No more Bob the Builder for my kids!!!

I've previously mentioned that I am not afraid to pick up power tool, I've used a drill to put up a shelf, which my husband may or may not have asked "Is that straight or does the ceiling slope in here to?" I'm blaming the ceiling, he gave me an out.

So deciding to build a proper laundry station complete with it's own little shelf, seemed like a fairly easy task. Ummm, if your sensing things weren't quite that easy, you would be right. I should also say, that I "build" these things while the hubs is at work, during the babies nap time, but truthfully if he saw me "during the process", I suspect divorce papers would be soon served!

The Laundry station.

I want you to pay close attention this is pictorial evidence that the bible is indeed correct and pride does come before the fall.

So here's our supplies:

• Paint - I used Taubmans Whisper White
• Bead board to fit the back
• Wood for the frame
• Support beams
• Drill
• Assorted Screws
• A Brain - I didn't use one but it would be a massive help!

I started by measuring the bottom posts/ support beams, marked the cut line.

Then I drilled and screwed together the frame

By this stage, I'm thinking WOW, I'm like a building natural, perhaps I inherited this ability from my very dear, departed grandfather, (who I'm sure is rolling in his grave).

So I thought I must show how important it is to select the correct screw (totally stole from Better Homes and Gardens TV show)

Now, after sharing this with you, I'm about to die of embarrassment.

I screw the support beams onto the brackets, then off to paint the bead board. After it's dry I grab Samuel, my eldest child, into the Laundry and together we connect the back and I screw it on. Then I place Australia's biggest ironing board, henceforth to be known as ABIB on top.

Looking good hey???

Well looks can be deceiving, apparently since I left work I've lost the ability to count. I was out by nearly 20 cm ( about 8-9 inches) ARRRGG, how can I be so stupid, by this time it's 10:30 pm and I'm going out of my mind.
 I figure it's probably time to go to bed.

Jules had a breakfast meeting this morning and left early, so I got up to get a start before the kids got up. I measured again, got the hacksaw out and cut.  I get the ABIB back in the laundry and low and behold - I had measured up wrong again and still needed to remove about 10cm (4 inches). Just in time for the school run.

I'm just about ready to lose it, so I strapped the little ones in their chairs in front of the telly, with a cupcake each, to keep them quiet for 15 minutes so I can finish, not my proudest Mummy moment - stop judging me!

I pick up the saw and blaring out from the TV, is the theme song to Bob the Builder and I all can hear "Can we fix it" and let me tell you that condescending little English builder and his crew yelled out their response, it very clearly could be heard as "yes WE can" mocking me as I sawed.

It took me about 20 minutes to finish and 200 new gray hairs but she's done!

Now that's she's done I love her, she has already made a huge difference.

I'm really looking forward to decorating her, I'll be Pinteresting for some idea's, because what legit craft blogger doesn't want to see their gorgeous ideas butchered by someone else.


 I've also begrudgingly forgiven Bob and the crew for their insensitivity during the process, because he was an effective baby sitter for so many years!                                          
                                         


DIY Delight or Disaster, well the process was a massive fail but on the whole I'm delighted. The ugly taps have been hidden and for that I'm grateful.

What do you think, Delight or Disaster? Oh and any "decor" tips would be fantastic.

Thanks for reading.

Mel xo

Grab your boarding pass....Australia's Biggest Ironing Board

I'm taking you on an adventure to Ironing land. Where the most tedious chore in the world can be made a little more fun, grab your boarding pass and come ride Australia's Biggest Ironing Board!

Here in Australia we love BIG, in fact my kids have a book of all the big tourists attractions, you know there's the Big Banana, Big Pineapple and there are many more but my personal favorite,because it's just sooo insane is this, The Big Prawn

So my patriotic side insists that I must go big, and the Mellywood Mantra is "What you lack in talent, make up for in size!


Anyways I saw this on Pinterest and thought it was a brillant way to get rid of the ironing board which is ALWAYS, in the way!

But I wanted one to fit across all the machines so it could double as a bench to fold the washing.
One problem, my machines are not the same height, it's at this point I have to let you know that the dishwasher lives in the Laundry simply because there is no room in the kitchen and hand washing dishes, it's not my thing.

So, I decided to make a board that would fit across all three machines

Australia's Biggest Ironing Board!

Getting supplies should have been the easiest part of this project, sadly this was not to be the case, Jules and I set off with just the babies to grab some wood. When we got there, Max, who is usually a very easy going baby, starts to scream, to the point where we just left.

In the car park, Julian picks him up and says I think he's pooed, I look up from putting Madeleine in her seat and I scream! Not only is Max covered in it but so is Julian, the poor mite had come down with gastro and it was everywhere. Julian starts dry retching, it starts pouring with rain, I'm trying to clean Max, in the back of the car, he wont stop crying and wriggling.

I get Max in the car and then Jule's points at me, I look down and I'm covered in you know what!

So after we scrub up and attend to Max, I got my supplies:

Fabric for the cover
Heat & bond
Sewing Machine & Accesorries
Wooden Board to fit across the machines
Old quilt - or quilt batting (cotton, not synthetic)
Digital Cutter for the shapes
Staple Gun/ Staples
Hot Glue Gun


First I cut the various shapes for the Ironing board cover and ironed them on to the white squares.

Then I sewed the squares together, Added a boarder, ran out of fabric so I added another one.

Then I took the quilt and hot glued it onto the board, then stapled it down. You want to make sure that it's pulled tight!

Then I hot glued the cover over that, in retrospect if I had of thought it through I would have been better off, sewing velcro and velcroing it down, but I'm a DIY newbie so, live and learn!

And here she is

Australia's Biggest Ironing Board!!!!

The reason she looks a little wonky as well as the ripples you can see, are a result of having my boys hold it up, it's REALLY heavy - if you look closely you'll see Samuel's hand.


For me, this is going in the diary as a Delight!

I'm loving the fact that I have a huge space to fold and sort the clothes and I love the little shapes.

Let me know what you think, DIY Delight or Disaster??

Thanks for reading,


Mel

A New Beginning

It's a new beginning for my Laundry.

Here she is

I hate laundry although I may get this dress, it should help right?

                                                

I'll stop rambling on and get to the point, The Laundry

I've been on Pinterest drooling over some awesome Laundry Rooms, obviously I'm a DIY newbie so I wanted to start small, and I ended up with this, a stenciled boarder (I had to stand in the kitchen to take the photo so it's not great)

I gathered up some supplies:

Vinyl and SVG file
Paint/Brushes

Cut my vinyl and stuck it on the wall, in the picture it looks like it's sloping, it's not the ceiling is, just another little quirk, ahem

I painted 2 coats of paint

and tore it off

And with much mucking around I managed to get a photo of it

So, what you think, be honest, does it go down in the diary as a delight or a disaster? Personally I like that it has added some colour but I'm not 100% sold on it, I guess I'm going to have to wait and see how this room pulls together before I can make a judgement call. Oh and if you want to see what I'm drooling over, check out my Laundry Board

Thanks for reading,

Mel xo