.jpg)
Here is something I made for my niece's birthday. It's a cutting
board-tray.
The inspiration
for this gift came from a similar piece I saw at the Houston Ballet's
Nutcracker market. Of course the board at the market was super expensive, but I
was able to reproduce the look for a fraction of the cost.
Luckily I have access to wood working tools and was able to create
the board. I bought a 2" x 12' untreated plank of lumber from my local
Lowe's and had it cut into 6 pieces. Next was a trip to my local Hobby Lobby
where I bought the handles for 1/2 off! Finally after a quick trip to Ace
hardware I was ready to get to work.
The first
step was safety. Hair up, grungy clothes on and closed toed shoes (okay I was
in flip flops, but I thought about protecting my pedicure.)
The next
step was to tie up my dogs. The place I was working has a resident skunk
and even though I know how to get skunk stank off dogs (which is
another blog subject of it's own) doesn’t mean I want to. So, Spot and Skeeter
were banished from the work area.
Finally I
was ready to turn on the wood shaping machine. I proceeded to get a tutorial
from my local expert (my mom) who promptly told me I was on the wrong side of
the machine. "If you want
to waste your supplies keep at it. If you want to get it done the right way,
switch sides."
Okay mom.
So after changing
directions I slapped a piece of test wood on the machine and proceeded to
change the square edge into a round one. It was AMAZING! I was using
a big, dangerous, noisy machine to reshape a piece of lumber. I felt like
wonder woman.
After the
practice piece I quickly shaped up two pieces of wood the drilled the holes for
the handles.
Now, here is where the plan went a bit
wacko.
The lovely handles I bought were NOT symmetrical. So the holes I
drilled were not where they should have been. It took about an hour to drill
two holes that would correspond with the handles for attachment. Then it took another trip to Ace hardware for
wood putty and an extra 30 minutes dry time before I could sand my masterpiece.
Sanding was super easy. In fact it was rather
calming. I use a “Black and Decker Mouse” sander for anything I need to sand
therefore it doesn’t take much time or energy. The biggest problem is the dust
landing on my pants, but after drilling the holes I was already wearing dust
so... no big.
Finally the handles were
attached and the board was slathered with Almond oil.
Voila! The perfect present
for my niece’s birthday, (any other relatives should not be surprised if you
get one of these for Christmas. I am set up with supplies.)
So a home made gift made my
life easier because I could give a pretty, expensive looking board to my lovely
niece for a fraction of the cost. Sure it took some time, but it makes her gift
all the more special.
