The Shelf

     I have been looking for a coat-hook shelf for Emmett's room for the past few months.  His room has a car theme, so anything that went with that or even the colors would have worked.  I have looked everywhere, and I finally found one at Hobby Lobby that I thought would work.  It was a simple red board with 4 hooks on it.  I eagerly flipped over the shelf thinking this would be about $8.  It was $16!!!  Um, NO.  Sorry, I'm not normally cheap, but I could not bring myself to pay that much for a shelf with no character.  I was determined to find or make one myself that would be cheaper and better than that one.
     Off we went to Home Depot next door to find some wood and some hooks.  Long story short, I ended up royally POed and Greg wasn't pleasant either after leaving HD.  I could NOT find a piece of wood that didn't look like a 2x4 with hooks nailed to it.  We looked at trim, moulding, etc, and NOTHING looked nice.  We left the store with 3 hooks and a bad attitude.  On the way leaving the store, I had to go to the bathroom (of course).  As I'm sitting there, I come up with a brilliant idea (don't ALL good ideas happen on the toilet??).  I kept thinking, "Where can I find a nice decorative piece of wood that's plain that I can decorate?"  Um, HOBBY LOBBY, the place I had just left.
     So I headed back next door with an empty bladder and a small glimmer of hope.  I found the aisle and the perfect piece of unfinished wood.  I also came across some cute little wood cut-outs that were already painted that would spice it up.  On the same aisle were some cute little wooden letters that I wanted to use.  Lucky for me, there are only 3 different letters in his name, as 4 of the same letter come in a pack.  :)  Add a little paint, a little spray paint, and some elbow grease, and I'm one happy camper with this shelf.

Here's the cost breakdown:
Board $5
Letters $1.50
Cut-outs $0.67 each
Hooks $6
Paint $3
Spray paint for letters...already had

Total $16 for a shelf with MUCH more character than the one at Hobby Lobby

All that's left to do is hang it on the wall! :)