High Chair For Older Children

The original design for this chair came from my father. He built two chairs similar to this one when the twins were born. I remember watching him build them. The original chairs were made of 1 sheet of 1/2" plywood, with just a jigsaw and a grinder. My mother painted them black and applied a decal of a basket of fruit on the back. I changed the plan a little by slanting the back legs out to help keep the chair  from being tipped back, and I slanted the back a little to make them more comfortable. This one is made of pine, and is carved with the Sunset design. These chairs are available on my etsy, and coming soon to Sawtooth Ideas as a woodworking plan.

This is a high chair for older children. This is not for babies that can not sit in a chair without falling off. It is designed so that an older child is at the right height to eat properly without a booster seat. The chair sides are lower so it will slip under most tables. These chairs are available in the Sunset, Roses or Robin motif, and come in Special Walnut, Pecan or Time Worn White.

This is Mr Penguin, sitting comfortably  at the table.

                         Eugenie Woodcraft
           www.etsy.com/shop/woodcraftqueen
                Beautiful furniture, made simple.

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Beginner Woodworking Projects How to Build an Arbor for Your Yard

Establishing a smallish garden arbor is an simple and easy Do It On your own challenge. Would you like to make a wonderful browsing arbor for your lawn this summer season? Have you at any time regarded building up a single by yourself? Youll find it extremely possible and you can acquire superb Newbie Woodworking Assignments even if you might be even now brand new to this hobby.

Some employs for an arbor:

• Assist for climbing vegetation like roses, clematis, grapes and ivy.
• Excellent backdrop for using photographs at a marriage ceremony.
• Give an entrance to your garden.

Setting up a uncomplicated arbor can make for a effortless weekend challenge. All newbies have to identify woodwork designs that match their ability degree from starter to certified. The perfect point to do is to launch with an painless Arbor project that you will be capable to finish. Finishing a undertaking will most most likely make you come to feel very pleased and it will very likely be the primary of a number of woodworking tasks for you.

Advantages of owning programs:

one. Comprehensive phase by move tutorial.
2. Have a list of all the resources desired.
3. Sources to support with any project.

In the beginning you do not have to occur up with your personal woodwork options. You can use current ones in the starting in its place of seeking to generate your unique woodwork plans.

It really is important to keep in mind that every last starter woodworking task must have to be planned. You will be capable to avoid creating problems if you are applying tried and accurate woodwork designs for all your tasks and it will assist you help save a whole lot of time and cash as clearly.

Arranging is critical!

There are arguments why you should really shell out time on the setting up component of your deliver the results earlier than you go ahead with the constructing aspect. The probability that you will succeed and obtain the result you would like to get is a whole lot much larger if you happen to be by using a single of the good Beginner Woodworking Task programs.

Woodworking is a incredibly satisfying hobby and liked by countless consumers. When the undertaking is complete and you can move back again and see what you have completed, it is a terrific sensation. And far better yet it is something you can have for decades to arrive.

When you complete the arbor what will be your up coming challenge perhaps establish a mail box, puppy residence, wishing well or a swing. The choices are infinite just use your creativeness. The main is to have the appropriate designs for your beginner woodworking project and you will get the outcomes you need.

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Julia Weber Slöjd – an educational approach to wood working

The Goals of Slöjd Education:

To instill a taste for and an appreciation of work in general.
To create a respect for hard, honest, physical labor.
To develop independence and self-reliance.
To provide training in the habits of order, accuracy, cleanliness and neatness.
To train the eye to see accurately and to appreciate the sense of beauty in form.
To develop a sense of touch and to give general dexterity to the hand.
To inculcate the habits of attention, industry, perseverance and patience.
To promote the development of the bodys physical powers.
To acquire dexterity in the use of tools.
To execute precise work and to produce useful products.

Otto Salomon, 1900

The Scandinavian Slöjd system was developed and promoted by Otto Salomon (1849-1907). Salomon was intrigued by the idea of making physical work an element of general education. He believed that we learn most effectively by doing things with our hands and developed a system for a craft based training. He put his theory into practice by founding a vocational school for boys in 1872, a vocational school for girls in 1874 and a teacher training school for slöjd teachers in 1875. All of his schools were located in Nääs near Götheburg in Sweden. From 1882 onwards Salomon concentrated his activities on the teacher-training school, lecturing and organizing for the further training of elementary school-teachers. This training scheme was designed so that serving teachers could obtain handicraft teaching skills, in addition to the ability to teach theoretical or academic subjects. In educational slöjd each student was put through a course of making models based on everyday, functional objects, along the way learning basic woodworking techniques and a range of organizational skills.

