A week ago I was worried that we weren’t going to get the wreath stand done in time. Jay was working third shift so he wasn’t spending as much time in the basement. The arms and legs were all done, but we still had to finish the center post and then assemble the entire thing. How are we going to make sure that the legs are sturdy and won’t come off? What about the ring to hold the wreath? How are we going to make sure that the candles sit straight and not at wonky angles??

Jay wasn’t worried…

(That’s his Happy Anniversary present. He thinks that he got it because I love him so much. The truth is I know that as long as the keg is full Jay will be in the basement. I don’t have to worry about him wandering off very far from home 😉  )

So, taking a cue from my husband, I tried to chill.

At the beginning of the week the center post appeared in the Finishing department.

He had routed out slots in the post so that he could then use biscuits to help hold the legs securely onto the post.

I wondered why Jay asked where I keep my gluten-free crackers…

I worked my magic on the post using the same techniques that I always use: three different grits of sandpaper, microfiber dust cloth and lots of prayer that the stain looks okay. I wanted to be able to stain and poly the whole thing at once in order to get an even finish. I didn’t want to try to stain and poly two sides at a time so with Jay’s help I set up quite a technologically advanced rig…

… a long pipe sitting atop two totes. You won’t find that in hardly any of your fancy-schmancy woodworking shops! In case you were thinking of stealing our idea to make a boat-load of money we currently have a patent pending on this design.

Once the stain and three coats of poly were dried it was time to admire its beauty.

Isn’t that pretty? I have to tell you that I am so proud of the cap.

I think this was the first piece that I have ever been tremendously happy with how it turned out. Not the entire post… just the cap. It is removable so that you can swap it out for a future-yet-to-be-designed topper, but for now it will sit in its place of pride.

At this point I couldn’t resist. I had to see how the legs looked on it.

And the back…

It only looks two-toned because of the shadows in the basement.

I couldn’t help myself… I needed to see the complete assembly

Is that gorgeous or what? In person it’s quite the piece of art to behold. I had worried about the stain taking differently on the many pieces. Yet, when it was all put together the stain is so uniform that it all looks perfect.

After taking everything apart again it was time to glue the legs onto the post.

It doesn’t seem to matter what Jay’s working on, it always has to be airplane-related! I think that as he was gluing this together he was thinking, “This isn’t going to be nearly enough vertical surface on this stab to allow me to sharply turn up for a steep climb. The dive should be spectacular, though.”

Well my arms are oak-y and my legs are neat,

I can’t seem to stand on just two feet,

How will I keep from falling, ker-thump?

Thank goodness!

I’m All Glued Up!

MM mm mm, mmm, yay, yay… All glued up!