A New Hobby

I found this blog the other day, and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since! Let me back up first....I am the type of person who loves to look through the Pottery Barn magazines, "ooh" and "aah" at a few things, get a decorating idea here or there, but never buy anything from them. I love to see the look and find it somewhere else for way, way cheaper.
For instance, our bed. I love our bed. After 7 1/2 years of using Jason's old queen mattress and bedframe, I bought a king-sized bed and new bedframe when we moved to Blueberry Lane. I will admit that I kind of bamboozled my husband with the idea to look at a mattress sale, and then made the command decision to get the bedframe too...and "make it a king while you're at it!". I think his head was still spinning when we left the bedding store. But, my wrought iron bed looks a lot like a Pottery Barn bed that sells for $849 (+$150 for s/h). I bought ours for $299 (and no s/h).
All that to say, when I found this website, my heart did a little leap inside me. This girlie-girl mom who lives in Alaska has a blog called Knock Off Wood (knockoffwood.blogspot.com). She loves the look of the furniture at places like Pottery Barn but couldn't afford it, let alone the shipping of it to Alaska. So she made her own....many times copying the same look as she found in magazines. And she has this fabulous blog with very simple and clear lists of the shopping lists you need from the orange or blue store (as she calls it), the few tools you'll need, and then easy-to-understand FREE plans for how to make that piece of furniture.
So this coming weekend, I'm going to make my first project. I'm so excited! I'm already dreaming of all the furniture I could make for our house...stuff that looks like PB but costs thousands of dollars less! This weekend, I'm going to make a kid-sized picnic table. I have needed one for outside for the kids...especially when we have guests over. A few boards, a few tools, $30, and a few hours of my afternoon. And the best part is...I get to paint it whatever fun yummy color I choose. Stay tuned!