Slöjd is an old Scandinavian word that comes from the adjective slög that means ‘handy’. Slöjd means ‘craft’ or ‘manual skill’. About 1885, Salomon used the expression pedagogisk slöjd (educational sloyd or craft), defining it in a school and educational context. In his introductory remarks from the Teacher´s Handbook of Slöjd Otto Salomon made clear that, educational slöjd was not to be mistaken with the work of an artisan trade. Slöjd was meant as an educational approach without the economical considerations of a trade. Various materials such as wax, clay, paper, pasteboard, wood or metal could be used in educational slöjd. Wood slöjd and the so called slöjd carpentry has been the most popular of all. While slöjd carpentry and ordinary carpentry used the same raw material (wood) and to some extend the same tools, they differed from each other in many ways. The objects produced in slöjd carpentry were usually smaller in size and bounded by curved outlines. The most characteristic tool in slöjd carpentry was the knife while the carpenter prefered the chisel. The working conditions of the slöjd worker were much more primitive than those of a commercial trade and a division of labor was not allowed.

The goal of educational slöjd “lies in rightly directed bodily labor, as a means of developing in the pupil´s physical and mental powers which will be a sure and evident gain in life” Educational slöjd brings forward “pleasure in bodily labor, and respect for it, habits of independence, order, accuracy, attention and industry, increase of physical strength, development of the power of observation in the eye, and of execution in the hand (Otto Salomon).”

Teaching slöjd was a very methodical educational approach that followed a strict set of rules and guidelines for the teacher as well as the student. Salomon broke down woodworking into a series of very simple steps that could be mastered in turn. First using a tool in a particular way, then doing a simple project, then progressing to slightly more complex methods and projects. The teacher had a guiding role in Slöjd education. While the student was supposed to work independently and accurately, the teacher role was to be as passive and unobtrusive as possible. He should never touch the students work and in his instruction he should give as little explanation as possible to encourage the student to use his own hands and head to discover the right way. Each student was supposed to have his own workbench and his own tools, both should be labeled with numbers. These tools included a knife, trying-plane, jack-plane, square, marking gauge, compasses, rule or metre measure, and scraper. Students were responsible for keeping the tools in an assigned space and in good working condition. During their work the students should avoid talking and remain at their bench, while the teacher moved from student to student. The students were not allowed to sand their piece until it had been examined and found sufficient by the teacher. After working, the students put away their tools and cleaned up the workspace.

Educational slöjd helped students develop in many ways. They learned hand eye coordination obviously but also accuracy, learning the importance of quality in workmanship and learning to understand and honor handwork and physical labor even if they were not going to work as artisans. Thousands of teachers from all over the world attended classes at Nääs. Some of the countries, in which slöjd was successfully introduced were the UK, the US, Japan, Brazil, Argentina, Cuba, the Scandinavian Countries and many more. Currently, slöjd is still part of the compulsory school curriculum in Finland, Sweden, Denmark, and Norway. In Sweden, students choose between wood and metal or textile sloyd, and in Denmark all three materials are compulsory as individual subjects; and in Norway they are united into one subject called forming.

Young boy at his workbench:

Source: http://chestofbooks.com/home-improvement/woodworking/Hand-Book-Slojd/D-Jointing-By-Means-Of-The-Formation-Of-The-Parts-Of-The-Joint.html

Sloyd School, Welland Plant, ca. 1915:

Source: http://playbuildmake.blogspot.com/2009/09/educational-sloyd-naas-sweden.html

Video about educational Sloyd (PBS, The Woodwrights Shop: Who wrote the book of Sloyd?):
http://video.pbs.org/video/1772022559

The Teachers Handbook of Slöjd by Otto Salomon:
http://www.archive.org/stream/teachersbookofsl00saloiala#page/n15/mode/2up

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Eames Plywood Furniture

Charles and Ray Eames, a husband and wife design duo, pioneered the technique of molding plywood into complex shapes for furniture production. They built a pressure molding chamber in 1941 called the “Kazam! Machine”, into which plywood was inserted and formed into a seat shape with compound curves.

