by Wendy Scheel | Dec 18, 2015 | DIY
I have been looking for a quote to post that really spoke to me.
Although I truly believe in this quote, I soon realized that if I posted this:
The tragedy in life doesn’t lie in not reaching your goal. The tragedy lies in having no goal to reach. -Benjamin Mays
people would wonder who my guest blogger was today. I am not known to be a deep thinker. 🙂
So in the name of keeping it real, I chose this quote instead:
Imitation is the sincerest form of Flattery. -Charles Caleb Colton
The quote actually came to me after I read the BowerPower blog post yesterday. They shared how to cut a Christmas tree shaped cutting board from some left over butcher block.
Hold on for a bunch of flattery.
While finishing up some Christmas gift shopping in town, I swung by Menards and bought this 1″ oak board.
What I really wanted was some actual butcher block, but at $79 for a 4 foot section, I figured I had better start out smaller. Besides I didn’t have a cart and I couldn’t lift the butcher block. Totally justified my cheapness.
I chose a smaller oak board instead. Much easier to haul to the check out.
Wade had a jigsaw at home so I was in business, except for the fact that I have never used a jigsaw saw.
Ever.
What I lack in skill I make up for in creativity and enthusiasm. 🙂
Following the tutorial’s directions, I folded a piece of paper in half and drew half of a Christmas tree, cut it out, unfolded it and traced it onto my the oak board.
Have I ever mentioned that my husband is in the Safety and Compliance field? He is Mr. Safety, 24/7. That’s good, sometimes irritating, but good. 🙂
So for safety reasons I did not take any pictures of me cutting out my tree shape because that would’ve been a poor safety choice. And Wade, I did use eye and ear protection. But you know that because you walked into the garage to “get something” and noticed that I was OSHA approved. 🙂
Moving on. Here is my approximately 11″ x 11″ tree prior to being sanded.
Not bad for a newbie jigsawer! I like to think it has a touch of whimsy. Besides, the perfect Christmas tree is in the eye of the beholder.
(This next part I totally cheated on.)
I have had these wooden stars for, well, a long time. My guess would be that I inherited them from my Mom. Regardless they were sparkly, wood and whimsical and exactly what I would have made had I cut out my own stars.
I drilled a hole in the top of my tree and a matching hole in the star.
Now since this board is going to be used with food it needs to be treated. The Bower Power blog suggests using Mineral Oil.
Another option is Hemp Oil. I used the oil from the Miss Mustard Seed line of products.
No matter which product you choose be sure to read the label to make sure it is food safe.
I applied 3 coats of oil, letting the wood dry in-between each application.
Using decorative twine, my final step was to attach the golden wood star to the whimsical Christmas tree.
I tied a triple knot in the twine, inserted it thru the hole in the star and tree and tied another triple knot on the back side.
Not only can this be used as a cutting board but with the 1″ width of the tree it makes a great standing decoration OR a cheese and cracker plate.
So many options from one whimsical tree.
Happy Friday! Have a great weekend,
Wendy
by Wendy Scheel | Dec 11, 2015 | New Products
Are you finished with your Christmas gift shopping?
I haven’t started.
Not one thing.
I am finding it so difficult to get into the Christmas spirit with this 45 degree weather and no snow.
I’m not complaining. Okay I am a little, but it is just so weird, weather wise around here.
I think I was more in the Christmas spirit this summer when Spencer and I were staging photos for the red stripe stockings I made for the shop than I am today.
We had Christmas music playing and several Christmas décor items laying around to choose from that we used as props with the stockings.
The area we are using for the photos above usually looks like this:
or this, depending upon the season.
I always love how the pictures turn out compared to the day of the photo shoot.
I guess I will crank the Christmas music again, check my lists, get shopping and top everything off with the perfect stocking stuffers.
Happy Shopping to all of you!
Wendy
by Wendy Scheel | Nov 18, 2015 | DIY, Life
This little boy made my day today.
This is our youngest child, Jack. Is he not the cutest thing ever!
But there is one thing wrong.
Jack is no longer our little boy. 🙁
He is our 17 year-old young man who gave me an early Christmas present this afternoon.
That first picture, is a photo of a picture taken 14 years ago. Such a blurry photo, or are the tears in my eyes making it blurry when I realize how fast the time has flown and how much he is loved. 🙂 sniff. sniff.
Pulling myself back together, let me tell you about that early Christmas present.
Jack is taking a Chopper and Metal class this first trimester of his senior year in high school. The class is a metal fabrication and motorcycle repair class.
When I first started my business, I named my company Pooh Pooh Pillows. Story here. My parents gifted me with this sign.
When I was up sewing the other day, Jack notice the sign and asked if I wanted a new sign. An Old Lake George sign.
