Weathered wood trial and (mostly) error

The old window / menu board project is on hold for now.  Basically what I've done so far is don a painter's mask and scrape away at the glazing compound with a putty knife.  I'd say that so far I've removed half if not 2/3rd's of the compound.  The rest of of it is completely and totally stuck even after almost 60 years.  From what I've read online the solution is to use a heat gun to help loosen the remaining compound.  So now I just need to find someone who has a heat gun that I can borrow.

I've also been wanting to try some aging techniques on wood.  I want the board and batten siding on my saloon to look like it's been sitting out in the elements - sun, wind, sand, etc. - for many years.  So I thought I would try first on a couple of $2 tables that I found at Ben Franklin's.

I tried out 2 different solutions.  I learned about both of these techniques from a Greenleaf thread about Weathered Wood.

#1:  A 1/2 cup of white vinegar with a steel wool pad left to rust for about 24 hours.  Then I removed the pad and added 1/2 cup of water to dilute it a bit.  The steel wool looked pretty rusted after 24 hours, but the solution didn't look all that different.

#2:  Isopropyl alcohol with a few drops of India / calligraphy ink.  The solution immediately turned black. 

So here are the results of solution #1.  Personally I don't see any difference.  Do you?  I am thinking that next I may try leaving the steel wool in the vinegar for a longer period of time.  The results that I saw on Greenleaf looked amazing so now I just have to figure out what I did wrong :(

Results for solution #2.  Now this one I can definitely tell a difference with, but the only problem is that to me now the table just looks dirty.  The tabletop didn't really change color, but the legs now have this sort of blue - gray tinge.  Not exactly what I was looking for either.

Oh well, I guess this was okay for a first try.  If anyone out there in blogland has any guidance on weathered wood or other techniques then I would definitely love to hear from you.  Ideally I am looking for something more brown, but still with a nice aged appearance to it.

That's all for today, but I hope everyone has a Happy Halloween! :)

Finally a finished project!

Remember when I was working on the mini dresser kit a while back?  Well I finally got around to finishing it :)  I'm pretty happy with the results.

The House of Miniatures Chippendale 3 Drawer Chest / Circa 1750 - 1790

Scale 1" to 1'

I added the penny for scale purposes and a few minis on top for decoration.  Some poor tired cowboy must be about to turn in for the night :)

The one thing that I didn't do was add the keyhole plates.  If you look closely at the picture on the box you'll see that each drawer has a lock.  I like the way the dresser looks in the picture, but then again I like it without the locks as well.  I can always go back and add them later.

All in all I think it turned out pretty good for a $4 kit from the flea market.  I used some Minwax Red Mahogany Stain that I already had and then I finished the outside of the kit with Minwax Clear Satin Polyurethane.  I did end up staining the inside of the drawers even though the kit instructions said not to.  I just think it will look better if I stage the dresser with one of the drawers open with clothes or blankets, etc. peeking out.

Back to blogging...

I know I've been gone for a long time, but real life seems to be calming down a bit now so hopefully I'll be back to blogging on a more regular basis.  I noticed that there are now 101 followers, which is amazing!  You guys are the best :)  I'll take the time to do introductions soon as well.

For today I just wanted to show a few of the craft projects that I'm working on right now.

Project #1:  Of course I'm still working on the 1:12 scale saloon.

Project #2:  My parents recently had the windows in their house replaced.  This particular window came from the attic, which was my old bedroom.  Their house was built in either 1952 or 1954 so this window is close to 60 years old.  My concern of course is lead based paint, so I will take the proper precautions.

Here's a view of the inside.

So on to my idea - I'm going to use chalkboard paint on the actual window panes and I'm going to sand and paint the trim white.  I'm thinking I'll hang it in the kitchen and use it as a sort of menu / bulletin board.

Project #3:  A couple of week's ago when Michael's was running a 50% off coupon I finally gave in and bought this bottle cutter that I have been wanting to try out.  I have lots of ideas for this one :)

Anyway, those are my current projects.  I'll post updates soon.  Happy Sunday everyone! :)