Wooden star christmas decorations.

For a while my wife has wanted some wooden star Christmas decorations and to be honest I haven't managed to get around to making any until now, I always seem to be doing other things or time just seems to run out.

But I've finally managed it -

Very festive.

The lights on the right hand side one are brighter because I made that one last so the batteries are a bit fresher.

I did only mean to make one large star, but I ended up making two large stars, a small star and two small stars for the tree.

Rather than cut out a star shape from a sheet of wood I have made these stars in sections glued together, the three in the picture above also have lights in.

I spent a grand total of four pounds on lights for these, I bought the small sets of led lights you can get from pound shops rather than wire up a load of led's from scratch.

It would have only been three pounds but I forgot how to do maths and for some reason didn't realise that if you have five points and you want to put five lights in each point you're going to need twenty five lights, and not twenty, so I had to buy an extra set of lights.

First I made some templates of various sized star sections, and one complete star, which I didn't actually use, the idea being that I would draw round the templates onto some wood and then cut out the sections and stick them together.

Templates, just printed out and stuck onto card - 

You can find star templates online.

I decided to make a test star first, the main reason was because I wanted the grain of the wood to run in line with each point, rather than in the same direction over the entire star, this is why I made them in sections rather than cut them out of a sheet of ply or some other type of material.

Test star sections cut - 

They need to be sanded.

I cut each section out roughly using my bandsaw, but any type of saw will do and then I sanded each section to the pencil lines using my bench sander, you could just as easily use a block of wood and some sand paper to finish each section, it'll just take a bit longer.

Sanding each section to the pencil marks makes for a tighter fit with no gaps where the sections meet in the centre.

Once that was done I glued the sections together to see what the finished stars might look like.

Test star finished - 

Not bad.

Once I was happy with the test star and that I'd got the grain of the wood to run in the right directions it was time to make things a bit bigger, to make the larger stars I used some wood from an old pallet and in the end the large stars measure about 14 inches across, so they are quite big, I also used the off cuts to make the stars for the tree in the same way, just smaller.

Marking out the sections (using one of the templates I made) - 

Nice and easy.

Once you have five sections cut out and sanded all you need to do then is glue them together, I've used wood glue, but you could use epoxy or most other types of glue, the only difference really is the time you need to allow for the glue to set.

Test star, one large star and one tree star glued, ready for sanding - 

Nearly done.

To fit the lights all I've done is to mark out five points on each section of the star and drill a hole the same size as the led lights, in this case that was about 5mm and meant the led's were a snug fit in each hole.

Marking out where the lights will go - 

You can just make out the pencil marks.

A quick test - 

It works well I think.

As you can see I went for quite a uniform arrangement of lights, there's no reason you can't be more random, had I gone for a random arrangement I could have got away with just using twenty led's on each star.

Once I'd drilled all the holes I needed I sanded the pencil marks off each star and then gave each one a coat of clear wax to bring out the grain of the wood and then on was on to tidying the wires up a bit.

Now for some tidying up - 

Hot glue to the rescue.

Using a glue gun I stuck the wires to the wood to stop them moving about, I also stuck the battery packs to the wood as well, but in such a way that I can still get the covers off to change the batteries.

You can see in the picture above where I had to join the extra led lights, this was an easy job, all I did was cut of five lights and then join them to the other ones to make a string of twenty five.

Gluing done - 

Keeps the wires out of the way.

And that's about it really, there are numerous ways this could be done, I may end up making them into light boxes so that the wiring is hidden a little better, but as they are they look nice when lit up and we like them, and it goes with our tradition of making some kind of decoration for Christmas every year, I even used the test star and put some of the spare lights in that in a random pattern.

Waste not, want not - 

I'm actually quite pleased with them.

The small ones I made for the tree don't have lights, but there's no reason they couldn't have lights fitted, although you'd want to use smaller led's.

These I made in the same way as the light up stars, they're just smaller and I've used some natural fibre string to hang them on the tree with.

Tree star, I made two of these - 

These go well with our other homemade decorations.

And there you have it, a cheap and simple Christmas decoration, that could also be used in a kids room on a dressing table or chest of drawers as a year round decoration.

Merry Christmas - 

Merry Christmas and thanks for reading.

