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Thursday, October 1, 2015

A new project

Started a new project this week.  When we moved into our condo there was a large pile of boards out behind our garage.  I came to find out that these were old boards were left over from where the condo association had put in new privacy fences.  They had yet to come pick these up to dispose of them.  So I decided to put these old boards to work as a new headboard.  As a lot of folks know about me I have a knack of taking something old an repurposing it.
I couldn't just let these sit here, must put them to good use.

So Mike was sweet and picked out all the boards that would work and then cut up the other boards so that they could be picked up by our garbage man.

I then borrowed a power washer from my brother and got to work cleaning up these boards.  Whew did it make a big mess, but once we were finished the boards turned out to be in better shape than I had expected.


It was a messy job, but they looked so much better after we were finished.


After all the boards were cleaned up we let them dry out for a couple of days.  Once the boards where dry I started the task of sanding down the rough spots.  Mike has a belt sander which really did a great job at cleaning the boards up even further.  That is until I hit a screw with it that was hiding in one of the boards and it ripped the belt right off of it.  So work was halted for the day until we got to Home Depot to buy some more sandpaper belts.

Don't you just love our protective wear

The belt sander did a great job cleaning up the boards


Mike used the plainer to even out the sides of the boards

We had plans to get to Home Depot on Tuesday, but poor Mike ended up having to spend 6 hours at NTB getting the brakes on the truck worked on.  Since we only have the one vehicle right now I was stranded at home while he was stranded at the shop. He said it wasn't a total loss of the day.  The TV that was in the waiting room was having a marathon showing of Modern Marvels.  Meanwhile I tackled making my first pair of mittens.  My Mom used to make mittens all the time for what seemed like every kid in our neighborhood.  So I thought it was high time I learned how to make them.    Here's a picture of my first pair.  They turned out pretty good.  


On Wednesday morning we were finally able to make it over to Home Depot to pick up some supplies to continue working on the head board.  We bought lumber for the frame and some screws along with a new shop light for Mike's area.  We returned and got straight to work.  Mike helped me build a frame in order to support the boards.  I then started the task of measuring and cutting the boards to fit.  It was similar to when we laid the hardwood floors in our house in Ashville.  Now this is when Mike and I differ a bit, he was all about measuring everything so it was well precise.  Me on the other hand I decided after I measured the first two I was just going to wing it by laying the pieces on the floor and figuring out what fit best.  This way I could use all wood and not have any waste.  

Measuring didn't last very long

I soon just started laying the boards out.

Just like laying hard wood floors.



Since there were smaller pieces that didn't come in contact with the frame I had to attach cross pieces on the back to support them.  My technique for using the impact drill improved over the course of the afternoon.  Unfortunately in the beginning it was not so good and I ended up splitting a couple of boards.  But with Mike's patience I persevered through.  I finished putting all the pieces together.  Below is what the back of the headboard looks like.  I still have to do a few finishing touches to the front and then apply a coat of polyurethane.  I'll have pictures of the completed project as soon as it is done, so stay tuned.
The view of the back

After a day of working on my headboard we had a wonderful visit with Amanda and Jacob.  She brought Jacob over after work so that we could go to the fabric store to figure out a Halloween costume for the little guy.  His Dad, Kent, was home that evening working on school work.  We enjoyed a nice visit with them and was able to come up with an outfit for Grandma to make Jacob (more to follow on that). I am also working on adjusting one for Miles too.  I love sewing for these two.

Ok I know this is a little dark, but there was something I just liked about this photo.

Someone is not camera shy.  Which is a good thing considering who his Grandma is.





She just adores this little man.


Buddies

Being silly at dinner

It was a wonderful day!







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