Recycled cornice board....

Hi Everyone!  I hope your week is off to a great start.  It was hot and windy all day yesterday so no shop work.  It was too windy to open the big doors and too hot in the shop to be out there.  Instead I worked on some things inside the house.  And then a storm came through and it rained!  Thank goodness!  We needed the rain.  It has been so dry and windy here.

I was looking through my drafts the other day and found several that didn't get posted so after some editing...here's one of those posts.  Do you remember I showed you this cornice molding from a house from the 1880's era that I was given?  I decided to turn it into something pretty and useful.

It needed a bit of repair.  Whoever removed it from above that door was not gentle about it.  After repairing some holes, I decided the top ledge needed to be a bit wider.

 I cut a 1x4" board down to the right length and width.  I miter cut the ends to match the angle on the top of it and attached it to the cornice.  This way it can be used as a small ledge...adding to it's usefulness. 

 Then I painted it with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Old White.

 Don't you just love the details on it?  I sure do.

 I cut down the rails from an old broken chair to create pegs.  I painted them to match and attached them with glue and screws from the back side.  I took it to the craft fair back at the end of April, but it came home with me.  So I've added it to my stash of inventory for the next craft fair.  I'm hoping I will find it a new home soon because it's just too lovely to be in storage and I have no wall space for it.  Thanks for stopping by.

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Smallest coffee table ever....

Hi Everyone!  I hope you are having a great Tuesday!  I will of course be working out in the shop this morning....but it's going to be warm today so I'll be moving the work inside the house this afternoon.  I wanted to show you what I did with the world's smallest coffee table ever built.  Okay, maybe not the world's smallest, but it is pretty small.

Do you remember this sneak peek that I shared with you last week?....It's made from reclaimed cedar that my grandfather had saved and stored in the barn.  Judging by the coloring, the tight grain and how dry it is....it's old.  Really old.

And this is what I ended up doing for the feet.  It's different than I had wanted to do because I gave it's new owner a choice and this is what she liked best....all straight lines instead of the curve I had wanted to put on the feet.  I'll save that look for a different table I'd like to build.

It's a very simple table that my client is going to use on her small deck as a coffee table.  But it could be used as side table or even extra seating for a taller person.

I have put a sealer on it to bring out the color and grain and then it will be going to it's new home in the next day or two.  Not what I had originally envisioned for it, but if it works for the client, then it works for me.  Now I really need to get out to the shop since it's already almost 70 degrees out.  I need to finish the bench I started last Tuesday and then I need to put together a couple more wood canvases and a couple of picture frames.  Don't forget the All Star Block Party that I will have the pleasure of co-hosting with four other great ladies.  Thanks for stopping by.

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A peek...

Hi Everyone!  Happy Sunday!  Here's a peek at something I've been working on.  I'm not finished with it yet, but so far I think I like it.

It is a board left over from a headboard that I took apart.  I added large pegs that I cut from a broken chair.  Then I  had an idea to add a small message center to the board by using a small frame, wire and clips.

I painted it with Annie Sloan's Chalk Paint in Old White, but I haven't waxed it yet.  I am thinking of adding numbers above the pegs.  What would you do with it?  Thanks for stopping by.

Numbered peg board...

Hi Everyone!  Happy Saturday!  I want to share with you one of the items I've been working on for the next craft fair.  The fair is next weekend and I can't believe it's almost here!  And that it's the last one of the season for me!  Even after the fair is over, I won't be finished yet as I have about 7 orders that I need to fill.  Some large and some small, but luckily my clients have been patient with me. 

This is made from a recycled baseboard and pieces from a broken chair.

I added the numbers instead of a sign since it was long and there wasn't much room for words.

I haven't made one with numbers before and I like how it turned out.  I painted it black and the numbers in white.  I alternated the larger peg with the smaller to give it an interesting look.  I will be taking this next weekend and hopefully it will find a new home.  Thanks for stopping by!

A sign of my own...

Hi Everyone!  Happy Thursday!  I made myself a sign.  I needed a sign to take with me to Craft Fairs so I took my logo and put it on an old piece of wood shelving that my grandfather had put up in the third bedroom of the farmhouse.  It went the width of the room since there was no closet in this room and he had taken out the closet for the room next door and needed a place to store items for both rooms.  I took it down after I moved in and put up a new closet and have been using portions of that shelving for a while now and this is the last piece.  I didn't have to cut it down at all, it was the perfect size and shape.  This logo is also on my business cards.

I painted the board cream, then sketched the logo on and hand painted it all.  Then I put an antique glaze over it and let it dry.  I sanded the edges a bit, but not much.  I was planning on hanging it, but now I think I'm going to make a base so it can stand on it's own and then a topper, just to give it a uniform look.  I think I'll do the base and top in black.  I didn't want to wait to show you since I was so happy with how it turned out and I just decided to do the base.  Well, thanks for stopping by.

Don't forget to sign up for the sign giveaway!  Click here.

Storage bench...

Hi Everyone!  I wanted to share with you the project that my nephew helped me build.  We started out just making a regular headboard bench using two twin size headboards.  They didn’t match perfectly, but they were similar enough that I thought they would make a good bench.  I started out by cutting the shorter of the two headboards in half.  Then I cut the turned ball off the posts of the shorter headboard that has now become the arms.  I cut and sanded them off because they didn’t match the ones on the back headboard and it gave it a unique look. 

