Scratch & Bash
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Accessories
More Cheap Accessories
Feb 25, 2004
By Jo Anne DeKeles
LSOL.com Customer Service Manager |
Author
Bio
In the last couple centuries almost everything that was shipped, from apples to oil, was packed in a barrel.They were easy to roll down the gangplanks of ships and roll up the ramps of box cars.
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I know I sound like a broken record, but I see more and more items on eBay for inflated prices. It really drives me crazy. Here is the second article on creating some of these accessories for yourself. Last time we learned how to make boxes, this time we can learn how to make some wooden barrels. In the last couple centuries almost everything that was shipped, from apples to oil, was packed in a barrel. They were easy to roll down the gangplanks of ships and roll up the ramps of box cars. They are a perfect addition to most any layout. Let me show you with pictures just how easy it is to do it yourself.  Barrels like this can be found at most craft stores. They are the perfect size. (1 5/8" tall x 1 1/8" diam) Lara's Crafts has them as Pickle Barrels #10034. The cost is $0.79 cents for two unfinished barrels. If you cannot find these at your local craft store you can order from their web site.
 Our first step was to stain the barrels. Make sure you clean the barrels with a soft rag so that they are clean of any dust or dirt. I used some old stain that we had in the garage. A little goes a long way. If you are doing a lot of these one fast way would be just to dip the barrels in the can of stain. You could use different color stains to make lighter and darker barrels.  If you look at these wooden barrels you will notice that there are bands at the top and bottom of each. What we want to do is paint these to make them look like there is a metal band holding the barrel together.
 We found a great tool for doing this painting. Painters Paint Markers from Hunt Corporation. These are the same people that make Xacto Blades. These are markers that are full of paint. Painters are available in 26 bright colors including 4 metallic. Painters can be used on most surfaces from wood, pottery, photos, plastic, glass, and even foam board. They are Available in Fine, Medium, and a New Calligraphy Point.  All we had to do is use the marker to color the bands with a silver paint. It was a lot easier than trying to use a brush. The more barrels I did the faster I could do them, and the better the barrels looked. As you spin the barrel watch out for the wet paint on the previous bands. If you are doing several barrels it is better to paint one band on each barrel and then work your way back around to the first. The paint drys rather fast.
Check out the following pictures to see what the finished barrels look like.   
A barrel like this looks great. The price is right as it is less that 40 cents per barrel. But with a label a barrel is even better. So just look around the Internet for barrel labels. We started at www.google.com for a search of Pickle Barrel Labels. We found links with pictures for flour barrels, tobacco barrels and many more.  We printed out some labels and attached them to the barrel using some rubber cement. Some of the images were the right size. Others pictures we had to resize to fit the barrel.  Not a bad looking barrel. If you make some please send me your pictures!  Top of Page
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