For Christmas this year I built a wooden crate to hold one of my Christmas Trees.  You also could use it as a planter (I may add a boxwood or something to it after Christmas is over.)


Right now it is in the playroom with of my smaller trees, but for a while I had it set up outside on my front patio.  I actually want to make another one for my other trees!

I also love the weathered driftwood finish.  This is the first time I attempted that and I know I will be using it more often, I love how it came out. 
So how did I build it and stay within the rules of the challenge (no new materials.. only use scraps you already have lying around)?
Well, needless to say, I had a ton of pieces of scrap lumber, since I never throw anything away. .
For me the biggest problem is that they were all random sizes, widths, and even THICKNESSES.  I had 2x4s, 1x3s, 1x5s, old pieces of pallets, some fencing, 2x2s, trim boards and a ton of cull lumber that was in bad shape or warped.
After standing back and studying my stash I realized I had the most length in the left over pieces of tongue and groove boards I used to make my West Elm Inspired Mirror.  I used the “groove” side and cut off more than half the board with the tongue (the large pieces in the photo below).

I wanted to reuse those boards but I had to cut the tongue off and make them all a standard width.

Once again I used my Kreg Rip-Cut.  and it worked great.   I was left with “nearly 2x4” boards.  (they were more like 2x3.5)    Because these boards are cut down by hand,  I’m not including measurements for this post.. since none of this is standard lumber. 

I didn’t have enough of my ‘2x4s’ to build the whole box, so I had to improvise with some 2x2s on one side.  
Next I had to make the inset boards for the flat areas of the box.  I didn’t have enough plywood but I did have LOTS of random boards in various widths.   Enter the pocket hole Jig (in this case the Kreg K4)

I laid the boards flat on the ground and attached them side by side with pocket holes.  The key was keeping one side FLAT adjacent the floor.. Since the boards were all slightly different thickness the backside of the boards are not level, but that doesn’t matter since it is the inside of the box.  Once I had bunch of boards put together, I snapped a line for the correct total width and ripped it down with the Rip Cut. 
Next I had to insert the panels into the frames.  I used blocks to make sure the overhang of the frame was exactly the same for all the boards.  Since some of the boards were warped and different thicknesses, once again, it only mattered what they looked like from the outside.. 
So you can see the inside is kinda a mess of random boards. Ah yes.. the beauty of working with junky scrap lumber. I assembled the final box and then it was time to trim it out.  (The box has no bottom or no top.. I may convert it to a planter later so I didn’t think it needed a bottom)
Since (per the challenge) I couldn’t buy trim for the outside, I used some old shims I had leftover from my valentine’s day heart I made last year.  They weren’t long enough to go end to end so I had to butt them up end to end and then cut the corners off with a box cutter.  Because they are shims they are tapered, so I always had the thick end in the center of the X and cut off the thinner end.  
I used glue and finishing staples to hold them on. 
And here is the finished box.  I didn’t want it to be raw wood so I used a sample of “Driftwood Weathering Finish” I received at a blog conference.   
That stuff is really cool.   You just add the powder to water and then paint it on your piece.  It gives a different result depending on the wood type (you can see the one dark redwood boards on the left side of the box in this photo) I loved how it looked old and sunbleached.  Like this was really an old crate.

So.. how did I get the tree to stand up in the box?  Well.. I couldn’t use the stand that came with the tree.. I had to create a smaller one.  For that I used a small trick or treat bucket and a length of PVC pipe I had leftover from the DIY Soccer Goal.  I first taped the bottom of the pipe so no concrete would get inside.
Then I mixed up some mortar mix and inserted the pipe into the center.
Let it dry a few hours and cut the pipe down with a pipe cutter or hacksaw.

I put it in the center of the box (I had to prop it on top of a paint can to be high enough)

And I added my tree.

You guys.. I just love this so much!  I may use it on my real full size tree next year.  (this is my space saving smaller tree that goes in the kids’ playroom) because it came out so much better than I thought it would.  I’m so glad Sandra challenged us to this! 


ETSY: Click on any image to go to the listing
Balsam Hill:



A cottage in the city: 








Now it is time to share your projects, or see the other bloggers who stepped up the sCrap wood challenge.

Here are the details for the sCrap Wood Challenge: Anyone who want to participate is welcome to join. If you blog, you can link up below.

 If you don’t blog, share your project on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter and use #scrapwoodchallenge and tag @SawdustGirl so she can see what you made and maybe feature you!

Rules: No new lumber can be purchased, it must come from your scrap wood pile or some free wood you found on the side of the road.
You may use new fasteners, glue, paint, stain or whatever finish you want.
This is a building challenge, so no refinishing projects. Sorry.

This is a “Just for Fun” challenge to use up some of those scraps.  There is no judging and no prize other than your own satisfaction for a job well done! (And hopefully a smaller scrap pile.)

The link up will close next Monday (Nov 29th) so you don't have much time..

I love encouraging my kids to be creative and make things, which is one of the reasons I have the kids’ artwork gallery wall, to display all their fun artwork.

