When I decided to rent an old farm house with a bunch of falling down buildings on the property there was a general debate going on in my family about whether or not I’d a.) lost my mind, or b.) become a full-blown hillbilly. Which, duh, I own donkeys. The question kind of answers itself. Especially when I find things these old moonshine jugs in one of my garages and am all, “Hey, I think those will look great in my living room.”

What? I washed them first. And, you know, added a little wiring…

This counts for at least one vote in the non-crazy category, right? Because I have to say, for minimal effort– not including scrubbing years worth of grime off the jugs– these Moonshine Lamps were a pretty quick, easy DIY project.

I started with a little research on lamp-parts. You can buy lamp kits online or at most hardware stores. Instead of going with a kit I decided to buy the parts piecemeal so I would have a little more flexibility with how I put it all together.

Here’s what I used:

• 2 big filthy glass jugs
• 2 lamp cords with outlet plugs
• 2 detachable lamp “harps” to hold the shades
• 2 light sockets
• A set of threaded “nipples” (hey, I didn’t package the things)
• Corks special ordered to fit the jugs from here
• Ceramic drill bit

After figuring out all the pieces and parts that I needed my first (and really, only) challenge of this project was drilling a hole in the glass jugs for the cord to enter. Luckily I had seven more bottles hanging out in the garage if this didn’t work, but– as with everything– when you have the right tools things go pretty smoothly.

I set the jug in the sink on a kitchen towel and let some cold water trickle over it, then I rested the ceramic bit on the glass and started drilling.

Note: I said “rested” not “pushed”. Drilling through glass or ceramic is a patience game. I never used more pressure than the weight of the drill, and once the bit broke through the glass and I was just widening the hole, I even lifted some pressure off. It took about 2 minutes of drilling to make a hole this size.

I didn’t push my luck and drill any more than was necessary for the cord to fit.

Slow and steady with very light pressure is the key (which I totally learned from this experience.) After I successfully drilled the holes then I went back and washed the jugs inside and out, then started playing with some of the wiring while they dried.

Here’s the basic assembly for the wiring:

Cord runs through nipple, connects to socket. Nipple runs through cork, holds harp, and is attached to socket. Easy enough.

The first thing was to get a hole through the cork stopper for the nipple to screw into. When I was looking at lamp kits most of them came with a black stopper to hold the nipple and socket in place, but not only was the stopper the wrong size for the opening of these bottles, I also wanted something a little more natural looking. Instead, I measured the bottle openings and ordered a couple different sizes of cork stoppers online.

Cork isn’t the easiest material to drill cleanly so I used a bit a few times smaller than the hole I needed, and I made sure I had some extras on hand which turned out to be a good call. Not such a good call? Drilling into cork right in the middle of the kitchen floor. As someone who views vacuuming with the same degree of excitement as having a splinter shoved under my fingernail, you’d think I would be more cautious about where I make my messes. You would be wrong.

In the end I had two corks fitted with nipples, and a small pile of cork-bits for the cat to roll around in and track through the entire house in the 15 minutes (okay fine, 45 minutes) it took me to get the shopvac out.

I thought I might have to use some silicone to keep the nipple in place, but it was actually a pretty snug fit without any adhesive. I may revisit that later, depending on how everything holds up.

The next thing I tackled was the light socket. Most sockets have the word “press” embossed on them somewhere, and when you squeeze the socket you can pop the bottom off and get at the guts of the wiring.

So here’s something new I learned about wiring during this project: If you look at a standard lamp cord, one of the wires will have an intent or colored stripe on the plastic sheathing of the “cord”… this is the neutral wire (attached to the bigger outlet prong). When everything goes together, this attaches to the silver screw. The other wire attaches to the gold screw, and then you’re in business.

Here’s a look at everything as I assembled it:

Cord through the jug, then the stopper, then the base of the harp, then the bottom of the socket. Then and only then do you start attaching the wires.

I may or may not have gotten excited about getting things to light up and forgot to put the base of the harp on the first time around, but I got there eventually.

And the moment of truth:

All that’s left is adding a lamp shade.

Unfortunately I bought the one kind of shade that doesn’t work with this style of harp, so this is just a mock-up of how it will look eventually, but you get the idea.  All in all the lamp cost about $25 to put together, not including the shade.

I love the glass, but I’m thinking it might need to be dressed up a bit with a fun label like this:

{The work of Simon Walker found via Found, Flea & Free}

But for now, I’m just happy to have a little extra light.

I actually feel like I should start out this post by apologizing for the pictures it contains. Actually, if you’ve eaten recently, or are thinking about eating in the next, oh, eternity, you might want to skip this one. Unless, of course, you have a sink that is draining poorly and a strong constitution, in which case, read on.

This is one of those pesky little issues I’ve been meaning to deal with in the Farm House Rental since I moved in. The one bathroom sink wasn’t draining at all, which made things like brushing my teeth and washing my face a huge chore.

