Have a Seat.

Day 13:

Another Craigslist find.  Madison found this gem while doing a random search of folding chairs.  We just recently had a debacle with some Ikea purchased folding chairs.  The material started to give in on us, and although I can blame some of it on too many milkshakes,  I can certainly blame 99% of it on the cheap chair.  So we did some searching for folding chairs, and came across wooden folding chairs, it already sounded like a win, especially in comparison to the tin foil we were sitting on. I put the Iphone down for this one, and picked up our Canon T3i to snap these photos...sorry I am still no good at lighting.

Wooden Stakmore Folding Chair cost us a pretty penny at $65, but after some Ebay, Amazon, and other online searches, this was actually a fair price.  We only got the one, and are currently on the hunt for number 2, with 2 being our final chair (sorry dinner guest(s)).  We wanted folding chairs, so that when we are not sitting at the dinner table, we can fold them up and store them away, hang them up on the wall, or host a great WrestleMania party!

The Doors, minus the "s"

Day 12:

Story time.  We found a door on Craigslist for $50.  It is a solid wood, glass insert entry way door that we plan to use as our front door.  We message the seller, and he gives us the cross street of where he is located.  From our apartment, the distance is a 20 some minute drive, but no big deal since its a door we really want.  A few miles from the cross street we decide to message the seller and ask for his address, since we aren't to keen on making the purchase of a door in the middle of an intersection.  He does not reply.  So while I am driving, Madison calls him and he surprisingly answers (Craigslist has some people on there who like to play games).  He says his address is something something Marco Polo drive.  We put it in our smart phone gps and it tells us to drive an extra 8 miles away. Traffic has been bad, I am almost out of gas, and now we are driving way further away than the initial cross street.  We make it to the destination but the street is not Marco Polo and the numbers are in the thousandths off. We turn around and are about to head home, when Madison pauses and says "its a joke, Marco Polo? some random address and a gps that does not compute its location?  We are scammed"  She is right, I am tempted to text him "Marco?" and see if he responds, but he calls us!  He was legit and courteous to check and see if we were still alive.  For some reason the smart phone was not smart, or operator error (cough cough, Madison!).  6 u-turns, 1 empty gas tank, 2 bad tempers, and $10 off a purchased front door later, and we were back on our way home.  Point of the story is that there is no point, I just didn't know what else to say about the door. Also we weren't going to purchase such a large item until we made it to NC, but we are too excited, and can't say no. Enjoy.

Solid Wood Door cost us $40.  The seller said the name of the wood but we forgot, I think its Elijah?  We are thinking of custom making some stained glass inserts for the top and bottom, that will be a later post.  

Matthew and Madison are going to town on the wood.  That same night of purchasing the door we got to sanding and staining.  It was a beast to sand.

It's Windy

Day 11:

A few posts back we introduced to you our purpley-pink colored fan blades, today we gave them an upgrade!  I am not sure why I choose to take photos at night when the lighting is of poor quality, but imagine it a bit lighter in color, and awe inspiring in person!  

Ceiling Fan in total cost, cost us $18.  The fan/light fixture came as a complete set but we removed the fan blades and put our previously purchased ones on.  Complete fan was bought for $16 at Stardust Building Supplies. We then took our fan blades and screen printed some of Madison's bird wing prints on them and attached them on for these awesome photos!  

Pallet Clean Up

Day 10:

Madison has had the opportunity to become the artist in residence at the Chandler, AZ Tech Shop (free membership). She was able to use their equipment for her art work, thus when showcasing her work, Tech Shop would get some of the credit.  Her residency has recently expired, so now she pays $75 a month to use their equipment. This equipment ranges from a full wood shop, full metal shop, laser cutters, 3D printers, a CNC router, all to name a few!  She was making it rain in saw dust over there.  So with Tech Shops assistance, she has been able to plane our pallet wood. "Planes are used to flatten, reduce the thickness of, and impart a smooth surface to a rough piece of lumber or timber." Thanks Wikipedia!  Here are some before and after photos.  We have a lot more wood to plane, and still even more full intact pallets to cut down and then plane.  

Pallet Wood so far is at 1/2 inch thickness.  They will very in width, from 1-5 inches, and so far they are varying in length, some are a foot and some are closer to 2 feet.  We haven't got to that point yet. But from the photos above, all the planed wood is on the right, and the pallet wood that is just cut and nothing more, is on the left.  The difference is amazing.

