Monday marked 11 years since I lost my dad to colon cancer. If you’ve been following me you know he was the woodworker and I picked it up at first to feel close to him when he was gone.
He asked that my brother and I keep his tools, and so we did, and I picked them up here and there learning how to use them.
I’ve not mastered any of them in my opinion (I’m always my worst critic) but I have come leaps and bounds, and have purchased many additional tools of my own.
Hubz is a plumber, he is the master of his trade’s tools but he too was not familiar with woodworking tools, in fact dad use to snicker watching him swing a hammer, but he taught him a few things before he passed while hubz and dad worked on projects in our house.
I admit out loud with no shame measurements are not my thing, when I sew it is a bit more forgiving then when I’m woodworking so my hubz is my guy for that. We actually love building together, I usually brainstorm the idea and draft it (by draft I mean kindergarten shapes on a scrap piece of paper with some numbers) or find a free pattern online, and we build together.
Ana White is where we started and successfully made many of our first things.
Hubz and I have always admired old wooden ladders but they are pricey and quite large. Then I seen all these blanket ladders popping up, but again more then I wanted to spend, knowing I didn’t have a pocket hole tool (keep meaning to buy one and learn) and I’m not my dad who never needed a fancy tool to pocket hole his screws, building my own wasn’t an option, or was it?.
Christmas 2016 I decided we would build a ladder, screws right through the side I didn’t care, another option was L brackets to keep the ladder steps in place but thought they would show more.
Here is that first built ladder, I stained it and as you can see the screws are somewhat visible if you look from the side,but for roughly $7 in wood and leftover stain it is “good enough”
I change out the décor 3 times a year, Summer Fall/Halloween, and Christmas/Winter.
He asked that my brother and I keep his tools, and so we did, and I picked them up here and there learning how to use them.
I’ve not mastered any of them in my opinion (I’m always my worst critic) but I have come leaps and bounds, and have purchased many additional tools of my own.
Hubz is a plumber, he is the master of his trade’s tools but he too was not familiar with woodworking tools, in fact dad use to snicker watching him swing a hammer, but he taught him a few things before he passed while hubz and dad worked on projects in our house.
I admit out loud with no shame measurements are not my thing, when I sew it is a bit more forgiving then when I’m woodworking so my hubz is my guy for that. We actually love building together, I usually brainstorm the idea and draft it (by draft I mean kindergarten shapes on a scrap piece of paper with some numbers) or find a free pattern online, and we build together.
Ana White is where we started and successfully made many of our first things.
Hubz and I have always admired old wooden ladders but they are pricey and quite large. Then I seen all these blanket ladders popping up, but again more then I wanted to spend, knowing I didn’t have a pocket hole tool (keep meaning to buy one and learn) and I’m not my dad who never needed a fancy tool to pocket hole his screws, building my own wasn’t an option, or was it?.
Christmas 2016 I decided we would build a ladder, screws right through the side I didn’t care, another option was L brackets to keep the ladder steps in place but thought they would show more.
Here is that first built ladder, I stained it and as you can see the screws are somewhat visible if you look from the side,but for roughly $7 in wood and leftover stain it is “good enough”
I change out the décor 3 times a year, Summer Fall/Halloween, and Christmas/Winter.
Here is the second built ladder we made for our den. My dad, and hubz grandfather’s army photos stay on the top year round, with a vintage military canteen we found a few years back, the wreath changes with the seasons.
Lastly (for now lol) is one we built out of scrap 2×2 wood (not really scraps but I had a few full lengths leftover from other projects)
I wanted a red one for the den to hang seasonal things on it by the stairs. You may recognize it from many of my sewn bag posts! It works perfect to display them for pictures, and so it serves double duty.
These are easy beginner projects, if you have a saw, drill, and a sander you can build these.
Mine measure roughly 4 ft high and the steps are 12 inches (1 foot) long each.
Cut your 2 sides (4ft) and 4 steps (1ft) from 1×4 wood, and screw them evenly spaced apart (the bottom one approximately only 6 inches from the floor and same with the top one), into place from the side, stain or paint and voila a rustic ladder to add decor to.
The first one I added a hook up under the step above the bottom step, so I can hang seasonal signs on it. You can add hooks for wreaths etc.
To “hide” your screws you can counter sink them and use wooden plugs/caps, or embrace the rustic look of the exposed screws like I did until the pocket hole is mastered.
The first one I added a hook up under the step above the bottom step, so I can hang seasonal signs on it. You can add hooks for wreaths etc.
To “hide” your screws you can counter sink them and use wooden plugs/caps, or embrace the rustic look of the exposed screws like I did until the pocket hole is mastered.
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This is great. So sorry about your dad, he would be so happy to see that you are continuing on with his skills and tools.
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I love your frugal Friday ideas! Thanks for sharing at Vintage Charm!
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