March review, will I ever sell stencils, changes and more!

March was an exciting yet rather weird month for me. Here's what I mean...

 On blogging, voting, features... and self inflicted fame.

Exciting! I flaunted my mag and online features and even added a little silliness of my own. :)

Know what I finally did when I found Flea Market Style on the shelves? I opened every cover along the front of the stand to...

this... and walked away giggling. I'm so bad. :)

Pallet Farm Table Desk ~ Part 3, the reveal

 And then there was the one about the wild and crazy pallet desk I created for a whoppin' $3. You wowed me with 100 comments! Whadda way to make a junk chick smile. :)

I'm still loving the desk, but I officially announce here and now that I want to do some additional playing with the top boards. Soon! Right...

A boat load of questions answered on the farm table desk

Caption kinda says it all.

SNS #71 brings you ~ benches and a giveaway winner

And then we went and had a bench link party.

Know why I'm showing you the above one? I'm kicking myself! I found one exactly like this at a thrift a couple days ago and I LEFT it. But I left it because it was a mini bench. If it had been full size, I would have proudly toted it home. I just need to get a handle on the strays that wander in this house at this point...

Inspired by Pinterest

Weird but cool. :) Someone over at Pinterest has an AWESOME sense of humor. They flipped the works upside down for April Fool's Day. :) Quick, go look HERE.

Aside from that, I blurted my source for incredibly inspirational photos which turned many of you into Pinterest addicts. Join the club! :)

A workshop photography kind of DIY

My buddy Dan held a creative workshop in which I was hired on as the resident photographer for 2 evenings. Warning... picture heavy post! Moving targets are tricky to photograph and do well. Dan was pleased so that made me pleased.

Play "Name that book!" and you're entered to win Flea Market Style!

144 comments helped me with some possible names for the possible book that I may be writing.

And here's the deal on the book. Many of you are congratulating me and offering your kudos 'as I write'. Thank-you!! Truth be told, no contract has arrived as yet so I'm not sure where the book deal is at this point. No contract = no writing so we shall see what happens. You'll be the 2nd to know. :)

SNS #72 is ~ bringing the outdoors in and mag winner!

We then had a fab link party with the theme being bringing the outdoors in. Boy did this one give me spring fever!  The sweet photo above is by That's My Letter.

Do you decorate girly?

The chat about our girly decorating ways was intriguing! The funniest comment ever when was someone said they decorated girly in order to repel men! LOL Go Nita! :)

How to decorate... for YOU. See where I'm hosting today...

And then there was the one about the guest post I did over at Yanet's on decorating with the things YOU love, no matter what. Guess you could say I was rather qualified for that topic, eh? :)

STRESSED out? Maybe this can help.

So... who's been stressed out lately? I'm holding my hand HIGH up in the air. I fully admit I needed to write this post for myself at the time. So I did in hopes that it helped others in similar situations.

Goodbye Secret Garden Cottage. You will be missed!

One of my alltime fav blogs, The Secret Garden Cottage bid us farewell. But so many of you came by and offered amazing support, that Jo decided to keep it online and add her incredible photography when she could at her own leisure. I'm so glad. Every one of her photos belongs in a mag.

A birthday, a passing and finally, a sale.

A rather sad and mixed up time for my family arrived when my mom's birthday came upon us. And then her house sold. And then the anniversary of her passing came. Just... alot.

85 wonderful comments later of support and offering prayer really lifted me up. Thank-you! 

 

SNS #73 brings you ~ kitchen cabinet ideas

Fabulous kitchen ideas came from all over for this shindig! The above ultra rustic and creative idea for shelving is from Inspired by Charm. LOVE Michael's style in most everything he does.

 Playing with spring during spring break

When spring break broke out, so did the sunshine in our land of rain, so we hit the great outdoors with a little putzing around. Can you find any pretty flowers in this pic? I mean other than my son's pj's. :) The post shows you a few hidden gems in the mix of dried leaves and broken twigs.

Dream yards... with a challenge for you

And then after all my sticks and twigs cleaning, I got inspired for pretty and grabbed a ton of photos off Pinterest, encouraging you to dream up some wonderful new thing for your yard this year. Cuz later in spring we're gonna have a Dream Yard linkup! So read this and see what's up!

SNS #74 highlights ~ wall decor

The wall decor theme on SNS was awesome! I mean, check out this hen coop turned indoor shelving, housing the most wonderful treasures ever. I gasped when I saw this piece. I have the same one in my garage holding tools! I must change that... :) The awesome photo above is  from Buckets of Burlap.

Farmers Market sign reveal with a story

My newest creation came with a touching story that related to one of my favorite guys ever.

Will I EVER sell stencils?

And I recieved quite a few emails on asking if I'd consider selling the stencils I create.

At this time, selling decals is not something I desire to pursue. I require the time to further develop where I'm heading. Should my decision ever change, I will definitely let you know!

However, I've come up with something even better and more price efficient in the longrun for you, so stay tuned for some new upcoming ideas.

Building your own storage in a jiffy!

