PART FIVE, KITCHEN CABINETS MADE FROM MAT BOARD

I'm making a hole in the shelf to match the one in my sink.  We'll make a drain in the finishing part.

I've used Delta's PermEnamel Country Tomato for the base coat on the counter top.  I've sanded the first coat.
*Note: Be careful sanding.  Your counter top has a thin middle at the back where the sink goes in.  This is very easy to bend.
Apply another coat of base paint.  I sand with 400 grit paper.  I will apply at least 3 base coats.

I've got the last coat on the counter top.  I've buffed it with a wadded piece of brown paper.

I'm back at the sink.  This is my third application of gesso.  I will probably apply one more coat to smooth things out.

Lets review the sink and gesso.

The first coat I applied with a spatula or a strip of mat board, smoothed out with a wet brush, mine was a camel hair #4.  Let dry over night.
You can sand this coat if you want to when it's dry.
My next coat was applied with a stiff flat brush.  I pushed gesso into the cracks.  Again, I used a soft wet brush to smooth everything out.  I am painting the front, too.  Let dry.

The third coat I put the gesso on a plate and used the flat brush to bring water to the gesso, mix it a bit.  The consistency should be like thick paint.  Use the flat brush to paint and fill.  Use the soft wet brush to smooth.

 I am adding water to the gesso and I am painting the gesso on the sink, inside and on the front.  Paint the sides and a little of the bottom.

You can also mix your paint with the gesso and paint that on, it works well, too.

I should be finished with the fourth coat.  I'll let that dry over night.
I'll paint a couple of coats of Delta's Magnolia White, it's not white white, but not ivory.  I'll apply a couple of coats, sanding the front of the sink to make it very smooth.  To finish I'll use Delta's Perm-Enamel Clear Gloss Glaze.  I like it because it dries hard.  I apply a couple of coats, sanding the front smooth between coats.
With that, your sink should be finished.

I've placed a large box on my table, (where did she find the room in that mess?).
You will need a palette, toothbrush, and stick, maybe a popcicle stick and four colors of paint.  At least, I used four colors.  I used the Tomato Red, black, grey and mixed a not quite ivory.

You will want to practice on a scrap before you go to the counter top.  You can always re-paint the counter top if you don't like it.

Dip your tooth brush into the paint and draw the stick toward you to spatter the paint.

Play with it.

I've done my not quite ivory.

I've changed the position of the counter top and spattered my black and grey.
I've spattered the red, too.  That's to fill in where the other colors may be too much.

You can go back and add spots with a tooth pick or small brush.

Don't over work it, this supposed to be random.  Leaving it random works out much better most of the time.

Lookin' good.


Let the paint dry and then apply at least 2 coats of Perm-Enamel Clear Gloss Glaze.

After the clear coats are dry, sand using 400 grit paper.  I wrapped my sand paper around a wood block for flat sanding.
Be careful at the edges, if you do sand off your base coat, touch up, let dry and apply another couple of coats of the Perm-Enamel Clear Gloss Glaze.

We are applying a lot of coats of varnish because we want the top to be smooth.  When the paint was spattered on it left the surface pebbly. To smooth that out so it looks like granite we have to apply the varnish a couple of coats at a time and sand until the top is smooth.
When you are satisfied with the surface let the last coat dry.
When the last coat is dry use #0000 steel wool to buff the surface.  Use wadded brown paper after that.  That should give the surface the right patina for granite.

*Note: Watch out for the steel wool debris.  Mine fell to my table top and into the brush I subsequently used to put what I thought was going to be my final coat of varnish on my sink.  "Where did all those tiny bits of stuff some from?"  More painting.

PART SIX, KITCHEN CABINETS MADE FROM MAT BOARD

We are going to make the small crown moulding at the top of the upper cabinets.  I am showing one length being made.  You will need two.  Make the lengths at least 8" long.

Cut three strips of mat board 1" wide.

Glue two of the strips together.

Round off one long edge on each piece.

Cut the single layer 3/16" wide.  Set this aside.


Round off a long edge on the left over single piece.

Cut another strip that's 5/32" wide.

I am sorry about that measurement.  Keep your pencils and blades sharp.

Cut a strip of the doubled piece of mat board 1/8" wide.  That's on the right.

The pieces cut from the single piece are on the left.

 Glue the 5/32" piece onto the 3/16" piece.  Those are the two single layers.

Now, glue the 1/8" wide piece, that's the mat board that's been glued double, onto the 5/32" piece.
Keep the back flat, you should be able to see four layers on the back.  If you don't, reposition the pieces.
Can you see the shape?  See what you can do with mat board!!

Glue to strips of card stock together.

Cut a strip 1/4" wide.

Glue the card stock strip to the back of the assembly you have glued together.
Make another length.

Isn't this nice?  Think about it, you could make a bigger crown mould, you could make base board, too.  I'm not saying to do a whole doll house, but certainly room boxes or small projects.

This is a picture I drew of the valance that goes over the sink.
The top is 3/8" wide and 2-1/2" long.  You draw this out, too, you are going to make a pattern.  The sides are 1/4" wide and 1-1/2" long.  Use a compass to draw the curve.  I've left 1/4" of space in the center at the top and 3/4" at the sides.

Cut from mat board 2 pieces 3/8" x 2-1/2", glue these together.  Cut 4 pieces 1/4" x 1-1/2", glue these together, 2 each.

Go back to your pattern and cut out the curve.

Use this pattern to trace onto mat board your curved piece.

