This old 4" x 8" x 42" piece of cedar board has been exposed to the outside elements for several years, maybe even fifteen. It was, at one time, destined to be a garden bench.
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This year, my goal was to clean out my collection of wood ...
either use it or toss it.
I tossed a lot ...
... really, I did ... but
I have also been trying to use what I can.
Mr Z. likes to carve so I took this to the workshop and ask him to carve out the middle and make a trough.
Duh, do WHAT ... how? This is not his idea of 'carving'.
Together, we worked out a plan ...
Mr. Z. sanded the top so he could mark the cut lines.
Now keep in mind that we did not have the proper tools to carve out the center, so we used what we had and did what we could.
We used a Skilsaw to make deep cuts in the drawn-off area.
A narrow
board was used as a guide for the saw.
We used a jig saw to cut across the
two ends.
This was not easy, but we sure created a lot
of sawdust. Cuts were not even, nor on the lines, but we got it where we
could break the pieces out.
We used several different tools ... chisels ... pry bar .. hammers and was able to break the pieces out.
Not every piece broke even at the bottom, but that will not be an issue and it will always have something in it. We had to chisel-out the wood in the ends where we were not able to get the jig saw in there that deep.
I am sure there is an easier way to do it with the correct tool.
It did not take us long to get all the pieces out.
I loved how the wood had aged so I just
cleaned it a little and left it natural.
It could be oiled, but for now,
I like it like it is.
I wanted to keep it simple ... so not to distract from the character of the time-worn wood, so just piled it full of faux apples ... yep ... took a lot of apples, but they were almost free ... recycled from several wreaths that were discarded.
I thought it looked pretty nice.
I am using my Welch Hutch in the entry for display.
The colorful leaves under the trough were bought at Dollar Store last year and they are so nice.
But then I thought I would try these cute aged resin pumpkins I bought at Dollar Tree Store for $1.00 each. They were bought to be used to decorate tables for a luncheon ... which didn't happen.
They looked okay ... but just needed something ... height maybe and some softness.
Love all the wood showing ...
Soooo ... I took my chicken wire cloche I made out of a lamp shade frame (see HERE) to use for height ... placed a carved wooden pumpkin in it which I stole off the front porch ...
and for softness, I borrowed three faux hydrangea out of my Fall table decoration seen HERE.
Keeping the color tones the same looked really good.
Love how the ends weathered over the years.
Looks good with burlap too ... this is landscaping burlap from Lowe's or Home Depot.
Soft and easy to work with.
This end had a little rotted wood from standing on the ground so long.
Just more character to enjoy.
Several knot-holes which add to the character.
Making it pretty ...
Hope you enjoyed this little project ... just one more thing re-purposed to a good use.
Your comments make me happy.
Which display do you like the best ?
Apples ??
Just Pumpkins ??
or
Pumpkins with softness and height ??
I can even use it outside with my cement Fall decorations.
This project can be seen HERE.
Blessing,
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