I had never done any rapid fire presentations and admittedly I was nervous. So I chose a topic that was fun and a passion of mine, infographics, which helped ease some of the nervousness.

I managed to get through all 20 slides 20 seconds each and stayed on cue, but it was all a bit of a blur to be honest and all I remember after it was finished is that I really wanted a drink.

Below is my slide presentation accompanied by audio.

I had no knowledge of how to make this table when I started. It was thanks to friends and family that I had access to the knowledge and equipment necessary to get this project completed. During my process, I realized that there wasn’t any thorough information online on how to do this for the average person, so I hope my notes help you in creating an upcycled table of your own.

STEP 1: FIND RECLAIMED WOOD

I was lucky enough to find someone on craigslist selling off 100 year old barn board slats that he had stored in his garage for $3.50/sq ft (just over $50). Even doing a quick search on Google for “reclaimed wood” or “barn board” I’m sure you can find a source somewhere online.

I immediately fell in love with the weathered grey colour of the wood. Initially I though that I could keep that finish by just placing the wood under a glass table top and not sand it at all, or pour over an epoxy thick layer on top. But at the end of the day I realised that the wood was dirty and uneven from the cracks and warping over time that I had to give up the grey.

One important thing to mention about using old wood is that sometimes there maybe unwanted insects living within the wood known as powder post beetles. You will know if there are or has been an infestation of beetles in your wood if you see little holes throughout the wood (this will be more evident after you sand the wood). The best way to know that your wood is insect free is if the wood has been kiln dried (heated to high temperatures in a oven like contraption). Here is an online article about treating powder post beetle infestations.

STEP 2: PLANING & SANDING

This next step is a bit trickier if you don’t have access to a planer or table sander (the planer cuts a thin layer of wood off the top to level the board, and the table sander sands the board in one pass). Luckily I had a friend who’s father owned a wood shop and allowed me to use their machines. However, this doesn’t mean it’s not possible, you will just need to spend more time sanding and evening off the top layer with a belt sander (I do not recommend doing this step with just sand paper and your arm). Don’t forget to sand the edges of the boards that will join together straight so they will line up once attached together.

As you can see in the photo, there is quite a difference in colour from the weathered wood and the actual wood. I was slightly disappointed at this point to see the grey go away, but my spirits were lifted when I saw the original saw mill blade marks reveal themselves after the sanding.

STEP 3: JOINING THE BOARDS

There is more than one way to join the boards together. You can use biscuit joints, bowtie patches, tongue and groove and/or wood glue. I chose the latter option of glue only. Since the wood was fragile in places, I didn’t want to take the chance that the wood would split from carving out slits for the biscuits (this paired with some impatience to get to the next step).

I made sure the sides of the boards lined up, applied the wood glue and then held them together with giant clamps overnight (if you don’t have clamps you can use a pieces of wood that you nail together here is an example image).

I was aiming for a 5×3 ft table top. I was lucky that the barn boards were already 1ft wide so all I had to do was cut the boards slightly longer than 5ft.

STEP 4: FINAL SANDING AND EDGING

Once the glue between the boards set the table top was ready to be trimmed to size. I measured 5ft in length and trimmed the excess wood from the sides off with a table saw (again if you don’t have access to one you can use an circular saw or jig saw).

After the table was the size I wanted, it was time for one final sanding. I started off by using a belt sander and then moved onto sand paper wrapped around a block of wood. This part takes time, I spent over 2 hours sanding the top and edges of the table till it was smooth and splinter free.

Always remember when working with old dry wood, that it is prone to cracks and edges that lift off and may snag you. So take the time at this stage to glue down any pieces that stick out from the top and the edges.

STEP 5: PREPPING THE UNDERSIDE

In addition to gluing the boards together, I reinforced the underside with a piece of wood to secure the boards from warping and cracking. Keep in mind the position you place the wood, so it won’t interfear with the frame of the table legs.

I also varnished the underside since it would be difficult to do that once I stain the top side. Some websites that I came across mentioned that it is best not to secure the wood too tightly since there will be warping over time and the wood may crack if there is no room to give. However, since this wood was over a 100 years old and has likely warped already I made the decision to secure the boards as much as possible.

Once the varnish was applied on the natural wood the colour just popped and was this gorgeous amber brown. I was tempted to leave the wood unstained and natural, but I had my heart set on a chocolaty brown finish. So I continued onto step 6.

STEP 6: STAINING

As you can see, the brown stain turned out quite dark. But still thin enough that you can still see all the wood grain. The nicest part was that all the areas where there were cracks and saw mill blade marks turned a darker brown, giving a nice variation in shades of the stain.

I decided to use an penetrating oil stain, since there were remnants of the original paint left on in some of the shallower parts of the board, where the sanding couldn’t remove, that may have been an oil based paint. A latex based or water based stain can only go on top of fresh wood or previously water based stained wood. Also keep in mind oil based stains are quite strong in smell and this step will need to be done in a ventilated area. Here is information on the different stain options.

