Redeemed Jewelry Cabinet

It's been a while peeps.  But I have been very busy working on a very special One and Oni...

Kennedy Denise Oni

Born March 16, 2012

6 lbs. 7 oz. 19 inches

Yeah, she's kept me quite busy!  But anyway...

....though I'm out of practice and a tad bit rusty, I decided to have a try at redeeming another piece.  The victim?  I snagged an unused armoire from one of the offices at the church a while ago.  I love the character, but just not as a big and bulky armoire. So, I took Earl [that's my skilsaw] and cut it in half.  Here is a look at what's been sitting under my carport for about 6 months. 

This is... well... was... the top of the armoire [the bottom half is being used for another project still in the works].  So after staring at it for about 30 minutes, look for inspiration as to what it could be, it finally hit me! I'm going to turn this half of an armoire into a stylish jewelry holder cabinet thingy [I make furniture...not names].  I've never done anything like this before and all I have to work with is the idea in my head and the crap around my house.  But here goes nothing!

First, I needed to clean and cut this thing.  It's originally about 2 ft deep, but for my purpose, I only needed about 4 inches.  So, it was time for Earl to do his thing once again.

I also needed to add an extra beam at the bottom to make it a little more rigid so that it would be able to support itself.  So I just cut a 4 inch piece from the scraps left over [never throw away scraps, you'll most definitely need them later].

Next, I needed to create something functional and stylish for the jewelry to hang on.  So I used two things.  First was an old screen that had fallen out of our bathroom window. I ripped it from the frame and thoroughly cleaned.  A screen can make an excellent tack board to stick your earrings into.

Then, since the screen, though functional, isn't very stylish, I decided to cover it with some extra burlap that I snatch up a few months ago [redeeming furniture causes one to adopt very slight hoarding tendencies... but I have a storage shed so there is no need to call TLC]

Then I just needed to attach the screen/burlap combo inside the cabinet.  

After a few nails and cutting off the excess, I was done!

And there it is!  A redeemed jewelry cabinet made out of half of an armoire!  Perfect for you college gals out there looking to decorate a room with a bigger piece that's also functional and full of character! And if you have a lot jewelry [unlike me] then put those babies on display!

Not bad for my first day back on the job!  Hopefully I'll find some more interesting pieces that need redeeming!

Contact me if you want this to be your very own One & Oni piece and we'll talk price.  If not, I'll just give it to my daughter :)

Until next time!

Redeemed Poster: Happy Father's Day!

So I received a secret text message from my friend Amy saying that she wanted to get her husband, Doug, his own One & Oni piece for Father's Day!  She also had the perfect project in mind.  Doug has a poster in his office (an awesome poster I might add) that was just that... an awesome poster.  It was still in the plastic package, cardboard and everything, propped up against the wall. And I don't know if you've gone shopping for 22 x 28 frames lately, but they are either cheap (and I mean cheap quality, usually made of weak aluminum) or they can get expensive if made of real wood because of the size.

Well, Amy decided to give me a shot at it and I have to say, building a picture frame, especially one of that size and weight, can get tricky.  You have to factor in wood joints and angled corners all while making the frame rigid enough to support itself while being suspended on a wall.  There are a lot of different directions you can take in accomplishing these things, and I think during the process I attempted them all.  But I'll spare you my failures and get to the good stuff.

So this is Doug's office.  This is me sneaking into Doug's office.  This is me stealing Doug's poster off of his wall. Shhhhh.....

Now I just needed to build a frame for it.

For the wood, I decided to use a plywood board that I had left over from some wood pallets (yes they actually have wood pallets with plywood boards and I was lucky enough to snag one).  I went with the plywood because I needed something thick that wouldn't be too heavy. I decided to make the frame about 3 inches thick, so i ripped the board to get my two sides and top and bottom.

Then it was time to cut some 45 degree angles at the end of the pieces.  Note: if you ever decide to make a frame, remember that while the length of the frame edge on the inside will be the same length as your picture, the outside edge will have to be longer so that you have enough length to cut your angles.   Hopefully that's not a confusing sentence.