I recently took the free embroidery class on Craftsy and I wanted to try my hand at a quick project, but instead of using some stock embroidery pattern, I thought it would be fun to use my kids’ artwork.

When you have multiple children, furniture that you use year after year can get really beat up.  In order to give new life to a piece, you can update kids' furniture with paint and a new style. 
We bought this little wooden table for my older kids a few years ago, and even though they outgrew it, my youngest still uses it all the time. It is pretty banged up and could definitely use a refresh.

This post is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group® and Glad, but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #pressnsealhacks http://my-disclosur.es/OBsstV

Having three kids with an age range of 2-10 means we have large variety of games and puzzles in our house.  From the most basic of wooden board puzzles to complicated hundred piece games like Risk or Monopoly.. we have a little something for everyone.  And because of that, it is important to have a system to keep all the pieces in place and everything sorted.   Plus I like to sell my board games and puzzles on consignment after my kids have outgrown them, and knowing you have ALL the pieces for a game is important.

With these five tips you will be much more likely to never lose a game piece or put it in the wrong place! 

TIP 1: Keep an Inventory of Game Pieces

The time a game piece is most likely to get lost is during the time you are putting the game pieces away after you have finished playing.   We used to just throw the game pieces back into the game box and put on the lid and that was that… then a few hours (or days) later we would find an extra piece under the sofa and it would get thrown back into the game cabinet since tracking down he box and putting it away was to much of a hassle.  You would have to dig the box back out, open it up, and put everything away again.  FORGET IT!

Once a game piece wasn't back in the original box, we may have well just thrown it away because chances of reuniting the piece with the original game was pretty slim.

But now I keep a little index card and a zip-top bag (or bags) inside the boxes with a list of what goes inside.  Sort of a ‘check list’ for game pieces.   That way when we are cleaning up we know exactly what is supposed to be in the bag and we are sure we have all the pieces.

If you have old games and you aren’t sure if anything is already missing, you can check on the game instructions since they almost always come with a list of contents.  If you have lost a few cards or a game piece, you can note it on your index card so when you are putting stuff away you are sure you are putting back the right number every time.

Some games will require a lot of little bags, or sometimes items don’t fit in the bags, but I want to make sure they go back.   Here is an example of a game where the spinner doesn’t fit in the bag, but it is included on the checklist.

Making sure everything gets back in the bag (and the box) after playing is the key to not losing the pieces.  Plus the zip-top bag means the pieces won’t slip or fall out when the top of the box gets loose.. another time when game pieces tend to get lost.   (And helps with the clean up!)

Tip 2:  Store Wooden Puzzles Vertically and Keep Pieces in Place

In our game cabinet, horizontal space is at a premium, and sliding puzzles in and out tended to dislodge the pieces and create a huge mess.  Luckily I discovered Glad Press’n Seal when visiting some thrift sales.  I saw people were wrapping their board puzzles in this cool film wrap and it was securing their pieces perfectly.   And because it releases easily it doesn’t damage the pieces:
The kids can take it off and on themselves, it is reusable and since it is food safe and BPA free, I’m not worried about them playing with it. Plus you can find it at WalMart which means I can pick it up on my regular shopping trips.

Tip 3:  Store Card Games in Dollar Store Cheese Containers

In our house the cardboard boxes that card games (or even playing cards) come in tend to get beat up and broken. It is hard for my kids to get all the cards back in the box.  But American sliced cheese storage containers are the perfect size.

Plus as a bonus, the edges of the cards don’t get bent like if you stored them in a rubber band.  Plus I make sure to keep the instructions inside the container as well… so we never forget how to play!

Tip 4:  Don’t Lose Puzzle Pieces when you take a break! 

For the older kids, puzzles take a lot longer to complete than one sitting. Often they will get halfway through a puzzle and leave it on the dining room table.  That is a recipe for DISASTER.  Between siblings and pets, loose pieces sitting on a soon to be on the floor, kicked under the rug, and pretty much lost..

But after I discovered the board puzzle trick with Glad Press’n Seal, I realized it would work on other puzzles as well.  You can seal down half finished puzzles, or even loose pieces, to the table and they aren’t going anywhere.

And just like the board puzzles, you can peel it off without damaging the cardboard puzzles: No more scattered puzzle pieces all over the floor!

Bonus Tip: If you want to move assembled puzzles from place to place or store them, using Glad Press’n Seal on a cookie sheet is a great solution.  they won’t slide around and they will stay in place and assembled, even during transport!

Tip 5:  Number The Backside of Puzzle Pieces for Easier Sorting

This is a tip I learned from our local library.  The librarian would have to sort and assemble dozens of board puzzles at the end of the day and knowing which pieces went where (especially when they were upside down) was a headache. 
So they started numbering the backside of each piece so it was easy to figure out which pieces went together.  Now you can easily find and sort the pieces.. yeah, you still have to put them back together, but I aways recruit my kids to help me.
Then we seal them up in Glad Press'n Seal!

Hopefully these five tips will give you some ideas on how to tackle your own Puzzle, Board and Card Game Chaos!  So you can spend more time playing and less time lamenting the lost pieces!!