Magnets, Signs, and a Sneak Peek...

Hello everyone!  I just thought I'd share a few of the things I did this past weekend.  I will post the big things in the next couple of days, but thought I'd share a few of the smaller things and give you a sneak peek of a couple of the others.

 These are magnets for your frig or anywhere you'd like to put them.  The butterflies and dragonflies started out their life as Christmas ornaments that I spray painted and attached magnets to.  The purple and red flowers were once tart pans.  I spray painted them, added a wooden circle that I painted  and then attached magnets to the back of the pan.  My favorite is the blue dragon fly.

 This is another sign I made for the shop.  I liked the saying and the script.  (Sorry about the pink in the corner, my camera was in the process of dying.)

 I really liked how this one turned out.  But I'm wondering if I need to distress the lettering on these?  What do you think?

Here's a sneak peak of what I've been working on.  Not much of sneak, but let's just say that in these stacks of wood, I found something to make....the wood just sort of speaks to me.  I'm working on the post and will try to have it ready for tomorrow.  What would you make out of these piles of wood?  Thanks of stopping by.

Birdhouses...

I have a thing for birdhouses. I love to make them. And so far they are big sellers in the shop. I wish I had taken a picture of every birdhouse I've made, but I haven't. So I'll just share a few of them with you.


This was a special order wren house that my client wanted painted black.
These are birdhouse stakes that go in the ground as decoration.

This is a birdhouse that I made and my mother decorated. It's hard to tell, but it has a plaid roof and sits on a recycled spindle that was given to me when a friend took their porch down. I love recycled items, especially when they are free!

I made this birdhouse for mom's deck. In fact I have given her two birdhouses that look just like this. One for the front of her home and one for the deck. She has a thing for birdhouses too.

Here's a grouping of birdhouses from my very first craft fair. I sold all of them except for the large middle one....

because I made it for my mom.

It sits on the floor in her bathroom, most of the time.

I made this super tall birdhouse last fall and sold it at a craft fair. This was the only picture I could find of it. It has a black crow at the top and a wooden welcome sign.

I like birdhouses so much that I finally made a few for myself. This one resembles my home. I sits in the side yard at the edge of my patio. It's almost my favorite one.

But this one is my favorite. It is four sided and sits atop a post in my north yard. I took it down for the winter because there is so much wind on the north side I was afraid it made get blown down, so that's why it's sitting on the planter box. I need to put it back up now that the weather is getting nice. Do you like birdhouses, like I do? Well, thanks for stopping by.

Coffee anyone?...

Hi Everyone. I thought I'd show you the coffee table I made. I made this table entirely out of recycled materials that were given to me. So the only cost I have in it are the screws, nails, stain and paint, all of which I had on hand.
The top is maple that in it's former life was some one's kitchen table. I cut off the router edge because it was missing on two sides anyway and then added the walnut trim to give it a more "finished" edge.

I couldn't decide what kind of base I was going to use, so I took a look at the scrap wood that I had and it just sort of spoke to me as to what kind of base to make.

It's sort of on the small size, but not every space can accommodate a large table.

I'm happy with how it turned out. I think it's something unique that not everyone will have. Well, thanks for stopping by.

Signs...

Happy Monday Everyone! I hope your week is off to a good start. I thought I'd share a couple of signs I've made for clients. The first is a sign that is 36" long to go under a picture of my clients great-grandchildren! It turned out nice. I still think the heart should have been red, but that's not what she ordered.

This sign was requested by one of the guys I work with. He had been asking me for months to make him a sign on barn board that would go over an entryway so it had to be long. I thought he was kidding or just giving me a hard time, so I never made it for him. Then his wife said he really did want that sign so I made it for her to give to him.

I really liked how it turned out. I found a great barn board in my stash, lightly sanded it so as not to remove all the patina but yet made it just smooth enough to be able to paint on. Then painted the letters on in an unconventional manner, and lightly sanded the letters so they looked like they had been there for a while. Then sealed it, front and back.

My co-worker was surprised to receive it since he thought I was never going to make it for him. Well, I must get back out to the shop since today is my day off and I have plenty to work on. And I can't wait to show you. Thanks for stopping by.

Window seat...

Hello Everyone! I hope you are enjoying your weekend. Since I'm busy working out in the shop, I thought I'd share with you the very first thing I every built after moving into my grandparents farmhouse. It's a window seat. There is a large picture window in the living room that my dog would stand at trying to look out, but he just wasn't tall enough without straining is neck, so I built this for him.
It opens up and I store blankets, an air mattress and extra pillows in it. You can never have too much storage, especially in this house. It was built back in the 1880's and has hardly any closets. So the storage comes in handy.

And my dogs love it. Not a day goes by that it isn't used (unless of course we aren't home). And it comes in handy for seating when the house is full of guests. Well, I've got to get back out to the shop. Thanks for stopping by.

Black Bench...

Hi Everyone! I hope you are having a great weekend. I wanted to show you a mini bench that I made for a client. She asked me to make one to fit a space in her home where she could sit and put her shoes on but the catch was it could only be 14" deep. Most of my benches are 24-26" deep. I think it turned out really well and looks so cute.
She saw a bench that I had made just like it only deeper with an upholstered seat with a stripped fabric and that's exactly what she wanted, only mini.

So that's what I made for her.

I wish I had taken a picture of it with it's cushion (that is removable in case she wants to change the fabric) without the plastic on it. I was getting ready to deliver it when I remembered to take a few pictures. I think I'm going to make another one. I just really like the way it turned out. I'd show you a tutorial on how to make these, but Gail over at My Repurposed Life has a great tutorial. Well, I'm off to go work in the shop. Thanks for stopping by.

Easter...

I thought I'd show you a couple of the Easter "trees" that I made for the shop. They are decorated with wooden bunnies, paper-mache eggs, wooden ducks, and decorated metals eggs.

I love the bunny in the carrot. It has wire whiskers. Sorry I didn't take a close up of the bunny.

This is probably my favorite Easter tree. The tree is made out of wrapped wire that is formed to make a tree. There's a wooden dowel in the middle of the tree limbs to help support it. Then I drilled a hole in the block of wood and glued a piece of PVC pipe into it (it's hidden by the fence and nesting). The dowel and wrapped wire slips down into the pipe and is glued into place. Then it's just a matter of making the limbs into the shape you want and attaching the ornaments which I had already painted.

I really liked how this turned out and it didn't take very long. I had everything already (left over from other projects). Next time I'll try to take step by step pictures. I get started on something and always seem to forget that. Well, thanks for stopping by.