Once I hade my angles cut, I needed to sand my pieces to get them all nice and smooth so that I could join them.  Speaking of joinery, there are lots of different methods you can take. Joinery is basically "joining" to piece of wood together in a way that is strong, rigid and tasteful. I used glue but knew that it just wouldn't be enough to support the frame, not at this weight and these angles.  I just wouldn't be rigid enough. So I needed a joint. Wood joinery CAN be pretty advanced stuff, but there are some things you can pick up from your local hardware store to make things easier on yourself.  My new favorite is the Kreg Pocket Hole jig.

This is a pocket hole.

This is my new Kreg Pocket Hole Jig mini!

Basically, it allows you join two pieces of wood by drilling a pocket hole (usually on the underside of the wood or somewhere no one will see it; you can also fill them back in with pegs) and then driving a screw right into the middle of the end grain to screw it to the other piece.  This little $19 tool makes my life a whole lot easier.  There is also a $130 Kreg Pocket Hole Jig kit that is completely awesome!  But let's get real here.  But hey, I do accept birthday presents!

Once I joined it and let the wood glue dry over night, it was time to add some style.  Now, for this piece, I went with 3 color layers using 3 different treatment techniques.  I'll walk you through each.  Firstly, from what you can see above, I painted the first layer white.  I'm gonna want this white to come through later on in the project.  But I didn't just paint it on.  I'm using a technique called "dry brush". There's not too much explaining I have to do for what this technique entails.  Basically, the brush hardly has any paint on it; it's practically dry.  The purpose of this technique is usually to give something and worn, weathered look, almost like the paint used to be there but has been worn off over time.  This is what I wanted.

Second is a technique called "white washing" that almost has the same affect as dry brushing but has a slightly different outcome. First off, white washing is usually done with white paint, but I'm using a slate blue.  Also, white washing is perfect for times where you want a lot of the wood grain to show through.  It still has that very worn look that dry brush gives but it's almost as if you tint the wood or with the paint.  You'll want to add water to the paint (about 50/50) and wipe it on the wood.  Note: Usually if i'm using both these techniques in one project, I usually white wash first and then dry brush.  With this order, I pretty much tented the dry brushed white, which is what I wanted to do. Then hand sanded it a little to let some of the actual white come forth.

The third technique is one of my favorites.  Antique glazing!  But... I was all out of glaze at that moment and decided to use another technique that works just as well (sometimes better in certain situations).  I had a can of dark walnut stain on hand so I decided to use that instead of a glaze.  The difference in stain and glaze is that stain soaks into the wood and actually changes it's color; it stains it, while glaze is more like a translucent paint itself.  But, with the stain going on top of paint and only staying on there for about 5 seconds, it wouldn't actually turn the frame dark walnut.  With the antiquing technique, you are basically adding some purposeful dirtiness to a piece so that it appears old.  I wiped the stain on the frame and wiped it back off after a few seconds (leave it on longer if you want it darker).  Stain or glaze will catch in the distresses of the wood and in the little nooks and crannies.  Above, you'll see where I wiped the stain on and then wiped it back off.  The last picture shows its resulted outcome.  Boy, I love it! (PS, yes that's a sock I'm using, not because it's some awesome technique, but because it was just sitting there)

While I was letting that stain completely dry, I attached a back to it for more support and to have something for it to hang on the wall with.  You can pick up these wall hangers at any hardware store. 

Once the stain dried, I need to sand and seal the project.  For this one, I'm using a paste finishing wax.  You pretty much just rub about 2 or 3 coats (as needed) letting it dry in between coats and sanding in between coats as needed.

And here it is!  It's old and dirty, just like the theme of the poster.  A rustic feel for a rustic man!  Hope you enjoy it Doug!

Have something you need framed?!  Just let me know.  I'll build it just like you want it. Get your own One & Oni piece today!

