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I have a number of things that I have a decorating obsession with. This thing can be found in almost every single room in my house. No, it's not candlesticks, although that is another obsession. It's corbels. I have a serious thing for corbels. They used to be so hard to find, but smaller prefab ones are more common now. But still, those nice big old ones are sooo expensive and hard to find. I usually fill the spaces I need with smaller ones I find from small boutique stores. I have salvaged one before which gave inspiration to the piece I'm going to show you how to make today.
Here's the salvaged piece I have that I love, and subsequently figured out how easy it is to make. I'm going to show you how to make one that's about 11 inches high by 8 inches wide. The size of a sheet of paper. First step was to draw a rough sketch of what I wanted the shape to be like. You can use this as a guide for free. Just use your printer to print it the desired size you want. Then cut it out, smooth out the curves with your scissors :)
I found some scrap wood that fit the cut out and traced it with a pencil.
I then used my jigsaw and cut it out.
Cut out two of the scrolling pieces, and then one that just as the outline with a straight bottom and left side.
Line up and glue the pieces together. I also secured it with some brad nails.
One of mine was cut a little bit off, but I made it work the best I could. Since this was meant to resemble something old and rustic, I didn't really care if it was perfect.
At this point, I decided to sand the edges. To get in the tight spots, I used just a piece of sandpaper instead of a block or sander.
Next, I added the back with a scrap piece of 1x4 about one inch taller than the scrolling piece. Make it flush on the bottom. You can glue this, or secure it with some brad nails. I used both.
I toyed with the idea of doing the bottom piece, but decided to leave it open like my inspiration piece. That one only had one edge. You can add one or not!
To get the look I have, I stained it first with Dark Walnut.
I then went over the edges with some petroleum jelly. I also added some in the middle of the piece. I just put it everywhere I wanted the stain to show through in the next steps.
I then painted the whole thing white. I just used a basic latex paint. I did two coats.
Once the paint was dried, I used a sanding block to go over the edges. The paint should come off pretty easily; if it doesn't and you know there's some jelly on there, sand a little harder.
This is how it ended up looking. I love the peeling and chippy paint look!
This piece took about 2 hours to do, probably could do it faster if I tried, but I took my time. I think it turned out great for a first try! I'm totally going to be buying a scroll saw this week, so I'm excited to try some more designs and sizes. But this is something you can easily make with a basic jigsaw.
I am loving going through my scrap pile and finding fun things to make out of it. The cheapest I found with a corbel this size was about $20, and that's just prefabricated and not real wood. This was completely free and pretty substantial. Can't beat that!
Don't have a jigsaw? This is one of my favorite tools in my tool box! It's actually the first "power tool" I ever owned. You can buy one from the comfort of your home (you know, because that matters now!) for under $30!
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Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
