Friday, February 24, 2012

DIY Knife Block

On our never ending quest to live a simpler, more thrifty life, I had this idea for a gift for my uncle. Yes… it was a Christmas gift, and here I’m only getting around to sharing it now. Better late than never! Anyways… My uncle happened to get a sweet new set of knives as a free gift when he bought new kitchen appliances. Lucky Duck. Well, after checking out his knife-block-less situation at Thanksgiving, I thought “Oh! Bingo! New cool, masculine knife block made by your favorite niece, coming up!”. Yeah… I’m his favorite. Sorry, Sis. Smile with tongue out

I am obsessed with Goodwill. It’s as deadly as Target to me these days, and I manage to get Target stuff for crazy cheap prices because Target didn’t sell it on clearance, so they dumped it at Goodwill. Most of it is still in the Target packaging. Awesomesauce! So while cruising my favorite new place, I found a couple of lonely abandoned knife blocks. I carefully inspected my three options, and this one seemed to be the best. It was pretty clean, and in great condition. $4.99 was a sweet deal since a brand new one is upwards of $25. Bonus for the lazy susan attached to the bottom! What’s cooler than a custom painted manly knife block? A spinning one!

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I gave it thorough washing and then sanded him down. I picked up some spray primer and some satin dark walnut spray paint. After agonizing about what color to paint it, I went for the dark walnut. Not dark brown, but not black… it’s juuuuuuuuuust riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.

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I gave it two light coats of primer and then sprayed it with the dark walnut. I think I ended up with 4 light coats of the dark walnut spray to make sure it was nice and even.
Did you notice my little trick? Priority Flat Rate Boxes as my spray painting cover up! Um… they’re free, so why not?! I also used them when wrapping flimsy Christmas presents, like clothes. Yes, my family made fun of me, until they realized they were FREE! And then they were jealous of my frugal genius.

Knife BlockAnd now it’s happy in it’s new home. Loaded up with sharp things, and showing off it’s monogram to all of the other appliances. The Kitchen Aid stand mixer is so jealous. I lightly sanded in between primer & spray painting coats to make sure it ended up super smooth. The monogram is white shelf liner that I cut using my Cricut.
Knife Block-1The other cool part - The top had 6 magnets countersunk into the block from the get-go! So… when you have too many large knives, and not enough large holes, you can slap them on top, like so (see above, right), and you’ve got extra storage! Great place for the knives you use all the time. I’m kind of jealous…

Let’s break it down:
Rust-oleum Spray Primer – about $5 after 40% off coupon at Joann’s
Rust-oleum Spray in Dark Walnut - about $5 after 40% off coupon at Joann’s
Knife Block from Goodwill – $4.99
White Shelf Liner – had on hand
Sandpaper – had on hand
Total – under $15
and bonus of adding to my spray paint library!

Did you get creative with any homemade gifts? I plan on keeping the trend going throughout the year for birthdays, too! They always seem to creep up and surprise me (and my budget)… Did you gift something homemade that people were particularly over the moon for?

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2 comments:

  1. This is a great idea and the knife block looks so much better! ;-)

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  2. I totally use the flat rate boxes for gift wrapping, storage bins, moving, and all sorts of things. I try to reuse when I can since I feel guilty taking so many over the years, but seriously those things are the best!
    Love the knife block!

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