the end I pushed it through. I left about an inch sticking out of the top. 

4.  I filled the jars up about a quarter of the way with fuel to start but you can use more than that. I waited about 20 mins for the fuel to soak up the wick. When it reaches the piece sticking out you are set to light them up! 

Enjoy!

Sam

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