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WOOD CRAFTS

Vintage-Inspired Charcuterie or Cutting Board

If you are looking for a unique gift idea for family or friends, this beautiful, vintage-inspired charcuterie or cutting board can be made from reclaimed wood, hardwood offcuts, or pine from your local Builders.

Make a Simple Wood Wine Rack

Anyone starting out with DIY will love the simplicity of this wood wine rack and you can use pallet wood to make it for free!

Make a Side Table in Under an Hour!

Looking for a quick way to add a side table or two to your living room? You can make this charming side table in under an hour!

What is Best for Finishing Pine Projects?

Being the most affordable wood available, pine is often used for many DIY projects, but what products can be used for finishing and what is best?

Refresh Dated or Second-hand Furniture

Follow the helpful tips and advice below to revive and refresh dated or second-hand furniture.

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Flipping Furniture for a Monthly Income

Flipping furniture has become not only a fun hobby but also a way to earn extra cash or bring in a monthly income, so here's how to put your DIY skills to good use.

DIY Wood Frame Wall-Mounted Plant Hangers

When you have a blank wall, adding a wall-mounted display brings the wall to life and these wood frame plant hangers will add interest and bring a touch of nature indoors.

A Circular Table with Pine or Meranti Dowels

Furniture and accessories with curves bring a softness into any room and now you can make an inexpensive circular table with a few scraps of wood and some pine or meranti dowels.

Project Ideas using Reclaimed Pallets

Using reclaimed pallets is an inexpensive way to make various items for the home at very little cost and it is also a fun way to add something different to a home.

Quick Project: Make a Stylish Wood Picture Frame

Framing your favourite photographs require an equally beautiful frame in which to mount them, and this wood picture frame perfectly fits the bill.

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Simple Woodworking Projects that Will Make You Money

If you love woodworking and are looking to make a little extra money off of your skills, the projects below might find you a few customers.

There's nothing quite as Satisfying as DIY

If there is one thing that the lockdown has made us realise it's that being able to do stuff yourself has its advantages, so why not think about getting stuck in DIY with one of these scrap wood projects?

Make Wooden Tree Ornaments

Since we are all looking at becoming more sustainable, why not consider making your own wooden tree ornaments and festive decor?

Quick Project: Coffee mug stand

Made using inexpensive pine dowels, this DIY coffee mug stand is great for next to your kettle, or in a coffee station.

Quick Project: Make a Desktop Organiser

Here's a quick and easy project that lets you keep your desktop neat and organised with a nifty desktop organiser.

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Shou Sugi Ban wood burning technique

Shou Sugi Ban is the traditional Japanese method of preserving wood by charring the surface to create a waterproof finish through carbonisation.

Easy steps to carving flowers

If you're wanting to add detail to architraves or plinths, wood carving allows you to create your own unique designs.

Make a Chinese Checkers board game

This Chinese Checkers board game is an easy project to make and will provide hours of fun for adults and kids.

Pine Desk Organiser

Use pine offcuts to make a desk organiser that you can keep for yourself, or give as a Valentine's day gift.

Make your own wooden lids

Recycling glass food jars is a great way to repurpose, but not all jars have nice tops. In this article you'll find out how to make your own wooden lids for when recycling glass jars and containers, or anything else that needs an attractive lid.

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Wood slice coasters

Next time you do pruning in the garden, put aside some branches to make these wood slice coasters.

Wood slice crafts

While winter is still a ways down the road, here are some wood slice ideas to keep in mind if you plan on having trees felled or trimmed.

Make fun games for the family

After the holidays and time spend travelling, or at home, you will realise the value of these fun games for a family. Make your own games to play when travelling, or when spending time at home.

Discover the art of carving

If you love working with wood and want to start a new hobby, wood carving is definitely something to consider. With a basic set of wood carving tools you can carve beautiful items

Reclaimed wood pallet Christmas trees

Reclaimed wood pallets provide an inexpensive DIY option for festive decor. Make wood pallet Christmas trees or Christmas card displays.

