Antique Furniture Gingerbread Trim Repair With Wood Filler

This is a "quick tip" more than a "how to".   I was working on an antique tiger oak sideboard .  The customer only wanted me to make minor repairs, do touch up etc.  She wanted to keep it in as original shape as possible and had a very small budget .  One of the cabinet doors was missing a sizeable piece of decorative "gingerbread" trim.  It had a curving piece of oak missing and was quite noticable. 

What I used:

Card stock or stiff paper
Elmers wood filler
sandpaper
small sharp chisel
dremel
craft paint (oak wood colors)
laquer spray


Carving a delicate piece out of oak was out of the question for the time and budget available.  I had the idea to sculpt wood filler.  However, I didn't want to gob it on and needed to be neat so the surrounding area wasn't damaged etc.  I rolled up a cone from some stiff paper.  I filled the paper with a generous amount of Elmers wood filler.  I cut the tip off the cone and squeezed out the wood filler like frosting from a pastry cone.  After practicing on some scrap, I gave it a shot.  It gave me the diameter I needed and wasn't too messy.  I let it harden over nite and then carefully shaped it with a sharp chisel, dremel and sandpaper.  I used regular craft paint to try to match up the color.  The repair was top coated with some laquer spray.  Overall the effect was achieved and the customer was happy.