My garage was filled with scrap wood from home improvement projects, repairs and lumber friends dropped off. I began pondering what to do with it all. It was beginning to fill up the garage. Instead of cutting everything up and sending it to friends’ fireplaces, I decided to pour through old plans and projects requiring small pieces of wood.
I began cutting, sanding, gluing and joining. I had a ball creating items from scraps. A friend of mine is a woodworker who was always cracking jokes about his wife and I collecting (“hoarding” is his term), fabric for quilts. I asked how our quilting stash was different than his wood stash. After all, it was waiting for “just-the-right-project.” He admitted it was the same. Now, he creates items that his wife lines or fills with quilted projects.
Here are my five favorite items to make with scrap wood.
You will need:
- · Scrap wood, of course. Wood pallets, leftovers, reclaimed wood in good shape is all usable. Strip and sand painted wood.
- · General woodworking tools
- ·. You will need 64 pieces of wood cut into squares. You can use a combination of white and dark woods, paint a piece of wood, or have wood grain flowing in opposite directions.
I chose redwood and cedar scraps for my squares. Since the wood was thin, I had no problem making the squares and gluing them onto a ¼” MDF base (a large square scrap from another project). I cut and glued a second piece of MDF all the way around the board; this would be covered by the frame. I sought out leftover molding and made a frame similar to a mirror frame. I cut a rabbet into the back of the molding and set the top in. After a final glue up, I covered the whole thing in sealer.
That board is still the pride and joy of my brother’s “man cave” and showcases his antique chess set.
Remote Stand
Many years ago, my Grandfather and Great Uncle smoked pipes. I still remember buying a cheap pipe rack for a Christmas present. After being given old, broken and leftover gingerbread from old houses, I had an idea. I had more than one remote to keep track of in the living room. When I thought about Grandpa’s pipe stand, I suddenly liked my idea.
I went into the garage, grabbed pencil and paper, ruler and scrap wood. My room mate could not wait until I was finished.
I made a rectangle 8″ long and 4″ wide for the base and trimmed it with scrap molding. Instead of round places to mount a pipe, I glued small pieces of turned stiles, 3″ high all the way around. I glued another round of stiles on the inside, 5″ high. Small molding topped the stiles. The remotes sit inside the first space and the inside of the holder houses the TV guide, pens and notepad to mark down any shows I want to see. My room mate got it for Christmas.
Do I ever keep anything I make, you ask?
The answer is, once in a great while. My friends and family receive gifts; I get an excuse to make more things.
Planter
I cut 1″ wide strips, each 12″ long. I cut a base out of old cedar fencing. For fun, I decided to make the shape of a pentagon. No particular reason. I arranged the pieces so I had color, grain and texture variety. I placed as many against the flat side of each pentagon side as I could. The corners would be adjusted later.
I glued up the flat pieces first. These were attached to the flat sides of the base. For the corners, I cut and sanded each piece by hand. I just wanted to do it that way. Woodworkers with power tools, miter boards and other items can do it much faster.
With the corners matching, I glued them in place. I found some scrap aluminum flashing and cut thin strips. A few leftover decorative upholstery brads gave the illusion of an old-fashioned bucket. I painted the inside with waterproof sealer and the outside with polyurethane sealer. It houses my best friend’s favorite orchid. The look is stunning.
Building Blocks
Many years ago, these were plentiful for children. Today, they’re often made of plastic. The plastic doesn’t stack like wood. Supervise very young children with either plastic or wood toys.
Cut wood blocks in various sizes and shapes. Stain and seal or prime and paint various colors. You can also cut square, rectangular or round shapes resembling the old Lincoln logs. Children can build anything their imaginations can envision.
Jewelry and Storage Boxes
If building boxes is one of your hobbies, or you just want to get started, free online woodworking patterns abound. Most use small pieces of wood. Boxes are great ways to use up a stash of leftovers.
Box parts such a hinges, locks and musical are available from a wide variety of big box and online merchants.
Boxes and chests are a wonderful way to use carved wood pieces. Paint the carvings or use faux metal foils to create a wonderful look and a true one-of-a-kind gift.
My sister will hand her “treasure box” down to her daughter. It showcases a velvet interior (leftover from a gown), silver and gold-plated corners, hinges and locks (I splurged) and multi-colored faux metal foils on the carvings. Inside, a musical working plays her favorite tune. Tiny gold-plated feet came from Ebay. The wood carvings came from different pieces of wood and different people. Put together, they resemble a box from medieval times with carvings of different scenes.
You don’t need to spend a lot of money to make something practical, beautiful or ornate. Just some scraps, imagination and someone to give it to. That includes yourself.
Source: The author of this article has over 40 years of experience in diverse forms of DIY, home improvement and repair, crafting, designing, and building furniture, outdoor projects, RV’ing and more.
