Category Archives: Woodworking

Where The Wardrobe Lives

Posted on by

This year, for the holidays, we decided to build a Christmas village. I intended to add only a lighted lamp post, but as usual there was more to the story.

As we searched a couple of hobby stores, I also saw some dollhouse furniture. Then it hit me… I needed to build a wardrobe, with a scene in it from “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” by C.S. Lewis.

As you can see, the scene shows a child holding onto a lamp post, with a castle in the distance and a snowy backdrop. The child, Lucy, has actually found that the wardrobe not only holds coats, but is also a portal to another world… ‘Narnia.’

So I did buy the lamp post, but also wound up buying a doll house wardrobe too, which was much larger than I wanted, thus the project began.

The wardrobe had four doors and was too tall. I decided to cut it in half, remove the shelves, and once cut, reinstall two of the doors, and glue on the top piece. Once the glue cured, I cut an opening in the back of the wardrobe. The wardrobe now measured 4″W x 4″H x 2″L. Surprisingly, for balsa wood, it turned out pretty well.

I needed a stage to go behind the wardrobe. I fashioned about a 3″ long stage from a piece of scrap wood, and curved the back end, where the scene would be attached. I added a clothes hanger pole, and temporarily attached a black and white image of the scene to get an idea of what the front view would look like.

At this point, I knew that only ‘back lighting’ was needed to illuminate the scene image. I no longer needed interior stage lighting, which I was happy about.

I added sides to the stage, and cut out an opening in the back to attach the scene. Once that was completed, I painted the inside with spray on Christmas tree snow.

While building this project, I began to think how interesting it would be to design and build special effects for theater or film companies. Ah, “Perchance to Dream,” which of course I did. I envisioned myself as a ‘Props Master’ working for Lucas Films. Wow, now that’s a dream – I mean, why dream small!

Of course, I needed some clothes to hang in the wardrobe. I found a picture of doll clothes on the web, and cut to size. I formed coat hangers, hooks really, and hung up the clothes. I also attached the final ‘color’ scene image, and added footprints in the snow.

I decided that adding the wardrobe to the village, the wardrobe itself needed a name. Every village needs a theater, thus the ‘Wardrobe Theater.’ I found a picture on the web of a marquee, and made the topper for the wardrobe.

I was very happy with the end result. I had a lot of fun designing and building this project. It turned out to be a wonderful addition to our Christmas village!

This is…”Where The Wardrobe Lives.”

Happy Holidays to All!

Cabana Kit Build

Posted on by

Several years ago, I was at a local nursery and saw a very cool garden shed kit. It was actually called “The Cabana” by Cedarshed, a manufacturer of dozens of prefab cedar kits.

It was decided that I had to have this kit (thank you), and it would become my “backyard fort.” Today it’s called a Man Cave, but when I was little ‘fort’ was the popular term.

One Saturday morning, a half-ton flat pack was delivered to my front yard. I thought, “What have I gotten myself into?”

The only way to get it into the backyard, was to unpack it. I soon learned it was a bunch of panelized pieces with four shingled roof sections. Actually, it looked like I could really build this kit.

The most difficult issue, was where to place it. There was really only one location, and it was on a slope. After much discussion, I hired a guy to remove what turned out to be 20 yards of dirt! Of course, then I needed a retaining wall. There was no way I could have done this job myself. Not cheap, but well worth the cost.

Alright, looks great! The next step was to layout the flooring. I used some retaining wall blocks as my foundation piers.

Once the floor was installed and level, I began putting up the panels. These actually went up very quickly. It was really fun to see it “coming together.”

The challenging part for me was lifting the shingled roof pieces in place. This is really a two person job, but after nearly falling off the ladder and crushing my rib cage, well… it turned out great!

Over the years, I have modified the fort with interior shelves, a foldable desk, side window, a skylight Cabana Skylight Project and a bubble window project Bubble Window.

These kits are nicely layed out for the weekend warrior. If you are thinking about building a Man Cave or a fort, this is a good way to go!