Redeemed Wood Pallets: Hiding the trash

It all started with some wood pallets that needed to be something other than... well, wood pallets.  Taking them apart isn't easy either, especially in this South Georgia heat.  That's about 2 hours worth of "grunt work" as I call it.  

Then it was time to start constructing my little project.  But at first I didn't have any saw horses to make my cuts, so I improvised.  I got a few later.

Now that I have some evenly cut boards, let's start putting this "thing" together.

Now it's time to do some painting.  I needed to do two layers of paint to get the aged, distressed look I was going for.  The first layer is a white, but not just any white.  I needed a dirty white.  So I stirred in a little walnut wood stain.  This gave the paint a very oily texture and allowed it to soak into the wood a little.

While that was drying, I added some hinges for the door.  That's right, there's a door!

Time for the next color. I went with one of my favorites, slate blue!

This door of mine need a knob!

Then I needed to label it appropriately.

I added the front, sanded it down, and behold, I have a trash can holder, perfect for any 13 gallon trash can or hamper!

So you can get with this....

Or you can get with that!

Look, it really pains me to give this away because, well it looks awesome in my kitchen and I've been wanting one of these for a long time now.  But I'll sell it to the first person who wants it for $40.  Great as a trash can holder or hamper!

Redeemed Bookshelf: Simple & Interesting

So my Granny was about to throw out this 30 year old, short bookshelf, and rightly so.  This thing was nasty.  It had been painted white, though by now, it looked a little beige. It was also coming apart.  The thing was useless.  You can see the pictures below.  The right shows how the backing was coming completely out.  Doesn't quite capture the essence of how nasty this thing was but it was bad.  Let's just say I got the Lysol out for this one.

But, regardless, the structure itself had a lot of potential.  It's made of solid wood which is always a good thing if you ask me!  It just need some TLC and a little life.  So I got out some of my supplies and did some imagining. I wanted the piece to remain simple.  It didn't need to be the focal point in a room, just an accent and perhaps a conversation piece. So with that, I wanted to keep it white.  But not boring, dirty white.  But it also need some color.  So....

I mixed green and a yellow paint that I had in my shed to create a saturated lime color.  It's something that pops, but with its location and saturation, it's also something that works well with more colors than you would think.  I only put the color on the inside backing of the bookshelf; something you don't see too often.  The outside, I cleaned and painted it back to an original white (the gross beige just wasn't working).  I also made some repairs, bringing this piece back to a functional state!  But I wasn't done yet.

What about that conversation I was talking about?  Well, I decided to let the bookshelf say something on it's own.  "Love never fails".  It's simple, but it's strong!  It's a great reminder to have in the house also!  And it's also biblical (1 Corinthians 3:18).  This is your generic "Live Laugh Love" decor from Hobby Lobby (I absolutely love Hobby Lobby by the way) and this isn't talking about a generic Love either.  It's the Love of Christ that never fails! So, if you're having company over, and this piece catches their eye and they say something like "Oh that's nice", you have a door way to share what it REALLY means and maybe even sharing the gospel.  Hey, furniture doesn't share the Gospel.  You do.  But, it's awesome to make the most of every opportunity (Ephesians 5:16) and make your house Gospel ready!

Here are some ways I may have decorated the bookcase if I were keeping it for myself!  But I'm not!
This bookshelf goes to the first person who wants it at $30.  You can't beat that with a stick.  It's solid wood and because it's a short bookshelf, it goes great in any room of the house!  It also goes great in dorm rooms and even class rooms for you teachers who want something biblical in your class but need it to be incognito and not so illegal! And what an awesome gift it would make.  It is wedding season!

I should say that I can't mail this to anyone for those of you not in the Valdosta area.  However, if you ARE in the Valdosta area, I'll deliver it for free!

So who wants this to be their One and Oni redeemed piece.  Claim it in the comment box first!

Redeeming Furniture to New Life

What we need in South Georgia is a person who can take your boring, run of the mill, even trashed furniture and refurbish, reshape, redesign, and REDEEM it back to new life.

