Alright today on Repairs101 I’m going to show you a bunch of really easy Do It Yourself DIY gift projects that almost anyone can do on any budget that make really great cost effective gifts.
Keepsake boxes
You know, I’ve made a lot of boxes as gifts for people over the years. And they’re generally really well received. I make them using mitre joints, dado joints, simple butt joints, elaborate mortise and tenons … you know, whatever. Here’s a box I made but instead of a lid I strung a hanger across the top and drilled a three quarter inch hole for a songbird’s nesting site. If you don’t like birds you can stick a thermometer or a clock in it.
Reduce, reuse, recycle
I pretty much always use recycled or reclaimed materials. I like to carve dug-out boxes in all kinds of shapes. Use your creativity. This one has a snug fitting step on the lid that holds it secure. You can get a nice set of brass hinges for about five bucks. Or improvise like I did with this brass hinge pin. This is an end piece of a mahogany handrail that I think will make a really nice low-profile jewellery box.
So mark out your dug-out section… Set the depth on your drill press or mark the bit with a bit of tape. I actually ran out of time before I could finish this box. But here’s yet another dug-out box I made a while back.
I actually didn’t make this coaster set but I’ve got a pretty good idea how it was done.
You normally see long flat Cribbage Boards with two sets of sixty or a hundred and twenty holes. Instead I took this scrap of mahogany and made a nice Delta pattern to leapfrog your pegs around. Throw in a deck of playing cards and it’s starting to look like a pretty good gift.
Now this is my tool caddy that I cut out of a six by six western red cedar post. That used to support my rear porch.
Mammoth / mastodon jewellery
If you can get your hands on some Mammoth or Mastodon Ivory at a local lapidary shop. You’ll find it works beautifully with rasps and rifflers. And it can be wet sanded down to a really fine polish. Now I’ve found hair jewellery is a big hit with women who wear their hair long. But it takes a special kind of girl to wear a hair clip made from a Macintosh LC575.
Cutting board
Work glue in well with a scraper until the wood is completely saturated and use clamps. To create this cutting board that I made from some old teak scraps that I rescued from the dumpster. Wipe excess glue off with a damp rag. So you don’t have to scrape and sand it off the next day. Here I mark it on two sides so I can follow the line with the blade exactly. A little mineral oil and it’s ready for use in the shop or in the kitchen. Alright thanks for watching and don’t forget to subscribe!
