Practical Creations

Since having Eli I've had more of an excuse to pursue one of my new favorite hobbies; making useful items out stuff (left over junk) lying around the house. I think I enjoy the challenge of taking what I have and figuring out how to turn it into something useful. The cheap skate inside me also takes joy in it. I also like the fact that you can make things custom to fit your needs. Here are a few of the 'creations' that have come about since Eli's arrival into the world.

When Eli was first born we had to move our bed closer to the door to fit a co-sleeper on Shannon's side of the bed, which meant my old night stand had to go. Nothing a couple 2x4's and plywood can't fix. cost - $0.

You might have guessed cloth diapers tend to get a little 'discolored' over time and sunlight's the best way we've found to bleach them. It's amazing how white they get from a little time in the sun. I figured neither of us was going to walk out in the frigid cold to hang diapers on the clothes line. With the help of a couple hooks, wooden dowels, and the edges of the sheets we bought at Goodwill to put on our bed for the birth we made contraption to hang them in front of our big pictured window. The neighbors may wonder what we have hanging in our front window. cost - -$3

As Eli grew longer our changing supplies was getting a little crammed on the end of his changing table so with the help of shelf board I bought I was able to add a little extension to his changing table, giving him a little room to grow. cost - $5 - note: the dresser in the picture we bought used, repainted and added some trim around the edges to hold the changing pad.

The latest installation was a shelf to add a little organization to Eli's closet. Used a couple 2x4's I had left from another project, some left over plywood, and a couple shelves we found at Habitat Restore. Then covered it all with some paint. It's not pretty, but it will do the job and it's in the closet so who's going to see it? cost-$6

One note of honesty. Many of these projects happened because I was sitting at home during the week or weekend with nothing to do and they provided good, cheap entertainment to keep my hands busy. I also have to thank my wonderful wife for allowing me to put my not so elegant 'practical installations' around the house.