More cheese boards

The boards I posted about here last fall have sold and I was asked to make a few more.

Two of the boards are made by gluing together strips of hardwood.

This one has 7 strips of alternating maple and cherry and is 10" long x 5 1/2" wide x 1" thick. :

The second board is also striped, but I chose to put a hole in it and shape the end, it's maple and some mystery wood. It is 9 1/4" x 4 3/4" x 1":

The third board is a large slab of yellow birch and is 14" long x 8" wide and more than 1" thick.  I removed the bark but kept the shape of the edge where the bark was.  I also attached stainless steel handles which had screws that I countersunk into the bottom of the board.

I put mineral oil on my boards, it really changes the look of the wood as you can see with this board and should be used regularly to keep your boards from drying out:

Showing at the following blogs:

{aka}|design

The Brambleberry Cottage

The Shabby Creek Cottage

My Repurposed Life

Blue Cricket Design

Workshop Window Trim

I have a beautiful shop that my husband and I made ourselves, that I really haven't blogged about and need to do so soon.  We built it a few years ago and I am still trying to finish off the inside.  On and off over the past few months I've been working on trimming the side windows.  The front room windows had already been done by me a couple years ago. This is the south side, and where I enter my shop.

I chose pine to trim the windows with because it's my favourite and the shop cupboards and router table I made are pine.The vinyl clad windows were inserted from the outside and nailed into place through their flanges which are now under the siding.  They were also screwed into the framing from the sides to keep them firmly in place.

This is what they looked like from the inside, before painting. There are three windows along the east side of the building.

Here is one of the sad looking windows, unfinished:

The first thing to do is make the jambs, this is the wood that fills in the framed area, not the part that sits on the wall, but perpendicular to it.  These windows are made with a groove that holds the jamb so that the wood fits into it... who knew?

The great part about having a planer is that you can make your wood exactly the thickness you need it.  I planed mine down to about 3/4" thick so that it would fit perfectly in the grooves the window had built in.

This is how the sill will fit into the groove when it's finished:

I decided on having a sill that extended past the outside of the window trim or casing by 1".  Because of this, the sill piece has to be cut to fit into the groove as well as on the wall.  You can see it here at the bottom:

Here's a close up, the window casing is 3 1/4" wide, so the "finger" on the sill extending out has to go past where the casing will sit by 1".  It also is wider than the side and top jamb pieces, to allow the side casings to sit on it.

The side jambs will sit between the top and bottom pieces, of course everything has to measured precisely. 

The previous photos show a trial fit with unfinished wood. Since I was trimming three windows and two doorways, I had a lot of pieces to cut and finish. I coated all pieces with five coats of wipe-on polyurethane.

The jambs are attached first, this shows the bottom sill and the side jamb:

When the jambs are nailed in, they have to have shims put in between them and the framing, to keep everything level and perpendicular.  I also had to add some insulation in the space.

Next I put on the 3 1/4" wide side casings, all are 1/2" thick. Note that casings sit back from the jambs about 1/8" - 1/4", something I didn't know until I researched how to trim windows. 

Here you can see how the side casing sits on the bottom sill:

For the top frame piece I glued a 1" wide piece of pine perpendicular to the top piece:

The top piece lines up with the outer edges of the side casings and gives a trim style that is different from the usual mitred corners.

The final piece is the bottom apron that sits below the sill and also lines up with the outer edges of the side casings.

The finished window:

Now I just need to make doors for two openings!

Showing this at the following blogs:

{aka}|design

Sew Woodsy

Funky Junk Interiors

Sisters of the Wild West

My Repurposed Life

Cute Little Blackboard

I had some small pieces of blackboard left over from other projects (Tavern Blackboard, Pallet Blackboard and Menu Blackboard)

What I have is 1/4" hardboard that I had painted with black chalk paint so it was ready to be used.

I also had a photo saved in my personal stash of inspiration pieces from quite a few months ago that gave me the idea for this little blackboard.

This is from the blog Shabby Art Boutique written by Kerryanne in Australia (I'm so glad her photos were marked with her blog name, or I wouldn't have remembered where I found it)

Kerryanne's blackboards are all one piece of MDF and she used Mod Podge to adhere the top portion, which is brown paper with graphics printed on it.

My blackboard has a top piece which is pine with a groove in it that the hardboard sits into.  You can see it in this photo:

My little blackboard is 4 3/4" wide x 7 1/2" tall (including the top part)... I think I'll make some more.

Thanks to Kerryanne and all the creative bloggers out there that share their ideas with others.

P. S. I just read yesterday that Kerryanne's mantra for 2012 is "Follow your heart," how cool is that?

Linking to the following blogs:
Funky Junk Interiors
{aka} design
Sew Woodsy
Coastal Charm
Savvy Southern Style
Blue Cricket Design
Brambleberry Cottage
Shabby Creek Cottage
My Repurposed Life

Donny Osmond and me!

