Furla's House Sign

Although I have not really gone into my sign business yet, I wanted to share about this particular one. I have been avoiding it for awhile (so unlike me) because I wanted to make it really special and I really felt I was lacking in ability to actually do this.

She just bought a house and I offered to make her a sign for by the front door that says their name. They love wine and I wanted to do something with that in mind. I have gone back and forth on so many designs for it. I want to make it shaped like a bottle of wine. I want to be all fancy and inlay they whole bottle in another piece of wood so that the sign is square, but the bottle shape is there (obviously with a different stain color). No matter how I tried to work it up, it just wasn't working.

I think I have a better idea now what I will do. I think I will take a piece of my 1/2 wood and rout out the name using my sign maker jig. But instead of just routing the name in the wood. I am going to go all the way through the wood. So if you hold it up you can see through it. I will stain or paint this white so it will look a little like a label. Then I will inlay that piece of wood into a larger 3/4 inch piece of white wood I have sitting around. I can cut out it into the shape of a wine bottle and stain the 3/4 inch wood with a deep red color. So when the name is inlaid, you can see the red around it and through the letters.

I hope this will make it look like a wine bottle with a white label. I can use either my jigsaw or scroll saw to cut out the wine bottle shape and use my roundover bit in my router to round the edges. Seal it with my spray laquer I have for outdoor projects and it will be done.

I just have to have the time now. We are swamped this week preparing for my daughter Chloe's 1st birthday party. I have to bake a cake and decorate it and beg everyone's forgiveness since it will be lopsided and decorated horribly. Baking is NOT my forte, but at least it usually tastes great!

The Dining Room Benchseat

Here is another blast from the past. When we bought this house, we had the largest dining room we have ever had. The previous owners had a large table as well as a large desk and office space in there. We put our table in there and then we realized that there was A LOT of extra room. We had no need for office space so what did we want to do to fill the space. We toyed with the idea of bar area. We are not big drinkers (I really don't drink at all) but it seemed like someplace cool to put tall chairs and hang out with some sodas. Then we moved on to ideas of more seating. More specifically a breakfast bench and table. We looked around and priced them, but they all looked hard and uncomfortable.

My husband has a brother and SIL who combined have 4 kids. When they came to dinner (or really any group larger than us 3) we would run out of chairs. We figured having the second table would be great when they came to visit as well as great as a homework table or coloring table away from the main dining room table. We decided once again the best course of action was for me to build my own.

It came out to about 5 feet by 4 feet L shaped design. I researched how to build a bench using 2 x 4s and 3/4 inch MDF for the frame. The hard part was wanting to have it upholstered with a nice padded back and bottom. I found some nice green fabric and some 1 inch foam pieces. I am always shocked by the price of foam. Seriously! Is this a rare item or difficult to make that the price per sq ft is exorbinant? Either way, it was easily one of the more expensive parts of this project. 2x4s are super cheap and 2 sheets of MDF are also nor very expensive comparatively.

I created the basic shape with the 2x4s.


I added some posts to support the back.


I cut the pieces of MDF to fit. I laid them in place first to be sure I had the basic shape and fit I was looking for.


I did the next step in a very complicated way. I have no idea if it was the best way or the long difficult way. Either way, I upholstered each of the back peices seperately and then attached them. Same with the bottom. It wasn't easy, but I just keep finding ways to actually secure each piece and still upholster it at the same time. I used 1 inch thick foam for the back and 3 layers of the 1 inch foam on the bottom.


Here is the back and bottom all done.


I screwed the base pieces into place. It really started to take shape and feel complete here.


Some paint, some trim, and we had ourselves a cool new bench seat. All that it needs is a table right.......(see next blog for my favorite table)

The Puzzle

Here is something funny you should know about me if you happen to ever have a conversation with me in person. If during the conversation my eyes wander the room and then I look thoughtful and like I am not listening....I am building stuff in my head. My husband usually asks where I went and then answers himself that I must be building something in my head.

The thing is while I am driving, eating at a restaurant etc, there are things all around me. I am curious how they were built and if I could build it. Especially if there is cool woodworking or trim around me. I have to build it in my head so I can enjoy the craftsmanship.

So if I space out its not that you are not interesting enough, but it simply is that I am rude and can't stop myself from building the stuff I see around me in my mind. I laughed at myself today because I realized in my head it even has music. Or noise really. If you have ever played those Lego Star Wars Wii games and you find a pile of Lego's on the ground. You click the button to start building some item with them....yeah, that is the sound I hear in my head and see my hands flying through the process of building that mini wall or trim around a table or door.

Is this a bad sign of my mental stability?

A Little About Now

The past is fun to look at, but also really painful. While I am proud of the work, its also a little embarrassing to see the mistakes and shortcuts I took. They are not bad projects, but they make me think of the things I would like to redo or fix on them and I haven't gotten around to it. Because, well, let's face it. Its more fun to think of current projects than past ones.

So what are these current projects....hmm...let's see. There are those current ones I am actually working on and those I WANT to be working on.

In the first category there are those I am actually working on. I have a small sign business. They are signs with a small inlay (usually an animal and most often a monkey) and a child's name carved next to that. I bought a sign making template kit to rout out the names and I freehand for the inlay. They are not perfect, but are just charming enough to be perfect signs for kids rooms.

I suppose they could say just about anything though. From "Robert's Office" to "Library" etc. For now though they are sold on a friend of mine's website where she sells baby items. http://www.yourbabysneeds.com/pesi.html While this is a lot of fun and there is a steady stream of orders, its still just a hobby on the side.

I also have a 2 things I am "commissioned" to do. I am making a house sign for one lady in my mom's group. I admit I am stalling on this one. I know what I want to do and I know what I can do. Unfortunately I don't have the skills to do it as nice as I want to do it so I think I am stalling. I hate that. I also have another mom who asked me to try to build a birthing stool for her doula practice. If I do it really nicely and its portable she will tell the other doulas in her doula groups and I may get multiple orders for them. This project excites me and is super scary at the same time. I am so worried one will crack during delivery and either mom or baby could be hurt. I will test it all ways I can, but its still scary if I don't do it right.

What I want to do encompasses so much. I want to make some dollhouses, toy chests, kids toys and other items for an etsy shop and for friends. By biggest wall is money and time. Dear sweet time that I have so little of between the kids, the house and work. As it is every weekend this month we have plans and yet I have to find time in the evenings to get some orders done because I could use the money with my daughter's first birthday party happening at the end of the month.

Balancing time is the hardest thing. If I am in the garage and I can't always pop back in the house quickly to help with the kids and I lose track of time so I tend to not cook as well on days I am working. Plus weekends are only 2 days long. During the week I am working. I am on the road at 6am and I get off work at 4pm. It takes an hour to get back from work and then I pick up the kids at their daycare and preschools and then get home, throw together dinner, get them ready for bed (bottles, baths, story time, brushing teeth, pj's etc) and then Robert gets home somewhere in the middle of the bedtime routines for the kids. Finally they are both asleep and its nearly 8pm. I try to visit with Robert, pay bills, catch up on housework (I would say exercise too, but let's not start lying to each other this early in the blog relationship) and finally I crash asleep. Its not much time with the kids or my husband. So 2 days for a weekend means we are trying to spend time as a family, play, swim lessons etc, and if I spend 4-8 hours in the garage on either day, that is even less time with them.

Its hard to be a mom and have a hobby like this. I can't just bring my nearly 1 year old out there and while my 4 year old loves to come out, its a distraction and I have to watch to make sure he remembers the safety rules and has his ear protection on before I can start up any machine. It just takes longer to get stuff done. Plus, he is a very bright 4 year old who asks a million questions about everything and wants to build stuff like me. So I have to answer questions and distract him from asking to help build stuff when its not something he can help with.

All in all, I try to pack everything into a few hours each night and a little during the day on weekends. Its tiring, and really hard in the winter when its super cold in the garage, but its worth it when I can give someone a gift or place a new piece in our house.