Tuesday, March 13, 2012

New Garden Work Bench

I asked my husband to build me a garden work bench and a year later I decided to take charge and build it myself. I noticed be had some wooden pallets stacked in the fire pile. Obviously he does not use Pinterest or there is no way he would waste such a value. I mean there is like 1000 things you can do with a pallet.

I found this site on Pinterest and thought I would give it a try. I dragged my wagon up to the fire pile and rescued me some pallets. So I couldn’t even get past step one – disassemble the pallets. Whoever put those pallets together did not intend for them to come apart. So I threw those instructions out the window and made up my own.

I figured why waste all this solid structure. Surely there is a way to just cut here and there and presto there is a work bench. Well it wasn’t that easy but I must say I am pretty sure anyone can do it.

Here is what you need:

2 pallets
Skill saw
Drill
Safty glasses
Screws
Hammer
Crow bar
Miter saw (or anything that will cut)

Now I am going to try to explain this in as few steps as possible. Also try to do this when the hubby is not home so you don't have to hear him tell you what you are doing wrong when you are not. lol.

Step 1 – Use the skill saw and cut the pallets 2/3rds way down. One side will have three boards (We will call that the top sections) and the other side will have two boards (we will call those the bottom sections). Do this to both pallets.

Step 2 – Disassemble the bottom sections of one of the pallets. I couldn’t remove the old nails so I just hammered the crap out of them until they disappeared into the wood. Place the two boards on one of the top section. This will complete the top table of the work bench.



Step 3 – Take the blocks from the disassembled section and add (screw it down) the to the other bottom half section for support. This completes your bottom shelf.

Step 4 – now for the legs. I found these old fence posts up in our junk pile. Otherwise, you can buy some or use 4x4. I cut the tops off and screwed them to the outside of the bottom shelf.



Step 5 – Now place the top table part (step 2) on top of the legs. I had to make some brackets to attach the lags to the top.

Step 6 – Time to add the top shelf. Grab that top section of the second pallet and place it on its side and attach it to the table top (step 2) as best you can. Use brackets and screws.


Step 7 – Sand the wood as much as you feel like it. I only sanded the top part. Apply some stain and poly. You just need something to protect it from the weather. You could also paint it and add color to the garden.I added some screws here and there to hang my tools from. Viola, you are done.


I’m not good with instructing, so be creating and when in doubt, put a screw in it. I basically just made it up as I went along. Pallets are free so if you mess up just get another one.

Friday, March 2, 2012

New Bag

There is no doubt that my taste is bigger then my wallet. I was recently looking for a carryon bag for a trip and of course the VeraBradley big duffle bag caught my eye. There is just no way I can spend that amount of money on one bag. So I had to come up with an alternative. I went to Hancock Fabrics and got the Butterick Weverly pattern number B5581 when it was on sell for $1.99. Seemed doable I thought.

Now finding a fabric that I liked enough to but all this hard working into and that I could afford was not going to be easy. Last month I went to the All About Fabric sale in Williamston and they had these Roman shades on sale for $5.00 each. Amazing. I found one that I loved for a bag but not a shade. I ripped all the lining out and the little plastic circles and began my project.

So basically by huge duffle bag (22x12) cost a total of $6.99. I think it turned out pretty great and was fairly easy. I call it the Oval Office bag. lol. I started yesterday and finished it today. I would say about 3 to 4 hours total.