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WHY BUY CUSTOM MADE?

We understand you are unique.  So why should you have the same furniture as your friends and neighbors?  You want your home to be a reflection of who you are.  Your typical furniture store carries what they think the Average person wants.  Let your furniture say so much more than “I’m Average”.  

As we mostly build custom work, there is no mass manufacturing.  When you call to discuss the design of the furniture you've always wanted, you are talking directly to the skilled artisan who will build it.  Your personal sense of style goes into making a piece you will value for years.  We build with the future in mind.  We want you to be able to hand down this unique piece to future generations.   

Earth Day: Being Green

Being Green shouldn't just be for 1 day of the year.  Yes, it's Earth Day, but let's talk about some sound practices that can make a difference all year long.

In the spirit of that I'm recycling a previous post about how we are "Green" at our shop:

Most shops buy cups to mix stain in….I save my soda cans, cut off the bottom and have a cup.  After I’m done using it, I send it to the recycling plant.  

Most shops buy bottles to properly store stains after mixing them.

 Did you know that soda bottles (the plastic ones) are resistant to acetone, lacquer, thinner and basically every other chemical used in the common wood shop?   I've known this for years and use them all to store these items.  This saves money for the shop and reuses (recycles) these ‘throw away’ products giving them a second life before I send them to the recycling plant.  I pay for them once and use them twice.

Lumber.  I have a ‘firewood pile’ in the shop.  It’s all the scraps from projects worked on.  I even draw from it all the time in the shop if I need a small piece for a moulding , test piece, peg or dowel etc, etc. Then, as a last use, when the pile gets too big I take it out camping with me and…firewood it is (cherry makes some fine tasting marshmallows btw).  I’m currently using the sawdust in the shop to store my olive tree slabs to dry them for my Master’s Project.  Said and done right now only about 3% of all lumber coming into the shop ends up in a landfill.   Judging from the 17 other woodshops outside my door, other shops seem to average about 10-15%.

Rags come from friends, neighbors and old work clothes.  I haven’t bought a rag in the entire history of my shop.

Glass/aluminum are used whenever and wherever I can.  10yrs ago I bought aluminum bottles for my water out camping (the kind you can see in every environmentally friendly hand today)….all my friends said I was crazy and bought lexan bottles.  Mine are all still in use and all of theirs are now in landfills.

GLASS! The miracle product!  It needs no recycling! Hey people…it’s a ROCK it started a ROCK and it’s still a ROCK and it will return to being a ROCK when humans are all dead and gone from this planet!  There is even an entire beach in northern California, known for its beauty, that’s totally made of glass shards due to a now defunct glass factory located nearby.  It’s all been rounded by the sea and re-deposited on the beach.  And study after study cannot find any detrimental effects to the environment…it’s a ROCK people!

Am I an eco nut?...not on your life.  However common sense and a general care of where and how I live goes a long way towards being green.

Saturday, April 27th at Crafted at the Port of LA!

We'll be at this Great Event.

This is a one day festival taking place at CRAFTED at the Port of Los Angeles in the beautiful ocean side San Pedro. Live music and DJ’s playing a wide variety of music. Southern California handmade artisan vendors, artist, and live art. Food trucks to satisfy your appetite. Give aways and free kids activities! Support Local Artist!!! Buy Handmade!!! Items being sold by vendors must fit in one of the following categories: Art, Handmade, Vintage, or Artisanal Food. 

CRAFTED at the Port of Los Angeles is a new concept for Southern California; a large-scale permanent craft marketplace.

MUSIC LINE UP:

DJ Frank FoReal

Marie Clare Halpin 
www.facebook.com/marieclaremusic

Triple Dog Dare U
www.facebook.com/tripledogdareu

.... More to be Announced

ACTIVITIES:

Hula Hoop Area
www.facebook.com/Hoopfreak
www.hoopfreak.com

Interactive Art Exhibit
By Super Peat Art
www.superpeatart.com

Face Painting 

Free Give-Aways
Provided by ETSY
www.etsy.com

Free Kids Activities
Provided by SoCal Etsy Guild
www.facebook.com/socaletsyguild

FOOD VENDORS:

Vella Pizza 
https://www.facebook.com/Vellapizza 

Gravy Train 
http://www.gravytrainpoutinerie.com/menu/ 

Win a Barefoot Woodworker T-shirt!