First I must say that this has absolutely nothing to do with woodworking!

Donny Osmond was on Dr. Phil today.

Photos of Donny used to be on my wall in my bedroom, along with Michael Jackson and David Cassidy.

On my 50th birthday my husband and I were on a vacation in Las Vegas and my husband surprised me with VIP tickets to the "Donny and Marie" show at the Flamingo Hotel and Casino.  This meant that not only were we in the front row for the show, but we got to meet Donny afterwards.

The show was amazing.  After, I had Donny Osmond speak with me, wish me a happy birthday, and put his arm around me for a photo!

It was a great experience and happened because my husband wanted me to have a special day.  (Oh yes, he is in the photo and was there too!)  I love my husband!

Ceramic Tile Backsplash

A good friend of mine asked me if I could tile her kitchen back splash that never got done when she renovated her kitchen a few years ago.  I said yes!

The back splash was left painted the same colour as the walls in the kitchen and dining area.  Having tiles means better clean up and also the back of her counter top did not have any caulking, so any splashes could run water down between the sink and the half wall.

The home owner and I decided to go to a local home improvement store to look for tiles.  She decided that black would look good with her black sink and other black decor she had so we chose a small black tile that came on a sheet of 36 tiles.  Each tile is about 1 7/8" square with a 1/8" space between each one.

I had a helper, Brady, who would keep an eye on me and make sure I did things correctly.

The tiles we bought came on a sheet of 6 tiles x 6 tiles which included glue spacers between them that left room for the grout.  The tiles can be cut apart with scissors or a knife.  I needed 2 1/2 tiles for the height of the back splash.

The tiles need to be cut with a tile cutter, I used one like this:

You place the tile under the cutting system and it scores and then cuts the tile.

Basically you glue the tile to the wall with a tile adhesive that comes in a tub.  It's the consistency of peanut butter and you just butter the tile with it.  In different circumstances you can apply it to the wall, but because this was such a small area, it would be hard to get into the space so buttering the tile was easier.  Using a notched trowel spreads the adhesive evenly on the back.

My trowel looked like this:



You can see the adhesive applied on the back of this set of tiles (sorry for the blurred photo)

The bottom row of tiles were set onto the counter and pressed firmly to attach to the wall. Although I don't show it in these photos, this was an L-shaped back splash and I just worked my way around, leaving a space between the tiles that were not pre-joined.

This shows the tiles glued on but not grouted yet:

Let your tile set and harden.  I left these a few days because I don't live in the same town as this kitchen, but 24 hours would be best just to make sure the tiles are well stuck.

The next step is to grout. Years ago grout used to come in white only but now you can pick from many different colours, my friend chose a grey. The grout I was recommended is unsanded and comes in a powder form.  You need to follow the directions on the bag and mix with water to get a toothpaste-like consistency.

Grout is spread over the tiles and pushed into the spaces between. I use a flexible spreader, like a spatula without a handle. Try to fill in the grout as even as possible, but you can neaten it in the next step.
(NOTE:  I did not grout where the tile meets the counter top, that needs to have a flexible caulk later)

The tiling will look messy because the grout is over the tile as well as between it, but that will be cleaned up:

Let this dry just a little and then get a damp sponge and go over the whole section you have tiled. This removes the grout on the tiles and cleans up any unevenness. Keep washing out your sponge and going back to remove extra grout.  I run my finger over the grout lines to even it out and so that there is a slight concave appearance.  If necessary you can wet your finger a little to smooth things out.

Here is what the tiling looks like after the last step:

There are still some uneven areas where grout is on the edge of the tiles, I remove that with my fingernail after the whole thing is dried.

Let everything dry for a day and try not to splash anything on the grouting.  Then get some grout sealer and "paint" it all over the grout lines.  It is a watery product that protects the grout from future splashes of food or liquids.  I did one coat and then the home owner put 2 more coats over top.  This is a preventative measure to keep your grout looking good.

Because the tile meets the counter top and the counter may slightly move with weight from things put on it or people leaning against it, you need a flexible caulk.  Use a caulking gun with a tube of kitchen/bathroom caulk that is mildew resistant.  Run it along the edge where the tile meets the counter top and smooth with your wet finger.

The black tile added a little extra elegance to the kitchen and both my friend and I were very pleased with the finished look.

I've done a few kitchen and bathroom back splashes and this is a job anyone could tackle!
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Showing this at the following great blogs:
Funky Junk Interiors
{aka} design
My Repurposed Life
Sew Woodsy
The Brambleberry Cottage
Sisters of the Wild West
Savvy Southern Style

Happy New Year

A new addition to our family

Presenting... 

 T E G S   C i s c o  K i d 

born Sept. 6, 2011

Littlest cowboy in the North!

With much thanks to Gerry and Tammy at TEGS Chihuahuas for trusting us with Cisco.