The Kazam! Machine

Their work on molded plywood chairs was both interrupted and advanced when the U.S. entered the Second World War. The Navy was having problems with their metal leg splints which often worsened the soldiers’ injuries. The Eameses were commissioned to design a new plywood splint using the forming techniques they were developing. The ultimate goal was to develop a molding process that could be adapted to mass production. The splint was ultimately successful and molded plywood was adapted to other areas, such as airplane parts, though those experiments never fully panned out.

Leg Splint

With the war winding down and military commissions drying out, Charles refocused his efforts on furniture. Unlike the prewar one piece molded plywood furniture, the new direction was towards a multiple piece chair. Making a chair from several molded pieces made it easier to produce and allowed for multiple combinations of parts. The DCW (Dining Chair Wood), and the LCW (Lounge Chair Wood) were constructed using five layers of ply bound together with the grain of each layer running counter to each other and then molded under pressure.

The LCW

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The interrogative woodworker

Have you ever installed a tablesaw blade backward? Did you then try to use it? Where you certain that the blade was just dull? Do you kind of like the smell of lacquer? If you could build a car out of wood, would you? When you hear the word "Stickley", do you — just for a moment — think "sticky"? Would Greene and Green have become famous if their last name was Henderson?

Does Arts and Crafts style ever involve crayons, construction paper or paste? Have you ever tasted glue? Would you admit it? Does the scent of fresh-cut lumber invoke nostalgia in you? Do you think Norm Abram secretly uses duct tape? Can you tell how old someone is because they use the word varnish? Does the term "butt joint" make you giggle? Have you ever given someone a gift you made just because it wasnt very good and you wanted to get rid of it? Have you ever accidentally drooled on a board as you were running it through a router? Does wondering how long to sand cause you a little anxiety?

Whats your tolerance? 1/16"? 1/32"? Can you add fractions in your head? Have you ever really had a need to divide fractions? Would you know how? Do you have a love-hate relationship with the metric system? If I asked you to cut a board about 100 millimeters long, would you be able to? If a wrench isnt handy, do you use pliers? Do adjustable wrenches annoy you as they do me? When you complete a project, do you marvel at it? When is the last time you used the word marvel?

Is it truly possible to make a perfect 45 degree miter? Do you drink coffee in your shop? Have you ever spilled coffee in your shop? Have you ever spilled coffee on a workpiece? Is the ability to hand cut dovetails the ultimate measure of a man? Does that little play on the catch end of a tape measure cause you concern? Have you ever used the word sawyer without preceding it with Tom? If drill is a verb and a noun, why isnt rout? Will you purchase a new rout this year? When a power tool dies, do you think — if just for a moment — that you might be able to to fix it?

Is there one person you know personally who sharpens drill bits? Is that a sane endeavor? Have you given consideration to buying a "DualSaw" because it looks amazing on the infomercials?  Do you get a sense of power when you use a SawzAll? Do you call a SawzAll a reciprocating saw? Is it the only saw whose main purpose is destruction? Can I describe oak as crumbly? Are you troubled by bandsaw tensioning? If you read about a certain woodworking technique, does that technically mean you know how to do it? Why is there very little sawdust in woodworking magazine photos? Do you like using those flat carpenter pencils, or does the idea of sharpening them just seem pointless? Do you chuckle to yourself when you make a completely unintentional pun but dont realize it until much later, as I did in that previous sentence?  Have you ever injured yourself and then dripped blood on a workpiece because you were too lazy to go and get a BandAid?

Do you sometimes use a screwdriver as a chisel? Why do they still make slotted screws? Are there people who simply refuse to use Phillips screws? Can you make something cool with a single chunk of 2x4?  Even when you know a bit of sandpaper is used up, do you find yourself saving it? Is pointing out flaws in your projects a good idea, a bad idea, or a sign of insecurity? How big a role does luck play in your woodworking? Can you imagine woodworking in zero gravity? Would you use, say, a laser saw that made perfect cuts every time? Does cutting miters make you cringe? Would you consider building a project with nothing but hand tools? If you did use hand tools but didnt tell anybody, would they be less impressed by the finished piece?

Are you as amazed as I am at wood glue? Do you have any idea how it works? Do you care? Do you have a chair or a T.V. in your shop? Do you have a bandsaw in your living room? Does it seem odd when someone uses the past participle of saw: sawn? For that matter, when you see the word sewer, do you first think of a plumber or a seamstress?

