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Can’t afford that gorgeous wooden table you saw at Pottery Barn? Build it yourself!

Really need some more storage space, but can’t find the right piece? Build it yourself!

While that idea may seem far-fetched at first, there are some amazing resources out there that can help you easily accomplish that task.

One website we love is http://ana-white.com/  First of all Ana really captures the Rosie’s can-do spirit. She lives in Alaska, where she has been tinkering with building projects out of wood since she was a child. Recently, she built her own home with her husband. “It’s not a big house, and the counter tops are granite tiles, not a slab. But it is our house, and we did build it, all by ourselves, board by board, and we couldn’t be more proud. When we built our home, it wasn’t like what time are the contractors coming. Instead, it was like honey, I’ll hold the board, and you nail.” We love that enthusiasm!

However, as much as we are charmed by Ana, the website is really just a great forum for people to post their own DIY furniture projects. All the projects are broken down into exact dimensions and step by step advice with pictures! There are furniture project ideas based on skill level from beginner to advanced.

Here is a pottery barn bed for $3,200  

Here are directions for how to make the bed (posted by Ana) for just the cost of materials!  http://ana-white.com/2010/01/plans-canopy-for-the-farmhouse-bed-pottery-barn.html

Don’t have the tools to be able to make your own wooden furniture?Several warehouse retailers such as Home Depot & Lowes will cut wood for you for free. Just give them the dimensions and let their tools do the work! Some stores will even allow you to rent tools, such as this high power precision saw from Home Depot: http://www.homedepotrents.com/proTools/miter_saw.asp?cm_sp=tool_rental-_-overlayF-_-miter_saw

One of my favorite parts about making furniture, besides the cost difference, is that you can easily match all the wood colors in the room, with stain.

Recently, in my house, we updated our living room with more storage: a large modern shelf, end tables, and stools for extra seating. We looked up design ideas on websites like Ebay, Overstock, and Anawhite, and then just had fun experimenting! It was the first furniture we ever made. A month later, everything is still standing, the stools can support our weight, and we saved ourselves hundreds of dollars! Best of all, unlike sometimes when you bring a store bought piece of furniture into your home, it did not make all our old furniture look shabby! We were able to customize the color and design to accentuate everything we already had. Another financial relief!

Here is one of the shelves that we made:

So, what piece of furniture would you like to add to a room in your home? I double-dog-dare-you to whip out those Rosies, and that Rosie’s attitude, and try to build it yourself!

This year’s Dirtiest Rosies Contest winner tells us a little bit about herself and how she gets dirty.  She is a true Rosie and we admire all of the beautiful work she does.  Plus, she is a fellow blogger!  Check out her blog at sageartistry.blogspot.com.  Here is what she told us about herself and how she became a Rosie:

Sherri doing what she loves best, plastering!

It’s so nice to have companies like Rosies! You support us cowgirls, pioneers, innovators, and creators! It’s a real treat to be honored. My Mom bought me my first pair of Rosies and encouraged me to enter a few months ago…a Mother’s intuition must be right!

I worked at Microsoft from 1998 – 2006 as a project manager. In 2000, my husband and I bought our first house. I went down to Home Depot, grabbed a bucket of “Venetian plaster” and fell in love with the work. At first, my arms burnt from troweling, but I couldn’t get enough of the work. Wall after wall became less white and more textured, one finish flowed into the next.

Pretty soon, I realized that I wanted to do this for a living and I decided to switch careers. I decided to complete Bellevue College’s interior design program to really learn and explore the field of art and design. I knew that I loved plastering before I started the program in 2005, and I still was in love with the trowel after I completed it in 2009. The program at Bellevue College is exceptional and it gave me the structure I needed to elevate my current work. My professors will tell you that I was also the dirtiest Rosie in the program… I hope I didn’t get too much plaster on the tables and seats!

Getting my A.A. in interior design AND growing my business was challenging. I think my biggest challenge now is learning when to take small risks or big leaps of faith! I love being accountable and navigating the direction of my business. One of the most challenging aspects is selecting which plaster materials to fall in love with. Some are beautiful, but toxic, others are beautiful AND kind to our health. When I started my business I developed the slogan, “Creativity with a Conscience.” I have to stick to these ethics as an artisan and constantly evaluate the health of the materials I am using.

Creativity is a beautiful monster… so when I am not getting dirty with eco-friendly plaster finishes like American clay, I am often found getting dirty with fabric painting, sculpting, and casting glass. There really isn’t ever a time that I am not trying to get dirty through creating. My respite is nature… when hiking at the river with my dogs helps bring all those explosive ideas down to a quiet simmer. Then it’s back to the studio!

The current state of my Rosies is very textured!  I used sun paints to paint in wrench designs into the fabric and also did some paint splatters to really take them wild. My family will tell you I have very few solid colored clothes left. Everything in my closet has some sort of texture!

I think the biggest aspect of me being able to “do what I do” is the support I get from my family. It’s nice coming home to a supportive husband, 3 golden retrievers and 2 orange tabbies at the end of a long day. We all nest together and I couldn’t be a creative warrior without a strong family!

Like us, many of you Rosies are mothers, which is why we love Mother’s Day!  It is a day where us mama Rosies can kick up our feet and be treated like queens.  We are often showered with gifts, flowers and breakfast in bed.  In my research about Mother’s Day, I came across some Mother’s Day trivia from mothersdaycelebration.com that may surprise you:

• Anna Jarvis started Mother’s Day in 1908, but soon filed a lawsuit because the holiday was becoming too commercialized.
• Mother’s Day is said to be a $14 billion industry and is the second highest gift giving day behind Christmas.
• In 1870, Julie Ward Howe created a day to celebrate mothers by protesting the Franco-Prussian War because it was taking sons away from their mothers.
• The oldest mother to give birth was 70, while the youngest was 5 years old.
• The highest number of children born to a mother is 69 between 1725 and 1765.
• August is the most popular month to give birth, while Tuesday is the most popular day of the week to give birth.
• Elvis Presley was a mama’s boy and slept in his mother’s bed until puberty.  The two had a strange baby talk they would converse in that no one understood.
• Most of the sweaters Mr. Rogers wore on Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood were knitted by his mother.
• A mother giraffe gives birth standing.  The first experience of a newborn giraffe is a 6-foot drop to the ground.

On a sunny day in October, 2o or so Roises dressed in pink and raspberry overalls came together to help Habitat for Humanity build a house in San Luis Obispo, CA. Below is one Rosies’, Molly Kiely, reflections of the day.

Our guest blogger, Rosie Molly Kiely, sporting a pink hard hat. Love it!

I felt really lucky to participate in the Rosies Women’s Day Build with Habitat for Humanity.  It was a beautiful sight to see all those women in the early morning, pulling on their pink Rosies and gearing up for a day of construction.  There was only a handful of ladies that actually knew what they were doing and could speak the language of the trade, the rest of us were helpful hands for pounding nails and carrying two by fours.

I must admit I was intimidated at first by this business of building a house and all the power tools, measurements and  manual labor that goes with it.  However, all the women were so great and a pleasure to work with.  The team leaders took a lot of time to explain what we were doing and how to use the tools (as I secretly feared I would chop off my fingers with the table saw).  I also loved seeing Sharon (Rosies founder), power tool in hand, surrounded by all her Rosies.

The best part of the day for me was when we erected a wall on one of the houses.  It was a true team effort that required strength, coordination and all hands on deck.  As we held up the wall, I looked down the line at these women from all walks of life and all ages.  They were laughing, cracking jokes and enjoying each other’s company.  Together, we had done something pretty cool and I was full of gratitude.  Now that’s girl power.