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"Chop Your Own Wood, and it will Warm You Twice"

2/28/2014

6 Comments

 
Picturevia Huckberry
When we found out we were purchasing a home with an outdoor wood furnace to heat our house, Kevin was excited to say the least. He could finally justify buying a chainsaw and even bought  us matching "chop wood" t-shirts (see left). Yes, I wear the t-shirt… no, usually not while chopping wood. 

Henry Ford did not tell a lie (about the wood thing at least, I didn't know the man). Hauling, chopping, splitting and stacking wood is hard and you will sweat. 

Truth be told, I am no good at it. I desperately want to be but my little arms just aren't strong enough to split :( Sadly, Kevin does most of that work solo. Nevertheless, this saying became our mantra for this new house. 

Kevin had mentioned wanting a poster with the saying on it. I looked around on Etsy and the internet and tried to get away with the "easy route". I didn't want an exact print replica of the shirts, so I opted to craft it. 

I am really into the chalkboard style lettering, and wanted to incorporate that into the project. There is also a lot of wood here, so I used small rounds we had laying around as well. This was the finished result [scroll below the image for the tutorial]:
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The first step was to cut and collect varying sizes of wood pieces. I had been sawing slices for a couple days… I had wanted to make a fireplace cover that looked really similar to the picture above. I decided to "borrow" them for this project and haven't had time yet to start the other :) That is life. Knowing the wood slices were varying heights, I opted for a 2" shadowbox that I picked up at Michael's on super sale with a coupon. This whole project cost me under $15 to make. 

Like I said above, I really didn't like any of the posters I saw online. Sketching, I created the composition and then took it into Photoshop to see if I could replicate it. I knew it would be easier to move it around on the screen (and to get the fonts right) if I did it on the computer. Long story short, the bottom half was perfect, but I still had to do the "chop your own wood" portion by hand. Before printing, I flipped the design so it was a mirror image. To flip the handwritten top portion, I traced the front text, to the backside of the paper. That is a concept that is VERY hard to put into words, I hope you can follow.

I taped the design to the outside pane of glass, so I could have the paint on the inside of the frame. I was worried that the paint might get scratched up during hanging, or inevitably during another move. Using my smallest brush, I painted the white glass paint over the letters the best I could. I wanted it to look like a white vinyl from far away, and I think it does :) 

To secure the wood slices to the frame backing (which was a black velvet material) I used a dab of hot glue. The wood actually stayed in place without it. The roughness of the wood clung onto the material, but I knew I wanted an assurance that it wouldn't crash down after a week of hanging. 

The rest is cake, I just assembled the parts and wrapped it up. Kevin loved it and I am super happy with the end result. 

[ This can be our little secret: I had no idea this would be a tutorial, so there were iPhone images I kept sending to Nadine while crafting to show her my progress! ]
6 Comments
Winona
9/17/2014 12:02:34 pm

I love your craft project. It's a perfect statement for ur guy. I love that it has depth and a saying to relate ur reliance upon wood as a resource. If u were to make a few more what would u sell them for? Love ur creativity.

Reply
Casey
12/7/2014 02:26:47 pm

Just wondering how I can get a copy of that photoshop file?

Reply
Best Log Splitter link
11/24/2015 03:59:09 am

You can use them to make your own wood working patterns as well.

Reply
Jordan link
3/22/2017 05:51:46 am

Wood working plans are essential before one starts making any wood working project. So whether you are choosing from bird house plans or dog house plans, as a beginner, it is vital you know your way around the project being done. Here are some guides to help anyone start with wood working.

Reply
bandsaw projects link
9/22/2017 05:20:48 am

Woodturning is one of the most basic of crafts and the requirements are simple; a wood lathe to hold the work and make it spin, wood to shape and tools to cut the wood. This is woodworking at its most basic. In order to also make it among the most enjoyable of woodworking crafts is that most basic of wood cutting needs, sharp tools. There are a few things to keep in mind when sharpening wood turning tools.

Reply
Clare Bray link
12/14/2020 06:39:13 pm

Thanks for sharingg

Reply



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    My name is Colleen and I am the artsy brains behind this operation. I spend my free time painting and reading when I am completely caught up on edits, which is almost never. 

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