Still, I had a pretty good idea about what I was going to find when I started dismantling things, and it took me the better part of two months to work myself up to this. Back when I was in college, my rather less DIY-prone roommate once had to use a plunger to unclog a toilet– I happened to catch a glimpse of her heading into the bathroom carrying the plunger out in front of her like a sword and wearing a rain poncho, chem lab goggles, rubber gloves that came up to her elbows, and a bandana across her face like an old-school train robber. Which, about the time I was partially wedged in this mess…

Seemed like not such a bad idea.

Here’s a pretty good idea of what goes on under the usual bathroom sink. I’m by no means a plumber or plumbing expert, but I’ve installed enough bathroom sinks now to guess that either somewhere in the bend of the P-trap, or possibly where the stopper and pivot rod connect, something was keeping the water from going down.

I tried removing the actual P-trap, but like many things in this house (the hot water washing machine hose, and anode rod in the hot water tank, for example) the damn thing was rusted on so tight that no amount of leverage and swearing from my 5’3″ frame was going to get it off. Well, I mean, I own a hammer, I could have gotten it off, but it seemed likely I would break some things in the process.

Instead I focused on this little problem area. In a proper setup, the pivot rod there goes through one of the holes in the clevis, which is what makes the stopper open and close when you pull on the rod behind the faucet. Clearly that’s not what I had going on here…

In order to remove the stopper I had to remove the pivot rod by unscrewing the little plastic nut that holds it in place.

Then, brace yourself, I got this…

Ugh. Ugh. I can’t even…

That’s a mixture of hair, grossness, and pure evil.

Then I pulled the stopper out of the sink and I really think the only thing that kept me from vomiting was that I knew I was going to write this post and have to admit it if I did.

It would have been better (for cleaning purposes, but worse for curbing my desire to take a bath in straight bleach) if I could have pulled the trap and drain apart and cleaned everything that way, but instead I settled for digging out the clog with a long screwdriver.

There was about three times this much gunk when it was all said and done, but I seriously couldn’t bring myself to look at or take pictures of it. (I’m actually writing this entire post in code view, specifically so I don’t have to look at it now.)

After I thought I’d reasonably cleared out the drain I shoved a paper towel in the hole where the pivot rod was and then ran the water for a minute to make sure it was draining fine without the stopper in place. (It was, thankfully.) Then I soaked all of the sink parts in an bleach bath for 30 minutes.

In the meantime, I literally cleaned every square inch of the bathroom first with bleach, then with a swiffer, then with my steam mop. That right there should tell you how grossed out I was by this, because half the time it’s a battle for me just to pick my clothes up off the floor, and here I was all channeling Mr. Clean.

Once everything was clean and ready to be reassembled, I started by putting the stopper back in the drain, with the hole at the bottom of the stopper lined up with the hole for the pivot rod. Then the pivot rod went back in (through the clevis, this time) and I tested everything out to make sure it worked.

Would you look at that…

And, no water left standing in the sink.

I am still really grossed out by this (and you may think I’m over reacting, but holy hell… this isn’t my house, and that wasn’t my gunk clogging up the sink) but I am also really glad I finally got this taken care of. And I really can’t wait to have Hillside cottage with it’s brand new bathrooms built.

Anyone else have tips for tackling a clogged drain?

First of all, I am admittedly not a chicken expert (yet) but I’m pretty sure this isn’t actually a “coop”. It’s probably more of a chicken-packing-crate or something, but that just doesn’t have the same ring to it. One thing I feel comfortable stating unequivocally however, is that its intended purpose was not storing books and hot beverages (the chicken poop covering it was a big hint) but look what happens when you go and give a girl power tools.

Other than the part where I basically got to second base with this behemoth on the car ride back from the resale shop, this was a pretty easy project. Almost embarrassingly easy when you consider how long it took me to actually get it done.

Here’s how it started…

I used a stiff brush on the chicken poop. (Talk about things you never thought you’d admit in public. My life is so glamorous.) And then I hit the top of the coop with the orbital sander and some 100 grit to get rid of any potential splinters, but not enough to take away the nice aged look.

Here’s a pro-tip: scouring poop off of old wood is infinitely more bearable if you’re also inhaling copious amounts of spray-paint fumes at the same time. Just sayin.

After several experiments in aging, I finished off the casters with a coat of gold on the brackets and a mist of flat black over it.

While they dried, I also tackled scraping and cleaning the inside of the coop, and tacking some loose parts back in place.

Then, because I knew I wanted easy access to store things inside the coop, I decided to remove the wood dowels from the back side. It was a perfect job for my Sonicrafter.

Once the wheels were dry I bolted them in place…

And there you have it. Chicken coop turned coffee table.

Let me just say this. Once you attach four bigass steel casters to something, it becomes infinitely harder to carry up a flight of rickety basement stairs. This is now the heaviest piece of furniture I own. But well worth that five seconds where I thought for sure I was going to do a header down onto the basement floor.