Playing with pallets (again)

Everyone knows pallets are great,you can do so much with them,yes they may take a little extra work,but the end results can be brilliant and they are cheap (as in free) however more often than not they are made from pretty boring wood,which is okay for making chicken coops,tables and what ever else takes your fancy.

A little while ago one of our neighbours had some slate chips delivered on pallets (unsurprisingly) but rather than just strips of pine the wood on these pallets had a little character,so I asked if I could have them.

The reason I wanted them is because they were made from parawood (or rubberwood) and yes that is the same stuff you can buy as flooring,can't say I've ever seen pallets made from parawood before.

But it is quite nice to make things out of,like this -

A memory box I made for my wife,can you guess what it says ?

It can be a little tricky to work with on account of the wood being very roughly cut,it's not like stuff you can buy that’s been planed smooth,but it does have some interesting patterns and faults,which gives it a bit of character.

After I'd made the little box,I started to wonder what it would be like to turn some of it,which isn't quite as easy as it sounds,the blocks that pallets have are the best place to start,so after making sure I'd got all the nails out I made a few sets of tea light holders.

Here's the first set I made,which now sit on the sideboard in our front room,I quite like them,which is unusual for me as I'm my own worst critic.

 Tea light holders before -

Just blocks of wood,nothing to see here.

Tea light holders after -

They turned out quite nice,even if I do say so myself.

Now the blocks are pretty much ready made for turning,you don't have to do much,just stick them on the lathe and of you go,but what about something a little more creative?

As I like to experiment I decided I'd try gluing bits of wood together and see what happened,now this takes a little time as you have to wait for the glue to dry,so each block I made took 24 hours to make,I could have tried turning them sooner,but I didn't really fancy them flying apart on the lathe.

So from this (wood slices selected) - 

The tape is just to keep the wood in order.

To this (the wood glued and clamped together) -

I just used wood glue to stick the bits together.

And 24 and a bit hours later - 

Another set of tea light holders.

I'm quite pleased with them,they may not be everyone’s cup of tea,but as an experiment I think it worked out well,of course sticking bits of wood together and turning them isn't a new thing,but you can get some interesting results and it's always fun to experiment,I've seen some great things made from turned plywood,and just about everything in between.

Although it doesn't always work out,as this little vase / pen pot shows,I didn't want to waste the wood so I turned it anyway,but when I glued the bits together it wasn't all quite in line,so the slices were a bit skewed,but it's still quite nice,and it's given me another idea,that being what if I glue the bits together skewed on purpose and then turn it? 

The little vase / pen pot - 

Can you see where it's wonky?

It's fun to experiment,but be careful,especially when it comes to lumps of wood spinning at high speeds,I've been hit in the face before and whilst I only got a bruise for my troubles it still hurt,so take care,and if you happen to be in the market for some tea light holders,or anything else then check out my shop.

The Shed And Beyond Shop (Opens in new window)

Thanks for reading.

Garden Dominoes ...

Just when you thought there wasn't anything left to make with bits of pallet...

Technically I meant to do this last summer, but have only just got round to finishing it (seems there's a lot of that here) using the various off cuts from various pallet related builds (chicken coops and such like) I made a game for the kids to play in the garden, that game being dominoes.

A simple but fun game, that my daughter already seems to have a lot of luck at (she wins most games)


Here's the finished set -

A bit rustic, but still just as much fun.

As I said these are just off cuts, that I've made roughly the same length (6 inches or 15cm if you prefer) and each is roughly 3 inches wide (7.5cm) and there are 28 tiles in all, I gave them a sand first as they were a little rough.

Using a list I printed out from wikipedia - here (opens in new window) so I could remember what numbers each tile needed I set about marking them out ready for drilling.

It didn't take long to mark the tiles out - 

Much marking to be done.

Basically I divided the tiles in half then in each square I marked a cross, then on the cross I made a point for the drill bit to locate in, on all the tiles the holes are roughly an inch (2.5cm) apart, except the tiles with six holes, these holes are half an inch apart (1.25cm) and for the hole I used a 10mm drill bit in my post drill, using a hand drill would be just as easy, just don't go all the way through, although that would work too.

Tiles marked, you can see where each hole will go - 

A simple set of marks.

