Puppy update...

My dog Bailey had her puppies last night.  It was a very late night but all are doing well.  She had 3 males and 2 females.  All are chocolate brown.  We are going to the vet this afternoon for their first check up.

Check out their blog here.  Thanks for stopping by.

How many coffee filters?...

Hi Everyone!  I know everyone out there in blog land has made coffee filter wreaths and I didn't want to be left out of the fun.  So here are the two that I made for the shop.  I think the natural colored one is my favorite.  It took about 260 filters for each one.  I made them while watching a movie so it didn't seem to take any time at all.  So here they are hanging up in the shop.

I think I might just have to bring this one home because I have the perfect spot to put it in.  Or I guess I could just make another one...  Well, thanks for stopping by.

Storage or display caddy...

Happy Wednesday Everyone!  I thought I'd show you one of the things I made from this pile of wood.

This pile of wood is rough sawn walnut that was given to me by a former co-worker.  He knew that I made things and had this walnut stored in his barn for years and knew he wasn't ever going to get around to using it, so he gave it to me free of charge!  I just love getting free stuff!

 This is one of the things I have made with it.  It's a storage caddy or could be a display caddy.  Four quart size jars just happen to fit perfectly in it.  They could be filled with flowers, silverware, or just about anything.

 I put my paint brushes in it.  Or you could take the jars out and use it to store tools.  In this picture  you can see that the rough sawn edge is still there.  I sanded it so it was smooth but decided not to run it through the planer because I really liked the way this looked.

I painted it barn red and distressed it a little bit.  Then applied a coat of clear acrylic spray to bring the flat barn red color to life.  What would you put in it?  Well, thanks for stopping by. 

My dog Bailey...

Happy Tuesday Everyone!  In case you hadn't noticed this picture in the right hand column, I thought I'd share with you what's going on at my house.  My dog Bailey is getting ready to have her first litter.  I have two Chocolate Labs, Bailey and Bo.  I have created a blog about them to document it and make it easier to show pictures of the puppies to their perspective new families.  So if you get a chance, check that out.  And if you're interest in a puppy, let me know.  We went to the vet yesterday and she is having at least 5 puppies, there may be a sixth puppy that was hidden, but it was really hard for them to get good pictures. 

This is a picture of Bailey when she was 3 months old.

This is my dad holding Bo when he was 9 weeks old.  Well, thanks for stopping by.

Wreath Stand...

Happy Monday Everyone!  I thought I'd show you one of the things I did this weekend.  I made a wreath holder.  I'm sure you've all seen the metal wreath holders you can buy in stores.  I think they cost too much so I've been making them for over a year now.

 Here's the stand with a very large sheet music wreath on it.  (Trust me, it's behind there).

Here are a couple of stands.  The super tall one is for sitting on the floor, without being to near the floor.

Here's how I make them.  I cut a scrap block of wood that's 4"x4" down to the size I want, in this case it's about 10" tall.  I cut a 1"x8" and a 2"x8" scrap piece of wood down to the same size.  I never use any real measurements, I just sort of go with what I think looks good together and what I can find in my scrap barrel.  And of course I dug out one of the spindles a friend was nice enough to give me after they took down their porch.  Before I started putting anything together, I sanded all the wood with my orbital sander so I wouldn't have to sand anything after it's together.  I find it works better that way.

On both the 1"x8" and 2"x8" boards I found the center and marked it with an X.

Then I pre-drilled a counter sink hole into both pieces of wood so that the screw is sunk into the wood.

Then I found the middle of the block of wood, used Gorilla Glue and a 3" screw to attach the 2"x8" to the block of wood.

I did the same thing to the 1"x8" piece of wood to attach it to the spindle.

Using my handy nail gun, I glued and nailed the 1"x8" piece of wood with the attached spindle to the block of wood.

Then I added a coat hook to the spindle and a ball with a flat edge to the top to sort of finish it off. 

Now, I just need to paint it.  I'm thinking it needs to be a bold color like maybe red or a navy blue.

I've also recycled wooden closet dowels into wreath stands, like the black one.  I'll have to get this painted and into the shop.  Well, thanks for stopping by.

Little black table...

Hi Everyone!  Happy Sunday!  I hope you are enjoying your weekend.  I've been out in the shop this weekend so I thought I'd share my little black table with you.  I'm really happy with how this turned out.

The legs are recycled from a large dining table.  One of the legs on that table had broken up at the top, so that meant they had to be cut down, which was fine with me.  I  wanted to make a table that was more end-table height.

I really like the detail on the legs.  My kitchen table has almost the same details only they are thinner.

 I wasn't sure about painting it black, but all the wood used on this was different.  And it would have been very expensive to make them match, so painting was the only option.

I haven't decided if it needs distressed or not.  What's the worse that can happen?  If I don't like it, then I'll just have to repaint the edges.

 What do you have planned for your Sunday?  I'm going back out to the shop and work on a few more projects and maybe I'll go ahead and sand this.  Well, thanks for stopping by.

A reveal as promised...

Hi Everyone!  Happy Saturday!  Yesterday I showed you a couple of pictures of piles of wood.  Today I'm going to show you what I made from those piles of wood.

Remember these?

I told you how wood sometimes just "speaks" to me and lets me know what I should make out of it, well, that's what happened with these piles of wood.

And this is what I made, an occasional table.  It could go behind a couch or in a hall way or entry way. 

I found some really cool boards that have been stored in the old corn crib since who knows when.  I live on the farm that my mother grew up on.  My grandparents bought this farm when my mother was 8 years old and lived here until they passed away.  The house sat empty for a year and then I moved in.  The house was built in the 1880's and needs all the TLC I can give it. 

But luckily for me, my grandfather was a saver.  I wouldn't call him a hoarder or a pack rat, because he only saved things that could be used again.  And thanks to him, I've been able to make some really great things with the wood that he saved.  I've also found some really cool treasures that I've been able to use as decorations that would have cost me a fortune to go out and buy.

And I feel blessed everyday that I'm able to live here and keep this farm in the family.

And if one wasn't cool enough, I made two of them.  My plan is to use one in my dining room and take the other to use as a display table in the shop, but like everything in the shop, even the display stands are for sale.

I had planned on making a tutorial on how I made these, but my camera died and I didn't want to wait to make them.  Well, thanks for stopping by.