Western General Store

I thought this would be cute. I found these rusty cowboy and cowgirl cutouts from one of my suppliers. The Star 2 Hook is on the website. Put pallet boards together and screw vertical pieces to the back to hold it all together. Screw the items to the boards. I found screws painted brown at a local hardware store and you could screw or epoxy the characters.

You can use our Cross Brackets to make this simple bench. The top piece is 11 x 36 x 1 1/2 and the legs are 11 x 16 x 1 1/2 pine. Four Cross Brackets were screwed into the top piece and leg pieces. I removed the hanger from each of the small crosses which I wanted to attach to each leg. Then found a longer screw that would fit it and drilled a hole in the leg piece. Use a counter sink bit if necessary. Screw the cross to the leg piece from the inside. After the dark brown Briwax  finish was applied I noticed my sanding marks which gave it a distressed look. There are several other types of braces on the website that you could use such as Star Braces, Cobb Webb Braces, and Horse Braces. The items used in this project are: Cross Bracket Small Cross D58-078

Here's an idea for a western frame. I wanted to add hair on cowhide to an 8x10 barn wood frame and had some strips from another project that fit perfectly inside of this frame. That was easy! With a leather rotary cutter I had to cut 2 more strips to have enough. I glued them to the frame with hot glue, but next time I would use epoxy or Titebond the original. Holes were drilled for the 1" silver Clavos in the corners and I attached one 3/4" on each side. I sprayed Small Star Nails metallic silver and drilled holes to nail them into the upper and lower part of the frame. These star nails had longer nails so I was able to nail them in and keep them on the outer portion of the frame. It was a simple design and not a lot of work. Hopefully this will give you inspiration to come up with your own fancy creation.

Here's an idea for a man cave. I found an old broken board from a weathered pallet and placed a Small Horseshoe on it, set a Bottle Opener inside it and screwed it to the board. The opener held the horseshoe to the board so I didn't put any screws there, but you may want to do that. Use long screws to attach the Tiny Stars and mount on the wall. You could paint the cast iron items and/or the board, but I like it as is. Let the cast iron rust or spray a clear sealer to protect them. Items used for this project are: Bottle Opener Small Horseshoe Tiny Stars

This might be an idea you haven't thought of for lighting the inside of an old armoire. I purchased this large antique armoire for storage. It came with shelves but I needed a way to light the inside. I used a 16 foot rope light with mounting clips from Walmart. I drilled a hole in the lower back right corner to feed the wire of a power strip with a switch and plugged it into the wall outlet. I attached the strip to the bottom of one of the shelves with mounting tape, plugged in the rope light and placed it around the perimeter using mounting tape and a few clips. So I just flip the switch and let there be light!

I've always wanted to make a Hall Tree Coat Rack. Here's our version of it. The post is 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" and the total height to the top of the star is 5' 8 1/2". I attached Large Coat Hooks and drilled a hole in the top and inserted a Mini Star Nail . For the base, John came up with the idea of attaching the Star Braces for stability. I love this! The wood pieces are glued and screwed into the post. You could paint the hooks and star to match the braces or paint it all the color of your choice. Stain or paint the wood or leave natural.

You can use our Branding Irons on steaks but also on wood or leather to create designs for coat racks, picture frames, wooden boxes and many other wooden items. We just used a torch and it takes a while. A camp fire would work great. Experiment a little with it. The star brand I held a little too long the first time. But you may want that effect.