This month's tutorial is a bushel basket to put all of your garden goodies in.
This is a full bushel, life-size would measure: top diameter 18" (1 1/2"), bottom diameter 14 1/2" (1 3/16") and depth outside 12" (1"). The measurements in parenthesis are the 1 inch scale measurements.
At the end of this tutorial I will give the measurements of a half bushel basket.
Measure 1/8" on a strip of card stock.
Cut a few 1/8" wide strips for the vertical slats of the basket.
You are going to need 50, one inch tall vertical slats for the basket.
On scrap mat board trace two 1 1/8" circles.
Cut the mat board circles out.
I'll be using yellow carpenter's wood glue through out this tutorial.
Smear some glue onto one circle and glue the two circles together.
Keep the edges even.
Lowe's, Home Depot, Menards, and Wal-Mart carry touch-up markers filled with stain. These will be in the paint department. Any brand will do.
Michael's also carries these. I believe their brand is MinWax. I chose a golden oak shade.
You could also use colored markers.
Color both sides of the card stock strips.
A few finished.
Now, measure for 3/32" strips.
These will be glued around the outside and inside of the basket.
You will need enough for two tops, two middle and one strip for the bottom outside of the basket. That's around 20" all together.
I went ahead and stained the strips with my touch-up marker.
I did not want my red and green horizontal rings to be too bright. I thought if I stained them first and then colored them they would look old and worn.
There is my red and green colored over the stain.
Measure and cut at least 50 vertical slats 1 inch long from the 1/8" wide card stock.
My vertical slats for my basket.
Use the yellow wood glue to glue the slats to the edge of the mat board circle. My circle took 25 slats.
A word about this; we all cut things out a little differently than the next person. You might have to do some rearranging of the slats to fit 25 or 24. The slats should be close together or touching one another.
The next thing we do is to glue slats over the seam of the first layer of slats.
You have a double layer of slats around the circle.
Let this dry a bit. I'm going to play a little Mahjong.
Gently bend the slats out.
The top should fit into the 1 1/2" circle of your template.
Glue the first 3/32" strip around the bottom edge of the basket.
Glue another 3/32" strip together so it fits into the 1 1/2" template hole. This is your top outside ring.
I've got the basket on the bottom of the acrylic craft paint bottle (Apple Barrel, Delta, Folk Art. . . .).
Dry fit the ring around the top of the basket. Push the slats out until the ring fits.
You want the basket to sit evenly on the paint bottle.
I took the ring off and applied wood glue to the ends of the slats.
Press the top ring into the glue.
Apply wood glue to the inside of the basket, at the top.
Glue the inside ring onto the top of the basket.
Apply wood glue to the middle of the basket and glue the green ring onto the basket.
Apply wood glue inside the basket, along the middle and glue another green ring inside the basket.
The rings are glued on.
After you have left the basket to dry a bit you can pierce two holes into each side for handles.
The holes can be 1/4" apart and right under the top ring.
Be sure to hold and brace the basket when you pierce the holes. Put your finger inside the basket. Be careful not the pierce your finger, though.
I used 28 gauge paddle wire for the handles. I bought this at Michael's.
Use pliers to shape the handles. They should also be 1/4" wide.
Place the ends of the handles through the holes.
Cut off the extra wire.
Use the pliers to bend the ends up to secure the handles.
Done, all ready for produce.
The measurements for a half bushel basket are: top diameter 14" (1 1/8"), bottom diameter 10 1/2" (7/8") and outside depth 9" (3/4"). The measurements in parenthesis are your 1 inch scale measurements. The size of the circle to trace is 13/16". You will use fewer vertical strips.
This was quick and easy to do, I hope you will try it. Maybe you could use this for a club project.
Thank you for all of the well wishes on the birth of my first grandchild, Luke. Will be going back up to visit soon.
Remember, if the e-mail notification isn't working I try to get the tutorial up by the 20th of every month. Stop by to check things out if you haven't been sent an e-mail by the end of the month.
Also, I am making kits of my furniture now and will announce that on the blog. With this tutorial done I will begin to build, photograph and write the next kit, the small wing chair that coordinates with the Lisa sofa.
Pictures of finished tutorials and questions send to camceiling@frontiernet.net.
Have fun, Expand on it, Make it Better. . . . .
Just Keep Making Minis!
Nancy sent us a pattern to print onto card stock to cut the verticals. At the bottom is a red line, that's the "cut to" line. This leaves 3/32 inch on the bottom to glue to the edge of the mat board circle. The green line is the middle. By my count she has 64 verticals here,more than twice what we need, so you will cut the length that fits your circle. The "Things to do, Things to see" list has the instructions to print this out in 1 inch scale. You won't have to fiddle with gluing on each individual piece, so cool. Thank you, Nancy!!
TTUL Kris