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See us at Knott's Christmas Crafts Village!

From November 21st through Christmas Eve, Knott Berry Farm’s 1880s Ghost Town is transformed into Knott’s Christmas Crafts Village.  

This adorable village, invites mall-weary guests to explore one-of-a-kind treasures created by more than 100 artisans in a Victorian holiday wonderland of strolling carolers, musical groups, community choirs and lavish holiday decorations. 

And we'll be one of those great 100 artisans bringing our handmade wares to the holiday fun!  Come on down and support local businesses!! 

Adding to the unique Village atmosphere are live performances of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” and O. Henry’s “A Gift of the Magi” in the Bird Cage Theatre. 

Custom Requirements for a Table and Buffet

The table shown here is made of solid birch. 

There is no plywood or particle board found  here. 

Two removable (grain-matched) leaves were made for this table, allowing it to be either  7, 8 or 9 feet long.

An Interesting Requirement! 

The client required it be sturdy enough to hold two dancing 200lb people on it.  Now that’s custom!  When the customer arrived to pick this piece up, I had put the two leaves in and was sitting in the center of the 9’ table.  

(That’s 180lbs on the weakest point of the table!).

The matching solid birch buffet also had some interesting requirements:

“It needs to be this tall”

(customer held hand parallel to floor and I measured from there).

“It needs to be this long”

(customer held arms outstretched and I measured from there),

If you look closely at the pictures, you’ll see the top is not perfectly flat. 

It was hand-planed.  

Heart-Shaped Musical Ring Box - Completed

and finally the reveal!!!

The project: a custom jewelry box to present a custom wedding ring!

Turned and carved out of Musical Grade Fiddleback Maple, hand rubbed with a white pearlesence, mechanically designed and created by me, and hand painted blue (interior) with a custom made glass post to hold the ring.  The Zip a Dee Do Dah music you are hearing in the beginning is the actual unaltered live sound.

Custom design and custom made!

Learn more about the process here: http://barefootwoodworker.blogspot.com/search/label/heart-shaped%20music%20box

Win a $20 CPK Gift Card

First we'd like to congratulate our winner of the Tic Tac Toe game!

But we are ready to go on our next contest.  This will be a short one so hurry and get on board!


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While you are running around the internet to win our cool handmade swag, please take a moment to support small businesses at www.MissionSmallBusiness.com.  Each vote adds $5 to the grant pool so more small businesses can get some much needed funds.  And we'd really appreciate a vote for us (CUSTOM CLASSICS in Anaheim, CA) while you are at it!  Thanks from the Barefoot Woodworker.

Mission Small Business

You do it all to drive your business forward. Chase and LivingSocial want to help fuel that drive by awarding up to 12 individual grants of $250,000 to 12 small businesses. Submit your Mission: Small Business℠ application today! 

If you believe your small business is eligible and wish to apply for a Grant, you must do the following:

• visit the Program Registration site at www.missionsmallbusiness.com 

• complete the Application and submit your Application;

• obtain at least 250 Votes; and

• be deemed eligible by the Sponsors.  

Then come back here and list your business in the comments below so we can vote for you too! 

We ask that you consider voting for others in the comments list. . and come back to see more who have voted for you!

Don't have a business but want to help! 

Vote for your favorite small businesses in your community. Consumers may vote an unlimited number of times but only once for each small business. Each business needs at least 250 votes to be considered for a $250,000 grant. Eligible small business applicants will then be judged by a panel of business experts. 

This grant is an amazing opportunity.

We are trying to garner votes for this endeavor.  This grant would allow us to complete ambitious projects that achieve three major goals: growth of our business, continued charitable presence in our local community, and becoming a woodworking educational presence (starting apprenticeship programs) in the online and local community. This would change our lives and the lives of others as well.    

Please consider voting for us.  Custom Classics in Anaheim, CA. 

Don't forget to put your business in the comments so we (and others) can vote for you!