Western General Store

Western cutouts are great fun and they can be used in so many ways. I drew and cut them out of plywood on a scroll saw. You can cut them out of cardboard, leather or thick paper. You can paint or stain them and then you can: Glue them to a skewer to stick in flower arrangements. Drill a hole in each and add jute to make ornaments. Glue them to boxes or frames. Make Garland. Drill a hole if it's wood or leather and make a key fob. Attach a hook to display on your saddle. It doesn't have to be western. You can make any shape you want, such as Christmas cutouts. Choose your theme, cut out your shapes and create!

Making wreaths for Christmas is easy and fun! I used our 12" metal Star in Ring and an 18" grapevine wreath. Nothing says rustic and natural like a grapevine wreath. I wired the star to the wreath and made a bow and wired it on at the bottom. I added pieces of greenery and tied large rustic bells to the wreath with twine. In the beginning I was going to paint the star and bells red, but I like it just like this! For a western style wreath I used a 16" grapevine wreath and cut the top out with a saw to make a horseshoe. I added a bow at the bottom and pieces of greenery. The twig balls were in a package which I bought years ago. I thought the little twig balls would be cute with the twig wreath, so I spray painted them red and used hot glue to attach. I drew the horse on plywood, cut it out on the scroll saw and painted it red. I wrote "Howdy Y'all!" with a white paint pen. I used hot glue to attach it to the wreath. What i...

Here are a few things I put together for Western Fall Décor Ideas! These Wood slices were cut from a downed tree on our property. They were in the shed drying out for a couple of years. You can sand and seal and use them for a variety of things. I didn't sand these since I will be using them for another project. Wood Slice Centerpiece - I made a center piece with fall foliage in a horse pitcher, a ceramic Halloween pumpkin and fall leaves and gourds all placed on the wood slices. Lariat Wreath - Take a lariat and zip tie it at the top, wire on a bow and insert fall foliage. Easy! Horseshoe Wreath - I took a 16" grapevine wreath and cut the top off with a saw to make a horseshoe shape. I tied the ends at the top with brown wire just to keep it from coming apart, but it held its shape very well without it. I stuck in foliage and wired on a bow. I drew and cut out the plywood galloping horse on a scroll saw. I painted it and used a paint pen to write the...

Since a friend showed me a bamboo Lazy Susan she picked up at a garage sale, I've been wanting to make one. The Lazy Susan has many uses and are great for holiday gatherings. First, I looked around for a bearing kit and found the Lazy Susan Slimline here . It has easy to follow instructions. I wanted it thin for a low profile and this is 7/64" thick and 12 5/8" wide. I chose pecan left over from my kitchen bar for the top piece. Scraps of mahogany were used for the bottom piece. Plane down the pieces to the desired thickness. These are planed to 9/16" thick. Glue the pieces together and clamp. Let dry overnight. Draw the desired size circle on both pieces and cut out on a band saw. The top piece is 16 1/2" wide and the bottom piece is 13 1/4" wide. On the bottom side of the bottom piece drill a 9/16" wide hole 1/8" deep using a Forstner bit. This was done on the drill press. Drill a 5/16...

For this project I turned an old cabinet door from my kitchen remodel into a beautiful colorful Serape Arrow Coat Rack! Here is what the cabinet door looked like originally. I sanded down the door. It's ugly now, but will become beautiful! A smaller drawer panel became my practice piece. I tried to find serape fabric or serape wrapping paper with no luck, so I decided to find a photo of a serape blanket on the internet and print it out on a large format printer. I cut the photo to fit onto the drawer panel and after painting a thin coat of Mod Podge, I placed it on the panel. I smoothed it out with my fingers and a brayer. After it had dried I added a coat of Mod Podge in matte finish. I drew an arrow on 1/4" plywood and cut it out on the scroll saw. I cut out a second one and painted both arrows coordinating acrylic paint colors. After it dried I sanded a little paint off, then brushed on a coat of Mod Podge. I painted the frame blues and yellows ...

I've always wanted to make a wood tray with slanted sides. The internet didn't have much to offer, but I gave a tray I had to a friend and he figured the angles, cut sample pieces and wrote down instructions. Much better than the internet! Sample Pieces Template Tray This project can get tricky and you need to think about what you're doing every step of the way. Decide what size tray you want. How long and tall will the sides be, etc. The tray for this project is 12 3/4" wide x 18 3/8" long at the top of the handles. A side piece measures 2 3/4" x 17 7/8" x 1/2". The end piece measures 2 3/4" x 12 3/4" x 1/2". If you measure the slant the side is 3" and the end is 4". You can make it out of ply wood or any solid wood. I chose mahogany for this project. Turn blade on table saw to 17 degrees and rip one side, flip board and move saw guide to the desired thickness and rip. The top and bottom are parallel to ...