Initial Sign (Kreg Jig Project #5)

Hi!

So, I've got one more Christmas post!

Before K went to his sister's in October, I made her and her new husband a wooden sign with the letter "T" (the first letter of their last name) for Christmas.

I found this on Etsy, and used it for my inspiration.

I started with some old aged cedar boards we had hanging out in the back of our yard.

I sanded, cut and joined them together with the Kreg Jig.

I printed out a big "T", 

traced it on the wood, and cut it out using a jig saw with a fine-cut blade.

Then I stained it using minwax stain- the same stain I used on the Wooden Dice- and yes, it's still stinky!

At this point I had made another piece of 1x4's for the back, which I was going to attach with the boards going vertically instead of horizontally.  However, the wood is actually 1 inch thick and I thought that made it too thick.

So, I found some already painted thin (3/8"?) plywood to use for the backer.

Here's the leftover pieces. 

I had to stain the sides and edges so the white paint wouldn't stand out so much. 

I put Gorilla wood glue on the back of the letter sign and glued it to the backer.

Then I nailed a saw-tooth hanger on. 

Here's the final product. 

I also made a quick "Joy" sign for myself out of part of an old door and chalk.

I put it on top of our last year's calendar.  (Since I wasn't using the pictures that came with the calendar.  It was a "Milk" calendar with recipes.)

Now, I've got a new calendar with pretty pictures, so I put the Joy sign in the front room.

Have a great day! :-)

Bookmarks

Hi!

For 2016's homemade gifts for the kids, I made cross stitched book marks.

I used this tutorial.

And got inspiration from these:

I gave them with (second hand) books. 

In case you're interested, here are my previous gifts:

2015 Dice

2014 Slippers

2013 Falling Blocks

(Plus Little Owl for N 

and bracelets for C)

2012 Owlies for C

2012 StacRobots for N

Have a wonderful day!
:-)

Recycling Holder

Hi!

It's Friday, Friday!  (Gotta get down on Friday!)

We are getting a bit of snow today- anywhere from 10-20cm (4-8").  Schools closed 2 hours early.  It's so unusual to be able to see the bare ground at this time of year.  I think a lot of people are actually wishing for snow!

I worked on a small project this week. I built a trash can/recycling holder.

To use up some leftover wood- 

from our old headboard,

the wainscoting in the old front room,

and the leftover tongue in groove boards from the front room ceiling.

We keep our paper recycling and refundable bottles/cans in the two plastic trash cans to the right of the armoire pantry.

I always thought they could use a little something to make them look better.

So, I built a little something.

I used plywood for the back and sides, paneling for the front and top, and edged it with tongue and groove.   It's open on the bottom. I was even able to use up the 2x3's from the old headboard for the framing inside.

I decided to paint the paneling with chalkboard paint and kinda "black-wash" the boards with watered down paint so the wood grain still shows thru.

It looks better than this right? ;-)

I still put the same stuff in- the cutlery box, 

the Kreg Jig shelves, 

and the plastic trash cans (without lids). 

Here it is opened up.   

There's enough room to open it with the basket shelves above and I can easily remove the trash cans.

 I think it'll stay dark for a while, but I may paint it lighter sometime...

It's actually Saturday now (I had to wait for better light to take my final pictures) and here's the snow we got! Pretty!

I think we only got about 5-10cm (2-4").

Hope you're having a great weekend! :-)

Homemade Christmas Gifts

Hi!

Along with home-made presents for the kids, we also do home-made for others.  For the past few years, the kids have given home-made jam to their teachers and bus driver.  However, this is made by my MIL!  She makes great jams.

The kids and I have made wreaths


 and wooden trees,


Along with these, I've made a couple things in the kitchen to go with them-

Crockpot Granola 

and Pecan Praline Sauce.

I've also made a

Coconut Sugar Scrub.

This year we made wooden snowmen from Birch branches that got cut last winter when our power went out.  Here's one that C made.

They turned out to be pretty delicate.  This one is already missing an arm!

N made a crazy one.

Also missing its arms!  We gave the "nicer" ones to my in-laws and N didn't feel like making another one for us to keep!

C also got in on the home-made band wagon and did her first cross stitch!  I glued it on a birch round to make an ornament.

We mailed it down to my dad and step-mom with a picture calendar that we do for the grandparents. I think that kinda counts as home-made too!

:-)

Christmas Slippers

Hello!

I have a yearly tradition of making home-made gifts for the kids.

In 2012, I made The Owlies for C


and  StacRobots for N

.
Last year, I made Falling Blocks for them both.


This Christmas I made slippers. 

I was inspired by this link.

I had a wool sweater that I bought a couple weeks ago at Value Village that C didn't like. I felted it by washing it in hot water and used it for her slippers.

For N's, I used an old wool sweater of mine that shrank and had been put with the Halloween Stuff to use for a costume.

I had some leftover bench "fabric" that I used for the bottoms.

Both slippers are a bit too big because I didn't measure their feet.  I just used some old shoes to guesstimate the size.  But at least they're not too small!

:-)