The Guys At Home Depot Thought I Was Strange
November 6th, 2007 @ 12:49 pm by Mrs. Licorice
Because I strolled in asking for plywood, screws, and drill bits. What would some little girl want with those things? Well, I’ll show you.
One of my DIY projects came directly from Southern Weddings, a book with which I have an unhealthy obsession. The front of my reception hall was rather bare looking. To spruce it up, I (all on my own) constructed these trays to hang and hold candles.
First I asked the Home Depots guys to cut a large piece of plywood about 3/4 of an inch thick into four 1’ x 1’ squares. Then, I had pieces of wood cut down to create a sort of lip for the plywood squares.
I then screwed the wood for the lip to the plywood. I first applied some Gorilla Glue, as suggested in Southern Weddings, to secure the edge.
Next, I drilled holes in four of the sides to later slip ribbon through. (I used 1-inch thick Kate’s Paperie double satin ribbon purchased at Sam Flax in Atlanta.) Before lacing the ribbon, I spray painted the trays a sage green color. I added a ribbon trim around the edges to mimic the picture in the book.
Here’s final product:
Doesn’t Mr. Licorice make the best hand model? He should totally preserve it like David Duchovny did in Zoolander.Unfortunately, we couldn’t hang them on the day of the wedding. It was way too windy, and we were pretty sure the glass containers would’ve come crashing to the ground!
One of my last projects was our wish tree. This was made in a snap. I bought branches and river rocks at Michael’s, arranged them inside these mint julep cups, and topped with moss. I actually made four of them for different uses around the reception hall, such as holding my “thank you” sign:
Photo by Heidi Geldhauser of Our Labor of Love
Making those trays was pretty out there for me (I mean, I did elicit strange looks from the Home Depot employees); what is the strangest DIY project y’all have taken on?
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12 Responses to “The Guys At Home Depot Thought I Was Strange”
All i have to say is…
OOOOHHHHHHHHHHH! Those trays are an AWESOME project, and yours turned out gorgeous!
Can I ask…so home depot will just cut stuff for you if you ask them? Who would you talk to to have something like that done?
Miss Penguin, I think it depends on your particular HD. I went once, w/ hubs in tow, and asked if they could cut me some foot-long pieces of 1-by. (I wanted to mount our hanging wine-glass rack to the bottom of our cabinet.) They pointed us to the wood aisle, and showed us the saw and saw horse. Said saw was attached to the side of the aisle w/ a chain, and was very dull. Boo. And, by the way, hubs is completely handy-man illiterate. I’m the one who actually knows how to use power tools. Mysteriously (or not so), when we went back several months later to get some chunks of wood to prop up our dish drainer, the saw arrangement was no longer there…but they did let me take a couple 2-inch chunks of 2-by at no charge! It sounds SOOOO lame, but I think if you go and act girly, you might have a better shot! (The guy that told us to cut our own was looking at hubs when he said it.)
My weirdest DIY wedding project was probably building my own cake net cover. Like a little gauze canopy for the cake. (Outdoor wedding.) It was weird b/c I wanted it to be made out of bamboo, but in order to get the size poles I wanted, at the price I wanted, I had to buy this bamboo tray and bust it apart. Which turned out to be an entire family project. No kidding - it was kind of funny. Mom, Dad, me and hubs sitting on the living room floor trying to pry the nails out of this thing.
princesskittyHI - I’d love to see a picture of your cake net cover . . . sounds very cool, I can’t imagine.
Thanks PrincessKitty! The bummer is I wouldnt mind paying for a service like this! I just didnt realize that they even did that!
…and i cant believe they would let you use a power saw in their store like that 
Hellloooo liability! Thats funny. Thanks for sharing your experiences. I’m the kind of person that HATES to ask stuff like this at stores!
i really like that tray idea! too bad you couldn’t hang them up though. that’s a bummer.
love your trays. even more, i love that you put out krispy kreme doughnuts! it makes me miss my southern roots.
Maegan — I’ll try to post one in the boards section. Look for it there.
Miss P — Heh, no power saw! Sorry if I was confusing. It was a crappy, old, dull, regular, some-people-can-apparently-play-music-on-’em, saw. But still — I totally thought “What? They actually let you use sharp objects in the store?” (Side note: haven’t you always wondered why in Macy’s, et al, they have all the knife blocks sitting around — with real knives that you can pull out?!)
great work mrs. l! too bad you didn’t get to use them though. 
and oooo krispy kremes…..
Miss Penguin:
I just walked up to an employee and he set me up with someone who could help me. I can’t remember if they charge or not….if so, the fee was so minimal that I don’t even remember it! One warning: the cuts could not be exact due to the size of the wood, but the man helping me did try as hard as he could to make everthing even.
Mrs. Bee:
Oh, I found a way to use them! They just weren’t hanging!
Mrs. Licorice, Atlanta
Age and Occupation: 25, Full-time Interior Design Student
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Pilot
Engagement Date: February 6, 2006
Wedding Date: September 1, 2007
Blogging Since: July 18, 2007
Venue: John Oliver Michael, a historic farm house and barn replica
About Me: I love artistic pursuits of all sorts! I'm creative and organized, but my downfall is obsessing over details. I enjoy running outdoors, trying new restaurants, and staring at décor and wedding magazines for hours on end. I hope to one day design a hotel in a foreign country, preferably France, Greece, Japan, or Australia. I am elated to marry Mr. Licorice and experience life’s adventures with him!
that tray idea is nice! it gives an ethereal glow without having overly fancy or pricey chandeliers! how did you get them to let you hang candles! i figure most places wouldnt let you…
beautiful mrs. licorice!