Marg Callaghan’s house, garden and shed give the impression she has been handcrafting furniture for decades. So it’s difficult to believe it was only this time last year the 81-year-old completed her first piece.
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“I just came out one morning and decided I would have a go at something,” she said.
Ms Callaghan began with an outdoor setting for her daughter, which she crafted by trial and error using her dining setting as a guide for measurements.
WATCH MARG’S VIDEO INTERVIEW HERE
To her surprise it was a success. Her second daughter was soon asking for one.
“I ended up making three of them and I was sick to death of them by the time I’d finished,” she said.
Most of her skills have come from years of watching her late husband at work, who she believes is still with her in spirit.
“We made things for our kids – I would come up with the ideas of what to do and draw them and then he’d cut them out,” she said.
“Sometimes I’m out here (in the shed) and I get in a bit of a muddle, and I just look up and think, ‘what would we do here now?’ and I just seem to find out what to do and go ahead and do it.”
Often without a plan, Ms Callaghan has made everything from bird houses, planters and wishing wells to coffee tables and boxes.
She is currently crafting a three-storey doll house, having recently finished a clock which now hangs on her dining room wall.
“I just come out and I just start and it just seems to happen,” she said.
Ms Callaghan said G. Gay & Co Mitre 10 even had a ‘Marg’s corner’ where they kept bits and pieces aside for her, then helped her load her car.
“I take them down (homemade) sausage rolls and scones just to thank them and they love that,” she said.
Her children, grandchildren and even a great grandchild all benefit from the new hobby with their Christmas presents sorted.
But Ms Callaghan also donates her wares to Nazareth House, which are sold at fates and markets to raise funds for the aged care facility.
And while it was never the intention, she has even sold a few pieces through word of mouth and is putting that money towards a new saw.
“(When I was younger) I wasn’t a bit interested in it (woodwork) – I never ever thought I would do anything like this,” she said.
“But I love it. I’d be out here (in the shed) at three o’clock in the morning if I didn’t have neighbours.”
