Getting A Handle On It

Sorry for the lack of posting after Labor Day Weekend- things have been busy around here as of late! Just a quick DIY for you today. Do you remember back when I mentioned our old house was the gift that kept on giving? Well it's still giving two years later and we don't even live there anymore!

I had saved several old door knobs from our 1930's house and brought them with us when we moved. I already used most of them but still had the glass one left to make something out of.

(See how I made these useable in this post)

For the glass knob I made this:

Pretty simple but I like the contrast of the glass and the old salvaged wood. The wood is left over from my Pallet Texas, the knob and key hole from our old home. 

I just cut some wood down to size, sanded, screwed the key hole on, then predrilled a hole to screw my door knob into. 

(Only picture I had depicting screw in a door knob)

Simple and effective! Have you created anything for free lately?

Reclaimed Wine Barrel Stopper Coat Rack

Phew! Say that title 3 times fast- Reclaimed Wine Barrel Stopper Coat Rack, Reclaimed Wine Barrel Stopper Coat Rack, Reclaimed Wine Barealekfja andivaowjtlajldj 


Ugh I give up. Seriously I wasn't sure what else to title this besides the obvious so there it is. And, you may be thinking- "Geez how many coat racks does this girl need?" Truth: I sell most of this stuff in a little store here in Town- Dora Lou's Place. If you're ever in Altus, OK come check it out!


Anyway I found these guys while we were in California a few weeks ago. While the Hubs was off wine tasting my preggo self and and the Con-Man hung out outside. That's when I happened upon these wine barrel stoppers:

I asked someone who worked at the winery if I could have a few. Maybe he felt sorry for me in my pregnant state because he said "Sure take a few." Mmmm- Ok! (See you can have fun wine tasting while preggo.)

I have a few ideas for them, coat rack is the first up! Check it out!

I started by sanding them down just a little. I like the rough look; I mainly did this to smooth out any splintery edges and get any excess dust off.

Then I went to the hardware store and bought some 2" Dowel Screws. I figured this was a good length to securely fasten my stopper to the wood and leave some room for the decorative metal rod.

Then I kind of eye- balled the depth for the pilot hole. I needed something deep enough to secure the dowel into both the stopper and the wood backing and leave room for the metal rod. I used painters tape to mark my drill depth and used a drill bit slightly smaller than my dowel and drilled away. 

 I centered my pilot hole on the stoppers and measured out equal distance on my wood backing.

The next step was painting and sealing. Then I screwed my dowels into my pilot holes.

The next part was a bit tricky. I wanted a decorative metal surround to go in between the wood backing and the stopper. I checked out our local hardware store for metal piping and rods. It seems like if metal rods are going to be hollow the smallest they come is 1.5" thick- to big. Anything smaller was solid. 

I thought I had hit a wall. But  a trip to my local Walmart saved the day. Curtain rods! Of course! They are thin and hollow- yay! I bought the smallest tension rod I could find and it was only $2. Score!

I cut it down to the size I needed. This took a bit of guess work; my first measurement of 1" was to long. Second attempt was 3/4" and that seemed to work fine. I measured the rest out and cut them down to size with my scroll saw.

(Bad picture of me working in the garage)

Finally I screwed on my stoppers~

And the final product:

What did you work on this weekend? Did everyone have a happy Mother's Day?