I mean, really… this has to be the best before & after transformation you’ve ever seen, right?! Tree on left became Shelf on right. Thanks to Aaron and his Uncle!!
So the idea for this shelf actually came about months ago. Hold up, like more than a year ago (what?! It’s been over a year since I stopped working at the craft store?!). When I was working at the craft store I brought home these paper shelf fixtures that were going to be tossed from the store. They were kind of awesome… I mean, it’s what the store uses to sort and sell paper, but they were also kind of bulky for my little craft room. But whatever… they were free. Aaron however, was constantly annoyed by them… like I said, bulky and I had some issues with how to display them (major holes in the wall due to my failed attempt to hang them… oops).
So Aaron struck a deal with me… he’d make me a custom paper shelf if I’d get rid of the store fixtures. DONE! (Mom now has them… ha… good luck figuring out how you are going to hang them) ;)
BUT… this final deal was struck 6 months ago at least. For a while all my scrapbook paper sat stacked on the dining room table. Then we had some company and it had to get moved. So the stacks moved… to the bench in my hobby room. Awesome… except not awesome, because while they were out of the way of our living space, I no longer had any space to craft. (Are you starting to realize the ridiculous amazing amount of scrapbook paper I have?)
And then finally… In January… Aaron got on it (after a lot a small amount of nagging from me). His Uncle makes AMAZING things with wood… tables, benches, pagodas, etc… so we had a pretty good source for some high quality wood and knowledge! I wanted this thing to last! So they took a tree… did their magic… and Aaron brought home some fine looking Fir boards.
And then they sat in the back room with the fire to dry out.
Well… that’s not completely true… they sat in the back room for one day and then moved to the garage for a while because my pregnant nose could not handle that smell… it was giving me headaches it was so strong! Eventually, when the smell faded they came back in to finish drying.
And then Aaron: Cut the boards to length, measured where the slots for the shelves would go, used a router to make those slots, glued everything together, cut some 1/4″ maple shelves to fit, and slid them into place!!
TADAAA! And that… ladies and gentlemen… is how a tree becomes a shelf. …And how one wife is (finally, months later) so thankful for her husband’s handy-man skills!
Sam
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