Are You Being Served...?

Super simple serving trays. I have done serving trays before, but these are a little different. I made these from wood slices. Luckily, I didn't have to cut down the tree or make the slices. My uber talented sister-in-law gave me several tree slices that were left from her son's wedding a couple of years ago. (She is always ahead of the trends.)

These wood slices have a "live edge," meaning the natural edge of the wood is part of the design. Here are a couple of examples I love:

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For my live edge serving trays, I sanded the flat part of the slice until it felt smooth enough. For the first one, I taped off the edge of the circle to make a border. Then I used chalkboard spray paint. When it was dry, I added some leather straps from an old belt. I attached the straps with screws to make handles.

The other one is basically the same, but I tried it without a border. I'm still not sure which one I like better.

In case you are wondering, I did not make the dessert on the above tray. I just happened to have it left over from our family's annual Easter dinner. And yes, it was as decadent as it looks!

It's All About Family...

Look what I made out of a reclaimed wood cabinet door!

Can you believe it? It looks like I used a frame. This was soooo easy! I'll show you some steps, but I forgot to get pics of the entire project. (Smacks hand to forehead)

I have found a new love. It's the ReStore in Ogden. They have so many fun things to buy. You never know what you will find and your mind works overtime thinking of what to create. It's like a thrift shop for DIYers! All proceeds go to Habitat for Humanity. Check out the link to learn more. 

I found several reclaimed cabinet doors. The prices run between $2 and $7, but I have gotten several for $1. A dollar guys!

Anyhoo, I taped off the door to paint the "frame" white. I wanted this project to have a "chippy paint" look, so before I painted, I rubbed a little wax along the edges of the frame. When the paint is dry, you can wipe or scrape off the wax and get an awesome time-worn look. 

I cut down some scrap wood I had and painted it in several different colors. Then I sanded them a little to make them look worn.

After everything was dry, I used wood glue to attach the scraps of wood to the center of the door. I weighed down the scraps with whatever heavy thing I had nearby. 

I had the word "family" left over from one of my sister's projects. I painted it white to match the frame and then sanded it to rough it up. I think it helps to stand out from the background. I used wood glue for this as well.

I love it! So fun and it makes me happy!

In Love With a Ladder...

I fell in love with a ladder. A ladder that isn't used as a ladder. This is the ladder in question:

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I followed the pin to credit the original source, but none was found. That makes me sad. Someone should get credit for their beautiful inspiration. Getting credit is something near and dear to my heart, as you may know. If you want to know the whole story, click here.

Anyhoo, I simply had to make one of these ladders! I love the idea! Just one teensy-weensy problem. I don't have an awesome old ladder hanging around. Guess I'll have to build one!

First I decided what size ladder I wanted. I had some 2" x 2" x 8's. To make it easy, I cut one in half. (To prove that I really do use math later in life, that means 2 pieces of wood 24" long.) Then I cut 3 pieces of the 2" x 2" to 12". I wanted to be able to display an 8 x 10 frame between the rungs.

Next I made marks where I wanted the rungs to be, evenly spaced. I forgot to write down the exact measurements, sorry.  I used a counter sink drill bit to drill holes for the 2 1/2" screws. Using a counter sink bit will make sure the screw head doesn't stick out from the wood. We don't want a Frankenstein ladder, do we?

Time to assemble the ladder. I used wood glue to hold everything in place and let it dry. I feel it's easier to screw together if the ladder is already one piece. 

I used my Ryobi driver to attach the screws.

Time for some stain! Once again, I used Minwax Jacobean stain. 

When the stain was all dry, I sanded down the edges to give the ladder an "aged" or "worn" look. I then added some semi-gloss clear coat to "wake-up" the wood. When that was done, I measured out some chicken wire. This stuff is fun to work with, but can be sharp. Wear gloves and use wire cutters to get the amount you want. 

The chicken wire was too shiny for my taste, so I whipped out some black spray paint. I just happened to grab my can of High Heat paint, not because I plan on heating the wire, it was just the first can of black I saw. I wasn't meticulous in making sure the black paint covered everything. I just wanted to tone down the "newness" of the wire. 

For the next part, I grabbed my staple gun. I then added staples to the back of the ladder to hold the chicken wire in place. 

I also added some D-ring hardware (no picture, sorry) to hang the ladder on the wall. I added the hardware so that the ladder can hang horizontal or vertical. Or the ladder can just lean against a wall. 

I thought the ladder was missing something, so I added some fun decorative metal pieces. 

I also stuck some clothes pins on the wire to hang pictures, notes, memos, reminders, etc. 

I am very happy with how it turned out! What do you think?

Quick and Easy...

Today's project is quick and easy to put together. I wanted a "ledge" shelf to hold picture frames for our master bedroom. I wanted something more stylish than some frames hanging on the wall. I also didn't want to put holes in my new pallet wall. Not a simple spackle and paint job for holes in a pallet wall. 

Speaking of my pallet wall, I will post about that later. The wall is done, but I have some building projects to add first. I want to have a big reveal!

Moving on...

Step 1:

Decide how long you want your shelf to be. I just kinda' guesstimated on mine, but it ended up about 22" long. I used scrap wood molding and a piece of wood lathe for this project. Cut the pieces to be the same length. I then sanded the pieces to smooth and clean them. (Using my fabulous Ryobi sander!)

Step 2:

Paint or stain the wood to a color you want. I used Minwax Jacobean stain. This is the longest part of the project, because you have to wait for the stain to dry. What is that saying, "like waiting for paint to dry?" Yup

Step 3:

Using wood glue, put the 2 pieces of wood together lengthwise at a right angle. It should form an "L" shape in profile. Use clamps to tightly hold the wood together. Wood glue takes 30 minutes to dry, so be patient. Or, if you are a mom of 4 kids, get distracted for a couple of days before getting back to this quick project. Either dry time will work!

Step 4:

I used small "L" brackets and attached them to the bottom of my shelf. Then, mark your wall where you want the shelf to go and attach the other side of the bracket to the wall. I used 2 brackets, but if you are doing a longer shelf, you may want to add more brackets.

TIP: If you are centering the shelf, measure more than once! Remember how I said I didn't want holes in my pallet wall? Well, there will be if I fix my shelf placement. Yup. The best laid plans, etc., etc.

Isn't it beautiful? And, you get a peek at my pallet wall!

Wait! Before you go, I have to show you my organized peg board wall! It is a work in progress, but I have been asking Hubby to hang this peg board for a year very long time. All it took was him getting a 3D printer to print peg board hanger clips...

Seriously though, thank you to my sweet, thoughtful, hardworking Hubby!