My version of the planter is made of cedar fencing and paint stir sticks. I then painted and distressed it to look like the pottery barn version. My total cost was $8. To buy the same sized planter from Pottery Barn would have been $179

30 GOALS" to accomplish for the farm this year. So, with our first barn party scheduled for this weekend, and needing some extra sitting and eating areas for the guests – this was the week to tackle the project.

We wanted a big long table that could seat at least 12 – so we made it 12′ long and 45″ wide. Eventually we will make matching benches to go down each side – which will seat 6 to a side. If we added a chair to each end – it would give us a total of 14.

We started by building the trestle out of the old 2 x 4″'s barn roof rafter pieces from the Cardington Barn we took down last summer. Not your typical 2×4′s – these boards are made from old growth solid red oak, and unlike today's lumber – actually measure 2 x 4″. I just used a sawzall and cut them smooth – leaving all of the character of the old nails holes and dents of the wood in tact. Grey and weathered – they made the perfect base material for the table.

For the top piece – we just simply used alternating 2x8x12 and 2x10x12 pine boards and glued them together to make a large table top. We used ratchet straps in place of clamps (I didn't have any that long!) to hold it together while it dried.

After that, Mary took over and applied 2 coats of stain with a rag – and then finished it off with 3 coats of polyurethane to make it strong and tough. We also added some 1 x 4′s underneath and screwed them into the underside of the table top to secure it all together.

If you have followed any of our other posts - you know that we have used the left over barn wood from the two barns we tore down to do just about everything. Here is one more idea we came up to use some more. We wanted a way to mark the various rows of our gardens – mainly for appearance and to help identify plants and rows for visitors to the farm.

We still have a fair amount of the barn wood left over – including a lot of small 24 to 36 slat and floor pieces. We trimmed them all down to be about 3″ wide by 20″ long – and then added a simple rounded curve on each end with a jigsaw before stenciling in the names of our plant rows. We then pre-drilled a couple of holes on each end. Then then drove 3/4″ x 18″ stakes into the ground. After that – we attached the painted boards to the stakes with some inexpensive course black drywall screws (We figure if they rust a little it will just add character) and we were finished!

The result - a creative way to identify our garden with unique signs – created for free from our stash of old barn wood! We thought about adding a clear coat to the signs, but figured it was best to let them naturally fade and bleach with the sun. All in all, a great way to use up some more of the wood and not have to spend a dime on signage for the garden. It took us about 2 hours to make and paint the 25 or so signs – and 15 minutes to put them up.

visual interest. We used the barn wood to create a mantel. We also used vintage blue mason jars, old books, globes and other repurposed vintage items to create unique collected bookshelves of treasures. We painted the shelves and bricks with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Old White and then glazed with wood stain to make it look old. You can read more about this project on our blog http://bella-tucker.com/2012/03/fireplace-ma... or follow us on Facebook to keep up with our latest projects at http://www.facebook.com/bellatucker

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we love!

To see more, as well as our back yard and side yard transformations, you can visit my site at the link below. Thanks for checking it out!

foundation and cedar window boxes.

http://akadesign.ca/?p=9312

and I recently finished.For more photos as we prepare for the 4th of July, visit my blog at http://www.topthistopthat.blogspot.com/2012/...

sandy so I didn't have to buy sand to level the stones she already had in her backyard. I used a level to make sure the sidewalk was level and the stones next to it level. We bought a 100 pounds of red decomposed grant for $15 and had some left over for another project. I placed her red concrete scalped edging over to the side and around the back to keep the dirt from washing down the yard. I also used an old concrete fountain that I broke up and placed in the ground to keep the low side from shifting or washing down a slopped yard. I finished with rocks around the bushes and added mulch to provide ground cover and nourishment for the bushes. All the rocks came from the desert. Now the walk way looks like the red rocks of Sedona, AZ.

Materials:

100 lbs X Decomposted red granite - $28.00