Fast Fix Friday: How To Remove a Stubborn Nail

So, I've been messing around with pallets quite a bit lately.  Soon I will post some of my projects and show you how I made them.  You'll be tempted, of course, to take on the projects yourself!  This is one Fast Fix Friday you won't want to miss when you do decide to take on a pallet project, whether one of mine or someone else.

Ah, pallet wood, glorious pallet wood!

I'm going to show you how to remove a stubborn nail that has been cut in half with a sawzall.  But you can apply this method to other projects as well.  Here is what the board looks like after I've separated it from the pallet with my sawzall:

The nail heads are on the other side and pounded in beneath the surface of the wood plank. So the traditional method of pulling it out with a hammer is out.  You'll notice that the bottom nail is actually flush with the plank and the top nail, not so much.  It is actually crooked and buried under the surface of the plank.  To remedy this situation you'll need two things; a hammer and some kind of small screwdriver....okay, okay, there is actually a tool that you can use for this purpose.  It looks like an ice pick with a screw driver handle, please don't ask me to tell you what it's called because I don't know.  But I happen to have this el cheapo, tiny flat head screwdriver kicking around and it works just fine.  And since I've never used it for anything else, I'm using it for this!

Okay, ready?  Place your ice pick thingy (or tiny screwdriver) on the tip end of the nail and give it a couple of love taps with the hammer.  When you flip your board over you'll see that the nail head is now exposed and you can slide your hammer underneath it and pry it out of the plank.

If you are starting with a crooked nail tip simply slide your tool under the nail at about a 45 degree angle and tap it with your hammer until it is standing straight up.  Now you can use the hammer to bang it out.

And SUCCESS!  Now I'm left with nothing more than these charming holes in the plank that will add some character to my final piece.

Fill the holes you say? Never!

Fast Fix Friday: How To Reslot a Screw

Even if you've never a stripped a screw yourself (haha), you're likely to come across one when you're upcycling some old piece of furniture, cabinet door or the like. And when that rubber band trick fails, I pull out my trusty little Dremel.

In a matter of moments I had this horrible little booger....

...reslotted and ready to remove. You'll need a heavy duty cutting wheel for your Dremel, but then it really is as easy as this:

Look at that beautiful cut!  Well, at least as beautiful as a chewed up screw head can be.

So for the recap:

1.  Don't forget your protective eye glass and gloves wouldn't hurt either as there will be sparks.
2.  Insert the cutting wheel into your Dremel. 
3.  Turn your Dremel on high and slice either a deeper cut in the existing groove if it isn't too chewed up or make a new one.

So there it is...easy as, yep you guessed it, 1 2 3.

Fast Fix Friday: How to Snazz Up A Boring Old Piece of Furniture

Adding texture (and a little paint) to an old piece of furniture could be a fun way to breath new life into it and maybe even make you fall in love with it all over again.  The next time you feel like redecorating don't head out to the nearest furniture store to buy new stuff.  Instead, give this method a try.

I'll show you how I added a couple of roses to this vintage drawer before I turned it into a pet bed.  But you could use this same method to dress up a plain picture frame or worn a table...or anything you can imagine.  Okay, here's the bed:

You'll need just a couple of supplies:

1.  Water Putty - See this post for mixing instructions
2.  Stencil of your choice
3.  Stencil adhesive
4.  Something to spread the putty with - a putty knife works great but so does a spent gift card

You'll want to start with a prepared surface, so make sure you've sanded it as if you were painting it.  Add the stencil adhesive to the back side of the stencil and let it dry for 10 minutes of so.  It will be tacky when "dry."

Once the adhesive is dry apply the stencil to the piece you're decorating and fill it with the putty.  You want to make sure you have a nice thick layer of putty.  Don't worry too much about smoothing it perfectly as you'll sand it before finishing.

 Let it dry completely, an hour should be plenty of time.  Then simply sand, prime and paint.  I like use two contrasting colors that will make the texture pop.

The paint will "pool up" around the edges of the putty accentuating your design. So, whatcha think?  What will you refinish?

Fast Friday Fix: Naturally Removing Gunk

Isn't upcycling glamorous?!  It seems like we're always removing the gunk and crap of centuries baked onto our next piece of art.  Or the sticky residue that is left behind from way too many price tags at Goodwill.  Have you noticed that they price each item a minimum of three times?  No other thrift store does that....maddening.  But I digress.

Seriously?  And I removed one from the bottom!

