Rustic Decorative Box Built Fast and Cheap

If you're known by others to make things with wood, chances are you'll have opportunities to make custom pieces for others with the holidays fast approaching. Having said that, it's not always about showing off skills, implementing new methods, or even conquering a challenge for that matter. Sometimes, it's just about doing something for someone else. The way I figure it, I can build this, or they can go pay who-knows-what for something similar at Hobby Lobby. This is a super simple box I put together for a family member to decorate the center of her dining table. It would also work great as a planter. No lap joints, no dove tails, no rabbits, just wood cut to size, and tapped together with finishing nails. As simple as that is, not everyone has the know-how or the needed tools. That's a fact that I sometimes forget.

I used fence boards for this, because she wanted the box to have a 'rustic' look. Because of this, I didn't even worry about small gaps or joints that were slightly uneven. These boards are only a couple of bucks for a 6 footer, so it was also extremely inexpensive. The boards are about 6" wide, which is exactly the dimensions she asked for. So all I had to do was cut them to length.

No sanding whatsoever, and the only power tool I used was the miter saw. I did apply glue before nailing it together. One coat of spray lacquer brought out the color of the wood and finished it up. Aside from going and buying the boards, this literally took.. maybe 10 minutes. But, here's the key: she's happy which makes me happy.

*Update 12/2/2020 - Here's what she did with it.

Set Up Shop - WWMM Courses Testimonial

I've mentioned a number of times on this website how much I enjoy all the video content from WWMM(Woodworking for Mere Mortals) and Steve Ramsey. I received an email some time ago asking me to fill out a survey and share my thoughts on the Weekend Workshop course. I'm sure everyone who purchased the course received the same email. I generally tend to ignore these types of emails, but because I'm such a "fanboy", I decided to take the survey and share some thoughts. I noticed today that an excerpt from my review is posted on the homepage of WWMM.

I guess they really do read these responses, huh?

So I will say it here, not that Steve needs any help from me. Whether you're experienced  in woodworking or not, log in to Youtube and search for Steve Ramsey - Woodworking for Mere Mortals. You'll learn a lot by spending some time scrolling through the many videos there, AND you will find yourself smiling and snickering at many of the entertaining things he does. Even if you're a seasoned woodworker, I can assure you that you'll enjoy it. If you want a much faster approach to setting up a shop and getting started building, his courses - such as The Weekend Workshop are a great place to start (imho).

I'm not including links, but it's all easy to find..

Learning to Paint with the Graco Magnum X7 Airless Sprayer

I'm in the middle of doing a renovation on a house to sell. The house needs paint in just about every room, and I originally thought I would just hire someone to do it. As I thought more about it, I got the bright idea that I would buy a paint sprayer, do the job myself and $ave Money. 

My biggest lesson in this scenario, is that painting with a sprayer is the easy part. The hardest part is placing tape, plastic, and drop cloths everywhere you don't want the paint to go. Did I say everywhere? I mean EVERYWHERE.

Kobalt Air Hose Reel Malfunction

I bought this air hose reel sometime during this past summer, brought it home and installed it. I used it a number of times to air up a trailer tire that has a slow leak, as well as with my brad nailer, etc. I pulled the hose out a couple weeks ago, and holy cow there was this big bubble in the hose. I wasn't sure how dangerous this is, but I wasn't gonna take any chances of having something blow up in my face.

Kitchen Drawer Divider

My utensil drawer was a very sad case. And making photos and a blog post were the last thing on my mind at the time. So.... I failed to get a before picture. But, I had one of those store-bought trays in there, and it did keep my forks and spoons together, but it wasn't a flush fit. So other things also had a tendency to gather in the drawer. Before long, it was an unorganized mess. I already had one junk drawer. So this planned-out, custom fitted divider tray was the solution.

My 20-Minute Clamp Rack

After moving to where we now live, I had my clamps laying in the floor for months. After moving them around a few times to get them out of the way, I FINALLY decided to put them on the wall. Why I waited so long, I don't know....just pure procrastination.

It's definitely nothing fancy. But it works perfectly, and proves a point in my mind. I can step over something that's always in the way, or I can spend less than an hour with leftover pieces of wood to solve the problem. I've learned the hard way, that taking the time to organize tools, and put some thought in how my shop is laid out is a worthwhile endeavor. It's not as much about what looks nice and orderly, but it's about being in order to save time, effort, and frustration.