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DIY Monogramed Placemats
Over the holidays we had pretty Christmas placemats on the table and once they were put away the table looked a little bare. So the only practical thing to do was to make some. Now, I have never made placemats, but that never stopped me before. I have made table runners from drop cloths (CanadianTire.ca Bennett Canvas Drop Sheets #049-4818-8) so same steps apply, just a different size. I only have a few pieces of drop cloth left over from when I made drapes with painted stripes, and did a quick measurement to make sure there was enough. Eureka!
Looks like enough -
Skidding Firewood
I had this idea for measuring and crating firewood that would not involve as much lumber as the previous crating experiments I was trying out. This new method involved pallet strapping. I built a “jig” that holds the supplies and the 32 x 48 ” pallet that will hold the split firewood. The idea was to stack the wood 36″ high, resulting in 32 cu ft of spit firewood (1/4 cord). Sounded like a good plan.
Trying a new way to crate firewood. -
Being a Secretive Santa
The week before Christmas we were asked by our neighbors to check on Jacob and Frank three different days. You know, to let them out to go potty and even try and get Jacob to burn off some energy. These are the same dogs we dog sit for now and again. We love any chance we get to see them. Jim calls Jacob my boyfriend cause I think I’m in love. That is especially funny since I am afraid of 99% of dogs. We have another neighbor that I wish I could visit but Jim visits alone because you guessed it…they have a dog.
Frank and Jacob -
Cracked for Christmas
Just popping in to show you another sign we made recently. It all started with a load of hemlock logs we had delivered earlier in the year. Right away we put a piece of one of the logs on the sawmill and made some slices.
Hemlock cookie slices -
‘Vintage’ Sled Centerpiece
The title of this post is actually a little misleading. You see, I plan to make my own ‘vintage’ sled and use it in a Christmas centerpiece. You know, a fake ‘vintage’ sled. Here is how it went down. We started with ‘old’ wood.
Measuring for the sled -
Kiln Building: The Floor
Next up on the kiln was putting in a wood floor. Oh, we are getting so close to finishing. We started with coating the floor joists with a roofing tar to seal up all remaining cracks.
Tar to seal the floor joists -
Making a Christmas Sign
Earlier in the year I joked that I was quitting Pinterest. It was a joke people, I didn’t actually follow through with it. And I’m glad I didn’t because then I wouldn’t have made this awesome sign. The one I was eyeing was square with a frame and had been aged and sanded. It was nice but we wanted something a little more unique. Enter Jim. His suggestion was one of the ovals we had cut from hemlock last year. Here is the finished sign, then I will show you how I did it.
Christmas sign -
Drop Cloth Christmas Stockings
I know, I know, it isn’t Christmas just yet but when it comes time to decorate I like to have all my ducks in a row…or in this case all my stockings in a row. I keep saying sewing isn’t really my thing, but some things require the misery in order to get to the finish line. Case in point…I wanted a couple of decorative Christmas stockings. I have plenty of material left over from my sewing spree earlier in the year that I decided to use. And that material is drop cloth or painters cloth.
Painters drop cloth -
Making Hexagon Shelves
Some call them hexagon shelves and others call them honeycomb shelves. No matter what you call them, they are cool. We have no wall space for shelves of this size so when we were contacted to build a set we thought it would be a fun project. This is the picture we got from the customer.
Inspiration for shelves -
Christmas Must Be Coming…
Usually around this time of year there are a flurry of orders for wood maps. So far this year is no exception. We keep some stock on hand but of course if it is painted black the customer asks for navy. That is just the nature of the beast. We got smart and got a little ahead of things by cutting out the items but not painting or assembling them…just yet. Frames will be added later too.
Cut but not finished