I love the way it looks, even though I think it will “go” a lot better in Hillside Cottage (you know, once I finally find property and build it) than it does in the rental. And since my obsession with collecting books is second only to my obsession with collecting tools, the extra storage is awesome. (Plus, as you can see, using my new old drill as a paperweight allows me to indulge in both obsessions in one 6 sq ft space.)

Either way, for less than $40, I’m pretty sure this is my favorite coffee table ever. Even if it was once covered in chicken poop.

Immediately after I bought (and briefly dated) this old chicken coop, I started scouring the internet for some big industrial vintage casters. Let me tell you this, vintage casters are commanding a premium these days… turns out I’m not the first person who tried to turn a chicken coop, old chest, or some pallets into a coffee table.

Fine.

The universe is always trying to make me do it myself. So instead of buying vintage industrial casters at $40 a pop, I bought brand new ones for half the price.

I tested them out on the old and if we’re being completely honest here, still somewhat poop-covered chicken coop.

Two things became immediately obvious. First, my coffee table is going to be awesome. (Picture less poop and all kinds of books stacked inside.) Second, those new casters stand out like a sore thumb. However, if there’s one thing I’m good at after living in a garage for a year, it’s premature aging.

I recommend the kind you can do with spray paint instead of the kind that you do by not sleeping for an extended period of time.

I started by masking off the bracket so the wheels could be painted flat black. (Which I did under the Christmas tree so that it felt like I was making some headway on wrapping presents… which, actually, I may just have come up with the 245th way to use painters tape.)

This was a vast improvement over the bright metal, but the brackets were still looking a little young.

Good thing I was aces at construction-paper crafts when I was a kid.

I started with a light coat of the dull gold. Since this was an experiment I went a little darker on one bracket than the other. I also added some bronze to the one on the left, but both brackets got a dusting of “rust”.

I’m not sure which one I like better. I wish I could get the gold metallic paint without the actual metallic.. it’s got a little more sparkle than I was hoping for. I also considered using the torch to heat up and discolor the bracket metal, but I have no idea where that thing is at right now and if I wait until I find it, this table will enter the no-man’s land of unfinished projects.

Here’s the “darker” version…

And the lighter version…

I may try to do one strictly bronze as well, but either way I’ll be painting the bolts on the brackets flat black as well.

What do you think? Are they looking older than their age?

During the Great Migration of One-Thousand Tools that has occurred over the last several weeks, it became clear to me that this…

Was lacking a certain amount of organization. I know, those of you that tend toward OCD just went into a seizure. Sorry about that.

So to make the moving, finding, and storing of my small tools a little easier, I decided to build some quick cheap wooden toolboxes.

To make 4 boxes approximately 6x8x18 I used:

• 2 – 1x6x48″ pine boards
• 2 – 1x8x48″ pine boards
• 2 – 1″ diameter dowel (48″ long)
• 1-1/2″ screws

I bought select grade pine and it was still less than $50 for materials, so these boxes ended up being around $12 apiece.

These are the two I completed this weekend, one for miscellaneous pliers and screwdriver, and one for hammers, levels, chalk-lines, etc.

There are hundreds of different ways you can build a basic toolbox. As with most of my projects I choose to wing it instead of using a plan. These were meant to be quick, cheap, and fun, not a masterful piece of workmanship.

I started by cutting the 1×8 down for the ends and bottom on the miter saw, which I also used to slant the corners of the end pieces.

This is originally how I planned to attach the pieces…

But after some consideration I decided the side panels should set flush with the bottom instead of on top of it. That meant ripping an inch and a half off the width of the bottom pieces on the tablesaw. As you can see by the varying quality of pictures this project took place over several days and locations. (The iphone pics above are from my garage, and the next ones are from my basement.)

Once all the pieces were cut I drilled the holes for the handle by clamping each set of ends together, marking one of them, and then predrilling through both too make sure the hole would be aligned.

Then a quick sanding…

And since I decided to have some fun with these, a little spray paint as well…

I was making these up on the fly and it turns out I get more clever the longer I inhale spraypaint fumes. I also debated for a good 15 seconds over “pinchers” vs “pincers”… I went with “pincers” specifically because it gives me the mental image of a lobster with a screwdriver in it’s claw. Absurd? Yes. But also amusing.

So here’s how the assembly went down. (I even brought the pieces up to the kitchen so I could get better assembly pictures, if you’re wondering why there are random kitchen utensils in the background.)

First I tacked everything together with my cordless finish nailer. The sides to the bottom first…

Then the ends…

And I used one nail through the dowel to secure the handle.

Now I could have just used wood glue on the joints when I tacked it together, and with a few more nails it would have been good to go.

However, apparently the wood glue didn’t make it with the rest of the tools in the move, I decided to use screws for added strength instead.

I used four in each end, and four in the bottom of each side.

