Pallet Baby Gate Project

So my wife has been asking for an upstairs baby gate to block off her sewing equipment for some time now. Women don't appreciate giant white board barriers as a permanent solution and I still haven't figured out why not. Heh, so anyways, this project was an idea to save money since we live in Hawaii now and wood here is very expensive, like everything else! It's the Aloha spirit! Down to business. I used 2 pallets for this project so I could pick and choose the boards. Also, some pallet boards will break with little pressure.

Dimensions for this gate: 40"x34" (You could go taller but not much longer due to the dimensions of the pallet. I used it with some creative 2x4 work to span a gap of 47" wide x 36" tall.

Phase 1: Pallet Demo: Tools: Crow bar, nail remover, hammer, mallet, saw.
Whacking the boards off initially with a mallet and/or using a block worked about 50% of the time but the wood splits easily. Loosening with a mallet and removal with crowbar, hammer, and nail remover turned out to work great as it was much less likely to split the wood. My toddlers loved helping take nails to the trash and pick up scraps.

Phase 2: Construct a square frame. Tools: Measuring tape, mallet, screws that will penetrate through 1/2 the second layer without over-penetration, Drill, Level, Speed square, Pencil, Chop saw, Skillsaw.   I cut my vertical pallet boards to 34" tall. I used the strongest/widest 2 boards for the most lateral L and R boards. I then trimmed two other horizontal boards down to 40" (basically kept their usual length). Just like framing a house, square and tack one corner and move to another before you lock in your corners. Once my Horizontal and vertical skeleton boards were locked in with screws, I moved to doubling up the most L and R lateral boards with smaller vertical 2nd layer boards. Honestly with the variations of pallet boards it work great to just trace the horizontal board lines "to fit" on the L and R 2ndary vertical boards and custom cut them with a skillsaw. The idea was to keep the gate from being more than 2 boards in width. (I looked at 3 and it was really beefy. Since none of my leftover boards had the length to span an "X" or "Z" pattern across the center of the gate, I just made 45 degree miter cutes on extra boards to help keep the gate square.

Phase 3: Stain, prep objective and paint. Tools: Stain, paint, primer, measuring tape, framing screws, painter's tape, newspaper, planar, sander. Lightly sand your gate frame. I really liked the rustic look of the boards and wanted to make them darker but keep the antiquity. I had leftover cappuccino stain from a table so I decided to use that and wipe quickly. Well, lightly sanded pallet board soaks stain instantly. The gate came out much darker than I originally planned. I used an old rag to immediately wipe the stain which helped some.
For the objective site, I decided to make a strong skeleton of 2x4s anchored into the steel wall on the hinge side of the gate. A friend had some ornamental 1/8" sheet plywood to cover the 2x4's which I install at the very end of the project. The dimensions of the frame were 36" tall by 5.5" wide. This gave me (47"-40"-5.5")=1.5" to spare. That would be my piggy back 2x4 on the latch side of the gate for the female end of the latch. which I installed almost last. I also painted the 2x4s with primer so that when it was all together, I would have less work.

Phase 4: Gate installation: Tools: Extra pallet and 2x4 blocks. 2 hinges (I used strong 6" farm hinges), latch system, level, tape measure, screws, screw driver. Figure out how high you want your hinges on the hinge side of the gate. I installed the hinges on the "fencepost" that would support the weight of the gate first. Ensure you are square. Then I used the blocks and a level to get the gate in the right position. Tack top and bottom hinges and ensure you are square before finishing all of the screws. The good thing about going overkill with anchoring and your hinges is that there is less of a chance for gate sagging. The gate held really well. Lastly, I examined my latch end. My piggyback 2x4 was too close that it was rubbing. That's why I waited to install it, it will make up for minor errors in distance throughout the 47". My friend had a planar so we ran it through there shaving about a 1/4" off. So now the 2x4 was down to 3.5"x1.25" (from the usual 2x4 dimensions of 1.5x3.5). It fit perfectly without rubbing. I locked it down with just a couple of framing screws. Since it is not bearing extra weight there is no need for overkill.

