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So yeah I really don't do good at taking photos for my blog.  I built quite a bit in 2012 just didn't take a lot of photos.  Well here's the skinny on whats going to happen in 2013.  Kelsie (my love) and I are moving.  Kelsie is having a baby in July and our little home is just that little.  We will be moving into my mother-in-laws rental home for awhile.  To any friends out there who read this we will miss you and you should keep in touch unless you are glad to see us go then don't.  Any who that means my shop is getting packed up for a few months.  I guess it doesn't matter I can't go outside as it's been 0o outside for a while now to cold to build.  So yeah beside I don't post a lot in the first place don't expect anything for a while now.

Flatware Bracelets

 Okay for my crazy story.  At the beginning of the market season I was doing bad.  I wasn't getting anybody to really buy my stuff.  Well not enough to make it worth going every week.  The thing that really got me was that I there was lots of people coming and buying stuff but not my stuff.  So instead of giving up I looked at what people were buying.  Jewelry and there were lots of booths selling jewelry.  So I went home and thought about it.  what could I make that nobody else was that would get people to notice me.  Well I like my silverware coat hooks and silverware wind chimes so I thought flatware bracelets.  Went online and looked some up and came up with a design I could do.  So I made maybe fifteen and went back to the market. BOOM BABY that was it.  I sold almost all of them.  So I made more and once people looked at my bracelets they started to look at my other stuff.  I started to do good after that and it was all fun after that.  I now do necklaces and rings but didn't take any pictures once I get my stock built up I will take some photos.

 These are some of the first generation prototypes.  They are a better looking now and easier to make.

Windchimes

 So at the beginning of the summer I had a hard time getting people into my booth.  It got frustrating.  So I thought that if I had a wind chime that I could smack once and awhile and get people to notice me they would come check my stuff out.  Well it sort of work.  I made one for show.  Instead I had someone want to buy it.  So what do I do, Sell it of course.  Well then I made another and agian sold it.  So then it became another item.  They weren't the most popular but they were fun

 A muffin pan and silverware.  I did this one a couple of times it was a fan favorite.

I thought this one would sell fast but it didn't old wrenches.  I have modified it a little since this photo.  I think I might just keep it for myself.  Or just keep hanging it someone might get it someday.

Signs and Coat Racks

 Summer is now over and so is my stretch at the Gardeners Market.  I had so much fun at the market and got to meet some great people.  I got some fun stories I will share.  Most likely you won't care but they were good times for me.  To start off this was my main product so to speak.  I made so many of these coat racks and signs.  I didn't even take pictures of all of them, mostly because I made the same ones over and over.  If you are interested in any of these I can remake them in any color just as a to let you know.

 So my big seller was coat racks with birds on them.  Had to do with some TV show.  Well I got tired of doing so many birds I'd mix it up a bit and do some different things.  One of my favorite ones was this octopus.  I liked painting the one on Ethan's bed so I wanted to do it again.

 Besides the fact mustaches are the big thing right now who doesn't like a mustache coat rack. 

So everyone has a vinyl board in there house that is inspirational.  I wanted to do it but with style i guess.  So instead of vinyl that peels off I painted mine which means my are permanent.  Then I did a rustic technique I learned to make them my style.

 I had this lady come in to my booth and give me some knobs she said she had just laying around.  This is one of the coat racks I made with them.

 This is my sign.  I made so many of these.  People loved them.  I loved them.  I don't think that I ever brought one home after I made it.

 This was my bird design coat rack that sold the best.  I did it in so many colors and with so many different hooks and knobs.  These knobs were also donated by the same lady.

 Just mixin it up.

 I did this one a couple of times.  One guy traded me a box of produce for one.  There is acually a billboard in town with this quote on it.  Kelsie loved the quote so I thought it would be a good one for one of my signs.

 So Ethan got in this habbit this summer of going around and telling me " I can't".  Know matter what he said "I can't" drove me crazy.  I would tell him over and over how do you know you can't you havn't tried.  I saw this quote and had to do it.  I had it for a long time.  Then I got to trade it with this awesome guy I met at the market.  He made these belt buckles out out recyled bike parts and metal. 

 I got a lot of comments on this one.  I thought it was a fun design.

