5 Random Skills I am Glad to Have in my Twenties

Welcome to your twenties- full of adulting, bills and finding out growing up isn't quite as fun as we all thought it was. As I have moved further into my twenties, I have found myself very thankful for a few random skills I have acquired through my life. Here are the 5 biggest:

How to Decorate for Fall on a $50 Budget

My love for Fall knows no bounds.... With a brand spanking new house I was simply dying to decorate for Fall. The only issue is my lack of income thanks to Law School... I don't like to spend all my Hubby's money so I had to be very frugal. Decorating for Fall does not have to be expensive to look great. Here is how I decorated my three most used rooms on a $50 budget.

DIY Wooden Crate Coffee Table

9/28/17 Update: We still have this table in our living room and it has held up beautifully!!

Who loves a good Pinterest DIY???? I know I do! Ever since we bought our new home, I have been dying to do some DIY's. My husband and I were in dire need of a coffee table for our little living room and most of the ones we liked were out of our budget. I don't start Law School for a few more weeks so I have some spare time for projects. So of course, I got on Pinterest and did some digging and discovered this great DIY project for a coffee table made of simple wooden crates. I looked at a few variations and decided on my own unique plan of attack. SO, without further ado, here is my tutorial for a DIY wooden crate coffee table.

Supplies

4 Large Wooden Crates

A Jar of Wood Stain 

Paint Brush for Staining

Old Rag for Staining

Sand paper or Electric Sander

6 Medium length screws

Drill 

Step 1- Find Wooden Crates
I wanted to find a good deal on the crates to keep our budget low. I had been looking for a few weeks and this Sunday paper showed the crates I wanted on sale at Menards for $8.99 with a $3 mail in rebate making them an all-time low price of $5.99. I went right out and bought 4 of the crates along with a small jar of stain ($7.59).

Step 2- Sand the Crates

My next step was to sand the crates because they were slightly coarse and I didn't want any chances of splinters. An electric sander we already own made the job quick and easy. 

Step 3- Stain the Crates

Staining came next. I did two coats of our chosen stain in Golden Mahogany. The first coat was brushed on and let dry overnight. The second coat was again brushed on and then I rubbed the excess off with an old rag for a nice rustic look. I let them dry after that for 4 hours. 

The Crates after sanding and 2 coats of stain 

Step 4- Arrange and Screw Crates Together

Once the crates were sufficiently dry, I arranged them into the size and shape I wanted. I made sure to put the best sides facing outward and got them nice and straight. After this, I put 2 screws in each junction. Be careful to screw into the strong wooden ends (with the carry holes) versus the rather flimsy slates. I put in a medium sized screw that went through both crates without poking out the other side. 

  

                                          Arranged how I want them.                                      Two screws into the strong ends

Step 5- Place and Decorate

Now, I just placed my new coffee table in our living room and added some decorations. I chose to leave the center hole as is and put a tray over it. I think long-term we want to order a piece of custom cut glass to cover the whole top for durability but we haven't done this yet. 

  

 

Overall, I could not be more pleased with the project and the outcome! It completes our living room perfectly and was so simple. The color matches our other furniture, it has lovely storage and is just the right size for our small space. Eating in the living room is much easier now! 

The project in total took me about 3 hours. Sanding and staining took 2 hours and the shopping was about 30 minutes and putting it together took about 30 minutes. My total investment was $31.55- not bad for a coffee table and well within our budget! I highly suggest this project and I hope this tutorial helps you out! 

Life Update

I'm back! After a whirlwind few weeks, I am ready to jump back into blogging. I got married on July 16th and it was a dream come true. We then went on our honeymoon to Disney World and Universal Studios. We had a blast!

Now it is back to the law school prep grind and getting our little blue house put together. Here are the 5 things I am working on this week:

1. Thank You Notes
Weddings are great and our guests were SO generous. Now I need to take a chunk of time and write a thank you note to everyone. It will be time-consuming but worth it to give thanks to each and every person who helped us celebrate.

2. Settling in Our Home
My husband has been living in our house since we bought it in May but I have only now moved in full time following our marriage. There is a lot of things to do and organize and decorate. It is starting to feel more homey but it is still a work in progress. Some fun DIY projects are in the works :)

3. Orientation Reading
Law School orientation is coming up quick and I have some cases to read to prepare for the mock classes. It will be a good time to get to work on my reading skills and perfect my highlighter process of note taking.

4. Blogging
Time to get back to blogging for real. I have a ton of blogging ideas not I just need to sit down at my desk and get to typing!

5. Relaxing
I only have a few more weeks before school starts and I do want some time to relax. This weekend my husband and I are going to a baseball game with an old high school friend and we hope to check out the local zoo next week and find a good dog park. There must be some time for fun and relaxation amidst all the preparation and work.

So that is what I am up to! Hope everyone else is enjoying these last weeks of summer!