"Produce Crate" Cooler Cover {Stash-Buster Project}

My bins of wood scraps are taking over the shed.

{no pictures because the shed is such a disaster area right now!}

Luckily, I've been thinking about several projects that could use some of that wood. Here's the first one I came up with.

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The CSA we order from delivers to our home as part of the deal (so nice!), but since we're not always home on delivery day, we leave a cooler out on the front porch. And it stays on the porch all the time because there's nowhere to store it in the house (and I'd forget to put it out).

Yeah, it's not the prettiest thing around. I think the label that we never got around to taking off even though we bought this cooler years ago really adds something to it. Not something good...

(Mr M replaced the doorknob awhile ago and it required some sanding around the knob area and I haven't gotten around to repainting the door yet, hence the odd tan circle around the doorknob)

I've been pondering a solution for months now, and I eventually decided that making a "produce crate" to fit over the cooler would be a good solution. I finally had the time and energy (and the weather cooperated at the same time) to get started.

In looking through my wood stash, I found some long strips of plywood leftover from some previous project. Maybe the first shelves I built for LMS' closet? I haven't used that wood for anything else. They weren't cabinet grade oak plywood, though I do have some of those that are being used in some other projects I'm working on, and have a bit of a rustic feel to them.

the strips in front are the ones I used for this project. 

the other pieces are for two other projects I'm working on.

After measuring the wood and the cooler and drawing the plans for the crate and figuring out how to get all the pieces I needed out of the wood available, I got started building the crate.

I originally intended to have 1x2s or 2x2s in the corners, but I was able to line up the slats in such a way that they're all interconnected and quite sturdy. It does make it look a little less like an actual crate, but I'm ok with that.

I was going for a rustic look, so didn't bother breaking out the Kreg jig- all the screws are visible.

After the build was complete, I attached the lid with hinges and added a handle. I should have painted them before I attached them but I was working on it late at night and in the morning was too lazy to take them back off. I did tape the handle off, but not the hinges, then sprayed them with some ORB spray paint.

you can see the overspray on the hinges, but I knew it wouldn't be noticeable when I was finished

I used slats to hold the lid together, and sprayed the hinges on the inside, though in retrospect I probably should have just left them alone

I made stencils with my Silhouette vinyl cutter and placed them on the front and the lid, taped off around them, and sprayed them with black spray paint. I removed the stencils right away and let them dry a bit before I got to work distressing everything. It looked very new and raw- not old and weathered at all. {but I forgot to take a picture before I started the aging process}

close-up of the handle. I sprayed it with black spray paint, then washed some gray paint on top of that, then let the sander hit it in a couple spots

To age the crate, I first sanded the stenciled words. Then I brushed on watered-down gray paint, then some watered-down black paint. Some spots (especially the edges) I used less water and more paint for some variation. I just layered the paint till I liked how it looked: like it's seen some time in the fields.

I didn't have any thick sisal or cotton rope for the handles so I braided some clothesline and then soaked it in watered-down gray paint for a bit. After that I rubbed a bit a black paint on it here and there. I drilled some holes in the sides and threaded the ropes through and knotted them on the inside.

I added chain to the inside of the lid to keep the lid from falling open or whacking the wall behind it. I first thought of using the same chain I used on the shoe bin, but there wasn't enough leftover, so I used some of the chain I used on the blanket cubby.

I didn't paint the inside because most of it won't be visible. 

This is why I shouldn't have sprayed the hinges- it looks kind of ugly.

The last step was to put it on the porch, put the cooler in it, and step back and admire my work.

I love how it turned out! You can still see a bit of the red, but it's not as visible and it's not an eyesore  anymore.

An added bonus to this project: it almost didn't cost a cent! I had almost everything sitting around: the gray and black paint, the spray paint, the wood, the clothesline, the screws, the washers, and the chain. The only things I had to buy were the hinges and the handle. Though I actually bought them a couple months ago in anticipation of this project, so technically they were in my stash too :)

Stay tuned for more projects that use items we have on hand. I have some more woodworking projects plus some sewing projects in mind.

Tangled threads

As I've mentioned before, I've been doing lots of organizing and sorting. Last week I sorted through a big bag of spools of thread. I was given them by my BIL who inherited them from his mother when she died. They'd been sitting in storage for the last 15 plus years, getting more and more tangled.

