Active Furniture & Woodworking Posts

How To: Apply Edge Banding to Plywood

Plywood is flat, stable, and comes in lots of varieties. You can even use your plywood as a base for exotic veneers. But there is a consistent problem with plywood: how to treat the edges. This how-to video teaches you how to apply edge banding so it will hold up to wear and tear. All you need is iron edge banding, roller, sandpaper and an utility knife.

How To: Make a Garden Trug

This is a simple design built from reclaimed wood and purchased ¼” wood slats. It cost very little and only took a couple of hours to complete the build. The goal was light weight, shallow and wide for collecting leafy vegetables, easy to handle and somewhat attractive.

How To: Make a flower arrangement using old CDs

In this video, Steven Marin shows us an interesting method to recycle old CDs to make beautiful flower arrangements along with other recycled materials. In order to make the flowers, you need to take your old CDs and heat them up in a toaster oven. As demonstrated in the video, the CDs are very hot when they are taken out and should be handled with care. They are easily molded into the interesting flower shape by pressing them down over the neck of a bottle or by holding them in a cloth and s...

How To: Build a retaining wall to flatten a sloped lawn

In this video you will learn how to build a retaining wall to flatten a sloped lawn. He says that if someone wants to garden but their yard is sloped and they know they can't do it, they should know that this is a lot of work. So be prepared to dedicate a lot of time and effort. You start by getting a building permit. If you're looking to build a low retaining wall you start by digging a trench a little wider then the stones and a few inches deep (the higher the wall the deeper the trench). F...

How To: Make a wooden toothpick holder with a clown that pops out

Toothpicks are an almost essential part of proper oral hygiene, and toothpick holders are a great way to make them available to your houseguest without sacrificing style. This video will show you how to make your own very cool wooden toothpick holder that features a jack-in-the-box-like clown that your grab to lift the toothpicks. It's not too hard, practical, and good-looking, and thus a great woodworking project for you to look into.

How To: Make a traditional trug

The trugs are made from finished birch and lamium (sp)birch plywood. 1 inch wide and 4 millimeters thick plywood in three thickness. Laminate three pieces together to make a handle. Make a rim in the same way. It is made in two halves, put in a drying rack overnight and then trimmed and pinned together at the side with solid brass pins which won't rust. They are placed in a former where the boards are plced into the trug. The boards are 1 1/2 millimeter aircraft ply. The handle and rim are so...

How To: Build a fireplace mantel from scratch

If you have a bare fireplace in your home, it can sometimes look unfinished and boring. Installing shelves or a new layer of brick or stone can help the cause. But a mantel can do so much to a fireplace as well. In this tutorial, you'll discover how to build a mantel from scratch. It's a great way to add character to not only your fireplace, but to your home as well. It's project that can take a day or two to complete depending on your level of expertise. So good luck and enjoy! Build a firep...

How To: Laminate stairs

In this tutorial, we learn how to laminate stairs. First, you will need to grab your laminate and measure out the stairs. Then, cut out the nosing to the stairs. After this, you will need to cut out the laminate with a chop saw to place it on the front of the stairs so it looks nice and is fully covered on the stairs. You will need to place down glue on the laminate then press it down on the stairs and allow to dry. Behind the front piece you will place another piece of laminate and glue it d...

How To: Treat treated wood

When a thick piece of wood is treated the treatment doesn't soak into the center of the wood. If you are using the wood for a fence post you need to treat the bottom of the wood so that the ground moisture doesn't damage it. In this how to video, home improvement expert Danny Lipford gives a great way to treat the bottom of your pre-treated wood.

How To: Make a Super Cheap Coffee-Stained Wood Pallet Coffee Table

Turning unused items into usable pieces of furniture is a great way to save money and create some really good-looking pieces for your room. And nothing beats repurposing old wooden pallets. Redditor BaconStripsandFishin used old wooden pallets and a month's worth of coffee to create his own unique coffee table. To make this, unscrewed all of the wooden panels (top and bottom), placed them all together, and then screwed them back in reusing those same nails. Once he had all of the board togeth...

How To: These Google Maps Birdhouses Make It Easy for Birds to Find Their Way Home

With Google Maps, we can fly from Los Angeles to Tokyo to Paris and New York—all in a matter of seconds. We can zoom in with relative ease and flock around the city of our choice, checking out restaurants, historical landmarks, traffic and scuba divers. Easily the most recognizable and iconic part of Google Maps are the markers that signify all of these locations and point of interests. The iconic markers have already spurred artists to create Google Map inspired art pieces—with one such arti...

How To: Re-paint old furniture

If your furniture has seen better days but is nevertheless structurally sound, restoring it might be as simple as applying a fresh layer of paint or wood stain. This free video tutorial demonstrates a method for refinishing furniture with a power sander. For more information, and to get started rejuvenating your own antique furniture, watch this video tutorial.

Quick Tip: Fix a Stripped Screw Hole in Five Minutes with Toothpicks

There's nothing that halts progress on a DIY project like a stripped screw. It's incredibly frustrating to get out, and that's just the beginning of your problems. Once it's out, you might also have to fix the hole if you want to use it for anything else. There are tons of ways to do this, but if you're looking for something quick and simple, Chris over on Man Made DIY has you covered.

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