To stain the table I used a sponge brush in one hand and a cotton cloth in the other removing the stain as soon as I put it on the wood. The key is not to let the stain soak into the wood, the wood will still grab the colour even if you whip away the excess stain. I stained the table with 2 coats to get the desired darkness.

The wood grain will tend to raise slightly from the moisture of the stain, so don’t forget to lightly sand the wood (once dry and with the grain) with either No. 000 or 0000 steel wool (be sure not to sand too hard that the stain begins to remove). I sanded the table between stain coats and at the end when I was done with the stain. As you can see from the photo the table at this point doesn’t look very rich, and appears dull and scuffed. Don’t worry, all will be well.

STEP 7: VARNISHING

This next step was probably the most frustrating because it had to be done in a well ventilated area (I worked in a garage) due to the extreme smell that the oil based polyurethane varnish emitted. And the difficulty in applying the varnish with a sponge brush without creating any bubbles. This I soon realized was near impossible, and I decided that the bubbles will give the table charm. Luckily most of the bubbles popped and the ones that remained were very tiny and barely noticeable.

Again, you will need to lightly sand between coats. I gave my table 3 coats of the varnish (which took 3 days, a coat a day).

Before I decided to use varnish I researched many different finishes for this table.

Epoxy would give it a high shine and dynamic finish almost like poured glass ontop of the wood, but this requires a dust free area and the epoxy may begin to yellow over time.

I contemplated a non-toxic finish like oil or wax as on option originally since I was concerned about the table being a place where we would often eat on. However, the wax could get sticky on hot days and, along with the oil, would need to be reapplied every year.

So at the end of the day I went with a semi-gloss varnish that allowed the grain and cracks to remain but give it a slight sheen that gave the table a polished look.

STEP 8: TABLE LEGS

The final step of this project was to give the table top legs to stand on. I wanted a harvest table country look, so I found a 5×3ft harvest table on craigslist for $70, removed the table top that it came with, painted the legs white (with leftover paint from my sister’s renovations) and screwed them onto my table.

Keep in mind when you are looking for legs, that you find ones that fit the size of your table. Since I chose a standard size table top it was easy to find people selling similar sizes online. Metal table legs or reclaimed wood legs are also options.

FINISHED TABLE ALL DECORATED AND BEAUTIFUL FOR $120

I enjoy reading design magazines and often keep the issues for references. And one thing I noticed in every issue were these great paper company ads showcasing some great paper finishes, laser cutting and vivid images. But at the end of the day they were still advertising, so I thought since they are not an integral part of being a reference, I thought I’d give the paper ads a new life in my collage project. My rule is to only use the paper ads, seeing as they are the only ads that are two sided  and do not have articles on the backside. This quickly expanded into upcycling junk mail and birthday/Christmas cards. Here are some of the creations that came from the initial run of collages.

This project no. 2 is created out of the HOW magazine paper product advertising inserts from the October 2009 issue. 

This project no. 5 is created out of the HOW magazine paper product advertising inserts from the August 2009 issue. You can’t really tell from this scan, but the yellow bar like objects behind the wolf are actually made of this fantastic gold paper that reflects so well in real life. But you will have to just use your imagination.

This project no. 6 is created out of the HOW magazine paper product advertising inserts from the October 2005 issue. I have noticed that these older issues have more paper ads, I guess with the economic times being what they are advertising has decreased in recent issues.

This project no. 7 is created out of the Veer stock catalogue from the September 2008 issue. Dreamy.

This project no. 8 is created out of the HOW magazine paper product advertising inserts from the June 2009 issue. This one was fun to do, I think I could of put so many more things into this collage, but at some point I had to tell myself the age old truth, sometimes less is more. Pretty kitties.

This project no. 9 is created out my old birthday cards given to me over the past 2 years. I thought the bamboo was fitting since the paper came from a card to celebrate aging and bamboo are plants that are strong and rejuvenate quickly (what we all wish we could do as we age).

This project no. 10 is created out of the HOW magazine paper product advertising inserts from the February 2005 issue. This collage was inspired by Hiroshige Hokusai’s Geisha wood block print. I loved all the layers of the kimono and creating the lines in the hair with cut outs, revealing the colour of the paper behind as the lines. I also had some liberties with my interpretation, for instance, I reversed the image, and used different colours and textures for the background and kimono accessories (this however was limited to what paper I had available from this issue).

This collage was a bit more time consuming and detailed than some of the previous collages that I have made, but the final results were oh so satisfying that I don’t mind that I spent my Sunday morning getting covered in glue and paper scraps.

This project no. 12 collage was created by upcycling the Christmas cards I received in the 2011 holiday season. My peacock mermaid.

