The shelf story

So a sweet friend of mine and her cute mom asked me if I would attempt a shelf.  It was for a Christmas present.   I love crafting, and I'm always up for trying new projects, so of course I said yes.

So here was my assignment (in a nutshell): make a black shelf to go above a 46" window; desired but not required to have a curtain rod.  Then another friend told me about THIS tutorial, which is inspired by the ones in the picture.  Super cute and looks easy...

Ballard Design Wall Shelves

Here's my thinking: "I can do that.  Piece of cake!  This is going to be the best curtain rod shelf EVER."

homemade corbel

So I go to my favorite home/hardware store and pick up the wood and trim I need.  To be safe, I buy enough to do a curtain rod shelf (58" long) and a regular shelf (not so long).  I look at the corbels, but they don't seem to match the style I'm going for, and they're overpriced.  So long story short, things go well with measurements, cutting, nailing, spackling, priming.... until it's time to figure out the curtain rod.  

"hole saw"

Here was my thinking: "I'll just use a hole saw on the corbels and get a thick dowel for the rod itself.  Easy peasy."
Boy was I wrong!  I needed a dowel about 52" long.  Guess what?  The longest anyone carries is 48".

New thinking: "Maybe I can fuse 2 dowels together somehow."

So I did some research and came up with 2 conclusions.  The first being  a wooden closet rod.  Guess what?  Could only find metal closet rods.  My other conclusion was getting 2 connectors and "all thread".  Even the guy at the store told me that was the right way to go.  So I tried it...  (I was so happy to get a lot of help from my husband and my BIL.)

And it failed miserably.  It had no strength.  It cracked the wood.  Instead of looking like a straight rod it looked like a frown.  Sad day.

My thinking now: "Bah!  This was supposed to be easy!  Why can't I figure this out???"

I was so mad at myself for not being able to complete the curtain rod part.  But my nice friend and her mom said it was ok.  :)  So end of story, they got 2 plain shelves.  And I didn't even get a decent picture. :/

Moral of the story: {Everything takes longer than you think; Nothing is as easy as it looks; If anything can go wrong, it will}
I really did learn a lot from making these shelves.  I would do it all over again!  I'm really trying to get out of my comfort zone so I can learn and grow more.
I loved The House of Smith's tutorial.  It really was easy, I was just trying to complicate it. :)  And if the sister/daughter who received the shelves hated them... at least she got some nice firewood. :)  Ha ha! :)
No, I actually offered to re-do them if she didn't like them.  

Ballard Designs

Well, I hope you liked my "fail blog".  Thanks for reading!  I really appreciate your support!  And if anyone has made a curtain rod shelf, feel free to e-mail me your advice! :)
xoxo,
Melanie