Pay It Forward - Versatile Blogger Award

Thanks so much to Alison at Stuff and Nonsense for this..!

Great fun! :D Now I have to share 7 random facts about myself with you all, so here we go!

1) I'm an only child. My parents tried for 7 years and were a week away from going on IVF when mum found out she was pregnant.

2) When I was little I wanted to be an entomologist! The thing that changed it all - I learned that to study bugs, a lot of the time you have to.. uh.. make them not-alive :P No thank YOU!

3) I do many of the "manly duties" in our house. These include but are not limited to: catching spiders and other creepy crawlies that get into the house, opening jars, unwrapping Chuppa Chups and investigating the shed when we suspect there's a snake in there. Lucky I'm so tough ;)

4) When I was little I jumped out of a tree because I thought Astro Boy would come and catch me. He didn't.

5) I'm terrified of public speaking. Sooo... I became a teacher and will have to talk to a large group of people everyday, YAY! Hang on, I see a flaw in this plan..! Not really, teaching is incredibly rewarding and I just love little kids! I can't wait to finish my PhD and get out there!

6) TMI Warning! I'm allergic to myself! Not in a life-threatening way (phew!) but I have lots of pigment-free white patches on my skin where my body attacks it's own cells and I'm allergic to the natural oils in hair. I get all sneezy :P

7) The thing I want most in the whole wide world is to have kids of my own. I would love to be a stay at home mum. BUT we need to get the whole financial security thing, and the engagement/wedding thing for that matter, sorted out first ;)

Well, I hope that wasn't too boring or weird!

Now to pay it forward! I would love to pass this award on to these lovely bloggers:

Silly Precious Piggies

The Littlest Crafter

Grey Luster Girl

Backstitch Baby

Crafty Ady

3 Sweet P's

Adelaide Lemonade

I really enjoy reading all of your blogs, thanks so much for doing what you do! <3

Rules:
1. You have to thank the person who awarded you & link them back in your post and let them know you "accept" the award
2. Tell everyone 7 random facts about yourself
3. Pass the award to 7 lovely bloggers
4. Contact each blogger and let them know you have passed this award onto them

We'll forgive you if you don't feel like playing though ;)

Flute Board Boxes

A few months back we bought a pair of cubed bookcases that were on sale at Le Cornu (2 for the price of 1, ftw!) We went shopping for boxes that would fit our bookcase spaces and could not find ANYTHING that would use the space well! You see, the spaces are quite tall and wide, but they're shallow and we could only find actual cubed boxes. So time for a bit of D.I.Y!

Being students, we didn't have the riches to get wooden boards like I wanted to, and I'm a bit of a wimp when it comes to salvaging stuff ;) so these boxes are temporary, and are made with flute board from Bunnings. I think they'd probably be great for a kids room, or some other place where you want to mix things up a lot or only need lightweight storage. It'll be really easy to pull the decoration off the front and replace it with something else to match a new look.

What you need:

• Flute board
• Masking tape and duct tape (yes, I used both! You can probably get away with just using duct tape)
• A pencil, metal ruler and a Stanley knife
• Scrapbook paper or fabric for decorating

What to do:

First, measure the dimensions of your space.

Cut rectangles of flute board according to the following dimensions (the "2cms" is clearance so when you put the whole box together it actually slides easily in and out of your bookshelf space!). Use a pencil and ruler to mark the flute board then hold the metal ruler against the line and use it as a guide as you cut these pieces out with a Stanley knife:

• 2 x "front/back" - width of space - 2cm x height of space - 2cm
• 2 x "side" - depth of space - 2cm x height of space - 2cm
• 1 x "base" - width of space - 2cm x depth of space - 2 cm

Tip: Score one side of the flute board with the Stanley knife, then bend the flute board open. When you turn the flute board over, you'll be able to see very easily where to cut. (Thanks go to my dog Benny for including Buzzy Bee in the first photo)

Using masking tape (or duct tape if you want, but I found masking tape easier to work with for this step) tape each "side" to either side of the "base", then tape the "front/back" pieces on as well. No real trick here, it's a little fiddly but flute board is pretty light so you'll manage :) I like that I can strip the masking tape off if I make a mistake and reapply it easily.

When the box shape is complete, strengthen it up using the duct tape. I covered all edges, inside and out, to ensure the box was as strong as it could be. I then threw the box around the room to prove to myself that it was sturdy - it was!! ;)

Now, you have an ugly but functional box (or three!) that should fit nicely in your space.

  

Decorate the front (and inside and sides if you have enough paper/fabric and feel like it!). I used scrapbook paper, double sided and "transparent" tapes and some sticker ribbon. I'd glue gun fabric. 

I'll admit that my boxes are a bit lame :P I plan to replace the paper with fabric as soon as Uni starts back and I get some extra hours at work ;) I want to put some tubing or something around the tops to cover up that ugly top edge too. I'll share again when they're improved!

Extra tip: The sizes needed for my boxes were a bit awkward and I had to use two pieces of flute board for one box, which left odd sized leftover bits. Instead of buying more sheets of flute board to make the other boxes, I pieced the spare bits together for some of the sides. This won't be as strong, but it will be OK for our use :)

Google Follower Widget Added!

Since I've actually been sharing my blog with people lately (and a big THANK YOU to everyone for their lovely, encouraging comments! It's been just wonderful!) I decided it was time to add the Follower widget (see the left side bar). So if you'd like to follow through that, please do! I'm only just starting out, so it's a little lonely ;)

Today I busily worked on making some flute board boxes for my cubed bookshelf, so I will share how I did that tomorrow!

Here's a sneak peek to keep you going: