Carload of reclaimed fence boards.

Visiting one of my very best friends this last summer, and returned home with this!  LOTS of mossy grey weathered cedar fence boards.  I was literally GIDDY with ideas and possibilities of what I was going to make with these beauties.

My first project was some simple signs, using laser cut metal words glued to a piece of the natural weathered wood.

A few of them have gone to my wall space at Stars.  The rest of them will be going to the upcoming fall show at the Washington County Fairgrounds in Mid-November.

Next I decided to try my hand at making some BIG rustic Farmhouse style trays.  This one is the prototype.  LOVE these super long wrought iron handles.  They were an estate sale find, and unfortunately a ‘one time find’.  Well, I probably COULD find more like them if I really searched on-line, but they would probably be cost prohibitive for me to use on my trays.  I’ll have to find some other handles that will work.

Then I went on to make three more; one of which is an EXTRA long 38″.  The other two are 24″ and 25″ long; all are 11.5″ wide and just under 4″ deep.  I have taken ALL of these to my booth at Stars for the time being.  If I don’t get more of them built before the fall show, I may pull a couple from Stars to take to the show.  Priced $37.00 – 59.00.

On the extra long tray I used the ‘beefy’ black metal handles.  On the other two, slightly smaller black handles, on the sides of one tray and on the top sides of the other.

I’ve only made one of these little stools thus far.  It’s 11″ x 6″ x 5″.  I’ll probably make another batch of them a little later; graduated stacking sizes.  This stool has gone to my wall space at Stars.  $10.00.

I saw the idea for reclaimed wood shutters on Pinterest.  Adding the removable little boxwood wreaths with the metal words and red truck ornament is my own idea.  Making the embellishments removable makes it easier for the buyer to use them to decorate with year round, instead of having to pack them away after the holidays.  $29.00 with the wreaths.

Decorating with arrows is very popular right now.  I made assorted shapes and sizes of wood arrows with hangers on the back to hang on the wall.  I made a couple dozen of these.  They will be going to the fall show.  Priced $5 – 14.00.

This is my take on something ‘somewhat similar’ that I saw on Pinterest.  They measure 12″ x 13″; and will be going to my booth at Stars and to the fall show.  $29.00.

I forgot my camera last week, so I didn’t get pictures of all of these items in my booth.

 

Pretty little beach table

Michael cut a bigger top out of cedar fence boards to place on this old bar stool to make it into a nice little side table.

I left the wood ‘rough cut’ and dry brushed assorted ‘beachy’ colors.  I just did this ‘free-hand’ so the stripes aren’t ‘perfect’.  Once dry, I sanded it to distress and applied a coat of our weathered wood wash to make it look gray and weathered.

What a perfect little table for a cottage bedroom or even an end table or patio table!

Now I’m on the hunt for other stuff I can paint using this technique.  I’ve got an old cheese box, some unfinished wood frames . . . . What else?!?!

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Bucket bench made from old fence boards

Well, I don’t have very many buckets left in the store to display on this bucket bench we made from old white fence sections, but it works well for displaying lots of other stuff on!

 It’s quite simple in construction.  Michael cut to ‘3 board’ sections of the fence (one for the top an one for the bottom shelf)  On the bottom shelf he cut off the top and bottom of the fence boards where they meet the 2×4 cross support.

Then he cut legs out of 2×4’s, which I painted white to match the fencing (which we used ‘as found’) and attached the legs to the 2×4’s on the ‘shelves)   We decided it needed a ‘little something more’ so we added one more fence-board across the front of the bottom as an apron.

A very fast and simple project!

Wall sconces from old fence boards

Juanita from Creative Clutter came up with these fence board sconces.

The tea light candles sit in bent silver soup spoons that have been attached with a screw. 

They could also be used as a towek rack.

Recycled old fence boards

Michael did an AMAZING job of interpreting ‘what I wanted’ when I described my idea for this recycled fenceboard stepback cupboard.  I just love how it turned out!  Great space on the top to show off your treasures, and a BIG storage area below for stuff you want to hide! 

Michael even commented that he wouldn’t mind making MORE of these!  (A lot of the time my ideas are a bit too complicated for him to ever want to tackle again!)

He started off with 8′ sections of old fencing.  The fencing place in town tosses the old stuff in a pile while waiting to haul it to the dump.  They are happy to have him haul it off for them!  The sections are big and heavy though and hard for one person to get on their own.

For the back and sides he just ‘cut the widths’ he wanted from the section, leaving the 2×4 supports in place.  Then he cut the rest of the pieces for the shelves and doors, and more supports from 2×2’s.  I ‘dry brush’ painted everything.  (see our tutorials for how to dry brush)  Here’s the back side of the back piece.

To add interest, he cut the side pieces from sections that were ‘worn at the bottom’ and put the worn part at the top.

We thought about adding a shelf to the inside of the base cabinet, but I decided against it so I’d have more flexibility as to what I could store in there.  Never enough storage space for back up product in the shop!

Kitty Spike takes a quick tour, but is unimpressed!  (He loves hiding in our kitchen pantry cupboard!)

And that’s it!  Lots of other variations are possible.  Wider, (although I’d probably make it a ‘two piecer’ if I went wider just because of the weight) open base, doors on top AND bottom…..

Sophie’s Cottage is located in Hillsboro, Oregon.  We sell vintage, handcrafted and new home decor and gifts at half off retail prices.

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~ primitives ~ trash to treasure ~ shabby chic ~ cottage ~ Paris apartment ~ repurposed home goods ~ repaired ~ restyled home decor ~ reused ~ recycled art ~ handcrafted gifts ~ one of a kind ~ artist originals ~ second hand style ~ junk market style ~ flea market style ~ beautiful junk ~ beach cottage décor ~ unique home décor ~ vintage home décor ~ unique gifts ~ custom made gifts ~ custom made home décor ~ personalized signs ~ Sophie’s Cottage ~ grubby candles ~ how to craft books ~ Shabby Paris apartment ~ baby gifts ~ personalized gifts ~ AJ Finsand ~

Re-purposing an old picket fence.

Old picket fences make great shelves! On the white one shown, we simply cut sides the width of 6″ cedar fence boards for the shelves. We ‘dry brush’ painted the shelves so they would match the weathered white paint on the fence pieces. The texture of the raised grain of the old fence board shelf helped create the look as well.

‘Dry brush’ is a very simple technique. You just barely dip your brush in the paint then blot it a bit on a paper towel. When you paint your surface with the half dry brush you get only a partial coverage, which closely replicates weathered paint. The shelves were simply attached to the 2×4 cross supports on the fence.

An easier version would be to make a wall shelf with a smaller picket fence as the back (no sides) and shelves. maybe add a few rusty nails below the shelves for pegs for hanging stuff from!

Great for displaying birdhouses or primitive garden goods.

OUR WEBSITE: www.cscrafts.com/aj.html