Phase 5: Tools: Caulk, 1/8" plywood, dremel, screws, screwdriver, staple gun, newspaper, painters tape. After the gate was installed and working great it was time to custom cut my plywood for the "5.5" Fencepost" on the hinge side. The dremel tool was used to cut out rectangles to facilitate the bases of the hinges. I then placed the plywood on ensuring it was flush especially on the top. A couple screws held the plywood in place then I used the stapler to lock it down a little better. I then caulked the entire gate system, let it set, primed the wood and painted it.

At first I was upset about how dark the wood turned out. It ended up keeping its rustic look though and contrasts great with the off-white railing. The wife is super happy! Not bad for under $20!

Questions? Comments? Let me know!

Farm Table Repurpose Project

   We've had a small 4 person table for about 5 years now. It's pretty beaten up and not the greatest for our growing family. It was lightweight as well which wasn't the best things around our rowdy boys, we actually had an issue once of it tipping over. We both decided long ago that we wanted a nice farm style country table that could fit our family and guests, I just became a roadblock because the price of a nice table is very high. So I was out garage-saling the other weekend when I came across this old table that a lady had wanted to get rid of. I made her day by buying it from her and hauling it away for $20! I was excited about the potential. I figured that if I could repurpose it on my free time, then I could make it our own for around $50-60 bucks! I'm in school right now so I don't have a lot of time to construct an entire table myself. I wanted to make this a surprise to my wife who was returning from a long trip away with the kids, sort of a welcome home present. It took about 6-8 hours of work and I'm not expert, but it turned out pretty decent for my first try! I spend about $40 on quart cans of primer, indoor white variant satin paint, dark cappuccino stain, and some furniture wax. 

1. The first thing I did was set the table up (this was important since I basically bought it blind). I wiped off all of the webs and storage dust off of it and sanded it down. I didn't get crazy (I just used my Craftsman sander with about an 80 grit sand paper) and hand sanded the molding. I didn't even bother with the legs etc because I bought primer to act as an adhering layer for the white paint.

2. I then wiped off all of the sawdust a couple times to prepare for staining. I painter's taped where the stain would meet the white paint. I blindly (without really any knowledge of the staining process) stained the top of the table. This is the most important step in the process in my opinion, and looking back, I should've watched a couple videos. There is a certain amount of finesse that goes into prepping the wood and rubbing it in right. I just painted it on liberally. It is important to keep in mind that you want to do your brushing (or rubbing it in) correctly the first time! Any defects in your work that you go back to fix will be silhouetted from the rest of the work. Hindsight is 20/20 and the good thing about it is, the defects kind of add to the charm and uniqueness of home furniture etc. It is important also to not that your biggest enemy will be applying the stain in a way that makes the stain drip or run, this is basically impossible to "cover up" making it much different than normal paint. You'll find that when you try to re-brush an area with even a moderately fresh bead of stain, everything will stick where it is except the bead (that part will come off completely leaving uneven colors). The stickiness of the stain is the culprit there as it wants to absorb and adhere as one coat. *One last stain note, I was really bummed when I sanded and it seemed like I "sanded" off the wood finish that was on the table, I was worried that it would be bland. It turns out that when you stain, that's the real thing that brings out the beauty in the wood so don't get too down on yourself if the sanded table looks like crap.

3. After the stain dried I got to work putting painters tape on the stain side of the paint/stain border. I then took and rapidly primed the surface of the legs etc creating the rough primer surface. It worked exceptionally well without any issues. 

4. Then came the paint, I put two coats of paint on it back to back and drank a couple of beers. Legs can be a little bit of an issue, but remember uniformity and like with everything, go with the grain of the wood.

5. Lastly I waxed, this was the most laborious part of the process. I liberally applied a based wipe of wax with an old shirt. I worked 1/3 of the table at a time and just rubbed hard. It'd helped bring it to an initial gloss. I tried using some power tools to help but they made it look shanty. So back to waxing I went, it was surprisingly back-breaking work. I rubbed in two separate coats before giving up. I did the molding as well and crudely rubbed in 1 coat of wax into the legs. The furniture wax I used was for light brown furniture and tinted the white a little. I was actually happy about this as the white paint was really darn white before it. So a win win I guess. Well, anyways, I was able to get the table set up for my lover by the time she got home and she lost her mind. She said it was "the best present she could've ever come home too!" Not bad for $60!

