Thanksgiving inspiration and the wood shop...

I was so inspired yesterday after a visit to Debra at Common Ground, that I went right out to the wood shop with my husband to look for scrap lumber. Let me show you why...

I fell in love with this table and the old box, which I am assuming this is a tool box. I have to wonder what kind of tools would have been kept in there because it is obviously long! 

I thought it would look great on my table which is very similar to this one.

These photos came from Pinterest, but I searched and could not find the actual origin, so it reinforces the need to watermark photos.

I digress...so off to the wood shop we went to look for wood. This is part of a larger building that could actually hold 4 cars, but it houses my dad's tractor, tools and lots of other stuff. It is over 100 years old.

Look at the choices we had for wood. This is wormy chestnut beadboard from the original house here. 

And more options...

I'm thinking I will empty out this box and use it somewhere!

But we settled on this. Did I mention my dad is really into recycling and repurposing? He had a load of scrap lumber from a building site dumped delivered here last year, and we have used several pieces on projects.

First, Luis ripped this piece in half, which made it the exact height I wanted, then he put it together with this older piece, which actually has a signature on it from May 22, 1954. I could not get it to show up in a photo though because it was just too faint.

Then he cut the ends so they would be even with the sides. I did not want the ends to be high like the inspiration piece, so we kept them even. I also wanted it to be shorter as I need to seat people at each end of the table and the inspiration piece did not allow for that.

Nailed, glued and clamped to dry overnight.

All I need to do is a little distressing, staining and finishing then I can fill the inside and put it on my table. I cannot wait to get it finished! This project was totally free because we had everything we needed already here.

Hopefully, I can work on it today a little. I'll be cooking for a local emergency homeless shelter then serving tonight, and with the rain we are having, I expect they will be filled to capacity. I have been looking forward to this ministry for a while, and we have had teams from our church cooking and serving there all week. I encourage all of you to become involved in some way in your community. All of you have incredible skills that could be used to brighten the day of someone in need. I am sure setting the tables tonight will be the most rewarding and satisfying tablescaping experience  ever.

Anita