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Lamp made using string and wood

This wood and string lamp is fun to make, and you can arrange the string into so many different variations for a lamp that is truly unique.

Wood slice art

Use trimmed branches to make this unique, framed wood art for a feature wall.

Vintage cutting board

This beautiful, vintage cutting board can be made from reclaimed wood, hardwood offcuts, or pine from your local Builders.

Quick Project: Wooden spice rack

Some scraps of pine and an hour to space are all you need to make this decorative spice rack for your kitchen.

Reclaimed pallet holder

We braved the chill and had a braai this weekend. While carting herbs and spices around I realised I could make a holder using reclaimed pallet scraps. You can use this reclaimed wood holder for herbs and spices, for serviettes, or anything else you can think of.

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Fine tune your dovetailing skills

Dovetail joints are rarely used these days, except by master craftsmen and those that still love traditional joinery, but here's an easy project to practice dovetail joints.

Garage door repurposed into house number

One of my neighbours had their garage door replaced. The workmen were tossing out the old door, which was made of Meranti. I couldn't see all the wood going to waste, so I asked for some of the panels to use for projects.

20 ways to make your own wood wall decor

Wood is so easy to work with and you can use offcuts or buy pine at your local Builders to make your own wooden wall decor.

Easy desk organiser

Keep your desk tidy with this mini desk organiser made using pine blocks that you may already have left over from a previous project.

DIY giant jenga game

I came across quite a few tutorials for this giant jenga game that is so easy to make using pine and then all you need are some friends to let the fun begin!

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Pine coasters

I came across this project on BHG and it's a great way to put offcuts to good use. I often have leftover pieces of 69 x 69mm PAR pine and you don't need much to make these pine block coasters.

Armchair tray with book or magazine storage

After posting this armchair tray for drinks, books or magazines or facebook, readers requested that I post a step-by-step for this quick and easy project, so here it is...

Wooden ring box

This wooden ring box is an easy project to make and you can keep for yourself or give as a gift. It's a great gift idea for a birthday or as a Mother's Day gift.

Old desk gets a Rust-Oleum makeover

This desk was a secondhand find that was given a Rust-Oleum makeover for a boy's bedroom. The desk cost R600 from a secondhand shop and I used two cans of Rust-Oleum 2X satin canyon black to spray paint

10-minute pencil holder

Use a large branch or small tree stump and your Bosch drill / driver to make this 10-minute pencil holder that is perfect for keeping a study desk neat and organised.

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Make a server or table board

I stumbled upon an idea for a table board using a piece of pine and some gel stain to add contrasting colours to the pine. It's really simple to make either a chalkboard server or a stained table board, in fact you can buy one piece of laminated pine and make both!

Easy DIY storage boxes

Make these storage boxes using PAR pine available at your local Builders Warehouse. Paint them with Plascon in pastel shades, or go bold with a can or two of Rust-Oleum 2X in your choice of colour.

Food colouring = Wood stain

Some of the wood stain colours that you find on the shelf these days are boring and old fashioned. Any easy way to make your own colourful wood stain is to use food colouring. Grab some PAR pine blocks to practice on and start mixing up rainbow shades of wood stains.

Rustic pine or reclaimed wood egg holder

We have been making this rustic pine egg holder at some of our DIY Divas Beginner Workshops and I thought that it was time to share! It's a nice and easy project to make for your own kitchen, or to give to someone as a gift.

Coffee table using reclaimed or made crates

For this easy crate coffee table you can use reclaimed crates, make your own crates using reclaimed wood, or use PAR pine (available at your local Builders Warehouse) to make your own crates.

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How to... strip excess wax from furniture

Holidays are a chance to sit back and relax, and also a way to catch up on all those projects you wanted to complete but just never seemed to find the time. In this project we explain the best way to remove excess wax from furniture before you restore or paint.

Crates for book storage

We have featured quite a few articles that focus on using wine crates or your own made crates for storage. This project shows how to use modified crates as book storage shelves for a child's bedroom.

Storage crates for children's bedrooms

We have previously featured a project that shows how to make your own wine crates, and you can make a few minor modifications to the design to create the adorable storage crates for a nursery or children's bedroom.