ENTER: Janetta Oni

One of my new found hobbies has been taking the free crappy furniture I got once I got married and making it a little cooler.  So that's what I'm in the part time business of doing these days.  Every week, I take a plain piece of furniture and figure out how to make it unique or simply interesting (without making it an eyesore of course).  I like pieces with "character".  Is it a "bookcase", or is it an AWESOME "bookcase with loads of character. Is it  just a "dresser", or is it a "dresser" that makes you wanna drink coffee and read a book.

Look, I'm a visual learner so how about I just show you some examples of some previous work!

This was my first "redeemed" piece of furniture.  I don't have the before picture (which I hate) but it was basically a plane Jane, white dresser.  That's it.  It was a nasty, high gloss white dresser with normal, boring hardware (that's the knobs.... get used to that word).  So I sanded it down, got some slate blue paint, and gave it a light cover.  Then I bought some tobacco colored glaze and lightly brushed over it to give it an old weathered look.  Then I bought some new hardware (which you can get from Home Depot, I got these from Target actually).  Then i took a piece of sand paper and scraped over the edges and corners.  Makes it look like an antique! Might not look like anything special... but I sure could use some coffee and good book right about now!

Whilst (you like that verbal usage there) this isn't furniture per say, I'd like to draw your focus to the decor above my bed. These are some original pieces that I've done.  In case you can't read them they say (from left to right... because that's how we read English) "missed the mark", "paid the debt" and "the new has come".  My creative take on the Gospel.

This dinning room table was inspired after pining over a table I saw in a Pottery Barn catalog and then looking at my bank account.  Let's just say the figures weren't adding up. But then, a phrase came out of my mouth that makes my husband just a tad bit nervous: "I think I can make that".  Well, I was right.  "Where's the redemption" you might say.  Well the wood that this table is made of came from a ramp that was built into our deck because the people who previously own our home needed it to be handicap accessible. My husband and I, not having the need for the ramp and wanting more room on the deck, ripped it up and had loads of free left over, weathered lumber and potential sitting under our deck.  Rather poetic if you think about it!! You can see its pre-redemptive state below.

    The Original Deck                             Ramp Removed                         Free Wood!

With some extra wood left over from the deck, I also built this.  The drawers are just faux (meaning, they don't open).  After building it one Sunday afternoon, I took some extra green paint that we had left over from painting our living room and lightly went over it to give it an aged look (are you discovering that I like the aged look).  Our "Specials Board" now sits on top of it, another redeemed piece that was once a huge mirror that sat in our carport for 3 months.  But with red paint, and chalk board paint (one of my new favorites) it adds a splash of fun to our dining room!

Alright... you get the picture (get it... picture).

But wait...

You can be apart of this too!  "How" you ask?  Well, (1) Each week I will create a new redeemed piece, a "One and Oni" (you like how I did that there).  The first person to claim it at it's price gets it. (2) Since I can't mass produce things, there's only really "One" of each.  HOWEVER, if you see something I've done before OR you see something done on the internet or magazine and want me to give it a go, AND you have a piece of furniture that I can redeem (something you were maybe planning on getting rid of or just want a little more out of), then I'll not only do it, but I'll blog it!  I'll blog the whole process and you'll become famous (probably not, but it'll be fun).

So, for example, if you see me redeem a bookcase and make it cooler than it was (that's the hope), and I sell it to someone for $30, and you get jealous and think to yourself "man, I want an cooler bookcase too, but all I have is that boring one over there that I'm thinking about throwing out."  Just bring me that bookcase and I'll do the same thing (or something different, we can suit to please; varying colors and such) for $30.  This is a hypothetical situation of course.

But tune in!  The first one to claim it gets it!  You don't wanna miss out on your One & Oni piece.  Follow me on Facebook or Twitter and I'll let you know when the blogs are going to be posted so you can get in there and get it first. And remember, when it comes to your furniture, don't throw it away, redeem it!