If I was going to be something made out of wood and screws, this would be it. Sturdy, if not wholly attractive, and can carry around a whole lot of tools without taking itself too seriously.

The final two boxes have yet to be assembled, but I’m thinking one is going to be for paint brushes and spackling knives, and the other will be for electrical equipment. And I have to say it feels great to have built something in the new place, finally.

What do you think… would you treat your tools with more reverence, or are these toolboxes right up your alley?

Back when I built the shelving for the closets in the Memorial House, I had this idea about building some custom doors for them that mimic the style of the front door of the house, which we all know makes my little heart go pitty-pat.

Well, this is one of those ideas that was bound to end with something getting hit by a hammer– hopefully not an innocent bystander– because truthfully I’m not sure I’ve ever even just installed a pre-hung door by myself (usually there’s at least one other person involved that I try to stab with a shim at some point) much less built one from scratch. And of course, give the fact that I’d be taking on a totally new and challenging project with a high likelihood for failure, I thought it would be the perfect time to invite a bunch of mustached dudes with cameras to come film me while I did it.

(I actually work with these guys in my day job — the one where I’m not usually covered in sawdust– and after I asked for some tips about putting together this video they offered up a Sunday and many hours of their free time to come help me do this thing right. I am incredibly grateful and lucky to work with people who are so passionate about what they do.)

Other than the fact that there were going to be a bunch of people silently staring at me with video equipment while I attempted a totally new project, I was also pretty worried about the fact that telling the real story on camera is totally different than writing it down after the fact. You know, when I’m showered and sane again.  But the video team did a fantastic job of cutting six hours of work into this six minute video, and still telling the whole story, including the parts where I screw up and have to try really hard not to start throwing hinges around.

So, without further ado, here’s how you build a custom door and jamb with three cameras, to microphones, and seven people staring at you.

At the end of this video the door isn’t completely finished, but it’s what I could get through in a day. The jamb needs to have a door stop installed, and the door needs to be stained, polyed, and finished with hardware. I’m hoping to wrap that up and have some good “after” pictures in the next couple of weeks, once I’m settled in from the big move.

Thanks again to the video team for making this thing look completely awesome and professional. You never know what exciting things may come out of this, but I know for sure what came after it was a very long nap.

A recurring theme here over the last couple of weeks has been watching me desperately trying to dig myself out from under a mountain of unorganized papers, which pretty much describes the regular chaos of my life. (You can see some of my other attempts to get it under control here and here.)

Hello contents of my filing cabinet. Nice to see you heaped into a pile on the floor.

I had one more project up my sleeve to help get things organized. I wanted an easy, portable way to file papers that looked good enough to leave out in the open. (So basically not those plastic filing cases that get stacked in the closet, I’ve got plenty of those.)

I was inspired by these wine-crate-esq filing boxes from Ballard Designs, but 1.) They don’t make them anymore, and 2.) when they did make them, I’m pretty sure they were more than $50 each.

First I searched online for some wine crates I could turn into my own file boxes, and then I realized all of the time I was spending on the computer could actually be better spent playing with my power tools. Duh. So, I got my butt out of the chair, went out to the garage, and built myself these out of a couple of old pallets.

Here’s how…

Step 1: The Epic Dismantling of Pallets

I started with a rough plan and some tools (nail pullers and hammer) to help me dismantle the pallets.

Let’s just say, they resisted the dismantling.

However with the assistance of even more tools (pry bar, jig saw, rage) I finally won.

Step 2: Reassembling the Pieces

I built the “short ends” of the crates first, using 2 6″ boards (approximately 14″ long) and some small pieces of wood left over from my rustic wood wall art. Everything was attached with 3/4″ staples.

Here they are all put together and looking pretty.

Then I used 3″ pieces (approximately 15″ wide) to attach to two end pieces together. Again, more staples.

It was all pretty easy. Soon enough I had some bottom-less crates.

It occurred to me that I didn’t actually need a bottom to the crates because they’re for hanging files, and I didn’t want to add a lot of weight to them with a big solid board on the bottom. In the end I compromised with myself  (yes, there was an actual out-loud conversation involved) and added a couple of ledgers inside the crate…

And then stapled some furring strips to them.

There are a lot of ways I could have added a bottom to these–some 1/4″ chip board, more pallet wood, 1/8″ luan. But I went with the quick, easy, and within-reach method this time, and it worked great. You’ll never really see the bottoms of the crates anyway.

Step 3: From Crates to Hanging Files

This is any easy way to turn any crate or box into a hanging file. I used a couple of aluminum strips (which can be easily cut down to size with some tin snips)…

And my Rockwell Sonicrafter to put some 1/8″ channels in the crates, which I then slid the aluminum strips into.

And now they’re ready for hanging things.

It was super easy. I ended up spray-painting the hanging rods with black paint and calling it a day.

Step 4: Labeling With a Blender Pen

The crates were ready to go, but I thought they could use a little “fancying up” with some faded labels.

