Woodmaking

Farmhouse Table….New Kids Desk

Posted by

13

one thing I love about all the wonderful people blogging out there is that there is no shortage of amazing inspiration and the generosity of the same people sharing the how-to’s for said inspirations.  Once again I fell victim to a must create over at Anna White’s Site.  This narrow farmhouse table here, sent me into the garage once again to recreate the table.  I even had a place for it!!  Under the windows in the office, a perfect place for the kids to do homework and e near Jon and I when we are working in the office.

We made the legs out of reclaimed pallet wood, the top we bought the top and side boards.  I sanded the crap out of the top to make it look as much like a solid piece as possible.

I stained the top and put 3 clear coats over the stain.

I painted the legs white, then I distressed the paint with a hand sander.

I did a top coat of Trewax mahogany wood wax.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Markers, colored pencils, a small light, plain paper, lilacs and lillies out the window, bring your imagination to this table and put it on the paper kids:

I do have chairs for the table that are in teh process of being reinvented…I will add a post about them when they are home….but here are a few more shots of the table:

Growth Chart…Done!!

Posted by

1

Let me just say that as often as I think…oh I can do that….often it takes a lot more work to  make something than a person would think.  I am proud to say that from start to finish RAiven and I completed this DIY growth chart by ourselves.  I posted about our start here and yes just the girls with our power tools, oil based stains, paint, brushes and girls abilities completed this project.

I had the board in the garage from another project,  I bought a vinyl tree decal from Target, but thought it was too heavy so I painted an outline round the vinyl, then we stained the whole board in our chosen green stain.  after the stain had set but not completely dried we peeled the stickers off.

Then we added the numbers and lattering….we distressed the stain and hand painting a bit and then did an all over clear coat.

To hand it I did the pop tab hangers, I saw this on pinterest and thought it was a great way to reuse and the price was perfect…free!

So now we have it hung on the wall and everyone measured!!

The black splotch is where I took out our last name..it does not really look like that.

I have updates coming on the fireplace and the garden plot.  Plus I am working on a narrow farmhouse table inspired by Anna White , so I will post pictures when I am done.

Making a Growth Chart…Girls with Tools

Posted by

1

Yep, we are those kind of girls, we get our hands dirty, we grill, and we use power tools.  I have had it in mind for quite some time to make a growth chart of some type that is more than a door or piece for trim that is part of our house.  We are not positive that this is our “forever” house and so I wanted to make a growth chart that was almost like a piece of art to hang on the wall that we could easily take with us if/when we move.

What better project than this for my 6 year old to help me with, we used a square and power saw to cut the board to the proper length…6 feet.  Then I showed her briefly how to use the power wander and she went right to work, and did a great job.

Now we are deciding on a color/pattern/look that we like. Below are some ideas that I like, I will post ours when we finish it!

This one is from growingupvintage on Etsy

This one from growingupvintage on etsy

There are always cute one from Pottery Barn kids…..but I am sure I can beat the price with my DIY skills.

 Super cute, but $129.00!!!

You can check out our finished DIY growth chart here.

Beautifully FREE-Cycled Crate Boxes

Posted by

0

 

I have been a regular stalker of Anna White’s blog on how to make your own furniture and other wonderful items from wood, newly purchased or reclaimed.  I have to say as a mother of 4 there is no end to the amount of things that I am constantly trying to organize and manage.  This “box”  made from pallets gave me the nudge to get my saw and safety glasses and go out to the garage.  I have to say there is something that is really liberating about using a power saw, the dust the noise, and knowing that I am making something useful.

My neighbor happened to have a pile of these pallets stacked in his garage for use as starters to neighborhood bonfires so he was more than willing to give me a few for my project. 

I am by no means a girly-girl, I am a full grown tomboy, not afraid to use these power tools, however I have not had enough regular use to consider myself confident with all the tools in the garage, so this was an adrenaline rush to be wielding a power tool, and also a bit frightening knowing that I was only 95% sure what I was doing.  anyway, no bodily injuries and mostly square, thanks to a little help from my husband, we made these boxes and this nightstand/bookshelf, for Avalon’s room.

Total cost for the boxes was free!  The pallets were free from my neighbor, minus the beer or two we shared with him and the ends were from wood we had in the garage.  The ladder table which you can tell was made by a beginner;) was about $25.00.

Now I have to decide what to store in these lovely freecycled boxes.