Converting our shed into a bar

Well, it is more of a summerhouse than a shed, but we affectionately call it the ‘shed’ (so not to sound too posh). We purchased this summerhouse during Spring 2016, and I began work to convert it into a family bar over the summer months.

Construction of our home-made bar

The basic structure for the bar was to install a length of shelving around two internal sides of the summerhouse with a central island that drinks could be served from.

Summerhouse to bar conversion

So off I went to B&Q and purchased shelving, and various pieces of wood for the central island/bar. The shelving was quite straight forward to install. The vertical support struts to the Summerhouse making convenient locations to attach the shelf supports. The following picture is taken internally to show how the shelving was attached.

Bar conversion - internal structure

The central island was achieved by firstly constructing a wooden frame which was clad with pine cladding. I extended the above shelving to form the bar surface and additionally to form an overhead beam. I also included a pine turned newel post to complete the look of the bar area, as well as providing some support. All very straightforward to make, and it took me a couple of weeks off and on to convert the summerhouse into a working bar.

Decorating the home-made bar

Now the fun stuff starts, decorating the bar! Firstly, for the optics, I purchased a wall mounted spirit drinks dispenser from Amazon and a lovely bar mirror, advertising my favourite tipple, Newcastle Brown Ale. I also sourced bar drip towels, bar mats and a Carling ice bucket amongst other things.

Home-made bar - decorations

My greatest expense by far was an Angram beer pump, complete with beer tap and engine that I purchased directly from the manufacturers.

Home-made bar - Angram beer pump

I asked a fellow crafter to make me a bar-sign to hang on the outside of the bar, and he did a fantastic job! The sign read 'The Cluley Tavern Est 2016'.

'The Cluley Tavern' home bar sign

Connecting a bag of Ale to the pump

I managed to get some real ale from my local micro-brewery 'The Elliswood Brewery', and the Ale was supplied to me as a bag in a box, with the Ale was aptly named 'Just One More'!

Elliswood Brewery Real Ale

I removed the bag of Ale from its box and placed it within a cool box, drilled a hole into the cool box lid and fed the hose from the beer pump to the bag of ale.

Real Ale bag connected to beer pump

Several ice packs were placed around the bag of Ale, and I even included a simple temperature monitor so that I could ensure the temperature of the Ale remained suitable. 

The grand opening of our garden bar

I arranged July 10th to be the Grand opening of our bar and invited close family to attend. My Mum and Dad were asked to perform the task of cutting of the ribbon, I even tied balloons to the corners of the shed, I mean bar!

The garden bar grand opening

Everyone had an enjoyable time, and it really did feel like a real bar inside the shed, and I had fun pulling pints!

Home-made bar - me pulling pints

Many thanks for reading about our home-made family bar and if you want any information about how I made the bar, please ask in the comments below.

Mick

Earring studs containing hair - smallest hair keepsake?

I made these earring studs containing horse hair recently and they were very fiddly to make! The sterling silver earring studs containing the horse hair measure just 10mm in diameter and each individual strand of hair is meticulously positioned with resin inside the circular setting. This makes the earring studs one of the smallest items of jewellery that I currently make!

Horse hair earring studs

Another example of the horse hair ear studs can be seen below. Individual strands of the hair have been set within the earring settings, forming a criss-cross pattern.

Ear studs containing horse hair

And for completeness, here are similar ear studs containing a loved ones human hair.

Earring studs for a loved ones hair

But the circular horse hair earring studs above are not the smallest item of jewellery that I make, this honour is awarded to my rope edged silver earring studs that can be made as small as 5mm in diameter. The example below contains the smallest curls of hair that I have ever seen, also demonstrating how the resin setting containing the hair can be coloured to any colour.

Rope edged stud earrings for hair

And here is a picture of similar earring studs containing pet hair.

Earring studs containing pet fur

Slightly bigger, measuring just 6mm in diameter are these bead-edged earring studs. The hair or fur is again encased in resin within the circular settings and is surrounded by a single row of silver beads. 

Bead-edged earring studs for hair

The earring studs can be made larger to accommodate larger locks of hair and therefore creating a statement piece of jewellery. These teardrop shaped earring studs are approximately twice the size of the above, measuring 10mm x 7mm and the locks of hair are encased within resin inside the teardrop or pear-shaped silver setting.

Teardrop earring studs for a lock of hair

I am not sure if there is a world record for the smallest piece of jewellery containing a lock of hair? Although very unlikely, but if I ever make anything smaller than the 5mm setting, I will let you know!

Mick