Airstream bassinet

Lucy needed her own spot in the airstream. Our improvised sleeping arrangements were getting old for everyone. So, my man set about figuring out a solution for her! It's just perfect. Her own little nest!

Once he finished building it, he asked me to figure out how I would like it finished. I did a little thinking and decided to try a stain I found on Pinterest. There were many links about, so I read a bunch and took the high points from them all. 

To make the initial stain, I poured white vinegar over a pad of steel wool and let it sit for about 3 days. I was going to test it after 24 hrs, but it got set aside in favor of other activities...you know, the feeding the children & keeping the house kind. :)

The initial concoction:

One site recommended painting the wood with black tea first. The vinegar solution reacts with the tannins in the wood to create the color change, but some wood doesn't have enough tannins in it to elicit the reaction. That's where the tea comes in. Black tea has plenty of tannins. Here is my test strip of fir with varying coats of tea painted on prior to the vinegar solution:

Here is the pine test (pine has very little tannins):

The bassinet was made with fir, and I didn't like how dark the test strip was. I had do to a little alchemy to get it to the color I wanted. I ended up dilution the vinegar solution 100:1 with water before I got the color I wanted. Also, I didn't use any tea! 

Here is the finished project:

The top edge is actually naturally weathered scrap wood, so you can see what a great color match it ended up being!

Here's Lucy checking it out:

And here's how it fits right by our bed. Please excuse the messy bed and improvised headboard. (There is a real headboard in the works in the near future.)

"Mom, I'm trying to nap here!"

Obviously, this is a temporary solution, since the sweet sprout will be getting pretty mobile soon, but I love it for now! Thank you, husband, for taking the time to make Lucy a bed!!