I read about this technique when I was debating about what to put on my rustic wood wall art panels, and you could totally use it for something like that as well. All you need is a “blender pen” (clear marker you can get at craft stores) and a photocopy (not a laser printed copy, but an actual copy machine copy) of the image you want to transfer.

First, I created my fake label in Illustrator (but you could do it in word as well) and then I reversed the text so it was a mirror image of how I wanted it to look.

Then I printed it out, took it to a photocopier, and made several paper copies. (I made sure to throw the printed versions away so I didn’t get confused later.)

To transfer the image to the crate, I taped it ink side down onto the wood.

Then I used the blender pen to “wet” the back of the paper. The pen contains a chemical that releases the ink from the paper. (And gives off some fumes, so if you don’t like getting high from markers, definitely work in a well ventilated space.)

I worked in small sections, wetting with the blender pen and then rubbing the letters with the back of a spoon (don’t be afraid to press hard.)

After I removed the paper I was left with this, a perfect faded label.

The blender pen I used was a Chartpak Woodcrafter’s Marker (I also had Prismacolor version that did not work at all, so I think the type of pen you use will really make a difference here.)

Step 5: Organize Your Life

With these two crates I basically doubled the amount of paper storage I had in my expensive wood filing cabinet.

First of all, this thing is heavy. There will be no moving the filing cabinet in front of the TV so you can sort papers and watch Die Hard at the same time, thank you. Also, it was always a little awkward to fit in a space with the desk. (Does it sit next to the desk, under the desk, across the room? The mental anguish was indescribable.)

And then of course there was this…

Which, thanks to some gray hanging files from Office Max, now looks like this:

I actually have way more paper storage than I need at the moment, which is a totally awesome feeling. I also know where my passport is now, in case I need to leave the country in a hurry. (One never knows.)

Eventually I’ll have an office with some shelving in it that will hold these babies, but they’re so pretty I don’t mind if they just sit in the middle of the floor for a while longer. And the best part? The total spend for this project was under $5. Can’t beat that for some organization.

This project is linked up to my favorite party, The Lettered Cottage’s How-To’s Day:

As it turns out having ten closets in your house isn’t even remotely helpful in keeping your life in order if nine of them don’t have shelving. Apparently the floor of a closet can only hold so much stuff before it starts spilling out into the rest of your life encouraging you to rip off a toenail when walking around the house at night. The joke is on you though, closets, because 1.) I installed a few lights last week to help illuminate the obstacle course of junk that I live in, and 2.) That junk piled outside your non-existent doors? Those are tools that I can build stuff with. Like shelves to foil your evil toe-stubbing plan.

Possibly I’ve spent a little to much time in this house talking to the walls. However, don’t let that undermine the importance of having some good shelving in your closets. Which can be cost effective if you build them yourself. Here’s how I added a semblance of organization to my life yesterday.

What I Used

There were three parts of this project for me, all requiring different types of tools. I always buy wood in bulk and cut it at home but  you could also have shelves and ledgers cut in your local Big Box.

Prepping the Closets

• Ultra White Eggshell Paint
• Brushes, rollers, paint trays and a bottle of wine to make picking white paint out of my hair at night more interesting

Cutting Shelves

• Tape measure
• Miter saw (capable of cutting through 12″ board)
• Sander (or sand paper) with 100 grit pads

Installing Shelves

• Tape measure
• Level
• Finish nailer

Materials

• Cheap 1×2 pine furring strips (any 1×2 will do) in 8′ lengths
• 1×12 pine shelving in 8′ lengths

 What I Did

Step 1 – Planning

The basic set-up for these wood shelves is three “ledgers” for the shelf to sit on, and then the shelf itself. There were a few things to consider before going crazy with the saw.

1.  How deep did I want the shelves? The closet I’m using as an example has been designated for cleaning supplies and utility junk, which meant I only wanted the shelves to take up half the depth of the closet so that brooms, vacuums, and other equipment can still be stored there.
2. Where were the studs located? If I wanted 12″ deep shelves, I still needed to be able to nail the ledgers to studs on the side, and since studs are typically 12″ apart, would the spacing work? (It did, but barely.)
3. What should be the spacing between shelves? I settled on 24″ at the bottom (large enough for buckets or small waste baskets) and 13″ between shelves (large enough for most cleaning supplies). I chose not to put any shelves higher than the door of the closet, since there’s no chance in hell I can reach them anyway.

After I new what I wanted, I planned out my materials list.  For five 12″ shelves, 31″ long, I used three 1x2x8′ furring strips and two 1x12x8″ lengths of pine shelving.

Step 2 – Fun With Saws
Have I mentioned today how much I love the smell of sawdust? This is my favorite part.

I used the sliding-arm miter saw to cut 5 back ledgers (30-7/8″ long), 10 side ledgers (11″ long) and 5 shelves (31″ long). Here are the pieces.

