Project Sip: Stop! Apple Thyme By: Grace Bonney

Kathryn McCrary and Jenn Gietzen are on a mission – a mission to share delicious and seasonal cocktail recipes with all of their friends online. They’ve already created an incredible peach margarita and raspberry gin drink and today they’re looking to one of my favorite fall activities – apple picking – for their libation inspiration. Today’s cocktail, part three of their “Project Sip,” is a flavorful Apple Thyme cocktail that pairs homemade apple brandy and lemon with fresh thyme and whiskey bourbon. If you need a little extra warmth on a cool fall day, this has “End-of-the-week-drink on the porch” written all over it. Thanks so much to Kathryn and Jenn for sharing this with us and to Candice Beaty for playing the role of hand model! xo, grace

Click through for the full recipe after the jump!

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via Design*Sponge http://ift.tt/Yjc56g From Grace Bonney

Kitchen cart turned bathroom vanity By: Kelly

Materials: Groland kitchen cart

1. Before assembling all pieces were stained with Minwax Early American. I first brushed on wood conditioner according to instructions and then applied a single coat of stain with a foam brush. I whipped the stain off after 30 minutes.

2. I applied three thin coats of matte polyurethane to the butcher block top, allowing to dry at least 2 hours between coats. I then lightly sanded the surface with 180 grit sand paper. I applied two more thin polyurethane coats and sanded with 220 grit sand paper to achieve a smooth finish. I finished off with two final coats of polyurethane.

3. I cut 6 inches off the bottom of each leg to shorten the cart to an appropriate height for use with a vessel sink. I assembled according to the instructions. I then marked and drilled the holes for the drain and faucet.

via IKEA Hackers http://ift.tt/1DClneH From Kelly

After the Jump: Monster Mash Up By: Grace Bonney

This week I took a short break from blogging and social media to work on a special collaboration that’s coming up on Design*Sponge soon, but is still under wraps. Because I was away from the office and studio, the team at Heritage Radio, where I host After the Jump every week, had the clever idea to create a mash-up show where we took three successful shows from the archives and combined them to focus on one larger topic.

So this week’s monster mash-up episode is devoted to GETTING YOUR CREATIVE BUSINESS OFF THE GROUND! In this episode I’ll tackle how to overcome procrastination and make yourself an a more efficient (and healthier and happier) business owner, how to discover your voice and translate it to social media and how to work on plans to grow your business with integrity while maintaining your original vision and spirit. I don’t often get a chance to look back on earlier shows and topics, so this was so much fun. To see all these topics together makes so much sense and hopefully it will be a great resource to anyone looking to jumpstart their business or take their first steps toward starting their own creative company. Thanks for listening! xo, grace

*Thanks to Anne Ditmeyer for the photo above!

via Design*Sponge http://ift.tt/1BbiDAT From Grace Bonney

Lack Coffee table Remix By: will.mandengue

Coffee table made using 2 high gloss LACK tables and a set of 4 ALGOT casters

via IKEA Hackers http://ift.tt/1uZRXTC From will.mandengue

Hemnes Entryway Hack By: Katie Mutter

Materials: Hemnes Bookcase, Hemnes Bridging Shelf, Hemnes TV Bench

Based on some other Ikea hacks, we used a Hemnes TV bench, bookcase, and bridging shelf to create an awesome entryway for our house.

Steps:

1. Cut, sand, and stain a piece of pine to make the top of the bench. We purchased a board of pine and a 1×2 to make a trim, attached the trim, and then stained it to match other wood in our home. You will want to do this step first because the stain and varathane takes a number of days to complete.

2. Assemble all three pieces of Ikea furniture.

3. Remove baseboards from your entryway.

4. Put the Ikea pieces in place and secure to the wall.

5. The baseboards in our house didn’t cover the space under the TV stand and bookshelf, so we needed to add an extra piece of wood under those two pieces so that we could attach the baseboards. We also added some extra support under the TV bench to help support people sitting on the bench. Once the wood is attached, put the baseboards onto the front. This helps give the piece a built-in look.

