Paint Me Blue

As a little break from the trip blogs, I wanted to share my latest creations!  I've finally settled in enough to start working on some craft projects.  I am never out of ideas, and especially since I am scared to death to plug my sewing machine into the wall (I really need to find the sewing store in town and see what they recommend), I have turned to wood working.

There must've been an old schoolhouse on the lot next to ours out here in Khalifa City A because there is about 30 desks with a table top and attached bench that are just all piled up.  They have been painted at least a few times.  I think the first was what I would call a sky blue and then on top of that most of them have been painted teal.  Just the perfect match for my new favorite carpet :)

Desks Piled up on our Neighbor's Lot

Close-up of Desks

The first thing that came to mind was picture frames!  We only shipped a few out (ok, well maybe it was more like 10, but there's always room for more) and I figure even if we don't actually put pictures in them, they'll be cool just empty on the walls or sitting on my desk.  I don't know if you've thought about making a picture frame, but you actually have to have a miter saw/box and a few other items that I began slowly accumulating over the past month.  I was definitely still missing one major item (sturdy nails to actually hold the frame together), but that didn't stop me once I was ready.

Actually, I should back up.  First, I made (read bought an Ikea coat rack with cool hooks and installed the hooks on my own wood) a coat rack.  We'd been looking for a standing coat rack for a while, which Paul has always loved, but all the ones out here just looked really cheap.  So I decided we needed hooks.  Now our entrance area is so organized (and the door in our bedroom can shut now that all the sweatshirts/jackets have been moved).

Our Coat Rack (hooks from Ikea)

So Organized

Back to the frame.  Two weeks before I made them, I got really nervous that all of a sudden the developer of that lot was going to come back and start building and throw away all of the benches.  So at dawn I ran out with my hammer and started prying off some pieces, brought them back, hosed them off, brushed them down, and set them out to dry.  Then we went to Nepal.  Then I finally got my chance to work on them when Paul went to go play golf one Saturday.  We took another desk and brought it all the way to our little entryway area so that I could have a surface to saw on (Paul wouldn't let me take it to the back because he didn't want the mess in the yard, understandable, but instead I'm out in our common area sawing wood and hammering while people walk by, a little weird, oh well).  Even though I measured like 3 times, I still messed up my initial first cut (I was planning to make it a square...haha).  No big deal, I just laid the cut pieces on the other board and made the same sizes again.  Then I staple gunned the pieces together.  When I picked it up and it flopped over, not surprisingly.  So I put a nail in each corner to give it more rigidity.  Definitely not a toy, but good enough to hang or sit on my desk.

My new desk area with the completed frame!

First Blue Frame

I have to say that I LOVE how the wood is chipped off at some places and you can see both colors of paint.  It is also crucial that I'm going with the worn down/beaten up look since my mitered corners weren't exactly perfect :)

Frame closeup 1

Frame closeup 2

Now I just need another free Saturday afternoon to make some more.  Hopefully the builder doesn't come back for a long time or at least I get some warning to finish all of my wood scavenging before they throw it all out.

Our last furniture purchase! (Insha'allah)
We just finished putting up the last picture
frames yesterday, we're officially settled!

It's almost like home...