Step 3 – Sanding

(Side note: For some reason when I typed “sanding” I actually spelled “sangria” which was probably some kind of vacation freudian slip. But still….Don’t Drink and DIY.)

I didn’t switch the blade on the saw for fine cuts which means I had a little extra sanding work to do, but luckily the sander did that work for me. God I love power tools.

I planned to paint the ledgers the same color as the closet so they would blend in with the background and eventually stain the shelves. Which means everything got some quality time with 100 grit sandpaper.

Step 4 – Prepping the Closet

Technically you could do this before you cut your shelves, but I almost always do the power tool related activities first and then go back and do the rest because I have to. I was working on both closets simultaneously so they both got a coat of ultra-white paint. I might have painted them the same color as the walls, but as you can see… still in the unfinished drywall stages there. So white it is.

That’s basically what the floor looks like all of the time too (for example you may notice some chalkboard paint from a project I completed weeks ago, still in the middle of the walkway). So I wasn’t entirely joking about the toe-stubbing thing.

After inhaling paint fumes in very small spaces for the better part of the morning, it was time to get started with the install.

(Actually, I painted those ledgers with first, then it was time for the install.)

Step 5 – Installing the Ledgers

Here are the tools I used for installation:

(Side note: That cordless nailer has been getting around, has it not? You may also have seen it when I was building mirror frames or the pottery barn inspired pinboard.)

Since there isn’t a whole lot of flooring or baseboard in the house I can usually use the drywall screw placement to help me determine exactly where the studs are. You can also look for nails in baseboard or shoe molding to give you a hint.

Then I measured the height for the first shelf (taking into account the height of eventual flooring since I’m working on subfloor) and used a level to strike a line across the back of the wall.

Then the back ledger went in, nailed with two finish nails on each stud.

I cut it just short of the length of the wall for easy fitting, and those gaps will be covered by the side ledgers.

And speaking of…

It’s all pretty easy if you don’t mind working in small spaces and have done your math right. Which, when I tested out the first shelf, I realized I had not.

Hmm.

It looks suspiciously like I didn’t account for the width of the back ledger when cutting the sides, although I’m pretty sure I did because the length I had written down for those short pieces was 11″ and the shelves are 12″. I think this was more of a “forgot what I was doing in the time it took me to walk thirty feet out to the garage and then repeated the mistake nine more times” kind of thing. It happens. NBD, as the kids say these days.

I pried the offending ledgers off…

Don’t stress, it’s nothing a little touch-up paint won’t fix.

Then I re-cut the side ledgers using this little trick…

Since all ten needed to be the same length, I just clamped a piece of scrap to the miter saw which meant I didn’t have to measure and mark each piece. It took about 45 seconds to recut them and only because I was going slow to avoid any splintering.

Hey, look at that. Problem solved.

I had a nice chuckle at my own expense for that one, and I really believe that’s the kind of attitude you need to have when DIYing. Sometimes I make mistakes, and I just feel grateful I’ve got the tools to fix them.

Step 6 – Rinse, Repeat, Install shelves

It’s the same story for the rest of the shelves, which is why I highly recommend testing out the first shelf to make sure everything is working before nailing eleven more boards to the walls. Or go ahead and live dangerously.

I just let the wood shelves rest on the ledgers. They’ll be easy to remove for cleaning or future staining.

See how the white ledgers basically disappear?

Step 7 – Touch Up

I took everything out of the closet and touched up any dings to the walls and covered the nail holes in the ledgers. I like to use a Q-tip dipped in paint to fill in finish holes.

Step 8 – Organize

Hey look! Stuff now exists in this house somewhere other than on the floor.

I mean, also on the floor. But it’s still a big improvement.

Next up in the shelving adventure is some easy wire shelving for the bathroom closet, and some fancier (possibly adjustable) shelving for the pantry.

Creating this rustic wood wall art was a simple project when it came to building the panels and thinking up designs, but when it came to pulling the trigger and actually arting them up I spent a few days doing the deer-in-the-headlight routine. Side note: I’m not sure what compelled me to type the phrase “arting them up” but I’m going to use it for everything now. “Why do you have paint on your face?” “I’m arting it up.” I think I may have had a linguistical stroke of genius here.

Continuing on the theme of my genius– particularly as it relates to managing my project ADD– I was smart enough to leave the wood panels on the floor directly between the kitchen and the computer, and since I only pick up unfinished projects under penalty of death, I couldn’t exactly ignore them while they were in art-limbo if I was stubbing my toe on them every day. See how that works?

Of the designs mentioned here, I actually was going to go with one of the bridge images, and to get started I worked on a little pencil sketch…

Which I was actually really enjoying, but I decided the bridge was going to be too detailed for the character of the rustic wood. I may do a larger pencil sketch of the bridge and frame it someday, but for the wood panels I reverted back to the idea of using some sort of text. I tried a couple of variations of using some of my favorite music lyrics.