 Towards the end I was doing many different bird designs.  Can't complain if they are going to sell.  i liked this one a lot.  The more I do the more designs I want to try.  Next year is going to be even funner and I'm already working on my stock.

Cheesegrater Windchime

So this is one of my Gardeners Market projects.  I had someone tell me I should make a windchime to draw people in.  Well it did the first one I made sold way fast.  I forgot to take a picture of it because I acually didn't think someone would buy it.  I made it more for show.  people though love these flatware windchimes.  Here is one I really liked.

 So here it is all done I try and make them so they will last forever.

This one sounded pretty good compared to others that just look neat.

 I accually spend awhile looking for good flatware that makes a half decent sound when they clang together.

I found this pretty cool old cheesegrater at the thrift store.  I usually use metal bowls so this one got to be different.

The pole in the midle actually doesn't do as much as you think it might.  I just have some laying around and try to put it to use.

I wish I could find more cheesegraters like this I really liked this one.

Gardeners Market Stuff

A little story...

So for a few years now I've wanted to do a booth at the local Gardeners Market.  Every year I think of stuff I should do bu it would be one large object or one small object and I didn't know how to mass produce.  Well last Fall I got my first dose of a craft fair.  I built about 12 garden benches and a mix match of granite candy boards.  I did horrible.  My benches were priced high and that was all I had so I only sold a couple.  But I got a feel for the craft show crowd.  Well I went through the winter thinking of waht else I should build.  Alot of the peolpe at the show told me I'd do good at the farmers amrket beacuase nobody made stuff like me.  Well as Spring got closer I started just building stuff.  I like large things so I built some assorted coffee tables benches and stuff like that.  Well I went to a meeting they have before the market starts to go over rules and stuff and I talk with a friend that has had a booth there for a while.  I told him what I had and asked him if he thought I'd do good.  He told me he thought I would sell my stuff but not fast enogh to make me coming every week worth wild.  He told me I needed to make some simple small projects to get people in my booth to look at my larger objects.  So I went home a little worried because I only had a week to make some small object that people would look at.  So I do what everybody does I looked on Etsy and Pintrest.  I saw many things of course but I wanted something that would really stick out.  Well I saw this picture of someone who turned old flatware into hooks.  Of course I thought of my wife and said thats it.  So I made up an assortment of coat hooks with flatware hooks on them.  Came up with a couple of other small ideas, stepp stools, apron hangers, and of course candy boards.  Well i was as ready  I could be.  I showed up set up and put on my Hot Topic personality.  My first day was a bomb.  I only sold one item and it was a personal order.    I went home disgruntled and down hearted.  Well the next week came and I did about the same but a little better.  So I needed something,  I had to look to see what was selling.  What I saw was jewlery was the hot item.  Of couse it was girls love jewlery and they like unique jewlery.  So I went back home to figure out what I could do fast and mass produce that girls would like.  I came back to the flatware.  So I looked up flatware jewlery and fould not only something simple but something that nobody else had. So I whipped out a couple handfulls of bracelets and went back.  They were it, they were what got people in my tent.  I sold almost everyone and got people to start buying my small objects as well.  I've gotten better at getting people in my tent and I've gotten a pretty goood stream of people who have started orderinnf from me.  So for a while I will problay just posting alot og the same thing but I will be posting.

This was my first day

Pallet Coffee Table

Heres one of my products for my Gardeners Market booth.  I like how easy it is to make but how fun it is as well.  As simple as it is I of course want it to last so I do wha tI do best and Martined it.

I of course did not take many picture I'm getting in a bad habit of doing that.  But first I found some pallets that matched each other.  I then got some beat up wheels I got from work that we were thoughing out(they worked great with this project seeing I was going with a very chunky rustic feel).  So first I attached the wheels using some also pretty beat up bolts laying around.

I was going to use a 4x4 for the legs but it looked funny because they were so new.  So I pulled out some old 2x4's I had laying in my fire wood pile that have been getting weathered for a while.  I then just made my own 4x4 legs as shown.  I think it just made it look better but what do I know.  I attached them with frame support angles I bought at Lowes.  There are 4 on each leg making it way sturdy.

This is it all done.  As I said it's pretty simlpe but fun.  I like it because you could put it in your house or outside.