For George

I built this little box for our friends, Leif and Brianna, and for their son George, who died on March 31, 2010 after twenty-four short minutes of life. They wanted something to hold his precious belongings, so I crafted this box out of reclaimed doug fir wall paneling. 

We never got to meet George, but the impact he has had on my family through his Dad and Mom is tremendous. I don't know where we would be without the love, tenderness and understanding that their friendship has brought to us since meeting them shortly after Margot died. The very existence of our friendship, the profoundness of it, the sadness behind why we met, the source of joy it brings us, is still a complicated mystery to me.

To George Ellsworth Hanson. Thanks for all you have given us.

DIY: Stella Inspired Outdoor Puzzle Table

While I have three grief posts brewing and one big Still Life art project in the works, I figured a post of some kind was do.

Stella and I finished this piece last week for our porch. There aren't many days that go by without the two of us getting her blocks out so we can play dominoes and build tall buildings. Or as Stella puts it, "build city dad?" She loves one particular design that we came up with because we can see each other through the building and play little games of hide and seek. So when K and I decided it would be nice to have a porch table for wine glasses and feet to rest on, Stella's favorite block design won out. I used reclaimed scrap wood from the shop and Stella helped as much as she could with handing me wood and adding the finish.

DIY: For All Of Us

I finished building our new reclaimed wood dining table in the shop last week. I cut and ripped and planed and cried while listening to Margot's mix, my tears and sawdust coming together to form something of a tribute. Going along with our desperate desire for our lives to be different now, in some small way to honor Margot, we decided to build a new table for our family and friends to sit around. I engraved the bottom with the date and our initials. K. J. S. M.

DIY: Reclaimed Wood, Raised Bed Garden

2011 garden, a little more sophisticated than last year. Along with our housemates, we decided to build our own raised beds this year. Thanks to some extra salvaged wood we had from the shop, some free dirt and trimmings from around Pasadena and a friendly neighbor who shared some vegetables, we have ourselves a garden.

DIY: Reclaimed Wood Frame

After landing a beautiful piece of art from my talented friend Kate, I decided to make a frame for it out of our reclaimed wood scraps. With a saw, some glue and a router, it didn't take more than an hour to create the frame. I picked up some glass from our local stained glass shop for under $5.

The wood is from the Yorba Linda Regional Park in Orange County and after years of California weather, the Doug Fir has turned into a gorgeous silver rustic color.

The picture, Where We'll Be, shows an old cabin in the woods, among the trees. I envision it being somewhere far away, where a fire cracks and good food sits on the table. It's the exact kind of place Kari and I have ventured to over the years and I imagine it's where we'll be again.






To see more of Kate's amazing artwork, you can visit her Etsy store or her blog.

DIY: Pallet Credenza

My latest spare-time-project was this credenza for our dining room. I wanted to build it for as cheap as possible, so I picked up three pallets for free behind a local business that throws them away. Interesting, each pallet had a different IPPC stamp on them and they represented Germany, Spain and Italy. These pallets turned credenza have literally been around the world.

The top is made of reclaimed Java wood, which I had left over from the dining table that I built with my Dad. I tried a few new things including tapered legs, dowel joinery and doors, which proved more time consuming than I thought.

DIY: Pallet End Table

I finished this end table this morning. All of the wood is from pallets I picked up a while back While the design is mine, I got my inspiration from my friend Mel Barlow's end table in Brooklyn.

DIY: Pallet Picnic Table

With our new oasis in the backyard, where we can now have meals and enjoy fires and play with the little tikes, I thought it would be nice add a kid's picnic table to the mix. Plus I needed SOMETHING to build with the free pallets.

DIY: Pallet Stool

Since Stella now plays in the dirt every single day, the need to wash her hands has increased considerably. And since our backs cannot handle the simultaneous action of holding her over the sink and washing her hands, a stool was called for. I found some free pallets on Craigslist a while ago and used a few pieces from one of them to build the stool.

Thanks to Sam for the idea!