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If you look around my house, you know my obsession with corbels. They were one of the first things I started collecting home decor related. Corbels are the perfect addition to most any place in the house. I use them on my mantels and on table displays. They are also super versatile, where you can use them to hold up shelves, or underneath cabinets or counter tops. They are tough to find though ...especially at a decent price. The larger you want requires a bigger price tag too. I made my first corbel last month, and seriously love it. I didn't realize how easy they are to make! So, I decided to try my hand at another one. This one though was being made as a gift for Mother's Day.
I went a little bigger with this corbel than my previous one, but simpler also. It's about 13" high and 10" wide. My plan in the future is to just keep going bigger and bigger with these, until I can make one that looks like it came off an old building. Getting the design that large has just been a bit harder than I thought.
Here's the design I used for this. Sorry, pretty bad, right? But it works. Just when you cut it out, make the curves even and the straight lines straight:) ha!
As you can see from this design and the below picture, I ended up adding just a little big extra to the ends. The design above can be printed out on two pages and then taped together to get the template needed to cut this out. I wanted to use the whole width of the 1x12, so I hand drew a little more. I ended up using my new scroll saw to cut these this time around. Truthfully, it would have been so much easier with my jigsaw. Seriously. I know my way around a jigsaw! The scroll saw will take some getting used to :) I cut three pieces out used a 1x12 pine board.
I then glued the pieces together, and added a weight on them overnight to make sure they were secured. One of the pieces was a little bowed at first, so this weight helped tremendously in the end.
I then sanded all the edges. I used my palm sander at first, and then switched to just a piece of sandpaper with my hand to get in the curves.
Next, I cut a piece of 1x4 at 13 inches.
I used wood glue to secure the 1x4 to the rest of the corbel. I kept the bottom side flush, and had about an inch on the top. I made sure that the decorative piece was right in the middle of the 1x4. If you don't like waiting for the glue to try, this is a good time to use a nail gun and 1" nails into the piece from the back
Finishing the piece is my favorite part of any diy project. It gives it a whole new look. I actually had no clue what I was going to do with this piece...I just kind of went with whatever felt right at the time. First, I stained it Dark Walnut from Minwax.
I then added my tried-and-true method of distressing...petroleum jelly. Using a little amount of my fingers, I went over the edges and flat sections with it. Wherever I placed it, I knew the paint would come off of it in the next step. So, I used it sparingly, but enough to get a good used/vintage/distressed look.
I then used some white paint. The color was Swiss Coffee by Behr in their satin enamel. You know, the kind you use on walls :) I brushed on one coat...
and then quickly used a paper towel to try to rub it off. Seriously...I was just rolling with the punches on this idea, and it ended up working pretty good! I rubbed the towel harder on the spaces that had the petroleum jelly to get a deeper color. I did this outside, so the paint dried pretty quickly, so I had to do it fast!
Here's the complete look of the finish...and the corbel. It's kind of crazy how it pulls more grey when all I used was dark brown stain and white paint.
Making these corbels is just the best. This one would have cost me at least $40 to buy somewhere, and it literally cost me maybe $5 worth of wood...maybe.
I moved it around my house to find a good spot for pictures...and to get more ideas for spaces I want a corbel :) It ultimately has ended up at my mom's on her amazing bookshelf.
Here's the finish from this angle. Where it's a little darker, is where the petroleum jelly was placed...just to give an idea of how it ends up looking. It's a totally weird thing to do, but works amazingly.
My next corbel? Totally going to make one at least 2 feet tall...if not more. Just have to figure out how to design it!
Here are the tools I used for this, or would rather have used :) :
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