Once each tile was marked out I then took the lot to my shed and set about drilling holes, using the post drill is handy as it has a depth guide on it, which means I didn't end up drilling all the way through the tiles, I also used a saw, again with a depth guide to mark the halfway line that divides each tile.

Holes drilled, lines sawn - 

Ready for painting.

Next I figured I'd paint the holes (of which there are many) with a bit of black paint, just so they are more obvious, and as these are meant for use outside I will probably give them a coat of linseed oil, just to make them last a bit longer.

All done - 

Much easier to see what the numbers are.

Time for a game - 

Table is just as good as outside apparently.

I even made a wooden box to keep them in, it needs a bit of a sand though - 

And there you have it, easy to make, great to play on a sunny day in the garden, what could be more civilised ? any wood would do for this, I just had a load of bits lying around, but you could pick up a cheap piece of wood from your local diy shop, I've also been instructed to make a Jenga set as well, and if you do have pallets for a project remember to keep the blocks, they make great building blocks for the garden, in fact I wrote a short post about that very thing - heavy duty wooden building blocks (opens in new window)

Thanks for reading.

How to make hot boxes / window boxes ...

I meant to write this post earlier in the year, but being the flake I am I never got round to it.

So here it is, a short how to make hot boxes or window boxes if you prefer type post.

My wife recently wrote a post about the 'Hot Boxes' as we've come to call them, you can read the post here (opens in new window)

These are easy to make, and are a good use of a sunny wall in your garden, or indeed on a window sill, especially good if you don't have much space.

You will need a few tools, tape measure, square, drill & screws or a hammer & nails, a saw & a pencil.

Basically you need to make a box with the wood you choose, I've used pallets (I seem to have loads lying about) having strips of wood like you get from pallets makes life a lot easier.


This is what ours turned out like -

Complete with radishes.

Okay so grab some wood - 

I'm going for the rustic look.

It's up to you how big you make yours, the one I'm making is 18inches long, so what you need is 5 pieces of wood, 2 cut to the same length, these 2 bits will make up the back and the bottom of the box, 2 side pieces and a front piece.

Fix them together like so - 

If you have an 'L' shape you're on the right track.

Next the sides, these fit onto each end of the 'L' shape - 

Almost done, that didn't take long.

You could fit the sides into the box, which may make things neater looking, but for ease of fitting this to a wall I've made it so the front can be removed easily by just undoing a few screws, obviously if you use nails then you won't be able to get the front off.

Then you just need to add the front section and add some holes for drainage, and it's done, the choice of finish is a preference thing, you can leave them rough as I have or sand them smooth before you paint them, the world is your lobster.

Front on and done - 

One 'Hot Box'

Simple really, and an easy way to use a wall or window sill, obviously growing large things isn't really an option, but we managed radishes and some small carrots, but herbs would do just as well or some spring onions, and if you manage to find some pallets they cost nothing, just a little time.

Thanks for reading.

Another homemade trug ... ...

Warning contains yet more ways to use bits of pallet ! ! !

A while ago I made a small trug from random bits of plywood I had lying about, you can find the post here (opens in a new window) to be honest it was more a decorative thing than an actually functional carrying device.

The other night I was watching Super Scrimpers on channel 4, if you don't watch it you should really check it out, it's a great program, on the episode I watched I saw someone using a trug type basket for collecting their foraged items, so I thought (as I often do) I wonder if I can make something like that, and so today I did, and yes I used bits of pallet.

Here it is -

Mines a little different to the one I saw.

I'm oddly pleased with this for some reason, normally once I've made something I tend to look at it and start finding faults with it and thinking about how I could have done things differently, this however I'm finding faultless (at least from my point of view) you can see how it's made, it's just two curved bits of wood held together with thin strips of wood, with some natural fibre rope as handles.

This is very easy to make, and another good project for kids to try, especially if they are getting bored, the curve on the bottom is really easy to do, all you need is a few small nails and something bendy.

As I said the curve is easy to make, just mark out a length of wood to use as one of the sides, I made mine 18inches long, but it's up to you how big or small you want to make it.

Here's how to make the curve - 

Here's the wood marked at 18 inches.

Once you have marked out how long you want to make the trug you next need to mark 2 inches done from one edge, do this on each end.

Marking 2 inches down - 

There is a mark at 2 inches, honest.

