DIY: Book Mobile Part 2

If you missed it, see part one here.

Once we got the dowels into place we had to secure them somehow, we decided that Gorilla Glue was the best method. I don't have any pictures of this part, sorry (no cookie for the blogger). What we did was force the dowels through the holes and just before they hit the wood we wet both the bottom of the table and the dowel and put the glue down and forced the two together. We then just had to weight it down while it cured. We let this sit overnight so that it was fully cured before we filled the top of the dowel rod holes with wood putty but we could have moved into filling the holes after a few hours.

We just filled the holes with wood filler and a putty knife and just smoothed it out. We had to wait again to let that dry, then after several hours there were a couple holes we had to go over the holes again, then finally we had to sand the entire top of the table with some fine grit sand paper. 

Once that was done we I was too impatient to wait until I painted the whole thing and let it dry to add the casters so we just screwed those in before I painted it. Once that was done I painted the top, dowels, bottom and sides in Glidden Toasted White. 

Looks pretty great, huh? Here is a shot with it holding some books.

I am thrilled with how this project turned out. I have some minor tweaks to work out (like getting the paint out of the metal pieces on the top) but over all it turned out great.

Now the break down of project cost and time:

Project Cost

• Spool- free thanks to Home Depot
• 3/4" dowels- 4 x $3.50 = $14
• Glidden Paint-1 Quart $7.00
• Casters- 3 x $6.00= $18.00
• Gorilla Glue, Paint Bushes, Wood putty and putty knife, sand paper, tools- free, we already had everything

Total Cost: $39.00

Not too shabby, but I must say, I was really picky about what casters I used, if I hadn't been the cost would have been a lot less.

Estimated Time of Project Completion

• Hammer down nails and filling with wood filler- 1/2 hour
• Measure and drill holes for dowels- 1/2 hour
• Cut dowels to size- 1/4 hour
• Secure dowels- 5 hours (this includes glue curing time)
• Fill tops of dowel rod holes- 4 hours (this includes dry time for wood putty)
• Sand top of table- 1/4 hour
• Secure Casters- 1/4 hour
• Paint- 1 hour

Total Time: 11 hours 45 minutes

There you have it, now I am ready to move on to the next project! Just have to figure out which one.

Working at the Car Wash...er...not quite

I literally walking into my house about 10 minutes ago and already I'm in sweats with a drink in my hand. So I now have two jobs. Both of which are part-time, which is great. It offers me a nice change up. I have only had two jobs a grand total of a week, but it's been a great week. A little tiring but not at all boring. See for the first time in my life. I love my jobs. I mean I looove them. Both are awesome in their own unique ways. It's fantastic.

Both of my jobs had a little segment in the orientation/handbook about blogging and social networking in respect to the company, which I understand. They don't want you bashing your company, which is totally understandable. I mean how awful would that be to get fired because of some Internet thing where you were letting out steam. Not that I would be that stupid. I mean my blog is out there for the world to see, it's not exactly the forum to say negative things about work. I think talking a little about my jobs is okay as long as I'm not bashing or divulging company secrets.

My first job that I have had for about a little while is with Columbus Metropolitan Library. It's a really great job. It keeps me on my toes both literally and figuratively. I find that I have enough stimulation and movement that I don't ever get bored. Honestly, probably one of the best I have every had in my life. I feel really comfortable saying that now because I have been there for a while and am starting to find my rhythm, it's a great fit for me.

My second job is newer and therefore I don't feel very comfortable talking about it yet. I will say that I enjoy it and that I have a lot of fun there, it's also looking to be a pretty good fit but I'm not even out of training yet so we'll see in a week or so how I feel. I sincerely don't think there will be any problems. I just feel that confident.

Now, I've worked an 11 hour day and would like to go to bed, so see you all on the flip side.

My nerdy-ness shines through

I'm not completely sure if I ever really let everyone in on the geekery that takes place in our household. Andy is a certified geek through and through, he had a stack of magic cards, played World of Warcraft for a long time, knows the Lord of the Rings movies by heart, all theses things I find adorable and I love about him. I am semi-geek as well Andy says I am more of a nerd, and there is a difference I promise you. Call a geek a nerd and you'll be sorry, in the sense that you'll be lectured on the subtle complex differences of each label (which is BORING). However, I digress. My biggest geek/nerd weakness? Reading, I could stay at home all day and just read and read and read until my eyesight goes bad. Now I know many of you might think, reading, big deal, that doesn't make you a geek. I agree. It is my favorite books series that places me in the nerd category. The fact that I lined up to buy the last couple of books when they were released, I have and will go to future movie releases at midnight to see it on the big screen, and I can lay down trivia about this series like it's nobody's business. I have read this series multiple times, cried when characters have died and gave myself headaches to finish books in mere hours. It is a book series I love so much I am permanently placing a reminder of it in my skin.