Piercingly Simple Punched Tin Panels

* This trash to treasure project of mine was featured in the  Winter 2012 edition of A Primitive Place Magazine! *

~ Piercingly Simple Chandelier ~
Instead of replacing our 1970’s builder grade dining room chandelier in our previous home, I decided to give it an upgrade with a piercingly simple punched tin Paul Revere lantern style makeover.
The outdated Lucite plastic panels were easily removed by bending back the lamp frame prongs. I happened to have some old aluminum kick panels from screen doors handy to replace the plastic covers, but thin sheet panels of various metals are available at most home improvement stores. I also gathered hammers, nails of various sizes, screwdrivers and awls to use as metal punch tools; and used an antique pie safe as a drawing model for my lamp template.
Wearing protective eye goggles & gloves, I used one of the plastic panels as a tracing template & cut the aluminum panels with heavy duty scissors. I taped the paper template to the back of each panel and placed them on a wooden board, using a hammer, screwdriver, and nails to create the tin punch designs. Gently bending the panels back into shape after removing the tape and template, I secured the pierced metal panels with the lamp frame prongs.
Here's a little homemade youtube video that I made, for those who learn from seeing instead of reading! ~ Click here to view video ~

redshedvintage.com© copyright 2014 

 

 

Trash Talk Thursday: A Greater Grater!

Vintage graters really stand out when displayed in front of electric or battery candle light. This newer grater featured a wooden frame with a drawer, perfect for housing a strand of battery operated LED lights for a cheerful kitchen sconce.

Since I won’t be using this for food purposes, I applied a light coat of flat black spray paint to make it look older, then painted the wood with flat interior Red Delicious. When it was dry, I rubbed Old English dark wood scratch cover over the surface, removing the excess with a dry cotton rag.
(Use caution when handling sharp metal graters)

I chose a battery operated set of LED lights from Dollar Tree, but you could also use a single bulb or strand of electric light(s) also available at discount stores.

 

 

 

Trash Talk Tuesdays: DIY Pie Safe Doors Rule

In a small measure of time, you can convert a plain bookshelf, cabinet or dresser into a primitive pie safe. The 'rule' of thumb: keep it simple! The use of vintage or new rulers as door frames will help.

 Using punched tin panels purchased from Irvin’s Country Tinware and yardstick rulers gathered from thrift shops & hardware stores, I created 2 doors to fit this old hallowed out radio cabinet I scored on trash night & painted. A dresser or book shelf would work just as well, as would chicken wire or screen instead of the tin panels.
To make your own tin punch panels from scraps of sheet metal or screen door kick panels, check out my youtube tutorial for making punched tin panels.
I measured the cabinet opening, then cut the yardsticks with a jigsaw to make front & back frames for the 2 doors (note: always use protective eye gear and follow power tool safety instructions) 
I sandwiched the punched tin panels between the ruler frames and drilled holes, adding some wood glue for reinforcement before sealing the corners of the make-do doors with wood screws. Finally, I added cabinet hinges to attach the doors on my cabinet ~ and now have a primitive pie safe cupboard!

 

Here's what the roadside rubble radio cabinet looked like when I first dragged it home ~ tune in next Tuesday to see how I revived & recycled it into a cool storage cabinet...

 

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