Rustic Wood Wall Art - Part 1

The last project I have to complete for Con-Man's new Big-Boy room is some wall art. There is a large wall with nothing on it that is screaming for some personality.

I was stuck for a while but inspiration came from this image from Pottery Barn Kids:

I really like the simplicity of the wood anchor. And I thought it would be a nice tie in with Con-Man's vintage desk. Since his room is "Transportation Theme" I thought a car instead of an anchor would be cool.

To get started I scavenged some pallets from the back of an old warehouse and set out to take it apart.

I used a circular saw to cut my pieces off. I've found that trying to pull the boards out with a crow bar is pretty tough; and since I didn't need the full length of the wood this works well. I've also seen people use a Sawz All to cut through the nails if you did need a full board.

Once I got all my pieces cut off I had to even them out. The circular saw was not very accurate. I took the shortest board and traced it to get the measurement for the rest of them. Then used a jig saw to cut them down.

Since the wood is from old pallets I sanded my boards down some to get rod of any splinters, rough edges and dirt. 

Now that I have all my pieces prepped and ready, my next question is how to decorate them? I'm debating on trying to cut out a race car silhouette like the anchor in my inspiration or try to paint it on the wood like this art work was done:

I'm hesitant about cutting the silhouette because my art work is 3 separate pieces instead of 2; how will I attach all my boards together after I cut out the middle? I'm also worried about painting something and having it not come out looking all that great.

See the final product here!!

What do you think? What would you do?

What I've Been Eating Wednesday - Now on Friday

This whole post was supposed to go up on Wednesday; but somehow even though I know I saved it it disappeared. Pretty irritating. 

Anyway, I've seen people's What I Wore Wednesday Posts and I thought I'd do a What I've Been Eating Wednesday Post- just for today.

I love to cook mainly because I like to eat. For a while I had been posting my food and recipes but discontinued that since my pictures were never as pretty as real food bloggers and I'd end up eating half of what I cooked before I could take a picture of it. So most of what you'll see below is photos from the original websites.

What I wanted to talk about today was a new diet I've been on since I've been pregnant. I don't really think of it as a diet so much; more like a healthier way of eating. It's called the Paleo Diet. It basically calls for eating natural unprocessed foods; lean meats, lots of veggies, fruit, nuts, & berries. It's based on the way Paleolithic Man used to eat. (Supposedly he was one healthy guy!) The big thing is that there are no grains and very little dairy in this diet.

This was a big change for me since my meals have always been the same- high fiber cereal for breakfast, turkey sandwiches on whole grain bread for lunch, and often whole grain pasta for dinner. Sounds healthy right? Why would I go and change it if it's been working for me? 

Well since getting pregnant with Tiny Falcon #2 my usual diet seemed to be giving me some trouble. Serious indigestion, painful heartburn, embarrassing other stuff that comes with indigestion (you know what I mean?). 

My Crossfit coach is the one who mentioned the Paleo way of eating to me and I thought I'd try it out since nothing else was working. And a lot of doctors suggest a high protein diet for pregnant women anyway so what did I have to lose?

It took some extra planning for meals and shopping for different things but I've felt a lot better and all my internal issues have pretty much vanished.  

Here's some of what I've been eating:

Breakfast- mainly eggs or homemade fruit smoothies but some other good stuff as well:

100 Calorie Egg Cups

Banana Bread French Toast & Banana Bread

Omelets with lots of veggies

Almond Banana Pancakes

Almond Flour Coconut Waffles

Lunch & Dinner Stuff:

Almond Crusted Chicken Breast & Butternut Squash

Sausage & Spaghetti Squash Bake

Loaded Veggie Cauliflower Pizza (good but will never replace real pizza for me)

Pumpkin Sausage Soup

Turkey Stuffed Peppers

Spicy Turkey Chili w/ Sweet Potato Fries

Herbed Spaghetti Squash

Desserts & Snacks:

Spring Rolls

Caramel Bars

Fudgy Brownies

Choco Energy Bites

So there you have it. I small sampling of the variety a Paleo Diet can offer. Since I'm not a Paleo purist I do eat cheese on occasion, and I made this the other day:

Crawfish Monica

So not good for you but sooooo good! I'm from Louisiana and pretty much everything Cajun is rice or pasta based. I had to give in. And I haven't been able to give up ice cream. Sorry- Paleo Ice Cream just isn't the same. I am pregnant after all!!

Will I continue a Paleo Diet after Tiny Falcon #2 makes his appearance? I don't know. It takes prep and planning, and going out to eat is difficult. But I like the way it makes me feel and I like eating healthy. So we'll see how it goes.