Why yes, yes I do Jack! Thank you!
He explained to me that he purchased a 16 gauge 4’x4′ piece of cold rolled steel from the high school shop.
After designing the sign using a combined rectangle and two circles, he loaded the Master Cam font named Georgia into the Plasma Cam computer.
The plasma torch cuts out the letters first and then the design shape was cut following the directions Jack had placed in the Plasma Cam computer.
After the final cuts were made, Jack briefly let the metal cool before chipping the slag. (removing the little bumpy pieces of steel on the back side)
He was going to paint it next but after sending me a sneak peek, I asked if we could leave it so it could naturally rust. So rustic and cool looking!
This project took him about an hour total. 30-40 minutes creating a design. 10 minutes for the machines to do the cutting, another 5 minutes chipping the slag and then the balance of the time admiring his great work.
I am going to hang this sign as you exit my studio and smile every time I remember the little boy who made it for me. 🙂
By the way, I got my HGTV magazine today and stole a couple of ideas to add to my Christmas décor.
I’ll share on Friday,
Wendy
by Wendy Scheel | Nov 2, 2015 | Home Tour
We had a great Halloween weekend with our neighbors!
As we were both reviewing and sending each other pictures from the weekend, pictures that will never make it onto this blog, 🙂 , I found a photo from our previous house.
I forgot how much I loved the painted staircase!
I removed the carpet from the stairs, added stained oak treads and painted the back of the risers the same color as the kitchen cupboards.
I was so on top of it that day! 🙂
Now we have the “stairway to heaven” in this house and I am really feeling that I need to do the same thing here. I’ll let you know how that progresses.
Looking at these stairs, the wall on the left is the back wall to Wade’s office and the spindles on the right you can see behind the couch.
Those 17 steps lead to a small sitting area.
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Looking from Family Room
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Looking across from guest bedroom
When we first bought the house, I thought it was a kind of goofy area. I think I have moved chairs around, a bench placed in a couple of different spots and even attempted the minimalist approach to the area. Minimalism made it look like it was waiting for something. The bench and chairs were too much.
I split up my Queen Ann chairs leaving one in this area and the other in the guest bedroom in front of my desk. I then moved in a small antique table and a lamp and topped it off with some fun pieces.
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Sitting area corner
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Looking across from guest bedroom
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It works really well when guests come to visit, i.e. my parents. My Mom is an early riser and many mornings I have found her sitting in the chair with her morning coffee and reading her local news from her iPad.
I think I will keep the sitting area as a sitting area. 🙂
The guest bedroom is right around the corner from here. You’ve already seen most of the pictures from this bedroom when I posted about the quilt my Mom made for me. Across from the bed is my desk where I work on my blog. Spencer took great shots of the room.
To refresh your memory….
These are the last two rooms for the Home Tour 2015. Maybe I should make a Home Tour 2015: The first week of October, the second week of October etc. When I was looking at these pictures, I noticed that I have changed a lot of things around.
This girl loves change!
I have dug into my Christmas box and on Wednesday I will show you some things I have set up.
I hope you stop by!
Wendy
by Wendy Scheel | Oct 23, 2015 | DIY, Life
My Mom thought she was coming to visit this week.
What she didn’t know is that I needed help making a custom bench seat cushion cover. A 60×15 inch double blue ticking stripe fabric seat cover with piping. It took us 2 days but let me tell you, It.Is.Beautiful. I can’t share a picture because it is for a customer but we had many high fives when that baby was done.
After we were finished praising ourselves we moved on to decorating the house for Christmas. Yep Christmas. Skipped right over Halloween and Thanksgiving.
Spencer is coming today to photograph the house for the Christmas season. Hmmm, I guess I could take everything down and put the fall items back up. Bahahaha who am I kidding. That will never happen. 🙂
Spencer is also going to finish shooting the house tour. We have the guest bedroom and our master bedroom and bath left to tour. I will share those pictures within the next couple of weeks.
I did manage to make a cute little clock this week. My Mom brought me a large pine cone from Northern California. It has been in our family for over 60 years. Some people pass down antique furniture, jewelry or even estates. Our family passes down pine cones. 🙂
The huge pine cone needed a little buddy so I made this 3″ clock.
I bought this kit from Hobby Lobby.
I cut a 3″ oak tree branch slice and drilled a hole thru it for the clock piece. I then put a generous coat of Mod Podge on it.
After the slice dried, the clock kit piece was inserted thru the pre- drilled hole.
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front of clock
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back of clock
The hands were then screwed on and the time was set. I tossed one AA battery in the back and done. TIck tock, tick tock.
Super easy, super cute.
Tomorrow I will show you how Samantha’s new bedroom was decorated. It’s super cute too. 🙂
Have a great weekend,
Wendy
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