Every Christmas we all get together for the day and one of the games we play is darts and every year we go through the same routine. No one can find the darts. So to stop all the drama of the missing darts I decided I would make a stand that would go onto the wall next to the dartboard. That way we would always be able to find them.
I was given this wooden stand, and I’m not too sure what it is. My guess is a plant stand, but I could be wrong. It was so solid and heavy that I wanted to try and make something useful out of it. Candlesticks were the only thing I could come up with. They would not be the same size and shape, but I think that would be half the charm. And who does not love candlesticks in their home?
If you look through my website you will see that nearly all my projects have been made using recycled materials. This has enabled me to keep my hobby going with very little cost to myself for materials. 5 Years ago I decided I wanted to start woodworking as a hobby. Between my husband and son, we had a shed full of tools that just sat there. Because I had no training or skills I was always stuck doing basic boring projects for fear of messing it up and the wood being wasted. And wood is not cheap.
I found this vintage miniature curio display cabinet on my local for sale site. But I could not think of an idea of what I could do with it. These styles of cabinets are outdated, so I knew even if I restored it I would be unable to sell it. So I decided I would try and turn it into a jewellery box that could be either wall mounted or could stand on a table.
Over the years I have made a few wine barrel tables and every now and then they come with 2 extra bands. I always removed them because it looked better with only a few. I then had a few lying around and wanted to try and recycle them into something useful for the house. I had seen many ideas on Pinterest and they were mainly used as garden decoration, but I wanted something different. A firewood stand was my first choice. I thought It would look great next to an indoor wood fire. I had some rope that I bought years ago when our local hardware store closed down, so finally found a use for it.
I am a big lover of pets, and nothing is too good for my two little Jack Russell’s and a cat called Ginger. My cat and dog lived in harmony until our new Jack Russell came along. He made it his mission to chase the cat on sight and she had nowhere to hide. So, I wanted to make her somewhere to hide where he could not get her. I wanted a pet bed where she could hide but I wanted it still to look good in the house. I ended up with a great looking footstool that blends in with my home decor, and a perfect hideaway for the cat inside. I put the footstool close to the wall with the hole towards the wall so the cat can sleep in peace without the dogs harassing her.
This couch was posted on my local Buy, swap and sell site. The owner stated that it was put outside and if you wanted it you could come and pick it up. They said if it was still there the next days it was going to the dump. This was one of my early day restorations so there is no step by step instructions. But I wanted to show that just because it looks like trash it does not have to be. I could see the potential but I have not done a restoration like this so I thought it would be a good practice run for me. My intention was to try and restore it and get some practice at the same time.
My husband is a computer gamer and spends a tidy penny on his gaming headsets. So when he runs over the cable with his office chair and destroys them he is none too happy. Being the kind and considerate wife that I am, my words not his. I thought I would make him a stand to store them when not in use.
I made my great niece a sand pit table so she could play in the sand without having to sit in the sand. As much as she likes playing with the sand the sand getting on her bottom seemed to upset her. I was going to try and make a chair to go with the table using the offcuts from the desk and old table legs that I had left over after stripping down a table that I repurposed. I worked out the height that I wanted by measuring the sandpit desk and the gap where the chair fits underneath it.
I saw this 1950’s Vintage cabinet on my local for sale site for $30.00 which I thought was a bargain. I am still not 100% sure what it was used for, some sites said it was a display cabinet and other said it was a cutlery and crockery cabinet. I wanted to try and restore the outside of the cabinet and repurpose the inside to be a bar/drinks cabinet. I went for the bar theme because I have never had a problem selling anything that I have made that involves alcohol.
This was one of the first projects I had done so no step by step tutorial but still great to share and to give others ideas. I saw this prison coffee table on my local for sale site for $10.00 and loved the design and thought I could give it a makeover. It is called a prison table so the lady told me but someone must have broken out because so many of the bars were broken or missing. The photo above was taken 4 years after I first gave it a makeover and one of the bars broke again, thanks to the kids.
