I love this next project.
I guess I love them all don’t I?
But this one started out as one thing then morphed and turned into something better than I had imagined.
I really love this next project.
It began with my surfing another amazing blog – This Makes That.
Susan had made rustic pumpkins for her front porch using wood planks that she glued together, cut and then painted/stained.
You can see why I’d want one of my own right?
Well I’m a cheapskate environmentally conscious and didn’t want to buy new wood for this project when I had SO MANY scrap ends from all of the cedar crates I built the other week.
Ends with screw holes in them, angled cuts, scruffy bits that were left over – too small to build anything with, but too big to add to a landfill.
So I improvised and evolved based on her project…
I had a piece of plywood tucked in a corner so I laid out all of the scrap bits of wood I had on top of it until I was able to create a solid piece.
From here, I glued every piece down, and to each other, using Gorilla wood glue (that stuff is da bomb!)
I clamped it where I could and then used cans of paint to weight it all down and left it to dry for a morning.
I was fully intending on drawing out a pumpkin shape, but I wanted a flat bottom so it could stand, and no matter what angle I rotated the board at, I couldn’t quite get a chubby bottom section (not typically a problem I have), so I decided to make it an apple instead.
Hubby did the cutting on this part for me because, while I’m pretty comfortable with the mitre saw now, the rest of the saw family is still pretty intimidating.
A couple of small pieces jiggled loose, but were easily glued back into place.
I sanded it so it would look a little more cohesive and then added a couple of shades of stain.
I like this, but it came out a lot darker than I thought it would – and I was really going for a “warm Autumn rustic” look.
No worries, a bit of sandpaper and a few scrubs and I was able to remove a bit to make it more ‘worn’ looking.
What do you think?
I LOVE IT!
Now everyone else will have their “This Makes That” pumpkins – and I will have my uber-cool Autumn apple made from scrap wood!
Come back Tuesday and I’ll show you the other pieces in my front porch vignette…. not to toot my own horn, but it looks pretty SA-WEEET!
Have a great one!
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Love your scrap wood pumpkin! So clever! I’m glad my rustic pumpkins inspired you to use up your scrap wood. We all need projects to help use up the wood sitting around the garage or wherever. I pinned it!
Thank you for being the inspiration behind it! Truthfully, I really wanted your pumpkins… I was going for a total plagiarism (which went awry) lol
Great looking piece from scraps. Love it! But … could you let us know the final size?
The apple is 21″ tall by 19″ at its widest. I didn’t build it to a specific size, that was just how my scrap pile worked out. Given a second attempt – I’d make it bigger for more impact (but then where would I store it?) lol Thanks for taking the time to comment – if you make your own, please share! I’d love to see another take on the project.
[…] course my scrap wood apple is the star of the show, but I have it sitting on my cedar crate, which is behind my Pottery-Barn […]
I Like this even better than solid wood. I have been admiring your apple every time I drive by your house! Clever, resourceful and beautiful!
Kari
Aw shucks! Thanks so much for the compliment (and for taking the time to comment). If I make any more I’ll be sure to send it your way.