For a time I used Goof Off.  Yep it works, but man do you get high off the fumes!  It's harsh and toxic and you don't have to use it anymore! {Insert great big smiley face here}  Here is the better solution:

CA Scents Orange Squeeze

I found this quite by accident.  I was at my local hardware store looking for something to remove wallpaper that appeared to be shellaced onto the bottom inside of a drawer that I was turning into a pet bed.  The clerk showed me the California Scents Orange Squeeze air freshener and said that the store actually writes it off and uses it to clean the sticker labels off the shelves.  So I grabbed a bottle along with some very expensive wallpaper remover and a wallpaper scoring tool, just in case.

Sadly neither solution worked on the wallpaper, I'm convinced that someone did indeed adhere it with shellac.  But I have used the Orange Squeeze on the sticky stuff that I would have previously used the Goof Off on and it works with the same ease.  Only it's better because it's made with citrus extracts and smells delicious!  Besides removing the price label gunk, I use it a lot on plastic bottles.  It removes the label glue with amazing ease and lifts the stuck on label bits with a bit of elbow grease.

Just a little tip:  This is a little oilier than Goof Off so it doesn't quickly seep under the plastic labels.  I move the bottle around a bit so the oil can make it's way underneath and give a minute before I start scrubbing.

I love it and I think I'm going to stick with it.  What secrets do you have for removing goopy gop?

Fast Fix Friday: Cool Chalkboard Drawing that Anyone Can Do!

So you love the look of chalkboard paint but not sure your artistic skills are up to the challenge of decorating with it?  Have I got the fast and easy fix for you!  Now I know not all chalkboard is meant to be beautifully decorated, it's mostly meant to be functional.  But when you have a piece of "junk" that you're not sure what else do with, turning it into easy art may just be the thing.

Today I'm using the front of an old drawer that I picked up at my local reStore for a buck, they will hang as isle markers in my parent's pet shop.  Once you've sanded, primed and painted your piece, go online and search out pictures and clip art that you love, you can even experiment with fancy fonts. Please be sure that you aren't infringing on any copyright laws. You can use a basic word processing program to resize your graphics to whatever size you need.  I'm using a couple of sheets of paper to get them to the right size for my "canvas."

Turn the page over and cover the design area with chalk.  It doesn't have to be a thick layer, just use the side of your chalk.

Now place the paper, chalk side down, on your chalkboard in the location you wish to drawn.  With pencil, pen or stylus, trace over the drawing.

When you lift the paper you'll have the perfect template to work from.  Just go back over the tracing and color it in to your liking.

Now go...go cover the world with chalkboard paint!

Welcome to Fast Fix Fridays: How to Fill a Hole in Wood

Fridays are a great day for short, sweet and to the point aren't they?  I think so too.  So without further ado, here's a quick tip for fixing up an old piece of wood to look like new.  I use this technique to fill in screw holes on the underside of coffee tables when I flip them over to use as pet beds

...to fill holes left by handles on drawer fronts that I turn into chalkboard signs

Fronts of old drawers used as isle markers at mom's pet shop

and to just do plain old repairs when chunks go missing from old furniture and the like.

Here's what you'll need:

1.  Water Putty - I'm using Durham's, but any will do
2.  Water - Less than a teaspoon or so for one hole
3.   Something to mix in - I'm using a plastic cup
4.   Something to stir with - I'm using a scrap piece of a wooden dowel
5.   Something with a flat edge to smooth out the putty - if you don't have a putty knife you can use a plastic knife or even the side of a spent gift card

A word of caution:  This stuff dries fast!  You only want to make as much as you can apply in ten minutes.  Otherwise you'll be throwing a lot of it a away.  

In your mixing cup add a small amount of water putty (it's in powder form) with a small amount of water and stir.  The instructions tell you that you want to add equal parts based on WEIGHT not volume.  I don't weigh it, I wing it.  I add just enough water to get this consistency:

If it's too runny it'll end up all over your project, too dry it'll crumble and require a lot of sanding before you paint over it and you'll probably need to reapply.

Now it's ready to use!  Simply fill your hole and level the surface with your straight-edged implement.  Let it dry completely (about 30 minutes depending on the size of the hole), sand it smooth and paint.

Done!

If you used a disposable plastic cup for mixing, cleanup is a cinch and NOT because you can simply throw the cup away either.   Wait for the leftover putty to harden and squeeze the lower sides of your cup.  Watch the hardened putty just crumble to pieces into your cup.  Dump it and reuse your cup for the next hole filling project!  You'll want to wipe the excess off your other instruments right away though, while it's still wet and then rinse it clean.

Now that you know this little secret, what will you rescue from hitting the landfill?