It's Warm Again!!

Yes!  It was a 3 day weekend, and the weather was beautiful.  I was finally able to spend some time in the garage with the doors open - it was warm and wonderful!

So, what did I do, you ask?  (Well, I know you probably didn't ask, but I'll tell you anyway!)

First, I walked!  Yes, I walked to Starbuck's for coffee.  A mile there, a mile back.  I've missed walking, too!

Then, I cleaned!  I swept, dusted, rearranged, stacked lumber, moved lumber, emptied trash and added to my burn pile.  It's surprising to me the mess I manage to make!  But, I took my time and by mid-day on Saturday I was ready to work.

I'm working on my bedroom.  Awhile back, sometime after Thanksgiving, I bought and cut lumber for a new headboard for my room.  But, the cold and the holidays prevented me from finishing that project.  Well, I thought I'd start with that stack of wood, but I was side-tracked.  While cleaning up I came across a picture of a table that I had fallen in love with.  I found it at Pottery Barn, in their Bench right collection.  I liked the thickness of the planked top, and I loved that the top was round - but, it's $399!  

Pottery Barn Benchright side table

So, I decided to play around and see if I could make something similar - there was no way I was going to spend $400 for a small table to hold my coffee mug!

Here's what I came up with.  It's certainly not identical, but I love it.  It's solid wood, unlike the Pottery Barn table which uses veneer over MDF.  I used fir 2x4's, poplar 1x2's, and stain, all materials that I already had - I didn't spend anything.  But, if I'd had to buy the lumber I might have spent about $9 total.  

I did a fun thing to make this round table top.
First, I glued 15" lengths of 2x4's together.  I clamped it together and it sat overnight to dry.  

Then, after my walk on Sunday (I'm on a roll here!), using my large table saw sled I cut a circle on my table saw!  I'd watched a YouTube video of this and was blown away at how simple it was.
( George Barry the "Wood Guy" - YouTube video)

Basically, you stick your board onto a swivel point (a nail with the head cut off and filed to a sharp point) set at the radius of the size circle you want.  Then with the saw turned on you just swivel the board and cut off the corners, then just keep swiveling and nibbling away until there's nothing left to trim off.  

         

 And, voila!  This is what you end up with!

Then, I cut legs, trimmed those at the base to give them a bit of style ('cause I'm all about style!), added the bottom cross piece for support, and maybe a place to hold a few books.
I sanded and wiped it down in preparation for finishing.

So, from this empty space...

 To this - it fits perfectly into the tiny space.  

And, it looks much better with my pretty yellow mug!

    

And, it looks even better with a book waiting for me! 

 And, better yet with a couple of  new books close at hand!

 

 Slowly, but surely, I will finish my room and it will be just what I want!

(I put together the headboard today, but I think I've changed my mind.
It may go into go into another bedroom, and I might make an upholstered headboard for my bed!)

Hmmm, oh the possibilities!

Brrrr....

Baby, it's cold outside!  Or, it was!  And I don't work well in the cold!  But, I did manage to finish a few Christmas projects.

Camper daughter's family got a couple of revitalized thrift store chairs to go with the thrift store table and chairs I found for them back in August.  They aren't exactly the same, but I painted them an espresso color and covered the seats in the same fabric.  They look like they belong with the others!

     

The docs got a few picture ledges in different sizes and the promise of one with coat hooks to hang by their front door.
No pictures of these - I'm sure I took some, but darned if I can find them!  But, they look like the ones shown below.

Logger daughter's family received an information center that can be hung in the kitchen or in their office.  A place for pencils, papers and a chalkboard to jot down notes.  I used an unused kitchen door for this project.

And, the most important thing I did over the holidays was to use a few of my many, many, many empty wine bottles.  They looked kind of cute on the dining tables during our family Christmas dinner.

The holidays were wonderful, and the cold weather was a welcome difference to our usual too-warm Christmas season weather.  But, it's January 21st and it was 80 degrees - come on spring!