Memories for the Mantle – Phase 1

mantle magic

No mantle, no problem

The once naked fireplace is mantleless no more! And it didn’t happen without a good adventure.

Joe has talked and talked about hanging Christmas stockings by the fireplace, but we realized there was no mantlepiece! We liked the idea of a wooden mantle that beveled out like a log, so why not make one? We have a lot of trees nearby. All we need is a fallen branch.

I thought birch might look good, so we held out hope for one. But we came across a perfect oak log on a walk one day. And so the adventure begins.

Here are the tools that came into play:

Measuring tools: The usual suspects
The usual suspects
getaway go-kart
Our snazzy getaway vehicle
chainsaw and log
The two stars of the show
the spot
Setting the stage

When we found this gem of a log, we ran home for the chainsaw, and some, errrm, transportation. We cruised through the streets with the log and chainsaw. Typical day.

go kart

go kart ride
Ridin’ at an estimated speed of 22 mph

We got back with the loot, measured everything, and let the sawdust fly.

sawing
Measure twice, saw once
two planes
Making two planes – one to be the shelf and the other to be flush against the wall.

This actually took awhile for Joe to cut through since it was a huge log to begin with.

Eyeballing
We eyeballed it (with eyes closed) to be sure there was enough room for the movie screen.

But once he had it to the right shape, we were free to sand, paint, and mount.

To be continued.

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