I untangled them all, trimmed ends, and tucked ends into slits to prevent more unraveling.

Nice and neat and easy to find and use. I might have to get one of those spool holders so I can see which colors are which, but for now this definitely works.

It was a lovely day for our bike ride

Exercise Log:

Let's see, Monday I ran with LMS to my inlaws. Ok, that was only about a quarter mile, but it does have a good size hill in it. Nothing terribly strenuous though. Yesterday we went to the zoo with Mr. M's mom, sister and her kids, sister-in-law and her daughter, and cousin. We spent several hours walking around, pushing strollers, which doesn't sound terribly strenuous, but is definitely tiring. Today we went for a bike ride. It wasn't a terribly long one (about 3 miles), but there are at least 6 long hills on that particular route, which makes for quite a workout. Plus I haven't been biking on a regular basis, so I'm not in the best shape right now.

Progress report:

I got my ebay/shipping mess in our room cleaned up. Everything is now neatly organized and extraneous items are back in storage. Since that's taken care of for now, I pulled our my sewing machine last night and sewed some drawstring bags for our biking accessories. One for our helmets, one for my shoes, and one for misc. stuff (jackets, extra gel seat covers, etc). I didn't take pictures because while they turned out fine, they're strictly utilitarian, so nothing special. I used the same striped fabric I made LMS' apron out of. At some point I had bought several yards of this fabric, thinking it was super cute. While it is nice enough, it's not super cute, so it's been sitting around for several years. Now I only have a little left!

I've also started some seat covers for our intelligel seat cushions. We looove our seat cushions (and our mattress), but the seat cushions are just the blue gel matrix, which can get a little... sweaty... when it's hot and you're sitting for a long time. Plus we want to be able to tie them to the seats so they stop following us out the car when we get out. With our upcoming long road trip, we want to minimize both problems as much as possible before we actually leave. Thankfully our mattress does not make us sweaty- it looks like a regular mattress, with quilted upholstery covering it all.

My OCD is starting to be appeased...

Upcoming activities:

Last summer I was going to do a 50 mile bike ride with my brother when he did it for Scouts. They ended up not doing it, though, so we're going to do it this summer, in about a month. At this point, I think it's me, Mr. M, my brother, and at least one, possibly two, sisters. Mom and dad will drive the car from the start to the end. I think I'll start out with LMS, but I don't know that she'll stay with us. If she or I get tired, she can ride in the car with my parents. The route is supposed to be a gradual downhill with only a few small uphills, so hopefully it won't be too bad.

LMS trying to avoid the camera while at the zoo

More de-cluttering

Yesterday we finally got hubby's clothes sorted. We tossed a few, gave some to my dad for rags, gave some that are too small to his brother, and added a bunch to the big box to be donated. Hubby went and dropped those off (I forgot to take a picture first, though) while I rearranged our room. I'm using two short file cabinets as the base for a desk for hubby. This will serve the dual purpose of desk space for him and easy accessibility to storage space for the mountains of papers that always threaten to take over my desk.

We need to get a desk top still, then it will be useable. We'll be near an IKEA next week, so we'll stop in and get a desk top, some wood shelving units for our food storage (so we can see what we have and what we still need), and a small table and chairs for Little Miss Sunshine. I love that place. It's a good thing we don't live closer to an IKEA, because I would spend way too much time and money there.

I've got the room rearranged so everything fits, but I'm not completely happy with the layout. You can't see the computer screen from the couch anymore- it's next to the couch now- which is making me wonder if we should keep the couch in here or not. I'll keep it like this for a while, but once we get the desk top on I may move things around again.

I still need to sort through bags of clothes from LMS's cousin- pull out what I like, leave the rest- and I need to put away her winter things. After I've done that, I think I'm pretty much done with the sorting and tossing till we move into our own place. The next thing I'll do is sell the items that are actually worth something on ebay and craigslist.

However, we're off for a road trip for a week and a half, so I'm done with projects for now. I have to pack today because hubby's grandma is coming for a week-long visit tomorrow and tomorrow is the only day we'll be able to see her. We'll take off early Friday morning and do some more post-deployment stuff this weekend (feels like we just finished the last round), and then head out to CA to visit relatives and go to Disneyland. Hubby gets in free and LMS and I get discounted tickets, but only for another week or two, so we're going to take advantage of it while we can.