 

My future with this table entails antiquing the legs some and throwing a couple more coats of wax on it to make it more child proof. We will also be getting chairs that match it better or repurpose some used ones! Anyways, we are both happy and love having this over our old table!

Craftsman Practical Money Saving Tips

1. Cloth diaper - We use Alva baby, the re-usable diapers and liners can be ordered from china for 6 dollars a pop (or cheaper, about $2.50 or $3 if from a co-op). We have a lot of probably 50. The money up front is worth it in the long run. Every time Crystal does a load of diaper laundry, it makes me happy. Notes: To prepare the diapers for washing we bought a bidet-like sprayer attachment for our toilet. It makes cleaning easier. At first I thought it was kind of gross washing baby diapers, but like many things in parenting it gets normal very quickly. We also have a diaper pail just for those diapers. For more information, seek the sensei, Angel McDowell, or her cloth diaper sidekick, Crystal :) Saved $Lots

2. Those things you have to buy! - I made the mistake of buying Isaiah a cool little fisher-price farm set from Babies-R-Us because it was something I loved as a child. The reason for my remorse was that it was over $30 for it. A few days later while I was at Goodwill I saw four or five of the same set for a couple dollars. This is an example that reinforces a concept. If you want something for you or a child, keep note of it and explore all means before retail. Is it online? Craigslist, consignment, FB, Ebay? Goodwill, Value Village etc? Many times people sell brand new items they've never used and you can save 40-80% on them or just make sure to clean the item after buying it used. You can usually buy small missing pieces etc online for cheap if a set is not complete. Another example recently, we wanted a second Ergo for Matthew. They are about $130 or so brand new. We explored and found a lady selling a brand new Organic Ergo Baby carrier (about $150 new) that we got from her for $80 cash. (Remember to ensure the item is not a knockoff, know your item before buying). Saved $70!

3. Refurbishing - Recently Crystal and I had to sell our coffee table because Isaiah was banging on the glass. We had been looking retail for one but they were so expensive. One day while haggling with a lady about buying her couch she offered hers for free. It was pretty chewed up from her dogs in a couple spots but was originally bought from Pier 1 for a pretty penny. It looked slightly retro in color, but I thought it would be a fun project. I took it off her hands for free. So out came the electric sander and a can of nice dark brown krylon. After about an hour of work and sitting overnight we had a brand new quite expensive coffee table for FREE! The glass is so thick on it that Isaiah can't make a lot of noise and it looks great. Always look for the potential of an item, use your creative eye to see what it could be after being worked and polished up! Nicole Hoxworth and Jenny McDowell Hoxworth are the pros for renovating items! This saved us $150-$300!

4. Dining In - This is a preventative med that will save you countless dollars. We are just now seeking to almost solely dine-in because the babies and because I feel awful every time we spend $30-$100 on one meal. Lame

5.a Learn some skills - I used to never touch my vehicles, changing my own oil/brakes/etc was beyond what I really thought about doing. Then God made Youtube, you can sit and watch a professional do many things and just copy them. I was completely surprised how easy changing my own brakes was. It took me about 10 minutes. I bought some of the higher quality brakes, all of the tools necessary and some extras for less than it would've cost to get the cheapest crap brakes. Always explore and see if you are capable of doing something yourself. Fear doing something wrong, but don't let that fear keep you from trying. Some things are very easy, I think they just keep your car for longer to make you feel like it's money well spent. Note: Always make sure you purchase the proper tools. Almost anything I've done wrong in the past was simply because I tried to shortcut on the tools. It's not worth it, just buy the correct tool for the job and buy one that will last you a lifetime! Crystal has taken up sewing over the last few years, she has saved us countless dollars in doing small projects herself instead of purchasing items for 20 dollars here and 30 dollars there. Thanks to mother-in-law Debe McDowell too for extra sewing guidance!

