Monday, March 21, 2011

Madly Making Materials- Teen and Tens boards

These were so satisfying to make. From sanding the wood to gluing the wooden divider strips to the boards and especially applying the non-toxic wood polish.
Some of the supplies which include:
*(2) 15.25" x 5" from 1/8" birch ply boards
*(2) 19.00" x 5" from 1/8" birch ply boards
*(22) 5" long 11/16" oak trim strips
*(18) 2.5"x 3" from 1/8" birch ply boards * weldbond glue
* 120 grit sandpaper
* green Sharpie permanent marker pen
* beeswax polish
For assembly, cut wood to size, then measure out spacing of the oak spacers and glue in place. Make sure to test all of the 18 wooden numeral cards in between each slot on the boards for a good fit. I made the mistake of using only a few of the cards as spacers to position the wood divider strips instead of measuring with a ruler and then when the boards were dry I found that some of the cards didn't fit in between the slots as they were all not the exact same size. I then had to sand some of the numeral cards down to fit. Next I used a sharpie marker to draw numerals on the boards and cards. This was my quick and easy method which I would not recommend if you have the time to paint on the numerals. The marker bled a bit beyond where I wanted it to be by running up the grain in the wood. I left the marker to dry for 12 hours and then the last step was to apply the wood polish. Just like when polishing shoes etc. I just smeared on the polish and rubbed it in with a rag and then buffed with a dry cloth. The marker I used was an old one that didn't have a lot of wet ink oomph so (as I later found out in making the small and large numeral cards when I used new markers) the ink didn't smear when I applied the wood polish.
YUM. beeswax.
Smells so divine! For a wonderful child friendly wood polish melt 1 part wax with 2 parts mineral oil in a double boiler, pour into glass jar and let solidify.
Almost finished!
You can see the difference in color between the polished pieces and the unpolished pieces. Love the golden glow and they smell good enough to eat!

1 comment:

Mommy to the Princesses said...

Wow! Love the boards! I made ours out of poster board! It just serves its purpose, but yours look so pleasing. Wish I had the patience to make those out of wood! I made our sandpaper letters out of posted board and sand paper. After looking at yours I am thinking of re-doing it in wood, I just don't have the patience to cut wood!