{"id":885,"date":"2021-08-30T07:32:00","date_gmt":"2021-08-30T07:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost:8009\/stories\/?p=885"},"modified":"2021-11-11T21:19:30","modified_gmt":"2021-11-11T21:19:30","slug":"the-woodworkers-of-rayonier-laura-peacock","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.neforestrydistribution.com\/stories\/the-woodworkers-of-rayonier-laura-peacock\/","title":{"rendered":"The Woodworkers of New England Forestry: Laura Peacock"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Over the past year, the market for wooden DIY projects has exploded. The work the forestry industry does provides the wood, so we set out to see some of the best DIY projects around. We started with our own employees, holding the first-ever New England Forestry DIY Contest. Today, we feature Florida-based Revenue Specialist Laura Peacock and her rustic wooden cooler.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The story behind the design of Laura Peacock’s rustic DIY wooden cooler pays homage to the man who taught her not only about woodworking, but also about what it means to make the most of what you have and to be a blessing to others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like father like daughter, in more ways than one!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Laura learned the basics of woodworking from her father while growing up in small town Florida. His woodworking skills were born of necessity and honed for pleasure as a young man. He was a Vietnam veteran who did most of his woodworking outdoors or in his shop, which is what drew her to the craft.  \u201cMy brother and I gravitated towards whatever Dad was doing because it was outside and we were outside most of the time. So we were naturally drawn to it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Laura
Laura loved to spend time outdoors with her father, as shown here during her childhood.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy dad was one of nine kids, so they didn\u2019t pay people to do things they could do themselves. My dad picked up woodworking to help out around the house. He wasn\u2019t great at it for a long time, but he crafted his skills and eventually got good at doing a lot of different things.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe mostly learned from watching him. Our family was really close and we did everything together. We wanted to work together, whether it was canning season, building a deck, adding a room, or building a birdhouse. Except there was a line drawn between my mom and dad, dad didn\u2019t cross to mom\u2019s quilting and she didn\u2019t cross to his woodworking territory!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ironically, Laura\u2019s father worked for New England Forestry in the Fernandina paper mill (New England Forestry owned the mill until 2014, when New England Forestry Advanced Materials spun off into its own company). \u201cIt\u2019s funny to think that my Dad retired from New England Forestry, now I work for New England Forestry and we both share that love of woodworking.\u201d Like father, like daughter, in more ways than one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though Laura\u2019s father passed away from lung cancer about 7 years ago, her family still continues their traditions of helping one another and others. Whether it\u2019s helping each other with woodworking projects, volunteering at church, or helping a disabled neighbor mow his ditch, Laura\u2019s father instilled a strong sense of generosity, dependability and community in his children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Laura's
Laura’s father also worked for New England Forestry.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The story behind the cooler: inspired by pallets, made from fencing panels<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Laura\u2019s cooler, a finalist in the New England Forestry employee DIY Contest, was inspired by her friends in Nashville. They asked her to help them build one out of pallets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI saw the picture and was like, heck yes!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Laura had other plans in terms of design and execution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy Dad was actually doing pallet crafts long before it was a thing. When I got married, he built me what seems like an 800 pound china cabinet out of pallet boards. So, I knew what a chore they can be to take apart.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keen on avoiding the chore of pallet dismantling during her next visit to Tennessee, and eager to surprise her friends with a premade gift, Laura figured out another way to build the cooler.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI really like taking a design and figuring out how to put my own spin on it. I had just repaired my privacy fence and I had fence panels. So I said, forget about pallets, I’ll just use these. It worked out perfectly!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"DIY
Laura made the project her own, skipping the pallets and adding features like a spigot on the side.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For the cooler itself, Laura bought a basic red chest cooler and built a rolling rustic cabinet around it. She removed the top from the cooler and built a wooden lid to fit. Then she added a spout on the side for drainage using basic plumbing hardware (a pipe and a spigot).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo, I had the whole thing made, but led them on to believe we\u2019d go find some pallets and build it. They were so surprised! I\u2019m like that. If you give me an idea I\u2019m probably going to try it out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to its good looks, the cooler is also super functional, as it can be rolled around to different parts of the yard, to block parties, etc. She even included a small chalkboard sign on the cooler that can be customized for special occasions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve built about 5 of them now and have yet to finish my own! But that always seems to happen because I love giving my stuff away.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Woodworking as a hobby and a side hustle<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Laura not only builds and designs beautiful coolers and furniture, she\u2019s also created a side-job making door hangers out of plywood (pictured below).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Homemade
Some of Laura’s Door Hangers made from plywood.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo woodworking has also become a great way to make some extra money, but I mostly just enjoy doing it. Especially these days when people are starting to appreciate handmade items more. That\u2019s another thing, I feel like my Dad and I started doing these things (like working with pallets, making custom door hangers, etc.) before they became trends.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks to the skills she learned from her father, Laura was also able to do most of the renovation work on what she lovingly refers to as her \u201cnew-old-home,\u201d including installing crown molding and replacing sheetrock. A big sell-point of the home was the 3-car garage, which meant she now has more than enough room for a woodshop and storage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a hobby, Laura derives great pleasure from transforming raw materials into the finished product. But ironically, she does not consider herself a \u201ccreative person.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI never felt like I was a really creative person. But I don\u2019t have to be creative, I just have to be a copycat! I have the tools and I have an ability to take something that\u2019s not<\/em> and turn it into something that is<\/em>, and it makes me feel good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe ties to my family history, and just seeing people\u2019s faces when they unwrap a camper door hanger to hang on their camper door…I just love to make other people happy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
This baseball clock is another one of Laura’s creations.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Bridging the gender gap in woodworking: advice for women who like power tools<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For whatever reason, woodworking has been a predominantly male pastime. Yet women are perfectly capable of mastering the art and skill. Here\u2019s Laura\u2019s take on the gender gap and how women can get past it and join the party:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m in my mid-40s, and for people like me and older, there\u2019s a line that\u2019s been drawn about what men do and what women do. As women in general, and it\u2019s easier for us to limit ourselves based on those old stereotypes. But know that it\u2019s okay to break the mold a little bit. Because the thing is, if you want to learn something these days you can learn how to do it. There are thousands of resources out of there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs my mom would always say when I\u2019d ask her if I could do this or that, \u2018Why not?!\u2019 Give it a shot. The worst that can happen is you\u2019re out a bit of money for materials.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI used to teach, and I’d tell my students that if they could read they can do anything.\u00a0You don\u2019t even have to be able to read these days. Just ask Alexa, Siri, or tell your TV remote what you want to see.\u00a0Knowledge is power, learn all you can and become all you can. There are no limits!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can read more of our DIY stories featuring talented woodworkers here<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Over the past year, the market for wooden DIY projects has exploded. The work the forestry industry does provides the wood, so we set out to see some of the best DIY projects around. We started with our own employees, holding the first-ever New England Forestry DIY Contest. Today, we feature Florida-based Revenue Specialist Laura Peacock and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":935,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[53,2,50],"tags":[51,52],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\r\nThe Woodworkers of New England Forestry: Laura Peacock | New England Forestry Stories<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Laura Peacock is a longtime woodworking DIYer. 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