 I clamped the arms to the back headboard, and in three different places, drilled holes through the back of the headboard into the arms, added glue and then screwed the two headboards together.  Then we measured the side of the arm from post to post and glued, nailed, and drilled pocket holes and screwed them together.  I have a tendency to over build benches so that they can withstand the weight and then I know they are secure and going to last.  My mom always says that an elephant could sit on them.

 I don’t have pictures of the in between portions where my nephew and I made the frame for the seat area because I had decided to turn it into a bench with storage and since I hadn't made one before it was a little trial and error and working without any plans.  So of course the camera wasn't in my thoughts at the time.  My nephew and I made the frame for the bottom of the storage area.  I added the support and the end pieces of the storage unit.  If you notice the end pieces that are green is a large scrap piece of luan that I was using as my spray painting board.  It just happened to be the perfect size for the end pieces.  All I had to do was cut it down, insert it and glue and nail it in place.

I cut the bottom piece of the storage from a large piece of luan that I had in the wood shop. I glued it and nailed it into place.  We added several other pieces on the bottom side of the luan to better support it, again gluing and nailing it into place.

This is a spindle that was cut in half from another headboard when I cut it half to make arms.  I like to keep these pieces because you never know when they will come in handy.  I added it as a decorative piece to each side of the outside front arms to cover the slots where the rails would have slid into instead of filling it with putty or silicone.

Up to this point all of the wood was scrap pieces that were left over from other projects.  We had to go to the lumber yard for a piece of 1x12” for the front and back of the storage unit.  I decided not to use luan for these pieces as they will carry some of the weight on them.  

 Here you can see an additional piece was added to the front of the frame of the storage box.  It was added because the front piece of 1x12" needed to cover the inside leg where the rail slot is and so there was more edge for the lid/seat to rest on besides just the frame.

The boards for the seat were left over from another project.  It has two 1x8" and one 1x4" that had to be shaved down to fit.  We cut the boards to length first, then glued them and clamped them.  We let them sit overnight.  My nephew didn't like to use the glue and wasn't a believer in the power of wood glue.  But after seeing that the glue held those boards together perfectly, he's now a believer!  We also drilled a finger hole in the middle of the front board so that the lid could be opened.

 Since this is the top of the storage and the seat as well, we reinforced the glue with two wood strips that we glued and then nailed into place with the nail gun and then put a screw into each of the boards for added strength.  We also made sure that the strips were short enough not to interfere with lifting the lid up or with the frame brace that goes across the middle of the storage.

 Then we sanded all of the wood with the exception of the headboard and arms. 

 Here's my nephew testing out the fit of the lid after sanding it.

And here he is after we finished building it.  We didn't have time to paint it.  And I will be adding this to the painting pile.  I have several craft fairs coming up and have decided to build all the benches first and then paint them all at once so I don't have to put away the paint after each one or clean up the sawdust before I paint so it doesn't get mixed in to the finish.  Also, I don't have to interrupt the building process while waiting for paint to dry.  So we'll see how this goes.  But that's my first storage bench build.  It took a bit longer than I had anticipated but the first time usually does.  Plus I was showing my nephew how to do things as well as getting help from him.  We had a good time working on it and that is the main thing.  He thinks he can go home and build one himself.  I'll be sure an show you the finished, painted project when it's all done.  Well, thanks for stopping by.

Don't forget to sign up for the sign giveaway.  Click here.

Farm Table Top...

Hi Everyone!  Happy Friday!  I thought I'd share with you something I've been working on but haven't finished  yet.  I have several projects going on at once.  I need to pick up paint for the kitchen island, but I haven't quite made a decision on what color, so I've put that on hold until this weekend, so I've moved on to a couple of other things, including a gift for my cousin's daughter for her college graduation and of course Mother's day (both of which I can't share with you yet).  So instead I'll show you my version of a Farm Table.  I'm making this for my display area.  I'm not finished with it yet because I haven't decided on the right legs for it yet.  I have a couple of ideas so that it can be easily taken down and moved when it needs to be.

This is 100% recycled from the farm.  The center boards still have the bolts in it from when they where apart of a large swing gate that was used to sort cattle but has since been decommissioned and were just hanging out in the old corn crib, so I repurposed them without changing them much.

Now I just need to go through my stash of wood to find the "right" legs.  Nothing spoke to me earlier, but I haven't checked all of my wood storage yet.  I'll find them, I know they are out there just waiting for me to find them.  Thanks for stopping by.

Little Red Bench...

Hi Everyone.  The green bench at the shop sold and since I didn't have another headboard bench ready to go, I had to get something ready to fill the space, so this is what I came up with.  I apologize if the red looks pink, but it really is a nice red color.  I took these pictures at night and it's amazing how much difference natural light makes.

 It is made out of recycled cedar boards that were out in the old corn crib. 

 I sanded it until it was smooth, painted it red, then took the electric sander back to it and distressed the paint and added a brown antiquing glaze to it.  These pictures really don't do it justice.

Then I hand painted the welcome and thought it needed a little something extra so I added the little bird to it.

Bo just had to give his sniff of approval to it when it was all done.  Well, thanks for stopping by.