Anything I can do with old paneling

[daffodil]

Here's the problem, it's not only old paneling it's moldy. It was tore out of my cottage and laid outside for 4 1/2 years. I cut it up and have been trying to throw it in the trash but I still have piles of it. Is there anything I can make with it? I also have some white ceramic tiles laying out there, some broken, some not. It would be nice if I could make something out of it to sell. There's also scraps of 2 x 4's and other odd wood pieces. I cut the paneling into about 1 1/2' x 1 1/2' pieces. Any ideas?

[CarolAnn]

You can get rid of the mold easily enough with some bleach water in a spray bottle - just be sure you stack them in the sun to dry thoroughly or they'll warp. The thing to consider is - how good is the wood, and is it worth the work of salvaging it. If it is pretty, there are lots of crafts that call for thin wood, from doll houses to bird houses, to panels you prime and paint on. (Early painters never used canvas - they used wood!)

How big are your tiles? Mosaics are very in now - and you can mix them with pieces of broken pottery & colored glass to make designs. My nephew's wife makes gorgeous picture and mirror frames, stepping stones, flower pots - she even covers old wooden chairs with mosaic tiles that she glues on, then grouts. These are used for garden decorations and they sell well at craft fairs.

If you'd like to try mosaic stepping stones, you could even use your wood as the back of a framework to pour cement into. Put down a stick-built frame around the wood to make a box about 1.5" deep. Cut contact paper to fit inside & put it sticky side up. This will hold your tiles / glass pieces in place. Make sure you put the pretty side toward the sticky side, and the side facing up will be imbedded in the cement. Use ready mix cement to fill the box, poured over the mosaic. When it's set up, rip off the sides and pull off the backing to reveal the mosaic design. You can also imbed pebbles, marbles - sea shells this way. The stepping stones will be stronger if you have some chicken wire cut a bit smaller than the box and put in after you've poured half of the cement, as it ties it together.

[daffodil]

Good idea! Thanks!