Cut out 2 and glue them together.

Glue the top and sides together.

Mark the center and mark 3/16" on either side and continue marking 3/16" until you have 13 marks.

To transfer your marks slide the curved piece into the valance.  Use a square or ruler to transfer the marks.

Use a "T" to make holes in the center of the mat board.  This will make it easier to start your drill bit where it should be.  Do this for the top and the bottom curved piece.
For the spindles we are going to use 18 gauge bright florist's wire, that's the unwrapped silver colored kind.  I used tooth picks to try this out but they were too big and klunky looking.
It's easier to start with a small bit and work up to the size of bit diameter you need for the wire.  When you are drilling, squeeze the mat board together.

Cut the wire at about 1-1/4" and glue into the top piece.  I used wood glue for this.  Once the bottom is glued in the pieces have no where to go.
Slip your bottom in, keep it even with the bottom of the sides.
Use a marker to trace where the top of the curve is.

Trim the wire leaving a little extra to go into the bottom piece.

You can dry fit and if all is well glue the wires and the sides together.

Your valance is done.

We are making 2 upper cabinets.

Cut 2 pieces of mat board 1-1/2" x 2-3/4".  These are the cabinet faces.

Measure and mark from the outside edges 1/2" down from the top, one short side and 1/4" from the other 3 sides.

Cut this center out.

The sides are 15/16" x 2-3/4", cut 4.

Glue the sides onto the fronts.

The sides are glued to the back of the fronts, see how the cut side of the front is showing.

The backs are 1-3/8" x 2-3/4".  Cut 2

Glue these between the sides.

Cut the bottoms and tops 7/8" x 1-3/8", cut 4.

Glue the tops and bottoms into the
 cabinets.

*Note: Upper cabinets are usually a foot deep, 1 inch to us.

The bottom layer of the doors are 1-1/4" x 2-1/4".  Cut 2.

The top layer of the doors are 1-1/8" x 2-1/8".  Cut 2.

Measure and mark 3/16" in from all four edges on the 4 pieces you just cut.

Use an oval template to mark a curve on the 1-1/8" x 2-1/8" pieces.

Round using sand paper all four of the edges on all four pieces.

Cut the center out of the layers.

Center and glue the smaller layer, the one with the curved top, onto the larger bottom layer.

These are your upper cabinet doors.  To finish these we will glue in some acrylic and then some pretty curtains.




Hey, guys, I'm worn out!  Next month I'll write about how I finished the cabinet.  I'll show you how I made the hardware, too.

Until next month,

HAVE FUN, EXPAND ON IT, MAKE BETTER . . . . . . JUST KEEP MAKING MINIS

How To: Hang Train Tracks

Y’all are really going to love this one!!!


To begin this project, you need to put together your train tracks and measure to see how big your sheet of masonite board needs to be.

We measured both train sets and cut the masonite boards accordingly. Since we were hanging these on our walls, I wanted them framed … just to add a little bit more of a “finished” touch. (You totally don’t have to do this, if you want to skip a step … and not worry about miter cuts.) We used baseboard for the frames. This project uses 1 sheet of masonite and about 20 feet of baseboard. And then, of course a couple cans of white enamel spray paint (unless you really feel like brushing all that paint on with a brush). Total cost is: just under $30. (Give or take, depending on the glues, adhesives, and paints you have on hand already)

We used a combination of both hot glue and Gorilla glue to attach the frames/baseboard to the boards, then caulked around the inside of the frame to give it the finishing touch.


Once you finish your boards and the paint is dry, lay them flat and once again, put your train tracks together on top of them. Then remove the track, one piece at a time …


… and DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT use liquid nails to adhere them to the board. If you try this method, you will find that the glue is no where near as flexible as it needs to be … you will have kiddos crawling across these boards and those tracks will pop right off. Trust me. I speak from experience.

Instead, grab some industrial strength velcro. It’s stronger than liquid nails. Not even joking.

So, remove one piece of track at a time and place a strip of double sided sticky backed velcro on the underside and place the piece of track back in its place. It’s a tedious task … just keep reminding yourself that it is the last time you’ll ever have to put those tricky train sets together!! :D



Once you get the tracks good and stuck on with the velcro (our new favorite adhesive), you can begin brain storming the myriad of options you have for hanging them on your wall. Or, you can learn from all our trial and error and go with the option we chose:


Superman used some solid wood scraps to build little bottom braces to set the trains on. These are mounted to the wall with 3” screws, drilled into studs. (We’ll paint the front of those screws someday … right now … they don’t bother me too much.)


Then, he used some more solid wood scraps to build some top braces that swivel up and down to lock and unlock the boards in place. Seriously. This was pure genius. It makes it super easy to put them away and take them back down again. I’m in love with his problem solving. And, it’s super easy and inexpensive to make these braces.

The end result is pure genius and adorable and functional all at the same time.


The storage space in the toy closet was dramatically cut back … because now I just have two small plastic shoe box size bins with all the trains and controls and props in them.


And now, when my kids say, “Mom, can we play trains?” … I don’t cringe at the thought of having to spend a solid 20 minutes trying to figure out exactly how those trains go together.


And, because the trains are stuck to the board, there is no more crying over one of them messing up or breaking the train track.


Which means that there is that much less fussing and whining and crying in our house on a daily basis.

So, do it! It’s cheaper than buying a train table, takes up hardly any room in storage, saves on time, and makes for a happier playing environment.

You’re welcome! ;)