This new obsession began one day while browsing Pinterest then stumbling upon Ana White's blog...she has amazing beginner projects and tutorials- I found this Pottery Barn copy cat divider cubbies and thought "I can do that with some help," so I enlisted my boyfriend who is pretty handy with a saw and we put this together in a few hours,
Original inspiration found here, although we had to modify it a bit,
The shelf then received a coat of dark stain and two coats of Annie Sloan's "Arles" a beautiful mustard color, some sanding to let the stain show through and numbers stenciled with black paint. I was in LOVE! I had made this and was super proud and hooked...
Here she is hanging in all her glory in my booth where she sold in under a week! :)
While telling my dad about my new found hobby and proudly showing off the picture of the cubby shelf, he said "Theres a miter saw in Grandpa's garage that just sits there, I needed it once for a job, you can have it if you want" YES PLEASE, and then I brought this bad boy home...And yes, I use safety first, always wear your eye protection!
Since I already had the plans and practice, my first project alone was another cubby organizer with a few modifications for larger and fewer cubbies,
I also whipped up a picture frame, stained it dark then painted with Maison Blanche's mason white, then distressed and waxed with Maison Blanch light brown antique wax.
Then this new found hobby took a dangerous turn, I went to Lowe's for some wood and came back with an air compressor, nail gun, shop vac, Kreg jig, and some clamps.
If you have or think about building projects of your own, you MUST get a Kreg Jig! This thing is amazing,
The next project I tackled was this pegboard as a surprise thank you gift to my boyfriend for his help and teaching along the way. The Kreg jig came in handy here, where two boards join in each corner, the Kreg jig creates pocket holes behind the boards so that you get a smooth front surface ready for paint or stain. The credit for the pegboard plans go to Shanty 2 chic, a blog created by two sisters with some serious talent, pretty much my new idols.
Here is the tutorial http://www.shanty-2-chic.com/2013/07/diy-wall-decor-pegboard.html
I now felt like I could tackle so much more and my brain wouldn't stop turning! everything I saw in a store or on Pinterest, I would think "I can do something like that!" This is the section of my garage that houses my workbench and saw, pegboard (installed by my dad last year and soon to be replaced with a pretty one), sink, and shelving that holds paint and tools. The workbench leaves no room for assembly so I was constantly on the floor drilling and gluing projects which does a number on your back. I found plans for a workbench which is fairly simple when you break and down and got to work...
Went to Lowes, and turned this...
Into this :)
Couldn't have done it without these plans from Shanty 2 chic,
Ohhh so much glorious room to spread out!!
A friend asked if we could build her a coffee table, she gave me dimensions and we looked at a few inspiration photos, I am not good at coming up with measurements and plans so my boyfriend, Bob, (insert Bob the builder jokes) made the plans and constructed the coffee table and I had the privileges of putting on its finishing touches.
We had found a picture of a table with different wood tones, so I got out all my colors of stain and a can of white gel paint stain and got to work. Now it just needs the leg's attached and this will be headed to it's new home.
I think what I love most about woodworking is that I love every aspect of it. Just about every hobby I get into, there is some aspect that I don't like, such as getting the fabric ironed and cut to sew a project. With woodworking, I love it all, the assembly and the finishing. I will be sure to post new projects :)
-Jamie
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