Once you've marked each end you then need to find the middle of the section of wood, so if, like me you've made it 18 inches long then you need to put a mark at 9 inches.

The middle marked out - 

Next we need 3 small nails.

What we need to do now is put a small nail on each of the marks we've made, so a nail each end at the 2 inch mark and one nail at the 9 inch mark.

Nails all ready - 

I used small brass pins, I also used them to fix the trug together.

Now for the bendy bit, I used my steel ruler, but a piece of plastic trunking, or some other flat bendy substance will do, what you need to do is bend your ruler/trunking and use the nails to hold it in place, see the pictures below.

The curve already to be marked onto the wood - 

You can see how it works.

Here's a rough diagram of how to arrange it all - 

Simple really.

Ta da ! ! ! one curve - 

Not the greatest of pictures.

This is a quick way of making curves on bits of wood, and to be honest this is probably the most complicated bit of building this trug, adding the wooden strips is just a matter of cutting a load of wood and sticking it to the curved sections, I fixed mine with glue and brass nails.

All you need to do is fix the strips onto the curved part of each side - 

Roughly half an inch gap between each strip.

Now you may have noticed that the two centre strips are slightly thicker than the rest, this was just because I had cut enough wood, and I couldn't be bothered to get my table saw out again.

Here's what it looks like underneath - 

Probably best not put anything small in it.

It has gaps in it, so this is more a trug for collecting apples or other such things, as for the handles I had intended to bend a piece of thin wood over the top to make a loop type handle, but the wood I had wouldn't bend very well, so I went with plan 'B' 

(when undertaking any project it's always good to have a plan 'B')

Plan 'B' uses some natural fibre rope, which to be honest I like better, kind of makes it look more rustic ?

To make rope handles is just a case of making two holes in each side and then threading rope through and tying it off, you could also use an old leather belt as a carrying handle.

The rope handles - 

Thread through from the outside.

A simple knot does the job - 

A bit of super glue on the knot will stop it from undoing.

And there you have it, takes hardly anytime or money (if you have a load of wood lying about) and is a good sturdy functional thing, great for collecting fruit and veg when you next go foraging.

Thanks for reading.

Homemade bookends ... ...

I've been meaning to make some bookends for a while now, not that we actually have any room on any of our book shelves, too many books, which reminds me I have to make some new book shelves.

I made them from ... ... yes you guessed it bits of pallets, offcuts from other jobs to be exact.


Here they are -

Complete with books.

Now apart from the artistic bit, which I cut out of odd bits of wood using my scroll saw, these are really easy to make, and you can use any shape you can cut out for the decorative bit, maybe letters or numbers if these are for a kids room, or a dinosaur shape maybe, you are only really limited by your imagination, and perhaps a few tools.

To make the main part of the bookends you need four bits of wood, which you basically stick together in 'L' shapes, and what you should get is something like the picture below.

All fixed and ready for the arty bits - 

I used some wood glue and small brass pins to fix them together.

I made mine about 6 inches in height, but you can go as big or small as you want, I guess it depends on the books you have.

For the rest of each bookend I marked out a piece of wood with a hand drawn design and then cut it out with my scroll saw, if you don't have a scroll saw you can also use a coping saw, but it will take much longer to cut out, although it has to be said that does depend on what sort of design you go for, mine might have been a little over complicated, but I never do things the easy way ... ... well not all the time.

The arty bits - 

Perhaps a little too fiddly, but I like them.

 

In case you aren't sure what a scroll saw or a coping saw is, have a look at the pictures below, a coping saw is a lot cheaper than a scroll saw, but harder work.

My scroll saw - 

It's a great tool to have.

My coping saw (well one of them anyway) - 

Works just as well, but will make your arm ache after a while.

Once you have your design all you need to do is fix it to the two 'L' shaped parts you've made, I used wood glue again, and there you have it, two simple to make bookends, I gave mine a good sand and then just polished them with our homemade beeswax and linseed oil polish, which you can read about here (opens in new window)

Here they are again, only a different way round - 

Not sure they look as good this way round though ?

What do you think ? long ways (like the above picture) or like the picture below ?

This is a simple make that anyone with even basic wood working knowledge can try, and it's also a good project to teach kids about wood working and using different types of tools.

Thanks for reading.