Motopaper

Day 9:

This project has been something we have been working on for a few weeks now.  The image started out as a screen print design for a onesie,  then we had this idea to blow it up and turn into a wall panel piece, duplicate and send them out to a few motorcycle companies.  Thought we could get some commission work, or a free motorcycle!  We started on it, but then this tiny house idea came about and we said in quotes, "lets just keep it and use it as a wallpaper piece in our home, good idea, 'high five." I know this will not get me a free motorcycle, but thats ok, its just as cool!  I was going to give you the play-by-play on how we made it all come together, but good writing shouldn't put people into a coma. So a picture is the best way to enlighten!   Enjoy

Motorcycle Wallpaper stands at about 10 feet in length and about 2 feet wide.  The wallpaper comes off a 100ft roll at about $50. The only other cost is the blue ink which cost $7.  The orange and the yellow outlines on the bike are prisma color marker.

Men craft too.

Day 8:

The planning and the purchasing has leveled off a bit for the teeny tiny weeny house, so to keep this blog from becoming a stale loaf of bread, we are crafting the curse word out of some things.  When the time comes to actually decide if we want these items in our house, me might stare at it on our wall (or counter), tilt our head to the side, squint our eyes, then pull it off the wall and throw in a nearby fire.  There is always a nearby fire where my parents live.  I think they are always doing the tilt squint and toss move, thus the eternal inferno blazes on.  But we may decide we love our creation and keep it!  Here is what we made to possibly hang on our wall in the kitchen...

Banana Yum is hand drawn by me, traced from the light table onto the fabric and then embroidered.  Madison took over after I seemed to be taking hours to finish, and she added the french knots and the "yum!"

Lawn Chair took on the same process as Banana Yum, except Madison embroidered this entire one. Check out that detail, so cool.  It might be a little wonky on the seat portion, butt we like it.

Bacon and Eggs in Frying Pan was inspired from our love of breakfast and more importantly, eating.  Madison already had the fabric and the thread on hand, but we purchased the hoops from Jo-Anns at $1.49 each.

Hook Line and Sink...er

Day 7:

As previously mentioned, Madison has returned with our $50 purchase and its amazing...and it weighs more than I do plus 50 lbs (which is like 52 lbs).  Madison found this sink on ebay, for pickup only, in North Ridge L.A.  And since she was visiting family in Santa Maria, it was on the way.  The sink was made to be ours.  It has a little wear and tear, minimal really, but I think it makes me respect the dents and scuffs even more. Check it out.

Pink Cast Iron Sink was purchased for $50 on ebay.  The sink came out of the house it has been in since it's original installation (1950's), the homeowner was interested in upgrading her look, and we feel we benefited from her upgrade!  

Make Something.

Day 6:

Madison is currently out of town visiting relatives, but more importantly,(kidding) she is bringing back with her something she purchased on ebay for the teeny tiny home.  I won't ruin it for you, but lets just say its something that is a thing, that some people think about sometimes, but not often at all actually.  I know we are really pushing the $cheap cost of things, but we spent $50 on this item and we both love it, so there.  But for today, I just wanted to show off an item Madison made for the house, and while I was thinking about it, I added some items into the photo that have been made BY us, or FOR us, that will be permanent fixtures in our home. Thats really the fun in all of this, to see how much we can actually make ourselves, without just running to the store and purchasing it. (afterthought photo added at the bottom)

  

Bowl was cut, bent, and hammered by Madison for storing fruit (nectarines) or as I will be using it, as a hat.  This item was $free to make, materials were provided. 

Picture is of my Granny Peg.  On the back of the photo it said, "my red hair," so I embroidered that phrase into the photo.  The name on the bottom, and the frame was painted by our great friend Marie Kisling who also made this...

Helmet was hand painted by Marie for $150, well under the cost of the amazing work she did on it (vrooooom).  My new hobby is anything motorcycle, and once I finally get mine running, this helmet will be on my head.

Wooden Vase was hand carved, sanded, and painted by Levi Christiansen.  Another great friend who is a skilled craftsman, photographer, and visionary.  We helped to fund his furniture making kickstarter campaign, and this was his gift to us.

Pillow is made from purchased fabric that Madison screen printed one of her many childhood homes on. She drew the house, printed it on the fabric, and used the sewing machine to close it up. I stuffed it!

Flower/Cacti Fabric is also hand drawn, screen printed, and colored by Madison.  We think we might use this fabric as a couch covering, or fun curtains.

*Fun fact side note, my wife is skilled! Such talent she has.

Cool find.

Day 5:

A bit more on the "free" Craigslist search, and we found this box of tiles.  Might use as a back splash in our kitchen or bathroom.

Tiles were $free.