Have you seen electron microscope pictures of dull blade edges? Do they scare you? Have you ever looked at a carving and tried to imagine what it once looked like as a block of wood? Must I assemble things, or can I just put them together? Why does my ShopVac always find a screw it just cant swallow, so it keeps rattling around inside the hose? Do you ever vacuum up perfectly good screws rather than bend over and pick them up — just because its easier?

Did you know that the Spanish word for table saw is mesa saw? Does it matter that I just made that up? Does music help you work? What kind of music? Do you eat in your shop? Have you ever eaten a sandwich with grimy hands and got black gunk on the bread but went ahead and ate it anyway?

Why am I sometimes surprised when I complete a project? Do you sometimes need to clarify what "finishing a project" means? When will someone design a better paint can lid? Are you ever going to use all those cut-off scraps of wood? Why is it that some woodworkers look like woodworkers and others dont? Have you ever used a folding ruler? Do you even know what that is?

How often do you think about cutting off a finger? Have you thought it through far enough to consider what you would do if you did? Is safety first, second or third? What is the trick for removing a tiny sliver? Can you imagine a world in which The Home Depot is fuchsia instead of orange? Isnt the lathe a marvelous invention?

Is it ever really worth working on a Tuesday? Have you ever done anything great on a Tuesday? Do you have any formal training? If so, did you wear a tuxedo?

Do you use cheesecloth for anything? Does the word cheesecloth form mixed images in your brain? Do you recall cutting your first board? Do you use the words scrollsaw and jigsaw interchangeably? Have you ever sold your work? Was it worth it? Is it just me, or does it just feel good to hold a well-balanced mallet? Did that question make you snicker? Shouldnt tenon be spelled with a double n? Do you wonder if an equal balance of mortises and tenons exist in the universe? Have you ever made a door?

Does it bother you a little to know that no one will really comprehend all the work you put into a project? Would you trade you greatest project for a state-of-the-art table saw? Does Ikea make you feel more confident as a woodworker? Can you cut a decent circle? Do you have someone to leave your tools to after you die? Will that person appreciate them? Would you ever consider drinking a glass of wine in the shop? Does your imagination exceed your skills? Does it seem that most woodworking stems from knowing how to make a box?

Do you scoff at painting wood? Has anyone ever painted bubinga? Isnt it amazing to see old movies of lumber jocks felling giant trees with those enormous 2-man saws? Does the word felling seem weird? Have you ever felled? Do you consider yourself creative? Should style sometimes trump functionality? What does hand crafted mean to you? What is the difference between an art and a craft? Will anything you make be around in 300 years? How about 1000? Is woodworking still fun for you?

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My First Pickin Experience and an Upcoming Great Project

Happy Monday everyone!  This weekend I got to go with my hubby on my first picking trip.  In a word, ick.  Now I know why he, and his clothes, come home filthy from these trips.   The place we visited was an old garage/shed that was filled with junk.  Here are some pics I took of what we were pickin through.

Yup, a bunch of junk.  But, oooohhhhh, did we find some great stuff and it was all free.

There were so many piles of stuff that we he had to sift through and it was also raining.  And gross.

After all that, heres the loot I picked.  It still all needs to be cleaned up, but I actually like that part.

We found lots of old solid wood frames that look like they were made from barn wood.  Those will be fun to do something with.

And some old wooden crates and a caddy.  I never get tired of those.

Some cast iron and vintage kitchen utensils for my collection.

Lots of red enamelware, vintage wine and milk bottles and a vintage Christmas tin.

And one of my favorite things is this old metal tin.  I love it!  I think it will look so cute with fresh flowers in it.  One of my other favorites is this old kitchen stool.

Love this, too, and Im not planning on doing anything to it but clean it.  I think its perfect and I love the color.  I cant wait to put it in our kitchen.  And it will come in so handy because we have tall cabinets because of our very tall ceilings in the kitchen and Ive been using a dining table chair to reach to the top cabinet, which has been a pain.  This will work perfectly!  This is our other pile of loot that hubby picked the day before.

More frames, another caddy, kitchen utensils, a couple of vintage yard sticks and a very old metal Pepsi crate.  I was thinking that metal Pepsi crate would be adorable with a couple of pots of herbs hanging out in there.

I have fun plans for all these things after I give them all a good cleaning but I saved the best for last.  A couple of weeks ago hubby found a couple of sections of salvaged bowling alley floor (something weve always wanted to find) and brought it home.  Ive always dreamed of making a unique table with salvaged bowling alley floor but had been struggling with what to use for the base.  Until I found this today.  It. Is. Perfect.