Have you tried a Paleo Diet? What do you think about it?

Ramsign Giveaway Winner!

Thank You Ramsign for the great Giveaway and thank you to everyone who entered!!

The winner is:

Drawing #9,906 PRIVATE

Ramsign Giveaway 7th drawing held by Rachelle Falcon Completed on Wednesday, 25 April 2012 at 02:35:48 UTC 46 entrants, 1 winner

Winners (1)

 1st: 21

Doreen - Hymns and Verses said... 21

Just became your newest blog follower!

April 16, 2012 3:08 PM 

Doreen from Hymns and Verses!

Congratulations Doreen! Please send me your contact info so I can forward it to the folks at Ramsign.

Again thank you to everyone who entered and welcome to all the new followers! I really appreciate your taking the time to enter these giveaways and read my blog.

Have a wonderful day!

Reclaimed Barn Wood Welcome Sign

My parents came in this weekend- all the way from Houston to visit us in Oklahoma. Yay! It was nice to have them here and show them around our town. So this post will be short and sweet.

Today I thought we'd take a break from Con-Man's Big Boy room and share another fun sign that I made. I had scored these 2 pieces of old barn wood for free a few months ago.

I painted the rectangular one already and had been waiting for inspiration for the arched one. And the other day inspiration came. Since it is rather large I thought making it functional instead of just a plain old sign. So I made it into a coat hanger!

After prepping the wood in the same manner I did my "Home Sign." Then using my Silhouette I made the Welcome Template and printed it out on contact paper. (it's hard to see since it's clear.) This is the first time I used contact paper with the Silhouette and it worked really well. And it worked really well during painting- my edges came out very crisp.

I used DecoArts Craft paint~

Then painted the wording~ I took the contact paper off before the paint could dry all the way as to not risk any of the paint peeling off.

Ta Dah! I gave the wording a light sanding and sealed it.

Then it was time for the hooks. I used painters tape to make sure they were aligned and even.

Then all done!

Now I just need to figure out where to hang it!

How was everyone else's weekend? Any fun projects to report?

Easy DIY Step Stool

Anyway- the real reason we're here today. Check out this cute step stool I made for Con-Man's room.

His new Big Boy Bed is pretty tall so I needed something for him to be able to get in and out of it easily. I could have bought a stool, sure- but what fun would that be? Plus I had MDF scraps leftover from his bed that were just begging to be used in a project. So this stool was essentially free!


I started with these directions I found online. They were pretty simple and easy to follow. 


All you need is:

• speed square;
• tape measure;
• pencil;
• compass (or other method for circles);
• Kreg pocket hole jig (or drill with counter sink bit); and
• woodworking clamps.
• Wood Glue & Screws (I used 1 1/4")

The directions say to use a Kreg Jig but I didn't have access to one, so I just predrilled and counter sunk my screws. The filled in the holes with wood filler.

Almost done!

When I brought it home Con-Man thought it was his own special table/seat and proceeded to eat his cheese stick while sitting on it.

Here it is all finished and primed in his room:

The stool isn't completely finished yet. I primed it white but am having a hard time deciding whether to paint it orange like the accent stripe in his room or another color like green or blue. Or should I leave it white? Any thoughts?

So far I'm loving how it turned out and that he uses it all the time. What's the best free project you've thrown together?

I still have one more kinda big project to finish for his room before I do a big reveal. Then after Con-Man's room is done it's on to Tiny Falcon #2's room!

Linking Here

Ramsign Giveaway!

*This Giveaway is Now Closed. Check back soon to see who won!*


Happy Monday Everyone! It's Giveaway time and have I got a good one for you! 


Have you see this site? Ramsign Classic Enamel Signs

They make the coolest handcrafted Porcelain Enamel Signs. They have lots of colors, fonts, and shapes to choose from. These beautiful signs are a great way to add some fun and character to your home for Spring!

They do custom orders, ship world wide, and have great customer service. I love how they can go with any home decor or style.

The winner will get to choose any house number sign with 1-5 digits of any size and design. Awesome right?!

To Enter:

1. Visit Ramsign's Website and take a look around. Let me know which sign is your favorite.

Bonus Entries:

2. Become a Follower of Adventures In Creating! If you already are, just leave a comment below.

3. Like Ramsign on Facebook and leave a comment that you did. Let them know that Adventures in Creating sent you! 

Fine Print Mumbo Jumbo: This giveaway opens today and ends Monday April 23 at 9PM CST. Winner will be chosen using Random.org and will be announced shortly after. I will contact the winner via email. I am not compensated for this giveaway- I love what Ramsign does and want to share with awesome opportunity with you!

Good Luck!