6. Fill in any gaps or holes using wood filler and caulking. Paint all of the furniture and trim. Paint the wall in between the bench and the bridging shelf. We also did a section of chalkboard paint.

7. Attach the bench seat. We just used glue, but you could screw it in as well.

8. For the framework on the wall, we used 1x2s and 1x3s. We just decided on a pattern we liked and then cut the pieces to fit.

9. We then painted the pieces and attached them to the wall.

10. Touch up any paint. Add caulking to fill in holes.

11. Add hooks.

12. Decorate as desired!

via IKEA Hackers http://ift.tt/1uZpjly From Katie Mutter

Sideboard revival with LACK and KALLAX By: WD Webdesign

Materials: LACK shelf with KALLAX bookcase

We bought the shelves for the wall, but it was too complicated to fix them at the wall. So we thought about what to do? And that was the moment when the idea was born: Putting together the LACK shelves with the KALLAX bookcase we created an original piece for our Webagency WD WebdesignL s.r.l. in Italy.

via IKEA Hackers http://ift.tt/1umwIMW From WD Webdesign

Double Lack laptop table By: Alexander Pruss

Materials: Two Lack tables

I wanted a table that could be used for a laptop by the sofa. This table is made from two Lack tables.

Take a Lack leg. Cut a segment at one end two leg-widths in length. (If you’re using a saw with a wide kerf–I used a miter saw–then make sure that the kerf goes on the long side of the cut, so the short segment is as close to two leg-widths.)

Be careful cutting. Apart from MDF blocks at the two ends, the legs are hollow.

Repeat with three other legs. You will now have four shorter legs, and four short segments. Make all the legs as close to the same length as possible, e.g., by setting a stop on a table or miter saw.

The legs are hollow inside. Shake out the sawdust, and cut wooden block inserts (3/4″ softwood is what I used) to fit the hollow ends at the cut. You will need eight inserts cut and (if necessary) sanded to size. Glue them into the hollow ends, making sure that the inserts are flush.

The four short leg segments have the MDF with predrilled holes on one side. Attach that side to the underside of one tabletop with the standard two-sided Ikea Lack leg attachment screws, and do this for all four short segments. Make sure that the segments are all screwed in equally hard.

You now have a super-short Lack table! Place it upside down, with the “legs” (i.e., the short segments) sticking up. At the bottom (or top, when upside down) of each vertical segment you will have the wooden block you glued in.

Drill holes all the way through the second tabletop, about 1/2″ or 3/4″ diagonally away (e.g., towards the center of the tabletop) from the leg attachment holes. Put this tabletop upside down on top of the vertical segments from the first tabletop and align the tabletops carefully. Now, continue one of the holes you just drilled into the wooden block in the segment that is now under it, while keeping the tabletops aligned. Enlarge the top end of the hole to countersink your wood screw. Now run a wood screw through what you just drilled. This will connect the second tabletop (which will eventually form the shelf) to the short segment that is connected to the first.

You still have four legs that were shortened by removing the vertical segments from them. They have MDF blocks on one side, with Ikea’s predrilled holes, and your wooden inserts on the other. Connect the MDF block side to the tabletop with Ikea’s two-sided screws. If you’re putting it on a wooden floor, I recommend putting felt pads on the other side of the legs (the one with the wooden inserts).

If you like, you can say you’re done now. The resulting table with a shelf has an elegant Ikea-like look. (You can also make it a bit taller by using the uncut legs instead of the cut ones.)

However, because the shelf has no edges, stuff you put on the shelf can slide out. Moreover, any mess on the shelf is visible. For that, there is one more step.

I added raised edges to the by cutting the remaining four Lack legs to fill the space between the vertical supports on three of the four sides of the table.

via IKEA Hackers http://ift.tt/1rtNBmT From Alexander Pruss