Tips and Tricks Tuesday #7 - How to Prepare an Old Window Sash for Reuse

Welcome to the seventh Tips & Tricks Tuesday linky party
here at The Brambleberry Cottage!

Oh, my!  It's hard to believe it has been sooo long since we've partied together! 

Slowly, but surely, I'm climbing back in the blogging saddle.  So,

let's mosey on down the trail and revisit some of those terrific tips

shared by the last group of partygoers.

You just never know what the creative energies out in Blogland

will produce. 

For instance, Maryann @ Domestically Speaking found a way to construct

her own coral.  How ingenious is that?!

What do you do when you grow tired of a piece of furniture?  Toss it?

Jan @ Bobbypins Boardwalk devised a plan of reuse that's quite attractive.  

Go see for yourself!

 

Is there anything better than cheap?!  Yep...free! 

Kathy @ Having a Hallelujah Good Time transformed two chairs she got for free.  

To get the name of the organization where she made this score,

you'll need to visit Kathy for the details.

We all love to see something reinvented...right?  Can you envision this

piece in a flower garden?  Tootsie @ Tootsie Time could...and did. 

Go check out her masterful-repurpose project.

 

Patti @ On Hollyhock Farm found a way to turn this pretty salvage

item into something she could use every day.  Way to go, Patti!

Now..

it's my turn to share a Brambleberry Cottage tip.

This awesome round window was removed from a Children's Home

 that was built in the 1920s and that the Yankee helped remodel—over four years ago. 

It has been stored in one of our barns, until recently.

Each time I would notice it in the barn, I would ponder the possibilities. 

But, each idea I came up with seemed somewhat run-of-the-mill...

that is, until the week before we left for New England.

Once inspiration hit, I just had to pull that old gal out of the barn and

carry her into the workshop for a major overhaul. 

My normal course of action would have been to start with a good cleaning. 

But, for this project, there were a number of other

things that had to be done first.

I used a rubber mallet and a wood chisel to remove

years of built-up caulk and paint from the frame. 

Notice that the flat side of the chisel is against the wood.  I attempted to keep the chisel 

relatively flat on the surface, to ensure that the wood would not be gouged.

When it came time to remove the glazing, the flat side of the chisel was against the

wood muntins and the beveled side was against the caulk.  

Gentle taps from the rubber mallet was all that was necessary to loosen most of the caulk.  

However, some of it proved stubborn enough to require much harder hits.

Once all the caulk and glazing was removed, it was time to break out the glass. 

Though there are no pictures for this step, safety goggles and

heavy leather gloves were a must.

Next, I used a pair of needle-nose pliers to remove the glazing pins

and as many of the small nails as possible.

It was necessary to use the claw of a hammer for removing some nails, and others

could only be removed with the handy tool you see above.

For those not familiar with a Dremel, it is probably one of the most versatile

little tools you can own. 

Being a woman with small hands, I love how easy it is for me to hold

and use this handy-dandy item.

The project I envisioned for this sash required some reworking

of the existing muntins. 

In this image, you can see how things were beginning to take shape.

But, you'll have to come back tomorrow night—for

Time Travel Thursday—

to see this project's reveal. 

You won't be disappointed!  I promise.