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Thursday, March 31, 2016

DIY Designer Spoons

Hello from the hills! 
I spotted this cute lil fence yesterday while I was in the big city to pick up the grands for a visit. Love how short it is.  


This is the first year I've ever seen nuthatches at my feeders.  Go ahead and chuck it down little fellow. 
                           
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Have you seen the kitchen utensils in department stores with the wood burned look?  I like it, but I would never spend a fortune for it. (Click on pic to see the price for one, just one spoon.) 

All you need to make your own is a wood-burning tool, some modestly priced wooden spoons and a well-ventilated area in which to work.  Begin with clean, dry spoons.  Please, do NOT oil them until after you finish burning your designs on the spoons.  We don't want any unnecessary fires, now do we?  ;)
Clean, dry spoons.

The sky is the limit as to design, and I think these are a bit more interesting than the repetitive stamped look above.  

Continue onto the sides, handles ...

And backs for an all-over designer look, if you like.   Most manufacturers suggest using mineral oil (a petroleum product) for preserving and deepening the luster of wood grain for wooden utensils in the kitchen, but I use coconut oil instead and have not had any trouble with it.  Olive oil and some other oils will go rancid quickly.  If that happens just clean the utensil thoroughly with lemon juice and apply coconut or grape seed oil if you have it available.  Martha Stewart recommends grape seed oil because it is tasteless, so that's another option. 
Oiled with coconut oil to bring out the wood grain and add luster to the wood..

Added 4.10.16




Youngest sent me this cartoon.    Be very, very careful......lol. 
Click on the cartoon to enlarge for reading.


DIY Designer Spoons featured at The Art of Home-Making Mondays


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I started knitting a pair of socks with self-striping yarn over a month ago but had to rip the heels out twice.  Reading the directions helps, sometimes.  o.O  I'm a bit further along than shown here and aware that the stripes don't line up evenly.  Yeah, living on the wild side here.  ;)
                           

Goodman spotted this rainbow on the hill above our house...love a good rainbow.

See you soon...if those socks ever cross the finish line, that is.

Shared at The Art of Home-Making MondaysGood Fences

43 comments:

  1. Love the spoons you did...had not seen them though. I am not always observant. I like the little fence. I live in Indiana now but grew up near Cumberland Gap, Tennessee... it is still home to me!

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  2. Neat little fence and love how the trees are growing ~ Great photos here!

    Wishing you peace in each day ~ ^_^

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  3. Such a sweet little wall for a fence! My, but I love what you did with the spoons! That is so artistic!
    Beautiful rainbow too!
    Christineandhercamera.blogspot.com

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  4. A great variety of photos today. Clever to design your own spoons.

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  5. Hello, it is a cute little fence. I love the nuthatch and cute chickadee. Your wood burning designs are pretty. Happy Thursday, enjoy your day!

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  6. Great idea to woodburn on the spoons---me next!
    Hope the socks get finished. I made tube socks--no heel. Yeah!
    MB

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  7. I love those wooden spoons!!! You did a great job with the designs. This is something my daughter and I would enjoy making and giving as gifts ( I happen to have a 6-pack of plain wooden spoons I bought in bulk at Cosco a few years back. Did you oil them after you burned them?

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    1. Not yet, but they will be oiled sooner or later. They do make nice gifts. I've done several sets that I gave away. You'll enjoy making them. :)

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    2. What kind of oil will you use?

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    3. I apologize for not being more thorough with directions for the spoons in my post and have edited in a few more pics and info. :) I usually just use coconut oil.
      Hope this helps.

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  8. adorable birds! adorable little fence! beautiful spoons!!! nice!!

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  9. lovely spoons :)
    I have a pair of socks that I keep having to start over....

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  10. lovely spoons :)
    I have a pair of socks that I keep having to start over....

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  11. That is a very neat "little" fence. I'm wondering if at one time there may have been some kind of chain going across it. Nice spoons you made and how nice to see the rainbow.

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  12. I love the little fence, too! I just spotted a new fence around our local park this week...I love fences wherever they are! I've never tried knitting socks...maybe I would if I wore socks, but I never do. The birdies have finally found my bird feeders again...I was lax in filling them up this winter. shame on me!

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  13. love the photos...that little stone "fence" is cute! your spoons turned out great, you are very talented!

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  14. Your spoons are so clever! And I can't wait to see those wild socks. In my book, it's not good yarn unless it's variegated.

