The Celtic Pony

Pin It

One of our main artisan crafts is woodworking.  This is something we really enjoy doing. These keepsake boxes were first made as gifts and were such a hit we began doing custom work for others.

The Celtic Pony's Custom Handcrafted Keepsake Boxes

Each box is handcrafted.  The design on the top can be chosen from our stock artwork or completely custom done from your ideas or art you provide.  This one is a memory box for a new mom and has the feetprint of her new little one burned into on the top. (The actual inked footprint was used as a guide, so that’s really a footprint – not just an outline).

Inside the lid is personalized and dated

Inside the lid is personalized and dated.  The inside is lined with felt.  The lid is completely removable. The artist ‘signs’ , and dates the bottom of the box as well.

Felt lined with removable lid

We custom make these to order.  We can customize the artwork or even text on the lid (we send a proof before actually burning the image) and the color of the felt lining. Pricing depends on wood type used (pine is seen above) – either pine (always available) or hardwood or reclaimed wood (as available) and also on complexity of design and text.

These are unique, beautiful, heirloom keepsake gifts that are sure to be treasured and last for many generations.  Please contact us for information on ordering one!  (More of our boxes can be seen in our Keepsake Box album)

Part of our goal in building our new home is the use as much reclaimed material as possible.  Not only is it good for resources, but such material often as amazing history. And 100 year old wood has a lot more character than anything you can buy at a local big box hardware store.

So a few weeks ago, we added the first reclaimed material to our ‘things to build with’ warehouse.  This old tobacco barn was scheduled for demolition due to safety.  We had the pleasure of talking with the gentleman who owned it – his family had built it in the 1920′s era – and really enjoyed hearing about the history of the land around it and the farm it had once been so vital to.

Tobacco Barn - Before

It’s a big project taking down a building, but with the help of neighbors and family (and a bobcat) it was down and safely stored within one day.

Tobacco Barn - During

(I bet those people won’t be answering their phone when we call for awhile ).

Tobacco Barn - During

It’s sad to see such a building gone after so many years, but I’m glad we were able to salvage instead of it being destroyed.  It’s history will live on for others to enjoy.

Tobbaco Barn - After

The beautiful 100 year old heart pine wood will most likely become our hardwood flooring, but you never know for sure what ideas might sprout between now and then.  There are the original rocks from it’s foundation (part of our foundation? A pathway for the garden?) and the original tin which will also find a place in our construction.

We’ve been taking quiet a break from our online presence lately. We promise to fix that, but life has just been so very busy.

Right there...that's where the log cabin is going...

“You both are nuts. Happy nuts. Optimistic nuts. But still nuts.” – (from a friend of ours)”

well of course we are. How else would you explain this? One of the big changes is our new plan to build a log cabin.  No, not hire someone else, but actually build it with our own two hands using real logs we cut down and as much reclaimed material as possible.  IN addition, the goal is to do this without a mortgage.

It’s a big project, and one that’s going to take awhile. But we certainly invite you to follow our blog and keep up with the progress! Hopefully others looking to do the same thing will find useful bits and pieces here – we certainly loved reading other blogs written by other log home owner-builders.

Pin It

Awhile back I was perusing various craft blogs and found these beautiful photo tiles.  Of course I forgot to bookmark it so when Mother’s Day came around I remembered the tiles (and how PERFECT they would be as gifts) – but didn’t remember where to find the ‘how to’ post.  (But my many thank yous for the wonderful idea! If I can ever find it again I want to give a link and credit to them!)

Fortunately they are surprisingly simple (that’s part of their elegance) to do so I figured I could remember enough to do it. They  required mostly a steady hand and some creative manipulation in PhotoShop.    Some 4×4 tiles from the hardware store, some ModPodge and Polyurethane combined with photos (printed on a color printer after we got artistic with them adding borders and favorite quotes) turned into lovely keepsake photo tiles.

I was a little afraid that they would end up looking, well, tacky…like paper glued to ceramic tiles.  Instead the ModPodge – a coat underneath the photo and several coats on top – did it’s decoupage wonder making it look like the photo was part of the tile itself.  A coat of polyurethane gave it protection from spills if someone wanted to use them on a table as coasters.

We used matching felt glued to the back to protect surfaces.  If you wanted to hang them I imagine you could super glue a wall hanger on the back.

We gave them as gifts for Mother’s Day and they were a hit, being suitably ooh’d and aah’d over.  Now I want some for myself

Give it a try if you’re looking for a creative keepsake!

A friend posted to her Facebook page an article on dyeing Easter Eggs using old silk ties.   Well, that caught my attention.  Recycling ugly old ties and making something pretty out of them? No more cups, dye tablets, stained counters? And far more natural than  Easter Egg In A Box Dye?  Sign me up!

Unfortunately for me I saw the article two days before Easter.  My husband was not about to part with his ties but did given me carte blanche to go through a pile of ties that had been his grandfather’s he hadn’t had time to donate.  They were, he assured me, suitably “ugly”.  They were ugly alright, but even more unfortunately for me they were also all some variation of polyester blends (guess which decade THOSE came from?).

I got my hands on just 2 silk ties (yes, they have to be 100% silk or the color won’t transfer).  They were astonishingly ugly, but 100% silk.  I figured it would be a good test and I could start scavanging and saving ties for next Easter.

There are a million and one tuturials, the “original“being Martha Stewart (of course), but I really enjoyed Mommy Know’s how to.   Following her instructions I carefully cut the ties, wrapped the eggs and boiled them.

And this is what we got:

To my surprise the navy & orange tie gave me a rather neat denim look and the striped brown tie gave me all sorts of shades of pale beige to green to pink (!).  I suspect the colors probably mixed in the pot, but hey…I’ll take what I got.  I did learn that you need to press the silk very carefully to the egg.  Anywhere the fabric gaps away from the egg leaves a white spot.  A neat effect, but if you’re trying to get a fully patterned egg you might not appreciate it.  I also will probably try boiling each “tie” seperately next year so my colors don’t blend.  And while many tips suggest for shinier eggs you can rub a teeny bit of vegetable oil on the egg (you can see I did that) I probably won’t do it again since it made the egg rather hard to hang on to. Oops.

All in all, I was thrilled with it and will definitely do it again.  It’s super easy and kids will enjoy it (with some adult supervision of course). Give it a try sometime for unique Easter eggs that everyone will admire! Oh and the bonus?  The ‘regular’ dyed eggs actually started to ‘melt’ and stain hands in the heat.  The silk died eggs did not.

Welcome to the Celtic Pony’s online ramblings, DYI ideas, thoughts, photos and more.  This is our place to just share – whether it’s a new item in our gift shop, a DYI idea we just had to try or a glimpse into our life. We hope you stop by often to visit! We love visitors and comments.