'Bin'ing and purging

So I've spent several days reorganizing the storage shed and sorting all our crap. How is it possible that we have so much stuff? Even more amazing is that it's all been in storage for the last year and a half, and we haven't really missed it. Ok, so we are using my parents' furniture and kitchen things, so if we lived in our own place, we would definitely need our own furniture and kitchen things. And it is nice to be able to go out and get camping stuff or biking stuff out and use them. Now that they're easily accessible. As for the rest of the stuff? While I have gotten rid of a lot of unnecessary things, I know there's still a lot that could be tossed/given away/sold. Unfortunately, I don't think I can make the best decisions regarding everything till we have our own place again and I reevaluate how often we actually use each item.

In sorting through the 3 massive bags and one bin of my clothes, I tossed some in a rag pile for my dad, the majority went in one of the big boxes (I really need to post a pict of these boxes so you can appreciate their size) to be donated, and a small portion stayed in a bin. Most of those were winter clothes, with a shirt and pair of pants that I don't fit into yet, but will. All the rest of the clothes that I was hanging onto for when I lose weight got tossed. I realized I've been hauling them around for the last 5+ years, and they've been taking up closet and storage space, but I haven't worn them. Why keep them? When I do lose weight, I want new clothes to celebrate, not old clothes I haven't worn in, well, let's just say it's been too long. When I tackled the project with that mindset, I was able to be quite ruthless in my purging. It was so nice to see just the small bin of clothes that I decided to hang onto.

I used the same thought process when sorting the 3 big boxes of misc. stuff, and was able to winnow them down to a bin half the size of one of the boxes. Some of the things did get put in their proper boxes (baby stuff, bedding, etc), so it didn't all get tossed, but I was able to get rid of a lot of useless little doodads that always seem to collect in odd drawers or baskets around the house.

We still need to sort Hubby's 5 or 6 bins of clothes, and we also need to sort our closet and dresser. Since we only have one of each, space is at a premium, and if we're not using/wearing shoes/clothes, they shouldn't be taking up valuable space. I'm really liking the 'less-is-more' philosophy.

Now if I can just keep my desk clear. For some reason, there is always a stack of papers on it, and I can never seem to completely clear it. It doesn't help that Hubby's things are now finding their way to my desk also. He really needs his own desk that he can do his homework on (he's started his master's degree and has lots of reading and writing to do). He could use mine, but I'm not willing to give it up- I like being able to log on and check something when I think of it (if I don't, I'll forget about it and only remember when I'm far away from the computer), and if he's at my desk, I can't do that. I've found one that looks good on craigslist, we just have to wait and see if it's still available and if I can talk them down a bit on the price.

Beautiful weather is here, let's see if it stays...

We've managed to start exercising again. Last Wednesday we went for a just-under-3-mile run/walk. Yesterday we went for a bike ride, and today we went for another just-under-3-mile run/walk. Both run/walks felt good, and today we drove our route so we know where the 1.5 mile mark is (for a full 3 mile run), as well as the 2 mile mark so we can work up to 4 miles. We need to improve our run to walk ratio, but so far we're doing good. The bike ride yesterday was tough. We did 2.75 miles, and I could definitely tell it's been awhile since I was last on my bike. And it's been who-knows-how-long since I rode with Little Miss Sunshine behind me. Nothing like pulling an extra 60 pounds (LMS and the trailer) behind you to give you a good workout.

After the walk today I spent 5 or 6 hours reorganizing our storage container. That's 5 or 6 hours of lifting and moving heavy boxes and bins. Hopefully I burned lots of calories. I still have more work to do tomorrow: sorting 3 really big boxes of misc. stuff and sorting through 6 bins and 3 large bags of clothing. Most of the stuff will be donated or chucked, so that will open up a bit of space in the container. I've also moved everything around, so hopefully the space is better used now. I also need to sort through 30 boxes of books and 4 trunks of Hubby's stuff. I can hardly wait...

My OCD side was definitely exerting itself today. I went through each of the boxes that have already been opened and moved everything to its appropriately-labeled box. I've been tossing everything into whichever box was open and had space. While convenient, this did not reduce clutter and chaos. I'll still have some decluttering to do when we move into our own place, but at least I'll be able to find things easier in the meantime.