Five for Friday: Instructables Edition

I spend a fair amount of time over at a site called instructables. If you don't know about instructables, you are definitely missing out. It's a site full of instructions (or instructables) on how to do, well, just about anything. From leather shoes for children to roasting pigs (caution: not for the weak of stomach but man do these guys know how to party) to 3D printed fingerprint scanning garage door access points this site has pretty much anything you might want to know about, all done by other folks around the world who just felt like sharing the different ways they've figured out how to do things. I even have my own page where I share various projects I've completed.

This Five for Friday I wanted to share five projects from instructables that I would love to do around our house.


Picnic Table

I would love some outdoor furniture. Of course, most of the sets we like are over two hundred bucks, which isn't ridiculous I suppose, it's just not in the budget right now. So, a picnic table is a great compromise. It might not be quite as "cool" or "fashionable" but it's classic and built to get beat to death by families and weather. It's also way more affordable.


Playground/Swingset

Okay, so I wouldn't necessarily build this exact playground. But it's certainly inspirational! And it provides a great jumping off point for building one myself, even if it doesn't end up being this grand. This is something that probably won't happen anytime in the too-near future; mostly because our yard jungle needs to be tamed first but I do think I would do my kids a disservice to not have some kind of swingset for them.


Shed

Isn't this the cutest shed! This looks like a rugged structure from which I could work on manly projects. This is the next BIG project I want to complete. I really don't want to keep my tools and lawnmower and weed eater in the corner of the yard under a tarp anymore. I also love the idea of having a shed with an overhang roof like this so that I could work outside but still be in the shade, and if I ever get a riding lawnmower I could park it under there.


Secret Door

This one is more of a joke... for now. There's just no place in our house to really utilize a secret door. However, in some future house I fully intend on creating some sort of hidey-hole nook or passageway that I can hide with a bookcase door or some other mysterious and secretive entryway.


Deck

We really feel like a deck would add TONS of value to our home, and I don't just mean resale value. In a small house, every square inch is precious and putting some useful ones in the back yard would be great. Besides, both of our kids seem to love the outdoors (though Grayson tends to like digging it up while Alice just enjoys staring at it) and it would be great to have somewhere outside where we could sit and watch to make sure they don't eat too much grass and dirt relax while they enjoyed the great outdoors.


Most of these projects are kind of big outside projects since that's sort of what's been running through my brain a lot lately. I may continue to hijack the Five for Friday post every once in a while to feature more instructables in the future. Next time maybe I'll feature some smaller projects, potentially more décor focused. We'll see. In the meantime, I hope you enjoyed this (first) edition of Five Instructables for Friday!

A Grayson Moment

So, I guess this is becoming a thing.

Maybe it's a cheap way to get a post up on a Friday. 

Maybe it's because we just think he's cute and so gosh darn amusing and we just can't resist the impulse to share him with the world. (The World = our family and indulgent friends who read this to make us feel good. We love you. Please keep it up.) 

But you can't have him, he's ours.

Daddy leans over to kiss Mamma 'goodbye' before going to work.

Grayson: (puts a hand over Mamma's mouth) No! I want to keep her!

***

Playing around on an old caboose at the Richmond Railway Museum (link).

Grayson: (showing Mamma the handrail mounted on the wall beside the seat.) These are for you to hold cause it's bumpy and you have to hold it or you might fall out the window. And fall on to the train tracks and then you would go, "Aaaahhh!!"

***

Well, I hope he makes you chuckle. He makes me chuckle. And buy him cupcakes. (Oh, Joseph will tell you, I'm not kidding.) 

Have a lovely Friday and a fantastic weekend! (Especially all the new homeowners we know. Please share how you're settling in and making your new space feel like "yours".) I think our plans include hauling some mulch, painting our bedroom (the last room to get some paint before this baby gets here), some more chainsawing action on Joseph's part (can't wait for that post) and spiffying up an awesome Goodwill find I can't wait to share! 

A(nother) Moment with Grayson

Grayson, our two-and-a-half-year-old, never ceases to amuse us. (Sometimes we wish he would so that we can tell him with a straight face why splatter painting with cottage cheese or picking up milk with your fingers isn't always a good idea. I mean, there's a time and a place for everything...usually, for activities like these, it would be after Mommy and Daddy have had their coffee....and also won the lottery.)

So, because it's Friday, I thought I would share with you a couple of moments from this week that made us smile. 

Grayson and Mamma, sitting in the car in Nana's driveway.

Mamma: (turning around to face Grayson) Boo!

Grayson: (overcome with laughter) What??

Mamma: (ditto) Boo! 

Grayson: (dissolving in hysterics. I'm just that funny.) What??!

Mamma: (feeling very silly, does this again)

Grayson: Wha....Wha....What's wrong with you?

*****

Grayson, Mamma and Daddy, driving down the road, listening to a Top 40 Station. (Grayson likes dance music, or anything with a good beat.) A song with some suggestive lyrics comes on. 

Mamma and Daddy sit awkwardly, each wondering if we should change it or if that would cause an issue.

We sit for another minute. 

This song really is terrible. 

Grayson: I don't like this song.

Mamma and Daddy laugh so hard we almost have to pull over. 

****

I hope that made you chuckle. And, if it didn't, lie and tell me that it did. 

Have a happy Friday and a lovely weekend! We've got some mulch to spread, some dead plants to haul, a table to paint and some shelves to install. 

Sounds like a good time.