My Valentine Table for the Castle Shed

A few days before Valentine's Day I had my glass of wine out in the shed working on the paper mache chandelier and thought I would ask hubby to make me a new table that is similar to the little one in the shed that he made.

I'm ok with not receiving jewelry, flowers or candy for Valentine's day. I would rather have something he makes, a painting or this year a table!

Here he is dismantling an old box that came from a farm, I wanted the sides for the table top.

Dirt and rusty nails all over the place.

The under side of table top.

Final assembly.

Now in place and we had a full moon peaking through the bare branches over the castle shed. All the lighting is solar.

Then it was my job to paint it, I wanted the base to have a creamy whitewashed look.

Now in place I have another honey-do. "Honey, it needs benches or chairs that fit the scene and now that the coldest part of the year is over the flagstone is looking bad, needs a good scrubbing."

".... and after that we need to set the stones in mortar around the base of the shed, we didn't get to that last year."

It's always something. ;)

Grizelda the Witch at My Castle Shed

Years ago when my sons were small I and a neighbor dressed as scary witches. The little children were so frightened on Halloween they would not come down the walkway for their treats.

When I became a grandma I decided to become Grizelda the Clown Witch. Who could be frightened of her? My orange crushed hat has a spider web and a rubber spider dangles from the edge. You can see my green felt hooked nose. In the photo above for my Treadle Lady site I posed in front of the Paris Cabinet and sewed on my German Gritzner treadle sewing machine.

When my son Doug and Lisa came over with Davis their heads were shaking. Doug lovingly said, "Mom, you are such a geek." Yes!!! And I love being one. After a couple of years of teasing that stopped and about the 5th year Lisa said, "I want to be a clown witch." Another "Yes!!!" So I whipped up her adorable costume, a much cuter version with a short sassy skirt.

After becoming Grizelda the Clown Witch I designed and made a Halloween quilt with a hand painted scene. Several years ago I asked hubby to paint the scene that I designed for my quilt so I could make Halloween cards, the quilt didn't photograph as clearly as I wanted. Here is the painting he did, propped up on a chair in the castle shed the other day.

When my grandsons were small they used to point to the witch in the quilt and say, "Grandma, that's you." What a compliment! The books on the shelf in the painting are, Potions, Witches Who's Who, Pumpkin Cookbook, Frog Care and it was the title of the last book that sealed my identity, Clown Witch Costumes.

Last week I put up spider web garland banners to decorate my castle shed and then posted the PDF file for sale to make them in my Etsy shop. Here is link.

On a quiet evening this week I took my wine glass and lap top out to write at my medieval style table in my castle shed. I had a little story idea about what is happening in the painting. I propped the painting in front of me so I could tell the story, suitable as a night time story for little children, no scariness. It will be posted in my Etsy shop soon. (Here is the link to the story card.)

The castle shed is so enticing, a great little place to escape and write or work.

Here are party favor baskets I designed a few years ago and made a fresh set.

 And pillow boxes that coordinate, great for Halloween treats.

Are you ready for Halloween or a bedtime story?

Organizing the Castle Shed

Today was a productive day and my Alice in Wonderland inspired floor really stands out now that the shed is 80% organized.

First thing in the morning I wiped down the new medieval table to remove excess stain. Annie Sloan dark soft wax was next, scrubbed it in with the brush then buffed it well.

It stayed outside while a few things were done inside. First hubby hung the shelf cabinet using a French cleat system. He made it with two strips of wood cut on a bevel, one is mounted on the wall and the other on the back of the shelf cabinet. It can be lifted off easily, love that system. Here it is on the north side of the castle shed door.

It was quickly loaded up with votive glasses and lights.

Hubby cut lots of shelves and I mixed up my magic potion of paint, water and some carpenter chalk to whitewash them.

As quick as they dried he mounted the shelves and I loaded them up with all my smaller paint cans and mixes. This is the view to the south turret and the painting station. The cabinet below the work table is gone, there is more room to arrange the gallon cans of paint and the table bases project.

 Tools and painting apron hang between work table and paint shelves.

The south turret work station is ready for some planned projects. The center lazy Susan is for painting and making projects.

The back wall is for supplies.

The shelves on the left side of the shed have decor items and miscellaneous, still needs organizing. The north turret is not shown, still needs more organizing.

The floor was cleaned and my new medieval table is buffed and put back in place.


We're all set. The white rabbit and Alice in Wonderland may show up any day. "Drink Me" potion and a key are waiting.

Making a Medieval Table

For weeks I've been wanting a small table for my castle shed. I'm so happy to be rid of the white desk that was in the center, the style just didn't fit. I've been dreaming of a small rustic medieval style table, of course what is medieval and not too difficult so it can be done quickly. The time came several days ago when Jan had free time so I twitched my nose and rubbed my genie teapot. Voila!

It is made of reclaimed wood. The plan was to use a corbel pattern we made months ago. Jan cut all the corbels from a long thick piece of lumber that was warped and had cracks. The center is a used 4x4. The assembly had to be with a flat base that had to be notched so the cross pieces would be stable.

Testing the size, notice front piece is charmingly crooked.

The top corbels were smaller, lots of cracks.

The table top was make from two layers of old fencing, glued, screwed together and clamped. The top is only 22 x 26 inches finished, just big enough for tea for two.

Look at all those screws! Hubby, the genie, is ready to chop the top to the correct height.

Now it's ready for me.

I had a can of dark walnut Howard Restor-a-Finish. There was no finish to restore, I just used it like a stain. 

Messy messy job.

Almost done.

Dirty and sweaty but had to test it. I wanted it lower than a standard table so I can write on my lap top. It's 27 inches high.

By the time the solar lights came on my genie was pooped, he had showered and crashed on the sofa. I had to take one last photo.

Guess where I will be at 6 a.m. with my laptop and a cup of tea.