I have been saving a bit of my special Roman Olive wood to make something special for my sister who loves Italy. Not a regular spoon, not a spatula, how about a roux spoon? With a taster spoon on the handle? Ok!
Roman Olive Roux Spoon
Tag: wood work
New Nal
I made myself a new nal for nålbinding; a little longer and with two holes so I can work with longer lengths of yarn. I thought it was interesting that the previous nal darkened so much after just two projects. I made them both from cherry wood, both from scraps from the same plank.
I saw another crafter with a nal that had been hollowed out behind the eyes. I like that this helps the yarn pass through the loops better, so I used a small gouge to do that to my nals as well.
Yes. I took the pictures on my calico. She was handy.
2×4 scrap seat
The chickens are still a little overwhelming for my youngest, and sitting on one of the benches inside is still too much. So I started to think about a way to make her a bench so she could sit outside the runs and watch the chickens. (We are all about little steps.)
I found a pin on Pinterest that I liked (https://www.hometalk.com/40795802/outdoor-2×4-bench). I actually had enough scrap treated 2x4s to make a single seat! No purchase necessary.
The size of the bench was determined by the size of my scrap. I measured out everything and cut it (I recommend cutting the cross pieces on the legs after assembling everything else; the dimensions changed after I screwed it together). I then used 2 1/2” self-tapping screws to join the pieces, checking square for each leg piece.
I used opposite corners for each piece as I assembled so I wouldn’t accidentally run one screw into another. I also used more scrap to support the leg pieces as I assembled.
After the seat was assembled, I sanded surfaces and the edges.
I quite like the little seat, and where it is sitting. I think surrounding it with mint plants might be in the future. I already have one chocolate mint plant out there. Sight and smell therapy.
Apple spoon
Here is another apple wood spoon, but with an apple tree design wood burned into the handle. I’m really enjoying making these utensils!
Now for some crafting.
I love the pantry in our house, but there wasn’t an area to put spices that made them easy to find. I recently sorted the spices and discovered three containers of garlic salt. Apparently I thought I was out because I couldn’t find any so bought more. Three times.
I decided to make my own spice rack for the pantry door. I’ve tried the wire racks screwed to the door, but they tend to fall off when accidentally bumped. (And I often forget my edges and bump into things! Ugh.) Not to mention cleaning up glass and wasted spice from the floor is not a preferred activity. So I measured my space and my largest containers and made my plan.
I went to the lumber store and picked out 1x4x8 select pine, and found some beautiful embossed pine trim. There are several ways to construct spice racks; I could use rabbet and dado joints, biscuit joints, or mortis and tenon joints. I decided to work on my chisel and hand saw skills and do mortis and tenon joints. It took me a while, but the last mortis was much cleaner than my first! Here is a picture of the side boards with all the mortises cut.
The saw I used is a Marples hand saw, fine cut double blade pull saw, which I absolutely love for fine cuts. (Especially when my band saw is buried at the back of the garage. Cleaning out the garage will take a couple stages and the chicken coop comes first!) I also used a 1/2″ straight chisel that I made sure was nice and sharp before I started.
I was pleased when I glued everything together how well it came out! I was planning on painting it white, but the wood looked so pretty I changed my mind and put on a couple coats of clear. After filling the nail holes and a few gaps with wood filler. (Have you tried the color changing wood filler? I haven’t used it before, but it worked well. A little shocking to spread bright pink paste on my project, but when it was dry it faded to a nice natural color, and sanded well.)
So here is the final project all ready for my spices! I’ve made the mistake of putting items on a finished shelf before the recommended 24 hours, and have had things stick to the shelf. So I’ll give it a good 48 hours then load it up! Yay for pantry reorganization!
Critters and Craft 