Did you see my repurposed drawer front Welcome sign? I dismantled the drawer so I could have nice wood to make these scrap wood Christmas ornaments. I felt like my normal 1x2’s were too thick. The materials on most drawers is nice, sturdy, thinner stock. The tips for dismantling the drawer are shared on the Welcome Sign article.
This is the vintage drawer I dismantled. Can you see how nice the sides and back boards are? They are cabinet grade plywood, not to be confused with the sheets of plywood used for other projects.
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Dismantle Wooden Drawer to Harvest Reclaimed Wood
Can you see the edge of the drawer side the hammer is laying on? All staples had to be removed, then that little edge needed to be cut off before I could harvest the wood I need for the scrap wood ornaments.
Cut Wood Slats on Miter Saw
After trimming off the end pieces, I was ready to cut my slats for the ornaments. The size is totally up to you. I chose to make some narrow slats, and some wider slats out of the repurposed drawer lumber.
After cutting the widths, I cut the slats to about 5.5” long.
Sand Edges Smooth
Did you know that when you’re sanding small pieces of wood, that sometimes it’s easiest to move the wood as opposed to moving the sandpaper? So, I basically held the sandpaper on the table and oved the wood back and forth.
Easy Staining Technique
I seriously can’t explain how easy these wood finishing cloths are! The cloths are really old and may be out of production. But, they really gave a nice finish on the scrap wood, with literally NO odor. They are water based, but I did wear latex gloves.
It’s difficult to see, but the three pieces laying down are Woodsies. I got them at Walmart and cut them on my saw. You could easily use paint sticks.
I prepped a bunch of the wood slats at home, and took all the supplies needed to my campsite in Nashville. Crafting while camping is fun, but it’s even better when you have someone to join in the fun!
Painter’s Tape to Transfer Vinyl
I cut out some vinyl before I left home. Then Jamie popped over to the campground one afternoon for some fun crafts. I showed her how to transfer a small vinyl phrase with painter’s tape. Painter’s tape is really a great option for transfer tape. You can see, the phrase has been removed from the backer sheet with the painter’s tape.
You can easily see to lay the image on the ornament using the painter’s tape.
Laying the tape over on itself allows the vinyl to easily adhere to the surface, in this case scrap wood ornaments!
Then, I showed her how easy it is to decorate scrap wood ornaments with Chalk Paste !!! Above the JOY and believe are both done with a Chalk Couture Transfers from The Junky Chalker Shop.
So many options for the scrap wood ornaments!!
Jamie was hooked! She loved these birds, and even used other transfers to embellish them. That’s all we had time for that afternoon. I wish I had taken a picture of our setup. I put up my Clam shelter, with a card table, and two other tables to make things easy. We had stuff everywhere! So much more fun crafting with someone you love!
After Jamie left, I played around taking some pictures of the smaller JOY I made. I love this font!
My lake view at night, isn’t it gorgeous?
Drill Holes for Hanging Wood Ornaments
Jamie and I worked a little on embellishing the scrap wood ornaments at her home. Then I came back to the campground and got busy drilling holes and adding twine, ribbon etc.
It’s a little difficult to see, but the twine on the bottom has gold thread running through it. The twine is really pretty in real life.
The winds of Hurricane Zeta rolled in across the lake and it was really difficult to take pictures. Currently, as I write this post, I can feel the camper rocking back and forth in the darkness.
This vinyl was done on my Silhouette Portrait. To get it to fit on the narrow scrap wood, I elongated the image, but I think it still looks good. Do you agree?
These are the little birds that Jamie had so much fun working on.
I finally had to resort to laying the ornaments on a rock because of the high winds. At first glance you may think the birds are the same, but scroll up to see that they are slightly different. Can you see that thin thread of gold in the twine in this picture?
The scrap wood ornaments were fun and easy to make. It’s also a lot of fun crafting while camping!
Do you routinely make Christmas ornaments? How about Christmas trash to treasure projects? Stop by Sunday for a great collection of ideas from the Thrift Store Decor Team!
gail
Related Content: Scrap Wood Christmas Decor
Gail Wilson is the author and mastermind behind My Repurposed Life. She is obsessed with finding potential in unexpected places and believes that with a little hard work and imagination, any old thing can be made useful again, including herself!
Gail reinvented herself during a midlife crisis and has found purpose again. She hopes you will find new ideas for old things and pick up a few tools along the way.
girlfromwva
love these! so nice!