The powertools are packed away for now

The bookcase is done! You might need superhuman strength to pull the drawer out, the drawer bottom is at an angle, and I have a toddler's ice rink in my garage (more on that later) but it's done!

And I gotta admit, even though my staining job is much to be desired, I LOVE it! And consequently, anyone that ever comes to my house needs to go on and on about how awesome it is or we won't be friends anymore.

I was a tad bit frustrated on my last post when I considered turning the bookcase into a tribute to Jerry Lee Lewis' Great Balls of Fire but when I couldn't find the lighter fluid, I persevered. When you're working with a deadline there's just so much added pressure that I will never do that to myself again. And this time I mean it.

I also tackled two other projects I wanted to have done before Thanksgiving: I reupholstered my headboard and turned the body-pillow that's been under my bed for 6 years into a back support fuzzy wonderland.

Having made the headboard a couple of years ago, I thought that reupholstering it would be a snap but low and behold nothing is a snap in my life because did you know this? I didn't know this, but when you buy fabric by the yard, the width of the fabric varies? I even looked on the tag to see if it said anything about width but apparently you need to be apart of the "in club" at JoAnn Fabrics to know that some fabric is like 60 inches long and some is 40 inches. I did not get the memo on that.

Unbeknownst to me, I used the 60 inch fabric when I originally made the headboard and when attempting to reupholster it, I got the 40 inch stuff. No dice.

I'm hoping my jimmy-rigging of securing the bottom with iron-on glue works because I'm ready to call it quits on all my home improvement adventures. Luckily you can't see the bottom and for the most part, it turned out pretty great!

The bookcase fiasco wasn't quite as easy of a fix of adding iron-on glue but at the end of the day, I'm still happy with it.

Our first major set back was we had a drawer built and we had a drawer box (frame) built. Enter first dilemma: drawer does not fit into drawer box.

So after a string of inappropriate language, we set out to take apart drawer to make it smaller. Then once we've cut everything down to fit, we're reassembling the drawer and SNAP! the wood actually snaps in two. Dilemma number two.

We have to glue boards overnight to redo the broken piece. Which really wasn't such a bad thing because it's an excuse to call it a night before we do anymore damage.

The next night we're both cranky and cold (yeah an unheated garage in Minnesota is not the best place to build things in the winter). I'm at my usual post: using the sander while Adam is using my archnemesis, the nail gun, to get the drawer put back together when another string of profanities comes from his side of the garage. I survey the damage: one side of the drawer bottom is completely square while the other side is about an inch too high, making the inside of the drawer have a 15 degree angle. Dilemma number three.

At this point, my desire for perfection has completely evaporated, so screw it I'm cold and I'm hungry, I can live with a drawer that has a 15 degree angle. Dilemma solved.

A few days later, it's sanded and stained. The last step is to clear-coat it. Oh lordy, I'm so excited for clear-coating: it's the very last thing before we're done! We can come home from work and do nothing but watch our shows! Thank you clear-coat step!

Adam's at the store getting the Thanksgiving fixings while I'm busy applying the clear-coat. The next thing I know, the full can of clear-coat slips out of my hands and in slow motion I watch it fall. Here is where I wish I could tell you that I had ninja-like reflexes or had a Matrix moment where I caught the falling can but any sensei would band me from the dojo because I did not catch the can as it fell, instead I froze in place as the slow motion "nnnnnnooooooooo" comes out of my mouth and the can bounces off the floor and spills everywhere.

Clear-coat is the glossy, smooth finish you add on the wood to protect it and make it feel nice and smooth. I now have a 3 foot circle of nice and smooth, glossy finish on my garage floor where children can come over to ice-skate. In my garage.

I had a deadline of Thanksgiving to have this done and technically it was done by then but because the stain and clear-coat was having a tough time drying in our cold garage, it had to stay down there for Thanksgiving. Because I’m so modest I made everyone come down to the garage to see it. I couldn't help but feel a swell of pride as my family members stood on the stairs shivering giving me the necessary compliments of how great it looks for them to be able to return to the warm house because let's face it, teeth chattering or not it is pretty awesome.