I really, really like wood, but I've also started looking into concrete. I've been planning a little concrete table build which I'll probably do for Xmas.
This past year I've made a couple of things for my girlfriend - the first one was a pretty simple rail. I planned to make it double height originally but the simplicity of what I had to end up making turned out really nice.
![Image](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-RpoosYY5qF0/UcCG8IHaYoI/AAAAAAAAB4M/yGeG8wXrCkQ/w644-h483-no/IMG_20130618_164527.jpg)
Last Xmas I noticed she didn't have anywhere nice to do her makeup, so I decided to make her a holywood mirror. I took the mirror from my parents house (they weren't using it anymore) and I had this piece of scaffolding wood that I'd used before to cut other bits of wood on. It had great big slashes in it and I thought it had lots of character. It had been in the garden for months so it had to come in to dry.
![Image](https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-rRf8zlcZCBE/UZ5732g6gNI/AAAAAAAAATQ/8N8jEtpuEZE/w387-h516-no/IMG_20121218_200822.jpg)
Cutting up (proof that I did it)
![Image](https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-ZfMtp0WkEFM/UZ58krKbiRI/AAAAAAAAAUk/FFpW4ESqas4/w644-h483-no/IMG_20121219_121320.jpg)
![Image](https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-Pxld7zg33EA/UZ58gG94JjI/AAAAAAAAAUQ/dxJBACHhy9g/w387-h516-no/IMG_20121219_120841.jpg)
I try to always use natural stuff, so I stained the wood with strong coffee. Once I put the lights on it smelled like coffee as it warmed up.
![Image](https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/--XrM78CAdtU/UZ58x-YjJrI/AAAAAAAAAVM/k3oZqaVDwC8/w387-h516-no/IMG_20121220_120203.jpg)
Here's a photo of both on them in situ.
![Image](http://i.imgur.com/xZFzFKyl.jpg)