The Story of Two Paddles

I bought two paddles at Michaels.  Always wanted an "established" sign to show who we were and when we were officially "established".  Because we live in a small port city, I thought boat paddles would look perfect along with the rest of my nautical theme decor.

 I stained both paddles with a dark wood stain by ACE named, Java Bean.  The bottom paddle in the picture above shows what the paddles looked like right off the shelf.

After the paddles dried (overnight), I whitewashed them using 1/8 cup white chalk paint to 1/2 cup of water.  I applied the whitewash haphazardly using a sponge brush.  I let them dry while I worked I prepared dinner. Whitewashing over the dark stain gives it an old age look which is what I wanted.

After the whitewash dried (and after dinner), I printed out the designs I wanted for both paddles.  I printed them backwards.

Trimmed it down and taped it to the paddle face down.

With a damp sponge brush, wet the design and then use a soft dull object to gently trace over the entire design.  I use the eraser end of a mechanical pencil.  I tried a wooden spoon, a plastic spatula and found the eraser easy to use.

I then removed the paper and voila!  There's the design transferred onto the paddle.  I then used an extra fine point black permanent marker to finish drawing in the design.  This was the hardest part of the whole project.  I had to keep my hand very steady, making sure I didn't slip.

Once the designs were painted in and dry, I took some rope I had on hand and glued and wound it around the neck of each paddle.  A perfect nautical touch!  I clamped each one and let it set overnight for added measure.

That's it!  Here's the final product and couldn't be happier :)

This is not their permanent spot as I have yet to attach their hooks in the back.  I just thought it would be cute to put them next to the "gnarly captain" wooden statue I also bought. :)

The end.

Have a great weekend.  Until next time,

DIY Rustic Frame Chalkboard

Items Needed:
1 sheet craft plywood 1/4"x12"x24" for the chalkboard
3 craft plywood 3/16"x12"x24" for the frame (Cut one in half)
Black chalkboard paint, sponge brush
1 pkg. of 4 galvanized corner braces 2"x3/8"
Wood stain - Java Bean color, sponge brush
Wood glue
Fine sandpaper
Drill with 1/8" drill bit
1 Alligator-style frame hook

 Give the board a layer of the chalk paint.  Let dry according to directions.  Give it another layer of paint and let dry over night.

 In the meantime, stain the three frame boards then set aside

 Let set over night to dry

 The following day, use the fine sandpaper to sand down the whole chalkboard surface.  Wipe it down with a damp clean rag then give it one last layer of chalk paint.

Once the chalk paint has dried, turn the long frame pieces over and dab with some wood glue then place on chalkboard.  Press down to make sure glue adheres.  Use clamps or something heavy if needed.  Now put glue on the back of the short frames pieces, corners only and put in place.  See image below.

Use the above image a reference only just to see how the pieces are placed on top of each other.

Once the glue has dried, start drilling in the holes, one corner at a time.  Use the corner brace as template to mark the holes first then use a drill bit to drill the holes.

Attach the screws, repeat with each corner

Attach the frame hook to the back at the top

 It's so cute I want to keep it for myself!!

 I have them for sale at my ETSY shop if you so desire one....or two :)

(click on ETSY icon on the top right)

Until next time,

 

Partied with:

StoneGable:  The Scoop #139 

Savvy Southern Style's Wow Us Wednesday

DIY Wood Pallet Coat Rack

My very first DIY wood pallet project and it couldn't have been easier.  We needed some kind of a coat rack in the foyer especially now that winter is around the corner and there will be lots of coats, gloves, caps and scarves to keep track of. 

This is the pallet I used to construct my coat rack.  All I had to do was saw the top off the pallet as shown in the image above.  I could make a second coat rack with the same pallet, just turn it upside down and cut it off the same way.

I needed three more planks that were the same exact width in order to complete the coat rack.  I had extra planks in reserve from some other pallets I had taken apart.  I then made sure I sanded everything down just before I put it together with some wood screws.

Here is how it looked once I put it together and then stained it.  Once stain dried, I white washed it.

Whitewashing it gave it a more rustic look which is what I was looking for.

While the whitewash dried, I painted the hardware that I had found on an old used coat rack we had.

A WELCOME was just the right word to paint on and the first thing visitors will see when walking through the front door.  Once I transferred the word, I painted it in with white acrylic paint.

Voila!  Hubby was so kind to hang it up for me.

I wanted a "pocket" to hold gloves and the like. 

I love that I was able to add a plank at the very top to serve as a shelf for my knick-knacks and what-nots.

Not bad for a free wood pallet, eh??  All in all, this project probably cost me less that $5, I'll even go as far as to say $3 but that's not factoring in the labor.....

FAST FORWARD, the following pictures were taken two days later, when the sun was actually out from behind the clouds...

 I made a few minute changes and decorations

 Hubby also added the mirror in the foyer and it's right across from the coat rack.

 A very sweet friend named Mary Ann brought these dried Hydrangeas by from her garden.  She knows how much I love them and they came just in time, just before I planned to march over to my neighbors house and ask him if I could chop some off of his humungous Hydrangea bush.

 Here's the view of the foyer from the outside.

View of the some of the living room on the left and view of the foyer on the right.



Until next time,

DIY Pallet Caddy

One of my very first projects with the pallets I have gathered since arriving to the Mitten State.  Actually this is my second project , my first is almost ready for it's debut which will be soon.  So, I watched Funky Junk Int. girl make one a while back and I decided then and there that someday I would make one.

Here are the pallets I gathered since June.  Last week I finally decided to take them apart. . . .not a fun job but someone has to do it.  I'm glad the days were in the 60's-70's, dry and breezy and just plain wonderful.  Knowing these would be the last few days with such nice weather, I knew it was time to get crackin' and start pulling them apart.

I placed all the wood planks together by size.  I also sanded them down and smoothed out the edges.

This is my first time working with wood, nails, power tools, etc.,  Hubby had to show me how to use the circular saw.  I got carried away, I forgot to take pictures :| but here's the beginning of the caddy.  I took three 18" boards and nailed them together.

These are the ends for the caddy.  I cut them out of another 18" board that I split in half.  I used a jigsaw to cut the curves, sanded and smoothed them out too.

The ends matched. . . almost, for the most part.  But before I attached them, I drilled a hole at the top of the ends for the dowel to go through.

I had to slightly sand the holes a little more so that the dowel could go through a little smoother.  The dowel finally fit in perfectly.

View from the top just before I stained it.

I will get lots of uses out of my caddy.  It may not be perfect but it's got the rustic look, bings and all.

Here are the instructions on how I made it (click on image to zoom in):

Until next time,