This collage was created out of the HOW magazine paper product advertising inserts. This is collage is of Rokurokubi, which are ordinary people by day, but transform into long necked creatures at night, often frightening people and creating terror.

When my friend Cheryl asked me to make Valentine’s cards for her shop Elephant Shoes, I originally made pretty romantic cards thinking how nice it would be for a person to give to their special someone a love filled card. But then I thought, what about all those stalkers and shy guys out there who admire someone from afar? They need a special card to buy too. So evolved my chain mail Valentine’s cards. Each hand made with love and care from the pages of my old Canadian ART magazines.

Here’s hoping you all get something special on Vday!

Here is an excerpt from my article:

“You should be the best person to talk about your work, even if it’s a sketch on a napkin, so never be afraid.” – Steve Hodges, Creative Director at Espresso

What I have often observed in interviews is a range from the insecure shy person afraid to own up to the talent they posses, to the cocky and overly confident person who is either unaware or over compensating. Both are not ideal candidates to put in front of a client and most companies are looking for the right balance in between.

The last thing you want to do is give the wrong impression; Catherine Baird sums this advice up perfectly, “Attitude is everything. Be confident but not too confident. Those of us who have been around the industry more than ten years have a term for most of the students graduating these days: entitled. For some reason many juniors seem to think they don’t need to work hard at the beginning to get to the top — like the rest of us did. Unfortunately for them, there is even more competition these days so having some humility will take them far.”

My grandmother was fortunate to have many grandchildren and even great grandchildren who regularly would gather at her home to celebrate the many occasions that came up throughout the year. And only now that she is gone, and her house sold to a family I do not know, that I took the time to look closely at the things that were familiar to me and reminded me of her. So at the last family gathering in her home, before that home would no longer be apart of our family, I scrambled to capture photos of all the things that I wanted to remember about that place. Not that an image of fabric or the pattern of a rug represented her, but it was a way of remembering the one place my family took the time to get together from their busy lives. It is hard to really be sad about losing someone who lived until ninety four years old, and was prepared to go. So why is there this sense of loss that I cannot shake? I think this feeling is related with the realization that she was one of the last connections to my Japanese heritage. And since she did not speak any English, her grandchildren never really had a proper chance to communicate with her and hear about her life in Japan. I had attempted several conversations with her as an adult with my mediocre Japanese, but by then her hearing had started to go and it was difficult to shout Japanese at my elderly grandmother who just looked at me like I was crazy. Looking back, I wish I had maintained more of my Japanese so I could of known her a little better.

Here is an infographic Holiday card I created. Please feel free to save (right click and save) the web version from my post and share with your loved ones, or lovers of turkey. I plan on creating more for this series.

You can also purchase the printed versions here.

Here’s an excerpt from the article below. To read the full article go to Inspiredology’s website.

Plane ticket purchased eight months ago and my winter birthday gift, a new suitcase, packed full. All that was left was to take flight and take a break from design—but creativity does not take a holiday.

Nothing was going to stop me from going to France for a holiday and relaxing for the next month. I had not been on a proper holiday in over two years, and having sacrificed days off for getting my to do list addressed, I was in need of this time away.

Prior to leaving for my holiday, I was over worked finishing up projects, handing over files, letting clients know I would be away; essentially burning out. When you find yourself in a design slump, its important to find new ways to energize yourself. Unfortunately, as freelancers have come to find out, when you go away you have to essentially double your costs: the cost of the holiday + the lost income you are not earning as a result of going away; no paid vacations for a freelancer. So as tempting as it might be to do client work while away, I suggest try to stay away from that as much as possible. Take the occasional phone meeting (via Skype) but use your free time to focus on yourself.

Below is a collage I created of some of the interesting images that I took from around the flat.

I was lucky to have some down time during my month off on vacation and used that time very wisely to set up my new site, create an infographic resume and a origami font for my new logo.

My advice to anyone who has to experienced anything similar is:

• Make sure your back ups are turned on on your hosting admin site (mine were defaulted to be turned off, hence the no back up issue)
• Always have examples of your work on a third party site like Behance, Flickr or Cargo Collective to redirect users to while you are sorting out your website issue. As well as your up-to-date professional information on Linkedin.
• If you are using WordPress (like I was) make sure your version of the WordPress is current.
• Add additional security plugins to your WordPress site.
• For extra security, set up your WordPress admin to only recognize specific IP addresses that you use.
• Please make sure you don’t use the same login and password information that you use for all your sites/email accounts. Also make sure it’s not an easy password to figure out either (no birth dates or nick names).
• *UPDATE: There is a great article on Smashing Magazine about how to secure your site.

Whenever things like this happen, it is a real nussance and even more horrible when you realize that the people who did it were doing it for profit. As a result a charitable site and a teaching blog when down, resulting in more than just myself being affected by it. I hope that this does not happen to anyone and please take the measures to protect your websites.