LET'S GET DOWN TO IT!

Let's start with a pallet.  It can be a big pallet, small pallet.  It can be made of pine, cypress, oak, poplar.  It can be broken and no good for it's original purpose.  Most of these are free for the taking. Just make sure the owner is giving them away before you haul them off.  If he pays for waste disposal he will save money if you take it home.  ASK FIRST.

Take any kind of saw whether it be a electrical, gas, or a hand operated one.  Saw the small slates off between the nails.  Do both sides.  Now you have a pile of small lumber.  You also have some larger pieces with nails in them.  Saw the big pieces off between the nails and you have a few pieces of larger wood.  The following project is for the thin, short pieces you sawed off first.

You will need to cut the following pieces:

Four trees: Each tree will be about 10" high, by 3" wide.  With a pencil, draw a tree shape similar to the one in the photo.  Use it for a pattern for the other 3 trees.

Four side pieces: 6" x 3".  Draw on your wood a shape similar to the sides pieces shown in the photo.  Use the first one as a pattern for the rest (four pieces total).

Put the four side pieces together using wood glue and small nails

One roof piece: Cut this piece the same size as the OUTSIDE of the four pieces you just put together.

One bottom piece: Cut this piece the same size as the INSIDE of the four pieces you just put together.  The bottom piece should fit within the perimeter of the joined side pieces.

Put the bottom piece in place using glue and small nails.

Now is the time to paint or stain the pieces.  Use any kind of green paint or stain to finish the top of the trees.  Paint or stain all the other pieces any color of brown you have laying around.

When all the parts feel dry to the touch, you are ready for the final assembly of your project.
Using glue and small nails, attach the bottom of the trees to the bottom of your feeder as shown in the photo.  Next put the top piece in place using small nails.  No glue is needed here.   DO NOT attach the top piece too high on the tree as the small tip of the tree may split.  Let about 2" of the tree be above the top as shown in the photo.

For the hanging hardware you will need a screw eye put into the center of the top piece.  Use a small nail to hammer a shallow pilot hole so the screw will start easily. Attach a string, chain or small rope to the eye and YOU ARE FINISHED!!

You now have a finished project that cost almost nothing to build.  You have made a quality item for your backyard or as a gift.  The BIG PAYOFF is that you didn't let this wood go to a landfill. 
CONGRATULATIONS!!!


                                                                

                                                                           


I bet you wondered what we would do with the larger pieces of wood from the pallet, didn't you?  Here's what we're going to do:

Measure the width of the large pieces.  Use that measurement to mark the material into squares.  Using paints of different colors you can make blocks out of these pieces.  You can put letters on each block to teach your kids and grandkids to spell their names.  You can mount the lettered blocks on the wall to spell out a child's name.  You can add some rectangular pieces and use them all as building blocks.  You can carve a letter or symbol into the block, press them to an ink pad of any color and you have a stamping tool.

The material is there in front of you - all you need to do is let your imagination run wild and think of the possibilities.  Don't let it go to waste.  You will feel better knowing that ALL the parts of the tree that was cut down was put to good use. 

                                                           


NEXT PROJECT  is a simple WELCOME SIGN made from scrap boards, any boards, a pallet maybe. The sign can be of any size, but for this instruction we are going to start with a 12" length of board.  The thickness doesn't matter, but it should be at least 3-4 inches wide.  You will need some twigs; live ones, dead one, crooked or straight and some hand pruners.  Looking at the sample sign below you cut the twigs into shorter pieces to make the letter shapes.  Lay them out on your work space and make sure the entire word will fit on your sign board.  Once you have them looking like you want, you can use small nails to attach the letter pieces onto the board, or a glue gun.  You can peel the bark off or you can leave it on.  Once you learn to make letters from twigs, you can write anything and attach it to anything.  You will soon be doing little signs, big signs and everything in between.  The flowers on the sign in the photo below are diagonal cuts for the petals of the flower and the leaves and straight cuts for the flower centers.  If you choose to make a large sign, you can make a multiple part sign by hanging one board off the bottom of another by drilling holes in the board and attaching the two together with wire, as in the photo in the header on this page. 
 
                                                               



LET'S PLAY A GAME that we made from pieces of lumber that was headed for the landfill.  We need a board of any size that is square and at least 7x7.  Larger would be better such as 9x9. It can be thick or thin, hard or soft, light or dark.  We will need more twigs at least as long as our board dimension.  You will need hand pruners again.  We are going to put twigs around the perimeter of the board like in the samples below.  We are going to also attach sticks to divide the board into nine equal squares.  You can attach the twigs to the board using small nails or hot glue (BE CAREFUL!). After you have attached the twigs the game board is complete except for game pieces that you made earlier from the pallet boards.  If you chose this project first you will little blocks of wood in different colors for your game pieces.  You can also use squares and triangles and not paint them. You will need 10 game pieces total, 5 of each of two different shapes.  Congratulations!  You win.
                         TIC TAC TOE, Three In A Row.