Shelf Lamp

In order to maintain and post often enough, I am including the progressions of more than just jcrabbit.etsy.com. So here is a new taste. In order to finish the new dining room we had to buy a new Lamp. WE had one like this, but it broke.

When something breaks it goes into my workshop in the basement. Now when you get a tower with shelves in a workshop, it can have a way of piling with stuff... Plus is makes a great cup holder while I am working.

So Despite multiple promises to my wife that I could and would fix it, it came time to install it in the room. Needless to say the thing is still in the basement acting faithfully as a junk holder.







I came home from work ready to clean it off...and try to figure out what was wrong with it. To find a brand new one sitting in a box in the living room.

Phew... I really had no idea how to fix that other one., plus like 3 weeks ago the glass fell and shattered into a thousand pieces.









So I put the new one together and sure enough it looks great!

Here in the corner it provides the light that the chandelier cant. That chandelier by the way has also been sitting in the basement for over a year, we grabbed it at Lowes on clearance hoping that someday we would find a spot for it.


And there you have it the progression of a shelf lamp and hoe it came to be in my dining room.

Vintage Interior Door End Table

One of my favorite things to make are Door Tables. Sounds silly I know, but basically they are end tables, coffee tables, or (insert your use here) tables. They are made from doors that I salvage from Local buildings. Living in Maine they aren't hard to find. renovated houses, Barns, beach cottages, they all work.

The One I am about to walk through I actually had listed as a larger table. Someone requested that I shorten it, and they would buy. so I did, and they did. this is the other half. The trouble is, that when you take a 4 legged table and cut it in half, you do NOT have enough legs for both Tables. Which brings me to the "how I make my legs" section.


I do not carve the legs myself, I buy them pre-made, tags and all. While this isn't technically handmade, I love the shapes and sized I am able to use and It is all still natural wood. These legs actually require no sanding, they are ready to go straight from the store, which is nice as I can get started right away.

The first step is to decide on the finish. Since these legs were going on a table top that was already made, I knew it would be a J.Crabbit Custom Teal finish. This requires several steps, and plenty of time. In my custom teal finish I use several colors in layers. It is very important to allow each layer to dry completely before applying the next.

Finally I add the top coat of teal. As you can see the legs are neatly painted, not the signature distressed look. That comes next.

I run the Legs through my signature distressing technique. While its no secret how to make paint look old, I made this technique up om my own because I love the finish it puts onto a piece. once I am satisfied with the look I lightly dust them with a cloth and get ready for the final touch.


You can see that there is the prominent color of Teal, with the other colors showing lightly, and plenty of exposed wood. I apply a coat of low gloss polyurethane to protect the finish. I use low gloss so it doesn't look shiny and wet, that would rather defeat the "vintage" look. I love applying the poly because it really brings out the color of the wood. On the legs (where the wood is brand new) I know what it will look like, but the first time I apply the poly to the door itself, I am always amazed with the colors and shades that become visible.

I am letting these Dry for now. Tomorrow I will attach the Top and it will be listed at www.jcrabbit.etsy.com before the end of the week!

Thank for stopping by

~Mitch

The creation of Progressions

I created this Blog because I like the way things are made. I know that sounds silly and makes no sense, but let me tell you what the purpose of it all is. I make stuff. Again vague I know. I like making things, And when my house filled with all the things I had made, my wife suggested that I open a store online and sell them. So now I operate J.Crabbit, my own line of Items I created. I sell them at www.jcrabbit.etsy.com.

So back to Progressions and what It means. I wanted anyone that bought my handmade work to be able to see the progression of the piece. Because I start with a vintage "find" and turn it into something different, I wanted everyone to know both the history, as well as the journey the piece took from when I found it to when I listed it.

So, what this means is that when youre shopping on J.Crabbit you will be able to click on a link in the listing that will take you directly to the post about that Items history as well as photos of its transformation. I hope anyone reading will find this facinating, interesting, fun, and informative.

So I must now go and start the progressions of a few pieces I plan to list soon. Thank you for reading, thank you for shopping, and thank you for caring enough to stop by!

~Mitch~