5.b Repair things - Most things that break can be repaired cheaply without having to purchase a new one. For example, our vacuum pooped the bed and started smoking last year. Our first intuition was to go back to Target and buy a new one for $130+ I mean why not, buy it-break it-and buy a new one. That's the American way. Well I opened the vacuum up and found the problem. The little belt at the bottom had broken because of some prolonged hair caught up in the rotor. After a quick cleaning I went on Ebay and ordered the needed belts, two for $5. I simply put the new belt on and voile, the vacuum has worked since then. Saved $125

6. Don't throw it away, sell it - Your trash is someone else's treasure, literally. Use craigslist and local bookoo's to sell larger items to a smaller audience and use Ebay etc to sell small items to a large audience. I often purchase things for the sole purpose of resale. IE Buy something at Goodwill or on Craigslist and sell it on Ebay. Money Saved, $Thousands.

Activity Board Project

 
So my wife Crystal originally keyed me onto the idea of making a sensory/activity like board for the kids. It seemed like a fun project. I found some inspiration from a couple other blogs but wanted to take it a step further. I decided that the doorbell I was to install and the light switches needed to actually work, otherwise my 9 month old and 1.5 year old would think it was lame. Yeah, I had big expectations to fill to say the least. Here are links to our inspirations: Here and here, I decided that I wanted to make a hybrid of the two!

After sawing out some crude switch holes, it was off to paint 

Kids checking out first wired circuit

Home Depot and Lowe's sell the fancy little 2'x2' plywood boards for pretty cheap. The most difficult thing was finding out the best way to do the wiring. After some trial and error I found the following and it was actually very easy. I bought 12V LEDs that had resistors built in (Radio Shack, about $2 a piece). I also bought some low voltage wire which was inexpensive. The real key to the wiring is twofold. It is essential to buy a battery platform that is prewired. I picked up a set of ten x 12V (carry 8 x AAs) battery containers for about $10 off Ebay. I had originally tried soldering the batteries in sequence with wires but it proved to be quite ineffective. (I wasn't able to get the soldering to hold very well originally without the battery containers and the lights would flicker a lot). Secondly I bought a bag of small wire caps to connect wires together and a bag of small clamps to adhere loose wires to the wood.

The electrical sequence should be as follows (although the switch could technically go anywhere):

12V Battery Source (+ end) >> (+) LED wire >>LED>> (-) LED Wire >> Switch >> 12V Battery (- end)

Trying a simple circuit using a single 9V Battery

*Remember if you do more than one LED than the LEDs should be wired in parallel so they each get 12V. If they are wired in sequence they will each take a separate portion of the voltage. (Example 4 LEDs wired in sequence on a 12V Battery would each use 3V, [12V/4=3V] this would not light the LED properly).

Everything else on the board is either held down via screws with nuts on the backside or secured into the 2x4 frame. Cutting an 8 foot 2"x4" will give you all of the frame pieces plus one extra. I used the leftover piece to put in the center of the middle of the plywood sandwich as this will keep the kids from breaking the plywood when they step in the middle. It worked great.

The project cost was probably around $50. It is fun and the kids absolutely love it. Their favorite parts are the doorbell (which I taped up to make more quiet) and the LED light switches. It's got room to grow and we are going to put some finishing touches on it. More to come!

Feel free to comment with any questions/comments!

4 DIY Tips

These will make your life easier. ALWAYS use the right tool for the right job. This will ensure your product reflects the work you invested into it!

One Day Dresser Repurpose Project

Total Project Cost: $95
Tools: Electric Sander, Screwdriver Power Tool, Wrench Set, Small Crowbar 
Time: One day from conception to completion.

1. Project Buy dresser (this one cost $75 off of Craigslist) 
2. Remove drawers, clean, and remove handles with screwdriver. I also removed the feet for easier sanding and painting. 
3. Sand down finish (I used an electric sander for the grunt work and touched up the hard parts with a piece of sandpaper). 
4. Wipe down sanded dresser (This will allow the paint/primer to adhere better to the surface).
5. I removed the top center drawer and track for an entertainment opening. I had to remove the drawer track which needed some force. I then measured the space, bought some 1/4" interior plywood at Lowe's, let them cut it there in store, and screwed the boards into place. 
6. Paint with desired interior paint/primer. We used paint/primer in one from Lowe's. A quart of Valspar Satin Churchill White was more than enough.  
7. Use metal adhering spray paint for the handles Reattach handles and replace drawers.

Simple!