Floating Shelves Tutorial

Do you love the look of floating shelves?

I do!

They are just so darn expensive! Even at IKEA they are more than I am willing to spend.

So I decided to make some myself. I did a bunch of research to find the easiest and cheapest way to do it. I kept coming across one way,

Make them from a Door. Really, a door?!

My parents were in town for Christmas so I decided to use my Dad's help.

He is a cabinet maker after all!

So here we go!

Finished product. I just threw some stuff on it to take the picture.

Next Christmas will be MUCH better!

Empty...Sad ;(

I started with a plain door. I got mine at Home Depot. We decided to go with a 28"inch wide door. It was about $20 bucks. I will be able to get three full length shelves out of one door. Or I can cut them into smaller lengths.

THOUGHT: If you are going to cut smaller shelves you will need to get some decorative molding to cover the open ends of your door. Just glue or tack them on.

Home Depot will not cut doors, we begged but they refused, so we were going to have to do it ourselves. I do not have a table saw so we improvised. We got a 1x4 to use as a straight edge, clamped it down and used the circular saw to make a straight cut. This was a two person job, one to hold the door down and one to make the cut.

Here it is after we cut it. Inside of door and outside of door.

Sorry about the fire extinguisher in the pic. Safety First!

This is my Dad. Love him! We used a chisel to clean up the inside of the door. In these cheap doors the only thing inside is cardboard. It was super easy to break the cardboard out and create a space to slide the brace in. If you don't have a chisel a bread knife would do the same thing.

Here is my Dad pushing the cardboard in to create space. He also scraped away some of the glue that was holding the cardboard in place.

A bit of sanding to clean that cut edge up. Now it is ready for paint. I used a high quality black semi gloss spray paint. I sprayed about three coats to create a glossy finish. Sorry no pics!

These are the braces that the door will slide onto. My Dad cut these on the table saw at his house before he came to Vegas. He made them exactly the same size as the inside of the door, 1 3/16". That way the door slides perfectly onto them. If my Dad had not been able to do it before hand I would have got a 2x2 post and had Home depot cut it down to 1 3/16". Make sense?

This is hard to see but it is showing that we have measured, leveled and pre drilled holes in the walls where we want to attach the brace board. We went into studs only. Better safe than sorry!

Measure, level, draw level line.

We pre sunk our screws, you don't have to. Just make sure your screw is long enough to go through your brace, the dry wall and into the stud. About 2 1/2 or 3" screws. You will need a fully charged drill to do this. It took a lot of strength for my dad to get these screws through so many layers. I suggest you get some man muscle to help you out for this step.

Slide on the shelf. You can add some wood glue if you like. I didn't because we rent and I want to take this shelf with me when we move. Screw some tiny flat head screws to attach the shelf to the bracket.

My shelf is high enough that I am not going to worry so much about covering them.

DONE!

I can't wait to decorate it for the seasons!

Thanks for the help Dad! Love you!

Stockings Door Jingle

I got this so long ago that I don't even remember who gave it to me.

I think it was my sister Kristen.

Anyhoo, isn't it cute!

Hangs on my door .
Fun, Fun!

Bundle Up! Snowman

This guy is super easy to make. Very little cuts and easy painting.

He has a base that he stands on with a cute little scarf.
I also have this same type of idea made into a scarecrow.

Don't forget to Bundle Up!

The Big Nosed Snowman

This is the easiest snowman in the world!

I made it several years ago and made a few last year for gifts.

It is made from a 4x4 post and scraps.
It is sanded and has stenciled stars.

The hat brim and nose are made form scrap wood.

I outlined the stars with a sharpie for more detail.

Fun, easy and CUTE!

Stuffed Snow Man

Another cold guy!

this is my favorite of all my snowmen.

I made it at a church activity in my sister ward about 10 years ago.

It is fabric stuffed with filling.
His little ski's and sign are so cute!

It has lasted several moves and more than a few breaks, but he is still the cutest of my snowmen.

Let It Snow-Man

Another Snowman!

I love this guy. He hangs just inside the front door.

My sister, Kristen, made this for me a few years back.

He has a real hat on his head!
He is ready to shovel some snow.

I love the snow affect on it. So creative!

Let it Snow Man!

Gentleman Snowman

I decided to skip Thanksgiving this year.

Don't hate me.

I just don't really love Thanksgiving. All that work cooking and decorating for one day. My kids don't even like the foods for Thanksgiving. So this year we are just doing a yummy dinner that everyone loves and inviting my sister to join us. That is the real point right!? Family!

So instead of Thanksgiving I have decided to jump straight to Christmas. I put my Christmas decorations, minus the tree, up last week. And I am adding more and more as the days go on.

I love Snowmen!

They are my favorite decoration for winter/Christmas.

Over the next several days I will be showing off several of my snowmen decorations

This big guy I made at a Super Saturday YEARS ago in my sisters ward.
He stands at the front door greeting everyone that enters.

I love that little scarf!

I have added more pine cones this year. Most of them fell off in storage.

Love him!

Our Eternal Family 2x4

2x4 Tuesday!

I got this idea from How Does She... I loved the idea and wanted to do it for awhile now.

A few months ago a young man in my ward (church) died. He was the son of a friend of mine. He was the youngest, 17 years old, of her children and a sweet young man. I wanted to make her food and comfort her, but she had plenty of food. So I thought to myself, "What else do I do well that I can share with her?" CRAFT! So this is my gift to her. A family tree of sorts. The wires hold pictures and are removable. Corey is the young man that died, and I decided to do his name in white because he is now with our Heavenly Father.

I started with a 2x4 and cut it into six pieces; 8in, 7, 6, 5, 4, and 3in. pieces.

I sanded the edges and drilled holes in the ends to hold the wires.

I chose paper and cut it to the correct sizes.

I used Mod Podge to apply the paper. After it dried I sanded the edges again to rough up the paper a bit.

TIP: Use a ruler to press the paper into the Mod Podge.

Here they are all done.

Next I cut the names out on my Cricut. I used the Kristen font.

Then I applied them. Sometimes I applied the letters one at a time so that they were all crazy and off center.

Here it is all done. I added a dot of hot glue between each board to keep them in place. It won't hold forever. If you want it to hold forever than make sure you use wood glue.

Next I cut and twisted my wire. You can find this wire at Home Depot/Lowes. I found mine in the rebar area. It is called rebar wire. Mine is a huge roll and only cost $4.

Grip the end of the wire and twist it around the tip of your needle nose pliers.

Pull out your pliers and pinch the swirl together. Now it will hold a picture.

All done. I put a wire in every hole but they are removable.

I added a ribbon around the stack to hold it together and to add a bit more softness.

I hope my friend enjoys it. She is going through a rough time, one that I cannot even imagine, but maybe she can put some pictures on this and remember all the time she had with her son. Most importantly I hope she remembers that this is not the end, she will see him again.