Faux Shiplap Wall DIY Tutorial

 Shiplap.

It's all the rage and I love it. I wanted to put some in my home.  My husband dry walled the shed...then we decided to paint...then we decided to try out the shiplap for fun!  I love how it turned out!  We used this tutorial as a guideline and it worked pretty well.

What you'll need:
1/8" MDF panel boards
Nickels
Paint, paint brushes, rollers, etc.
Level
Nail Gun & nails
Sander & sand paper
Saw

1.  We went to The Home Depot, bought the MDF boards and had them cut it there.  When we told him what size we needed, he said, "you must be doin' shiplap."  They'll probably know what you're too:)

We had ours cut into 8" wide pieces.

2.  We came home and sanded the edges and corners.  I used anywhere between 60 and 120 grit sandpaper.  It took maybe an hour to sand all of them.

3.  We started with the first board, making sure it was level and nailed it in place.

[the freshly painted wall about to get covered up:/]

4.  Then (this step is optional and we stopped doing it about a third of the way through) we painted the tops of the boards as we went.

5.  We placed nickels in between the boards for spacing.  You can also use tile spacers, but we had nickels on hand:)

6.  We kept going.  Sadly, we had originally painted all the walls in the shed so we were covering up our nicely fresh painted wall, but I'm glad we did...

7.  Once all the shiplap was on the wall, we filled the holes in with wood putty and mudded the seams.

[you can see how we stopped painting the tops of the boards as we went on]

8.  Then we painted...a couple coats.

[I used a spackling knife to remove any paint left between the boards]

9.  And there you have it!  I just loved how it turned out.

We added this storage/work table as well.  Originally we were going to just use 2x4s for the legs, but once again the husband decided to splurge and do metal legs (which I again l.o.v.e!).  They cost about $50 and again they cut them at The Home Depot (do y'all love that place as much as I do?!).

Happy Crafting!

Total Time: a weekend
Total Cost: $95 (paint and shiplap), $50 (for legs, including brackets for top & bottom of each leg)

Wood Toys

If I ever opened an Etsy Shop it would be called "grandpa's wood shop" because I make everything in my ... grandpa's wood shop.  He has been working with wood since before I was born and is incredibly talented.  I like to do the same, although I'm no...where....near as good as he is.  Yet, I have to start somewhere.

I wanted to make some wooden toys for my kid(s) to play with.  Wood is sturdy, timeless and well, my wood toys come with memories and are a priceless heirloom.

I googled wooden toys and found several on Etsy, most of which were quite expensive (but considering how much time it takes to make one, I totally understand it).  Anyway, I pinned a few and decided to go ahead and make my own.

I bought materials at The Home Depot & Walmart (spent approx. $60) and started making my own patterns, tracing and then headed to my grandpa's wood shop.

The items I decided to recreate: here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.
Mine are different, but I love them just the same, maybe a little more since they are made from my own elbow grease and my grandpa's skill.

Fishing pole & fish:

 My grandpa and I slaved over how to make the hook (the one on Etsy was just too hard for an ameatur like myself).  My grandpa suggested a smaller dowel.  I like it.  I might update or make another/some more with magnetic fish instead of the dowel for younger kids, but I still absolutely love this little toy....and so does my little guy.

Jump Rope:

 My grandpa is amazing on the lathe.  I just absolutely love how these turned out.  Seriously.  The example I looked at is painted red, but I just love the natural look of this.  I might eventually have to make larger holes for thicker rope, but it's just right for now

Stacking Sorter

Again, I absolutely love how this one turned out.  It was actually super easy too.  I cut a 8' x 10" board and got a 4" x 10" piece for the base.  The dowel is I think 5/8 or 1/4 I can't remember.  The shapes are 1/2" plywood (which I might recommend not using plywood, but actual wood).  Again, the one in the example is NOT painted, but I liked the idea of adding some color for interest.

 Lacing Toys:

Again, this toy is so much fun.  We did it out of the 1/2" plywood (which it was pretty messy to sand), but I love the thickness.  I made patterns for the holes on my templates so they are evenly spaced and my grandpa used his drill press to drill all the holes.  After some (lots of) sanding and smoothing, I think they turned out pretty cute.

 Bowling Set:

I had to order the ball online.  I found 3" balls on Ebay, 8 for $10 free shipping.  That made me happy and they are just right.  The pins are 8" tall.  My child is obsessed with bowling.  Anytime we drive past a bowling alley, he begs to go.  It's kind of strange and funny at the same time.  Anyway, we have a plastic bowling set, but I love now that we have a wooden one too.

I showed my sister my idea for these crafts and she wanted her own set so I was able to get two sets out of the wood and supplies I bought.  I still have a few more things to make, but I just love that my kids will have something special to play with as they grow up.

Made with love.

Total Cost: $65

Total Time: 10+ hours

10 Step Wood Pumpkins

I know, I know.  I just barely posted about my back to school shelf & now I'm already onto Halloween...

Well, I figured I'd get them out of the way so they'd be ready.  They aren't going on the shelf until October, so don't worry about that.

Anyway.  I have extra wood.  I have extra time.  I like to use both.  I pinned this probably a year ago or so, but finally got around to making my own version.

The pumpkin idea is super cute...and super easy.  Just a 2x4, some paint & a few other things.

Materials:
2x4 scraps
1x1 scraps (for stem)
Hanger (for vine), optional
Craft pliers (the purple & blue) for my project.
Paint, orange, brown & green
Wood of Tacky Glue
Sander & sand paper
Paint brush
Drill & 5/64" drill bit, optional
Hack Saw
Shellac/Sealer

Step 1:
Cut your boards to the size you want.
Mine are 3.25, 4 & 8 inches tall.  Don't forget to cut your stems too.  I did various sizes of what I thought would look good (about 1x1.5x3/4" for the two tall ones, a bit shorter for the small pumpkin)

Step 2:
Sand them down.
I tried to round my edges a bit to get more effect, but do what you like.

Step 3:
Paint your wood.  I used a regular orange craft paint for the pumpkins.
For the stems I combined white & coffee bean to make a brown I liked.

Step 4:
While those are drying, cut and twist the hanger to make the vines.
It wasn't hard, just took a bit of time.  There was a coating on my hanger that kind of peeled off as I was doing this, which was fine, it doesn't matter.

Step 5:
Paint the vines.
I actually used spray paint for these, way easier than trying to hand paint them.

Step 6:
When the boards are dry [if you want a weathered look, sand the edges], take the hacksaw and saw lines down the middle of the pumpkins.  [I actually did this BEFORE I painted...wrong.  Do it after to get the lighter effect that looks better].

Step 7:
Shellac everything & let dry.  I used a sating polyurethane I already had, but you could use mod podge or whatever you have on hand.

Step 8:
Drill holes for the vines to go in (or just hammer them in if your wood is soft enough).
On one end of all my vines, I left about a 1/4-1/2" straight piece that could go into the wood.

Step 9:
Glue stems to pumpkins, let dry

Step 10:
None, you're done!

See, easy & 10 steps..okay, really nine.  It took me about an hour or so to do this & it was FREE since I had all the materials.

Happy Halloween (or Thanksgiving, whatever you use these for)