Month: June 2015

PLANS: Build a GIANT JENGA set for $11

DIY GIANT JENGA
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Ahhhh, summer. The time for heatstroke, sun burns, and sticky stinky smelly sweat dripping all over your projects. Don’t get me wrong, I like summer, and I enjoy going to the lake and doing things outdoors, but something about constant 100-degree or near 100-degree days drives me crazy. But all is not lost, summer is also time for barbeques with friends and family!!! For years, our backyard has been dedicated to our kids, but as they’ve gotten older, they used the yard less and less. Over the last year we’ve been adding to our yard, making it more for us and for entertaining. Being BBQ season, I decided having some outdoor games would be fun, but I didn’t want to spend too much on them either. The first idea I had was for a giant Jenga set. I looked them up and found them priced at close to $100. Continue reading →

REVEAL: Build a Farmhouse Swamp Cooler Stand

| sorenlancaster
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Slowly but surely my wife has become a believer. She’s gone from eye rolling and snickering when I mention I want to build something, to showing me pictures of things she likes and asking me to build what she wants. To her credit, when someone who has no experience using power tools, let alone owns one, says they want to build a patio set instead of buying one, it’s bound to solicit some comical reactions. Over the last year or so, as I brought in project after project, after project, after project (sorry about all the saw dust in the garage honey, it wasn’t me I swear!) she has started “looking” for things to have done. Continue reading →

PLANS: Build reclaimed farmhouse frames for $10

Farmhouse Style Frames
| sorenlancaster
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I needed new frames. Why? Because the ones I had sucked, that’s why. To put it in to better context, to me they were nothing more than black cheap, flimsy, plastic matter that a monkey might fling at you. Yes, you read that correctly. I just referred to my frames as monkey poo. Not only were they doo doo, but they were an eye sore that bugged me every time that I went in to the bedroom. At first it wasn’t such a big deal, but ever since I built our headboard, they have been bothering me more and more. The truth is, I didn’t buy the frames. I bought the artwork that was in them. Continue reading →

TUTORIAL: Getting an awesome distressed and reclaimed wood look in 10-minutes

Make distressed lumber
| sorenlancaster
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I love the look of old barn wood. I would love to have a stockpile of reclaimed lumber in my garage that I could sift through for my projects. Unfortunately I live in a city and finding old rustic lumber isn’t that simple (maybe it is and I just don’t know where to look). I recently posted the reveal for my farmhouse frames and I wanted a distressed look, but being that I wasn’t painting the frames, I wanted to pay close attention to the detail. I wanted to rely on the look of the lumber and the stain to bring out the old and worn look. The method I discovered worked wonders for me, and was so incredibly simple, I can’t believe it actually works. Continue reading →