DIY Wood Riser & Bird Feeder: Waste Not Wednesday
I hoard wood scraps.
There, I said it.
It might be a sickness. 🙂
At least I’m in good company because my husband does too.
My husband built some wood stairs for a door in our bedroom that leads outside.
There were a few pieces of thick wood left over.
Hating to see it used for firewood, I put on my thinking cap to find something useful to do with it.
After scrounging in my junk shop, I found some kind of wood spindles. We have a bunch of them. I really have no idea what they were.
They are 35″ long and have a split down the center.
They have a sort of handle on the end.
Just playing around, I figured I could make a DIY wood riser by combining all the pieces.
After cutting the spindles down to size, my husband drilled pilot holes to attach them to the board.
Here it is assembled.
Painting was a quick job with spray paint for the legs and Dixie Belle Paint Cotton Chalk Paint for the top.
Next I distressed the edges and it was done.
It only took about an hour from start to finish.
And it’s so handy next to my kitchen sink.
PIN IT!
The next project I don’t have a tutorial for, because my husband got a wild hair and made it one day.
This is an Oriole bird feeder.
He used wood scraps left over from my farmhouse wood totes and a metal clothes hanger.
Using only things we already had made it more impressive to me.
He came in from the garage with it all done and asked for orange paint and a “sticker.”
That’s what he calls my Chalk Couture transfers. I thought he should use the same small bird transfer that I used on the Farmhouse clay pots, but he wanted to find his own.
I let him dig through my stash of transfers.
He picked the same Bonjour transfer that I had just used on one of my thrift store cutting boards.
I hadn’t yet shared the makeover yet. I had taken photos though.
It was one of the three I found together in my last thrift store haul. It’s the one in the middle.
After sanding, staining, and waxing, here’s how it looked.
It has tiny feet on it so it could be used as a counter plant riser.
It seems I have a French theme lately for cutting boards!
The end result looks really pretty.
It’s available in my Etsy shop HERE.
What do you think about a weekly Waste Not Wednesday theme? I used to have regular themes for different days of the week and I miss doing it.
Let me know what you think!
Vaya con Dios,
Angie
Your spindles are newspaper holding sticks used in libraries! I have about 50 of them! Thanks for the clever idea on what to do with them, right now mine are in an umbrella holder 🙂
I knew someone would know what they were. Thank you Dion!!
Those 35” wood pieces are(were) Newspaper Holders. In earlier times folks living near a library would read the daily newspapers at the library (for free, of course!).
The paper was opened to the middle fold and threaded onto the rod. A heavy rubber ring was placed around the open end to hold the paper in and allow the pages to be turned and read. Fancier libraries would have a rack to hold the papers suspended by the rods in the rack horizontally.
Learn something new every day Robert!
Love the idea of a ‘Waste Not Wednesday’! I really like any type of up-cycling or recycling projects. And your site is one of my favorites.
Thanks Marla! I’ll have to keep digging through my stash of junk.
Great ideas, Angie…especially the stools/tabletoppers…as we speak hubby is clearing the garage, and I have to dig in his scrap piles when I get out of the house…again.
Good luck Sandi!
Hello,
I just discovered you through Pinterest and love your vibe. After searching your site for how to subscribe I’m at a loss. :(( Can you help me, because I definitely want to keep up with your posts.
Thanks,
Lynda
Lynda, near the bottom of every post as a place to subscribe. It has an old bike image.
Haha! Referring to hoarding wood scraps as a sickness made me laugh! I am the same way, its difficult to part with scraps of all sizes because they hold so much potential! Love the riser you built! Gives me an idea for making plant risers in my front room.