I am super excited to get busy on that project!  Heres a pic of the salvaged flooring.  It needs to be refinished and cut but Im excited about that, too!  There is something magical about bringing wood back to its original beauty!

Stay tuned for that!  Id say we had a pretty successful day and I was thrilled he let me come along!

Its Bread Board Monday in my Etsy Shop!  My pre-order waiting list has grown tremendously so be aware that there will be at least a 2 - 3 week delivery time on these. :)  Thank you!  Have a great day!

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Quilt rack follow up tostones

A few quick updates about yesterdays quilt rack video. I also wanted to thank Wil Wilson, who sent me an HVLP sprayer! Im looking forward to using it for applying lacquer, and I hope save money.




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I also meant to post this last week and forgot. I recently sent my tostonera to Hilah Johnson -- my favorite YouTube chef -- to see what she could do with it. Heres her video. Good stuff!

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Make a shishi odoshi fountain

The first time I saw a shishi-odoshi was in the movie Kill Bill. I didnt know what it was or that it is also called a "deer scarer", intended to frighten deer and birds from crops with its slow, rhythmic knocking.

Last month I picked up a bunch of bamboo that my sons theater didnt need any longer and have been thinking about something to make with it ever since. This was a fun project, and gave me a chance to try out some new things.

These fountains come in all sorts of arrangements, but I decided to make mine as one self-contained unit. My first thought was to attach the bamboo to a container or pot of some sort. What I discovered, was that it was really hard to find one that I had in mind: fairly large yet shallow.

So I decided to make a wood container. After soliciting a bunch of opinions on Facebook about how to make a wood box watertight, a few people mentioned the best method: do nothing. Water towers and buckets have long been made with wood, which just expands to fill any gaps. For mine, I dicided to protect the outside of the box with deck stain/sealer and I squeezed out a bead of silicone along the inside seams just for good measure.

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Bonus video!

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Jadwiga Jankowska woodworker

I recently heard from Andrzej Jankowski who, about a year ago, sent over some wonderful bandsaw boxes he made. Andy has just started woodturning, and wanted to show me some of what he has already completed. Looks like hes had better luck at making spinning tops than me!

But what really fascinated me were pictures of his mother, Jadwiga Jankowska, who was the first woman carpenter in Poland after the second World War. I love that planer, and would just love to explore that shop!

Andrzej has a rolling pin , dough board, and a potato masher she made in 1954. These look as though they were made today. 

Thanks Andy. I just love this kind of stuff!

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Full sized Halloween coffin

Nighthawk, from New Zealand, sent over pictures of his Halloween project. This is really cool. Check out his web site to see the complete build. Creepy.

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2012 Christmas Decor Ideas

Hey there!  I finished up our Christmas decor this past weekend.  Actually, its been finished since Thanksgiving but it took me this long to photograph and blog about it.  Oh how I wish the Holidays could be less busy and more relaxing.....  :)

This year for the living room I seemed to be drawn to a campy, rustic cabin decor.  Mostly because of that wonderful buffalo check throw I came across.  It was my inspiration for the entire room.  And of course, I had to throw some industrial vintage decor in there too.

For the Christmas Tree, I always like to decorate it with ornaments that have a story or memory behind them.  Ours is filled with ornaments that we, as well as my parents bought for our kids every year since they were born.  Babys First Christmas....

And funny little elves that are so old they are falling apart, that always make my kids laugh....

This year I also wanted to add vintage Bingo cards because they remind me of one of the first dates that hubby I went on 23 years ago.  We went to a local summer festival and played Bingo under a row of twinkly lights and stars until late into the evening and by the time the evening was over, I was head over heels. :)

We dont have any vintage Bingo cards so I did the next best thing.....I printed off images of them on cardstock, cut them out and threaded red and white bakers twine through a hole I punched in the top.

I fell in love with these aqua colored cards.

As well as these....

Just looking at the tree makes me smile because it is filled with so many wonderful memories.

This year I was drawn to red and white stripes so I continued that theme into the dining room.

I found these adorable little red stripe bowls at Crate and Barrel and fell in love. 

And the linen napkins came from this sweet little Etsy shop.  I loved the design and I love handmade even more. 

And thats it!  Dont you love decorating for the Holidays?  Are you like me and ready to take it all down the day after Christmas?  ;-)

Happy Holidays!

Diana

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