Tuesday, October 21, 2014

My Repurposed Failure

I don't know about you, but sometimes the ideas I come up with in my head don't turn out the way I'm picturing them - Do you know what I mean?  Case in point...   Over the weekend I bought a couple of wooden cutting boards at an estate sale with lofty repurposing dreams floating around in my head.

I took the 2 boards that I found here and sanded them clean of all the paint.  I especially liked the large round one because it's super heavy and sturdy.  After I washed it really good and let it dry in the sun for a few hours I brought it into the house, excited to start on my project.  It cleaned up nice, didn't it?



First I grabbed the bacon press that I found a couple of weeks ago at an estate sale.  It's the cutest thing with a pig on it....



Then I placed it into one of my cast iron pans and cranked up the heat until that baby was smoking.  And no, I was not makin' bacon under there either, altho a BLT sounds good right about now.  Hmmm, crisp apple smoked bacon, juicy ripe tomato, crisp green lettuce on 2 slices of toasted sourdough bread, slathered with mayo.....  Sorry, I digress.  Anyway....


I had the brainy idea that I was going to burn the pig image onto the wooden board using it like a branding iron.  I mean, that would be pretty cool looking, wouldn't it?


I pushed down on that bacon press with all my strength and then let it sit on the cutting board for about 5 minutes.  My husband kept lurking around in the background, telling me that this wasn't going to work.  He was like a 3 year old because he kept asking me to lift the press and see what happened.  Finally I lifted it, and lo and behold.....  nothing.... nada..... not a single burn mark.  I think my husband may have smirked.

I was not to be deterred however, so I took the bacon press, placed it directly onto the burner and really fired that thing up.  I mean, the heat was rolling off of it.  Once it was good and hot I put it on top of the cutting board and tried again.



This is what I got for my efforts.  Kind of disappointing, huh?   I think Louie felt bad for me because he came over and showed me how the pig design doesn't protrude out as far as the outer edge of the bacon press does, and it was preventing it from making good contact on the board.  I really, really hate it when he's right.


So that's my latest repurposed failure and I'm back to square one.  I still want that piggy design on that board.  I'm headed over to go search Pinterest to find a way to transfer the design and then maybe I can just burn it with my wood burning tool.  I'm thinking maybe with wax paper and a pencil.  I don't know.  If you know how to transfer stuff like that, give me a tip, would ya?

What ideas have you had that didn't work out?

21 comments:

  1. Hmm... You might be able to just run a pencil over the design onto notebook paper. Or just lay tracing paper over it. Then get some transer paper (don't use old carbon paper-- will not erase). Good luck!

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    1. Thanks Diane - I was sort of thinking the pencil thing too- thats what first came to mind, I'm hoping I have time to try it today.

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  2. Hey Kim, This is so cute and I know you were disappointed after working so hard. For sure it sounds like something I'd do. I found a few links since I personally don't wood burn. Don't you just need a pattern like on fabric but to use on wood? Maybe some type of transfer paper..
    http://www.art-is-fun.com/transfer-paper.html

    http://www.lsirish.com/tutorials/woodcarving-tutorials/woodcarving-
    fundamentals-techniques/working-with-your-patterns/transferring-the-pattern/
    If the wood is soft enough
    http://www.lowes.com/creative-ideas/woodworking-and-crafts/woodburning-basics/article

    I really don't know but you are making me want to do this too!

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    1. Thanks for the links Dolly. Yes, I need to somehow transfer that design to the wood. I'll go check out your links,

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  3. Too bad your idea didn't work. That pig would've looked great burned into the cutting board. Sorry, no ideas for you. (I'm not very creative...)

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  4. I've had so many of my brilliant ideas fail that I don't think I can count that high. Hope you figure out a way to do it, because I think It will be adorable. xo Laura

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    1. I'm working on it. I need to find some tracing paper - nobody around here sells it anymore. Ugh.

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  5. Awwww, too bad it didn't work. I know that feeling though when you really just want it to work so that you can prove someone wrong. Looking forward to seeing your solution. Thanks so much for linking up at the Make it Monday Party! Hope to see you again next week.

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    1. Thanks - hopefully I'll find some tracing paper so I can try again.

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  6. Oh dang. Leave to it a man to see the obvious. :)
    Still, I've a hunch you and that bacon press aren't down for the count!

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  7. Well, your idea SOUNDED good! But, hey, Edison didn't stop after one try so you're in good company! Can't wait to see how it turns out! Have a great week!

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  8. It would have been so cool if it had transferred, Kim :/ I love that you are so confident you can share your "less-than-successful" DYIs :)

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    1. I thought it would be so awesome and it seemed so simple, didn't it? I really thought I was on to something. LOL. And I don't mind sharing my failures cuz everyone makes mistakes. Hopefully I'll figure out a way to make it work. :-) Thanks for your kind words.

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  9. Maybe a wood burning kit would work? Stamp that metal with ink, put it on the board, and then follow design with wood burning kid? Thanks for sharing @ TTF!

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    1. Melissa - you are a genius! I thought to do the wood burning but couldn't think of a good way to transfer the design over. An ink pad might do the trick. I'll definitely try that. Thanks so much!

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  10. thank you for showing your fail. so often all we see is everyone's success. I enjoyed this post immensely.

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  11. I've had those kind of failures. Best laid plans and all that jazz

    good luck!

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