What I really loved about this was that as I was arranging the quotes, each panel started to tell its own story…

However this wasn’t getting me a “less busy” design, so I might need to save it for some canvases. (Do you see how I collect projects like old ladies collect cats? I can’t help myself. Also, there’s nothing wrong with collecting cats, mine is super helpful.)

I was almost ready to give up, then I was searching for one of my favorite summer pictures to use as the image for Friday’s DIY wrap-up…

And the little *idea* lightbulb flashed on over my head. This could be the perfect silhouette for my wood panels. I used a couple of comps from iStock to help me get the size and shape of the dandelion and seeds right.

There was a lot of measuring and pre-drawing before I even started with the wood. Then I did light pencil sketches on the panels and traced over them with a Woodcrafters Marker (which is basically wood stain in marker form.) I actually did a few tests on the back of one of the panels so I knew how much pressure to use with the marker.

I also considered using watered down acrylic paint, but in the end the marker had the look I wanted so I didn’t see any reason to make my life more difficult with things like cleaning up paint and brushes.

I had just a few “bleeding” issues in between boards, but for the most part it was pretty easy to get the dandelion onto the wood. It took about an hour. Of course it isn’t perfect, but I’m not a master artisan either. I’m just a girl with some old wood and a glorified sharpie.

And there she is… all arted up and ready for hanging.

Incidentally, I have no idea where I’m going to put it at the moment so “Part 4″ will be hanging the final pieces. I was thinking possibly over the bed, but I’m not sure I love it on the gray wall.

No matter where it ends up, I’m happy just to be able to cross it off the unfinished list. In the end it was incredibly easy to create (once I knew what I wanted to to look like) and only cost $3 for the Woodcrafters marker.

What do you think, is this a project you would do? Would you have gone a different direction with the art?

(I’ve been spreading the word about this rustic wood art through link parties at The DIY Showoff, Funky Junk Interiors, and…

I’m working my way through several projects for my home office with the hope that, after a year of living in a garage, they might help me get a handle on my life again. Hold on… I need a minute to recover from the fit of hysterical laughter brought on by that sentence. Because let’s be honest, nothing is going to stop me from leaving a trail of sawdust wherever I go, but this pinboard just might keep me from getting crushed under the growing mountain of papers on my desk.

My inspiration was this version from Pottery Barn, priced at$129:

This was a fairly simple weekend project, if you have the right tools. (And if you don’t have the right tools, consider this yet another fabulous reason to visit the tool aisle at your local Big Box.)

Things You Need To Build a Pinboard

The materials for the pinboard are pretty simple and I’ve drawn up a fancy little build-it-yourself plan that you can view in a PDF and download here.

Here’s the list of materials:

• 2 pieces of 1×2 pine, 36-3/4″ long (from outside of miter)
• 2 pieces of 1×2 pine, 24-3/4″ long (from outside of miter)
• 24×36 piece of 1/8″ chip board
• 24×36 piece of 1/8″ cork board
• 23-7/8×12″ piece of 1/8″ chip board for chalkboard
• burlap
• chalkboard paint
• spray adhesive
• stain/poly for wood frame

Tools:

• Table saw or circular saw for cutting chipboard to size  and putting grove in frame
• Miter saw for cutting frame pieces to size (alternatively a hand saw and miter box)
• Router for notching frame (can also be done with dado blade on table saw)
• Finish nailer/pneumatic stapler for joining corners and attaching board to frame

These are the tools I recommend, but I realize not everyone has a tool-buying compulsion like I do. This isn’t the end-all be-all list of things you have to have to put this project together– some of the pieces you could have cut to size at your local big box, or substitute other tools or joinery methods for. This is just how I did it.

Putting It All Together

Step 1: The Board

Whenever I’m building something with a frame, I like to start with the “inside” first. I mean, my cuts are always perfectly accurate because I would never cut without measuring twice, right? But just in case.

This 1/8″ chip board can definitely be found at Lowe’s in the same spot where they keep the smaller sections of peg board and bead board. It comes in 3×4′ sheets and will need to be cut down. The table saw is a simple way to do this. I used the scrap for the 12″ wide chalk board.

You could also use an existing cork board and just build a new frame, but since I didn’t have any cork board on hand it was cheaper to buy it in a roll and use the chip board as a backing.

I did lay the cork flat with a couple of books on the corner overnight to make it easier to attach to the backing. It was easy to trim to size using a utility knife:

(The chip board pictured is from an old failed project that I recycled for this one.)

Then both the board and the cork were sprayed with a spray adhesive:

After it dries for a minute, the cork can be placed on the board. This may be a good time to have a helper because if you don’t get it right the first time, it’s hard to reposition.

And by “hard” I mean “there is no way you’re getting that cork off in one piece”. But you know what, things don’t always go as planned. Luckily I had some extra so I just cut off the problem area, resprayed, and patched her up.

