Sunday, October 19, 2014

Lightbulb Birds

This was a fun project I finished a while ago. It was from an issue of Cloth Paper scissors. I made one to their suggestion, then modified it to make the penguin. Can you guess what the base of the birds was?!

If you guessed burnt out light-bulbs, you win a prize! After this initial step a lot of paper clay covering and sculpting was involved and then painting. It was a first for me doing much of either, so it was quite a learning experience.

But I think they turned out to be pretty cute. 

And are quite the pair of feathered friends! 

Thursday, October 9, 2014

Re-Purposing a Found Outdoor Table


Last month I made a short but very fun trip back home to Ottawa. We spent quite a bit of time doing projects of various sizes and shapes. This was one of the simpler ones. Earlier in the summer my Mum and Cousin came across this table on someone's lawn. It had seen better days, but my Mum had a vision!

To get it home in the car, she had to sit in the trunk holding it in, as the back of the car couldn't close. Luckily it was only a block or so away from our house! Looks like they had a pretty amusing time getting it home. 

The first problem with the table was that it was too big for the deck area and use that she envisioned. So I started by cutting a few of the boards off the top. I just used a hand saw, but it was pretty quick work. The table was made of really nice cedar which has a lot of good life left in it. 

I cut the matching boards off the other side. We did this one board at a time so we could see the size as we went to judge when it was just right. 

The next problem to address was that it was too tall. So using a square and the hand saw again, I cut each of the four legs to a better height. 

Mum seemed pretty happy with the result so far! The round edges give it some character, with it being more manageable now that it's narrower. 

Finally I trimmed the braces at an angle so they taper down from the table top to look more intentional. And we set it in place. Looked pretty good. In the spring it will get sanded and painted and be a great addition to the deck!