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  15. I love your spoons! What a fun idea. I always admire those who make socks! So neat.

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  16. The spoons are brilliant! Works of art!
    Amalia
    xo

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  17. Yeah, reading pattern directions usually helps *chuckles* So these are your boring socks? I prefer knitting toe-up but never tried to knit two at the same time, I think I'll go crazy.
    Love your wooden spoons. My friend has one of those burning tools and uses it to decorate her bobbins. I must tell her about your post. :-)
    Happy Spring!

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  18. What a beautiful, wonderful post! I love it when I have an e-mail in the morning from your site! Love the low stone fence, the beautiful tree in bloom, the wooden spoons (must try now-ha!) and the birds. Have a most blessed day!

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  19. It is amazes me all the cool diy projects out there-love your spoons. are you past the heels finally? lol hope so we love the nuthatches such cute little ones. wow I have not seen a rainbow in some time now-lovely enjoy your day
    Kathy

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    1. oh and that is a really neat fence-looks really old too

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  20. Such pretty photos! I do like those spoons! My kind of decor. Have a lovely day and weekend.

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  21. I saw similar spoons somewhere and I had to take a second look. LOVE the ones that you made. I remember wood-burning things was popular in the 70's. Great job!

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  22. Wow, i love your spoons. Very nice !

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  23. Hi sweet Toni! Your spoons are fabulous and I simply love them! What fun gifts they would make :)

    Have a beautiful weekend, my friend. Hugs!

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  24. You did a great job on those spoons! Ive never seen anything like them....very nice! how is spring coming along in your neck of the woods?

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  25. When banding birds I caught the same Nuthatch 3 years in a row. They are like little clowns of the forest.Really like the spoons

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  26. Good morning! Just a little note to let you know that this post has been FEATURED today on the Art of Home-Making Mondays. Thank you for joining us and do come again soon! :)

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  27. This was a fun post, Toni...such a nice variety. All I could think of with that short wall was how many people must trip over it. It's pretty, though. Love the nuthatch and the socks. Good luck with those!

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  28. I love using my woodburning pen too. Your spoons are beautiful!

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  29. Great idea, thanks for sharing.
    Love your little blogging spot. So calming....

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  30. That fence is doing it for me too! And I cannot believe you made those gorgeous spoons!!! I want one of YOURS! To heck with the store bought ones ... yours are so much prettier!!! If I tried that mine would end up like the baseball bat, trust me.

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  31. Spoons are just lovely. What a great idea! I remember the smell of the woodburning kit I had as a kid-can't believe what my mother let me play with-I remember a stove that plugged into the outlet and baked real little cakes-I should be dead:) Always love your posts. Have a blessed weekend!

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  32. Love your spoon project! So pretty. I do not have a wood burner, but there are several projects that I have thought of doing that require one. Maybe it is time to invest in one. That would bring the price of the home made spoons up a little bit though, wouldn't it? ;)

    You keep yourself busy in wonderful ways! Love seeing all your handcrafted items. Have a beautiful week, Toni!

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  33. Love those spoons, Toni! What a great idea! It takes a few times to learn how to turn a heel, but after a while it becomes second nature. Aren't those self-patterning yarns fun? Hope you are having a lovely spring!

    Hugs
    Jane

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  34. Toni, you are as talented as any artist I've seen. Those spoons are absolutely beautiful. I don't believe I could draw like that but I'm going to try. Those are just gorgeous!! I use coconut oil for many things and oiling my wood-handled utensils is an important one. I read that 3 tablespoons of coconut oil a day will deter dementia. It's not a disease that has been in my family but I'm not taking any changes. I make sure I get at least 2 T per day. ha The comic is perfect! I really hope I do a little better than that. When I use self-striping yarn, I usually just go with how it stripes. I like them better than cookie cutter socks that were obviously in a production line somewhere. Of course, love the bird photos. Nuthatches are quite common here and frequent the feeders. Have fun today Toni!!

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  35. Gostei muito das fotos.
    Arte nas colheres é um show.

    Bom fim de semana com tudo de bom!
    Beijinhos.♬♪ه° ·.
    ♬♪ه° ·.

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  36. Those spoons are the bomb! So cute! I wish I was artistic like that. Those turned out amazing! Thanks for popping by my blog. BTW, I love that cute stone fence, too. So "Old World" looking :)

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  37. I love those spoons. The nuthatch photo is awesome, too. I really like the rainbow, too. The socks are pretty, too.

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Thank you for your comments!