Next comes the burlap. Trimmed to size:

Then I sprayed a light coat of spray adhesive just on the front of the cork. I wanted it tacky enough that the burlap would be held in place but not super sticky. I also sprayed a thin line around the back of the board to hold the extra burlap as I folded it over.

I thought I was going to get all fancy with this and cut a piece of brown contractors paper to cover the ugly seams. Contractors paper ranks right up there with bread crumbs and jigsaw blades as one of the things I compulsively buy every time I see it thinking I’ve run out. Which is ironic because this time I really did run out. So the back of the board is still ugly, but luckily it faces the wall and no one sees it.

The smaller piece of chip board to be used as the chalk board needs to be finished with a couple of coats of chalkboard paint, which I forgot to take a picture of but was very exciting, let me tell you.

And that wraps up the “inside” pieces of this project. Now we just need a frame.

(Note: You could always simply use this board in an existing frame, but the sliding chalkboard piece probably won’t work. If you’re going to do that I recommend measuring the size and depth of your frame before starting.)

Step 2: Framing It

The frame starts with 1×2 pine, which actually measures 3/4×1-1/2″. This is the same size of wood that I used for the mirror frames for my master bath, but I turned it up on end so there would be plenty of room for the chalkboard to move around.

The first step was to cut it roughly to size (two 26″ lengths and two 38″ lengths) and then put the notch for the coark board to set in.

I like to use the router set up in the router table for this. The notch was 1/4″ deep and 3/8″ wide. All four pieces were run through this.

That’s all you would need to do for a simple frame, but this piece needed another channel on the top and bottom parts of the frame for the chalkboard to slide in. Since the chalkboard is only 1/8″ thick, I set up the table saw (whose blade is also 1/8″ thick) to only cut 3/8″ into the wood.

I’m always very careful when using the table saw to make a blind cut where the blade can’t be seen, and I also use a push stick to make sure all of my fathers dire predictions about my fingers don’t come true.

So that the chalkboard would slide freely I moved the guide 1/16″ or so out and ran both pieces through a second time. In the end I had this:

Remember, you only have to do this for the to and bottom pieces of the frame. Once all the proper notches and channels are in the frame piece, then I cut the mitered corners at a 45.

After that it’s a quick sand,  couple of coats of stain (I used Minwax Early American), and a satin poly finish.

Step 3: Assembly

Everybody still got all of their fingers? Great! Now it’s time to not shoot yourself with a nail gun. DIY- it’s not only productive, it’s exciting.

Because I like to live dangerously (and it was the only flat surface in the house large enough) I clamped the frame pieces together one corner at a time on my kitchen table.

Then I shot two finish nails through the end of each corner, using my cordless air nailer. You could also use a pneumatic stapler or a pocket screw to accomplish this. You might also consider putting a little wood glue on the joints before nailing them, but I wanted to keep things a little more flexible if the chalkboard part didn’t work out.

With three of the sides nailed together I slid in the chalkboard before attaching the final piece.

And here it is, ready for the cork board:

I did use 1″ staples for this part, and I only tacked it on the short sides of the frame, because if you shoot staples through the top and bottom pieces the chalkboard won’t be able to move.

And….

Like magic, you have a pinboard. Or, more accurately, a pinboard with a huge freaking crease down the middle of it that I only noticed while taking this picture. I even busted out the iron to make sure the burlap was nice and flat when I attached it, and I don’t even turn the iron on for the clothes I wear in public.

However, with a sliding chalkboard, this was a super easy problem to solve.

And, we’re good!

No reason to make life more difficult than it needs to be.

Step 4: Hanging

The only thing left is getting the board up on the wall. I chose to use a couple of little picture hooks fastened onto the back with small screws. If you go this route make sure you pre-drill.

The whole board including the frame is pretty light, and your favorite picture hangars will probably do for getting it on the wall. I used these.

And here is my home office in it’s current state:

A couple of things to note: Yes, those are wood clamps on the side of my desk, and no I’m not doing that to be trendy. Also the look of the wood from the pinboard on the blue walls was exactly the look I was going for, and just reinforces that I need to get working on building a new computer desk. (One of the plans pinned to my board, in fact.) You can also see that I’m making use of my chalkboard storage containers and magazine bins, and I have one or two more organizational projects up my sleeve before I get back on the “tiling the bathroom” train.

So I bought the materials to make two of these and the cost for all materials per pinboard (not including the chalkboard paint, which I already had) was $30.

What do you guys think? Is this pinboard something you’d DIY?

<em>This project is linked up to my favorite party, The Lettered Cottage’s How-To’s Day: </em>

<div align=”center”><a href=”http://theletteredcottage.net/how-to-paint-a-table-sort-of” title=”The Lettered Cottage”><img src=”http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj29/LaylaPalmer/How%20To/How_To_Linky_Button.jpg” alt=”The Lettered Cottage” style=”border:none;” /></a></div>