COMMISSION TIME!
I got the business referral from my Mother-in-Law. She's been doing some great mason jar stuff lately as part of her side hustle, but she got a request that she couldn't quite handle
Enter me!
My Mother-in-Law sent me the Pin and it looked like something I could do. See the pic below!
Source: RuffRuffCreations on Etsy
Now, my plan is not to "undercut" anyone or make trouble! The fact of the matter is that this Etsy site no longer has this item available, and this customer really wanted one! I won't be mass-producing them, but I am willing to come in and make a nice, comparable product when it's no longer available!
Let's get started!
First thing I did was cut some scrap wood I had to 3.5" thick and 21 inches long. This was an approximation, since I don't have the dimensions of the original.
To do this, I took the mason jar I will be using and basically used "proportional guessing" to estimate how big the sign itself should be. Not bad, huh?
Now, to attach the wood strips to each other!
I decided on pocket holes for this. Since this is a wall-hanging, I try to use pocket holes as much as possible. After all, no one wants large strips of wood keeping the sign from sitting flush on the wall. Plus, I don't trust just glue alone. Call me crazy, but I've been called worse!
I cut 3 pocket holes on the outer strips using the 3/4" setting and screwed them into the middle plank using 1.25" Kreg screws...
Time to flip over!
Perfect!
Next, a quick sanding to prep for paint and stain!
The reference photo shows gray-ish paw prints. But, I kind of wanted to go a little different direction. Plus, the customer said that she wanted the pawprints to look more "distressed!"
So, I used a shop rag and stained the entire piece with Minwax Dark Walnut stain. I let stain dry fully before moving on to the next step!
The time that the stain was drying turned out to be the perfect time to bother my wife for her advanced Cricut vinyl skills!
I've never used the Cricut to help me with stencils at all (mostly due to frustration with the machine). But, since my wife offered to take care of everything, I gave her a shot. Like a flash of light, she was able to take what I had in my mind and cut out the stickers on her fancy machine! They came out great and saved me so much time...
I stuck the vinyl stickers to the board in roughly the same position as the picture (give or take a couple millimeters).
Next step is paint!
I used my whitewash mixture to paint over the entire surface. Since this paint is thinned out with water, it already looks distressed and streaky in some spots, which is exactly what I was going for. As it dries, it should look more authentic and rustic
Since whitewash is so thin, it does take a little longer to dry. So, I set up the fan and let the whole piece dry for about 15 minutes. But, to prevent the paint from coming off in unwanted areas, I had to pull off the vinyl stickers...
I had to be really careful to prevent any slip-ups or paint streaking. There was some streaking in some areas, but luckily, this will just add to the distressed look! I let the paint dry fully overnight with my fan set up before going at it in the morning!
In the morning, I lightly and strategically sanded the piece with some 120-grit sandpaper to distress the white wood and let that Dark Walnut peek through!
At this point, it's time for poly!
Not much of a difference huh?
I used water-based, spray-on, satin poly-urethane to seal the deal on this one. It will protect the wood but won't leave that "super shine" that would kind of ruin the whole rustic thing I've got going on.
I let the poly fully dry before spraying the backside as well, and then let the whole thing dry for a couple hours.
Now, it's time to add the accessories!
First was the dog leash hook!
I got a 6-pack of these hooks for about 8 bucks at Home Depot. As far as I can tell, they are the exact same ones as the picture reference. I used some aged bronze screws I pulled off of something random (can't really remember) to attach the hook to the wood. In case it's not clear from the picture, it's supposed to sit in the middle of the middle board near the bottom of the sign
Never know, could throw someone off in the future!
Next up is the treat storage - AKA: the mason jar...
Anyone who knows me knows that I love dogs! I've got one of my own, and he's my big ol' floof. And it's for this very reason that I chose this jar.
I have a bunch of "normal sized" mason jars (Ball brand) that I bought in a multi-pack for the candy dispenser project. These jars would have worked fine, but I wanted to maximize this good dog's treat chances. Reverse psychology and all that; the more treats available in the jar, the more likely the doggo will get more treats at each opportunity! I mean, who wants to give the last 3 treats and then refill the jar? Little guy will just end up getting one until someone refills the jar! Is that justice!?!
Might work, but might not...Either way, it's still worth a shot!
This jar is actually from my Friday night cooking foray! See, I made baked spaghetti that night. And, for lack of fresh tomatoes on hand and a need for a quick turnaround, I used jarred spaghetti sauce...Classico sauce to be exact.
Oh, and spare me the lecture! I know homemade sauce is the bomb, and I actually prefer it as well. But I didn't have time to make sauce from scratch; or any of the ingredients! So, I keep a couple jars of the "easy stuff" in the pantry for such an occasion. Don't judge!
Jumping off my soapbox here. Sorry...
Okay, well, Classico tomato sauce comes in these awesomely unique mason jars. I fished the jar out of the recycle bin and gave it a thorough cleaning. I also ditched the original jar lid and replaced it with a non-branded, standard mason jar lid to remove all suspicions.
Pro Tip: Alcohol removes sticky residue left on from labels on glass. Just moisten (sorry) the corner of a towel or rag and scrub, scrub, scrub. Also, believe it or not, alcohol removes the pesky lasered-on expiration date numbers that are etched into the glass.
Final result: just a mason jar. Not a recyclable that was saved from the truck and given a second shot. Well, at least not to the customer...Unless they read this...hmm...
Oh well, it looks awesome! I'd do it again too!!!
Now, how do I get it on there...?
Yeah, you're right. Why not follow the reference?
I bought this hose clamp at Home Depot. It's big enough to secure the jar and function properly. I drilled a hole in the backside of the clamp to secure it to the board. I screwed the clamp into the sign at the exact center point. I slipped the jar in and tightened the clamp using a flathead screwdriver to keep it on there nice and tight.
Final touch: adding some hanging hardware!
Nothing fancy here folks: just some old fashioned D-rings on either side. Durable and secure and should stand the test of time!
And Voila! It's done!
And I JUST caught my breath from this one...
Oh, I didn't mention that this project was a 2-day turnaround, only about 4 solid hours of work time? Hmm...must've slipped my mind...
Kind of a humble brag, hold the humble...
But, in all seriousness, this one was not very complicated. I had all the supplies on hand, minus the hose clamp and the hook (but I had to run to Home Depot anyway, so no biggie). I had the idea in my head as soon as the Pin was sent my way. I knew exactly what I wanted to do and I couldn't wait to get it done!
I hope the customer loves it and uses it for years to come! But, more importantly, I hope that the dog who this belongs to gets super excited each time they see a human walk up to it and start to unscrew the lid!
Bow Wow, buddy. Bow Wow...
-Kevin
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