And then I took you along on a tour of creating instant shelving for your home, thanks to some wonderful affordable shelving from Ikea. If you fear installing, you need to check out this tutorial. It's DEAD EASY to follow.

In other news:

BlogHer/giveaway changes

I have some great news for those with Etsy shops and viewers alike!

BlogHer hosted blogs such as mine can now do reviews and giveaways right on the main blog itself with fewer restrictions! If you have an item you'd like reviewed or have always wondered about the wonderful world of offering a giveaway or sidebar sponsorship, you can read up on

Funky Junk's advertising terms  HERE.

So that was March in a nutshell here on Funky Junk. I also invite you to ask any questions you desire to know in comments. I'll be answering questions in the comments area, so if you ask something, please check back.

Thank-you for a very enjoyable March! It's been a blast, as always. :)

See you Friday 7pm Pacific with your BURLAP projects on SNS!

And then on Monday for the start of the Parade of Homes, with the first stop being right here at FJI! Goodness... if you think my posts are long, wait til you visit THAT one!

Building your own storage in a jiffy!

I've lived with two disaster zones for the last 3 years or so. 

Exhibit A is the spare room closet. This horror is where my clothes and present wrapping stuff/crafts are stored.

Why would I stash my clothes in another bedroom other than my own you ask?

Because Exhibit B, which IS my closet, houses all the linens on the floor is why.

Why no bar? Because I painted this 3 years ago and needed a new place for the linens first.

Oh believe me, this is way complicated, so let's just fix up this mess so we can move on to new messes.

So, what's a person to do when they want storage that's:

instant

easy to build

strong and sturdy

price efficient

isn't permanent

doesn't ruin walls

you can do it yourself with few skills

~ Go Gorm ~

To me, this stuff resembles something someone would put in their workshop or garage.

blogging desk area

However, if you see it with different eyes, it can become whatever you desire. You might say I've Gormed up my house pretty good. :)

Now let me show you just how easy this is to assemble. Trust me. Even if you don't know your way around tools, YOU can do this.

~ picking it up ~

Some of you on Facebook questioned what a junker could possibly like at Ikea. Gorm would be one answer. I'll share my other finds with you soon.

So why wouldn't I just go to a local big box store for similar shelving? LOTS of reasons.

~ why I love this particular system ~

 source

Whoops! Wrong kit! Dang! I hate returns. :)

All hardware and instructions are intact. 

No hen pecking from your own massive mess of screws.

It's solid pine. I like solid wood. No... I LOVE solid wood.

ALL holes are predrilled and it's totally adjustable for when you, you know, change your mind.

You can choose your depth of shelving. 3 or 5 boards deep. VERY cool.

And the one thing that makes this system totally unique?

You can get an optional extension kit that makes your shelving reach to the ceiling.

Triple cool!

~ the right tools ~

Hardish manual labor but better than nothing way.

(ratchets work and sound really cool but this next method is easier)

The oh so fast and easy way.

zzzzZZZZzzz

DONE.

I know. Sheer brilliance.

~ the assembly ~

I decided on the deeper shelving because of the perfect fit. Talk about meant to be!

Fair warning. As this product ages, it darkens. So if you love the blondish pine tone, I'd suggest to treat it before installing. But I wanted it done 3 years ago, so up it went as is.

You CAN do this all yourself like I did, but if you had a 2nd pair of hands handy, (that didn't complain) that would be pretty sweet.

The unit was built inside the room it was staying in. I attached legs on one side first, then flipped it over and did the other. The 2nd set of shelving was installed with this unit standing up.

Tips:

* leave enough room underneath for cleaning

left end

mid join side

* Post location matters. 

If creating a side by side unit, ensure you select the right hole for the joining side.

* Keep all screws loose until all shelves and all posts have been assembled. 

Then tighten the works up.

* Protect your hardwood floors. (these were not included)

Next - Bracing the back is important to stabilize the unit.

Predrilling holes makes the job abit easier but wasn't 100% necessary in this case.

Predrilling allows your screw to be placed in the right area without skidding and reduces wood splits, right Julie? :) Gotta check with the woodworking master here...

Painting it out white first would have looked very pretty. 

But, you know... I was 3 years late. Gitter done! Uh oh, I'd better link this up to Songbird's Gitter Done event...

I didn't go right to the ceiling with this unit because I wanted the top space for pillows upon pillows with no midbar restriction.

The inspection crew appeared just in time. xo

Instant storage that can be removed and used elsewhere within minutes! A great fix for a closet you may need back again some day.

Here's a post

on how I painted and further customized the same type of unit for my blog office.

This project is part of a bigger deal I'm working on. I'm attempting to clean things up so I can find all my staging gear. Lots more to come. :)

And coming up soon, we're gonna build something all together with Julie's help! Stay tuned!

Need more storage yourself?

Think you could pull this one off?

(I have not been compensated in any way for this post. I just like the stuff. So if you go buy it, make sure they know who sent ya, ok? :) ) 

Link up your own procrastinated project this Friday!
Click the button for previous parties.