Fun With DIY- Part 1

While growing up I was fortunate enough to have a mother who was very confident and self-reliant. She became a single parent in the 1960's when I was 6 years old and my sister was almost 4. Luckily, my grandfather was one of those men who never tried to discourage his daughters from trying things that were traditionally “men's jobs”. He taught them how to use tools, and it wouldn't be unheard of for my mom or aunt to help him fix the garage, put in a concrete sidewalk or change out a window.

As a single parent, saving money was a necessity so Mom never hired anyone to do the jobs that she and Poppa could do themselves. He was incredibly good with his hands and worked as a master mechanic in the gold mines of Northern Ontario. Between them they did all kinds of DIY projects including plumbing, framing and minor electrical. When I was 14 my mom and Poppa bought a house to renovate and resell, back when the term “flipping houses” wasn't even a thing. I spent that very hot summer (as their unpaid labour) tearing down walls, ripping up flooring, keeping the work site clean and filling the dumpster.

Mom on the work site 1975

Poppa mixing concrete

Because of my mom's influence I learned how to use common tools, a drill and a jigsaw, and came to enjoy DIY projects myself. And, in turn, I've passed those skills onto my daughter, Kate. One year for Christmas she asked for a set of her own tools when she moved into her first apartment. We got most of those for her, and our son, Alex, pitched in and got her a hammer. 

Kate's definitely a lot more adventurous than I am...she called Alex (who's an electrician) and over the phone he took her step by step while she changed out a ceiling light fixture! (Momma's so proud of them.)

There's a great feeling of satisfaction when you can do stuff yourself. I absolutely love taking cast-off furniture, making it beautiful again and saving money at the same time. We've all been there at one time or another in our lives...young kids, a mortgage, countless household bills...and the money doesn't go as far as it needs to. 

When our kids were little (and we were stay-at-home moms) I remember “garage saling” with my friend, Mary, countless Saturday mornings. It was our time out together without any kids in tow and our chance to get some real bargains. For 5 or 6 years we clothed our children and got all of their toys with garage sale finds, and I was always on the lookout for solid, well built wood furniture that I could fix up. Not only that, but as a quilter I sometimes scored some great tools and fabrics too! 

One of my great finds was a pair of really ugly solid wood nightstands for $10 for the pair. They were used as they were in my kid's rooms for a couple of years and then I decided to do something with them. They had a solid front at the base so I got out the jigsaw to cut out “legs”, added a shelf in the centre opening, painted them a beautiful deep purple and added new hardware. They're still in our bedroom to this day. (Check out the lamp in the before photo...another DIY project...Kate's little handprints in paint on the lampshade!)

Another yard sale find was in Eastern Ontario while we were at the cottage. A Singer treadle machine base was peeking out from under a pile of junk. I paid about $40 for it (which was quite a bit of money in garage sale terms circa 1996), but I had to have it. I knew that with a beautiful wood top it would make a great hall table so I had a friend make the top out of oak. Kate and Alex did a great job cleaning up the base in preparation for paint (get a load of their looks of concentration!). 

At one point when she was about 5 or 6 Kate asked for a desk in her room to do “homework” (AKA colouring). I lucked out at yet another yard sale and found a desk for $15 and proceeded to put my own unpaid labour to work (mom fixed the paint runs and did the second coat of paint). 

If you've never done any DIY projects before do some research online or go to the public library for a book that will take you step by step through the process. You're already a creative person because you quilt or sew...your creativity will just send you in a different direction. And, as you can see from the above photos, your kids (or grandkids) will love to be included and will proudly show anyone the “work” they did to help you!