Curio Cabinet Bookshelf

Gary cutting the log for our curio cabinet

Gary got a log from Middleton Timber (the company that milled our logs for the log cabin) and marked it with blue painter's tape so that he could cut it in half and use the log halves for our curio cabinet bookshelf. He first used a draw knife to hand-peel the log--there is a photo at the end (somehow it got out of order when it was uploaded) that shows Gary using the draw knife.

Curio Cabinet Bookshelf

Gary made one more bookshelf for our log cabin! This is the LAST one--we hope! This is on the south wall of our great room and will be used to display knick-knacks, Gary's oil lamp collection, and books about log cabins. See the log Gary split on the sides of the curio cabinet?

Close-up photo of the curio cabinet

This photo shows the curio cabinet with a few knick-knacks on it. Debi has decided that her new obsession will be collecting log cabin cookie jars. She has one from the "Bass Pro Shop" which also came with a set of salt and pepper shakers in the shape of a small log cabin and a pine tree. She is in the market for more, so if you find a cute log cabin cookie jar (or salt and pepper shakers) let her know!

The Finished Curio Cabinet and Bookshelf

Here is the finished curio cabinet with all the knick-knacks on it. We have also displayed some of the oil lamps from Gary's collection. Don't worry--they are secured with "museum putty" and the lamps just have colored water in them--not kerosene. All of the knick-knacks have the museum putty to secure them to the shelf. We've lived in earthquake country long enough to know that anything breakable needs to be held to the shelf with "earthquake putty".

There is also an area for the computer. Our dream is to one day have a big roll-top desk in that area so that we can close it up and hide all of the mess of papers and computer stuff. It's on our "dream list" of things for the log cabin.

Gary using a draw knife to hand-peel the log

Gary used a draw knife to hand-peel the log that we used for the curio cabinet sides. For some reason, this picture got out of order. It should have been the first picture, then the picture of him cutting it with a chain saw.