I imagine a lot of you like the look and style of vintage furnishings and accessories. I know I do. And though I’m not so much a purist when it comes to these things, I do have a few ideas on creating and keeping the aesthetic of old items. Please read my post over at SC Johnson Family Economics and add your own ideas, tips and tricks to the comments there. I would love to read them!
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Posted in Antiques, Family Economics, SC Johnson
The fabulous folks at Dremel sent me their latest cool tool to try out for review- the Dremel Moto Saw. This tool converts from a stationary scroll saw to a handheld portable coping saw with the touch of a button. It’s just right for someone like me who doesn’t have room or patience to handle larger and more complicated tools. The only assembly I had to do was to drop the coping saw down into the base and attach the base to a work surface with clamps (included.) Although I could have completed my first project by using the hand-held function, I thought I should start slow and work with both hands and the tabletop set-up. The blades go in and out quite easily for changing out, (also included,) due to an auto-tensioning QuickChange™ mechanism that allows you to quickly switch blades without a wrench, while also keeping the blade taught, reducing the need to make blade adjustments. This saw cuts through a variety of materials: wood, laminate, plastic and thin metal.
The inspiration for my first project came from this little bit of vintage signage (below) that I found at an antique shop a few years back: DELIVERED FRESH DAILY that likely went with another sign such as FRESH EGGS or BAKED GOODS.
This vintage wording begged for accompanying text, and now that I had my new Moto-Saw tool, I was ready to create it. However, for a first timer, this project was a bit ambitious. And if I had to do it over again, I would have chosen solid pine wood, rather than the craft plywood I had on hand, (better left for small construction projects,) as it was a very hard wood and a bit tough to work with.
To begin, I typed out my lettering to size (4 1/2-inches high) on my computer, in outlined text to save on ink, and moved it about a letter-size layout to print every letter. I created a flat edge for every round bottom letter in order for them to ultimately stand on their own without falling over.
Once all letters were printed and roughly trimmed out, lightly I coated the backs of each with spray adhesive and placed letters about the wood, aligning the bottoms of every letter along an existing straight edge of the wood board. I wasn’t confident enough to think I could cut good straight lines the first time out the gate, so this worked well. And it paid off, because as I mentioned, working with this hard wood was indeed challenging.
The Moto-Saw comes with a vacuum attachment for collecting dust as you cut. However, I chose to work outside rather than in my studio. This ornate typeface was a bit trickier to work with than if it were a simple sans serif font.
There were a few points where I painted myself into a corner and needed to carefully back my blade out. I learned to cut from smaller sections of wood rather than try to fit a large piece in as ultimately you can run into the back metal arm. For tight areas and letter cut-outs, I first drilled a hole to allow for removing and replacing the blade. 
After all letters were cut, I used my cordless Dremel Rotary Tool to lightly sand and soften the edges.
I painted the surface of letters a very thin coat of white and positioned them on top of a piece of baseboard trim.
The letters stood fine on their own with their flat bottoms, but I used a bit of hot glue at the back base of each to keep them from toppling from any Northern California tremor, or the occasional slamming of a door. This will work great should I ever decide to trick the letters out at a later time with decorative paper or paint, or choose to hang them individually on a wall, they can be very easily removed from the baseboard.
For now, they sit atop my giant studio apothecary cabinet! (Sorry, bigger studio reveal under wraps for a while!)
I’m pretty pleased with my first go at crafting with this great little tool.
You can purchase the Dremel Moto-Saw Variable Speed Compact Scroll Saw Kit on Amazon.com for only $99! Here are some Moto-Saw craft ideas from Dremel.
My next Dremel Moto-Saw project: Tabletop wooden people-photo cut-outs!
What would you make?
With April marking Earth Month, Michaels invited me to join their RE-Love It Blogger Challenge- take an old item around my home that may be a little worn, or just hidden away in the garage, add a little creativity (paint, glue, etc.) and turn that item into something to love again. I took a good, long look around our place and found this little, dusty, vintage side-table-magazine-rack in desperate need of attention. I’ve had it around so long I can’t even remember where I bought it, but at some point, I had spray painted it black.I thought this might work nicely as a hot glue station in my new barn studio. However, its main surface sits low, and since I stand a lot while crafting, this project called for some ingenuity. Supplied with a Michaels gift card to use toward my project, I headed to my local Michaels store to scheme. Here’s what I purchased:
From the unfinished wood section of Michaels, I picked up four turned-wood candlesticks and a large, French corner wooden plaque the width of my table.
On to the floral department, I snagged up these thick and heavy, 5-inch square glass containers.
Over in what I call the Tim Holtz aisle, I spied this Non-Stick Craft Sheet by Ranger. I didn’t even know this stuff existed- and it’s perfect for my hot glue station project!I also picked up some acrylic craft paint in three colors.
I began my project by creating a pedestal to add to the top of my side table by attaching the candlesticks to the bottom of the wood plaque. I pre-drilled pilot holes through the plaque and top centers of the candlesticks to avoid splitting of any wood. I used a larger drill bit to drill down a very small amount into the surface of the plaque in order to recess the screws. I screwed in long wood screws, filled the recessed holes with wood putty and lightly sanded smooth once the putty dried. I then turned the piece over, placed the side-table upside down and into position atop the base of the candlesticks. I again pre-drilled pilot holes through the table and connected to the candlestick bases with screws.That was if for the construction end of things.I mixed three different colors of acrylic craft paint together to come up with a turquoise- similar to the color of the legs of my workshop tables- and painted the entire piece. Once dry, I lightly distressed some edges of the piece with fine grit sandpaper.I added the non-stick craft sheet, cut to shape, to the surface of the pedestal using mounting adhesive. This will protect the top from any hot glue damage and make for very easy clean-up.The glass containers fit perfectly into the magazine rack area and now hold two lengths of hot glue sticks, and several bottles of Beacon adhesives.Under the pedestal sits my new hot glue pot. To the side sits a Surebonder Glue Gun Pad that I use a lot with hot glue projects in many different ways to manipulate cooling glue. Atop the pad is where I will store my hot glue gun.Here is my new hot glue station!(Finished just in time for working on another upcoming blog project!)I’d love to know what you think of my Michaels Re-Loved It project! Be sure to check out lots of other Re-Loved It projects in the Michaels Look Book.