Repairing a chewed table lamp base

If you refer to a previous article on fast fixes for wood, I talk about repairing furniture that has been chewed by dogs - or scratched by cats. This is a frequent question that pops up, and chewed wood can be repaired.

One-of-a-kind coffee tables for reclaimed timber

These coffee tables can be considered as one-of-a-kind, as no two pieces of timber look exactly the same. All the coffee table designs below are made using salvaged or reclaimed timber.

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Rustic cupcake or cake stand

I saw a rustic cupcake stand on etsy and realised how easy it would be to make one. A few scraps of PAR pine and you can make a 3-tier rustic cupcake or cake stand for a special occasion or a DIY wedding celebration.

Refinish or restore damaged furniture

More often than not the secondhand furniture you come across will need a bit of work. Over the years, furniture gets scratched, has water rings, layers of polish or other minor defects that can easily be put right if you are prepared to put in the time and effort.

Reclaimed timber for contemporary design

Reclaimed timber and wood has become one of the most easily recycled and eco friendly materials on the planet. Reclaimed timber can be repurposed into fencing and furniture, and timber pallets provide the perfect opportunity for even those unskilled at DIY to give it a try.

Make a simple wood chopping board

Put your basic DIY skills to use by making this wood cutting board or cheese board. If you can get your hands on a nice piece of hardwood, this cutting board will last a lifetime.

Reclaimed railways sleepers for a coffee table

I was lucky enough to uncover a whole pile of Rhodesian Teak railways sleepers that someone had been throwing away. Throwing away - who throws away Rhodesian Teak...! Having now seen this project I so wish I had put them aside to make this coffee table.

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Furniture ideas using reclaimed timber or wood

It's not only timber pallets that come in handy as a source of reclaimed timber. You can also find packing crates, wine crates, old flooring, timber fencing and other sources of reclaimed timber that are an excellent source of wood for DIY projects.

How to make a large clock

I just love these large clocks. They make an instant feature on any wall and especially when combined with Shabby Chic or cottage decor. I previously made a large clock, but this one by has much nicer numbers and clock hands.

Uses for pruned branches

I love these coat racks or hangers with wood slices. They look rustic and contemporary at the same time. Here's how to make your own coat rack with wood slices...

DIY festive candle holders

I love making these candle holders at our DIY Divas workshops. All you need is a length of PAR pine or meranti and a spade bit to create a wonderful display that looks amazing on a mantelpiece during the festive season, or as a table centrepiece.

DIY beer caddy

Here's a gift you can make for the 'Man who has everything!' Make a DIY beer caddy and then fill it up with his favourite beer! The beer caddy features a vintage bottle opening on one side and you might be lucky to find one of these at your local secondhand or antique shops.

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Designer art on wood

Some scrap pieces of wood, a stencil, and acrylic paint in plain and metallic colours are all that you need to create this stunning wall art.

Techniques for finishing wood

There are so many finishing techniques that you can use for wood, whether you are starting a project with new wood, or giving old wood furniture a revamp. Techniques for finishing wood can range from a high-gloss painted finish to a finish that is more rustic or natural.

Toybox on wheels

You can use any box to make a portable toybox. All you need are four castor wheels and some Rust-Oleum 2X spray paint and you have a portable toybox that can go anywhere! Designed by Erin Loechner at Design for Minikind.

Make these cute wooden owls

These wooden owls would look gorgeous on top of a bookshelf, or on display in a child's bedroom or nursery. You can so easily decorate the wooden owls with any fabric or wrapping paper to coordinate and match existing decor.

Pallet garden chair

Just to show you how easy it is to make basic garden furniture using a timber pallet, here is how Paola made her chairs for entry into our Craft Challenge.

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Make a chunky floating shelf

For the series earlier this year I made a chunky floating shelf using PAR pine and laminated pine shelving that I bought from Builders Warehouse.

Crafty idea for using timber and board off cuts

With so many projects under the belt, it's not difficult to accumulate quite a stockpile of timber and board offcuts. Rather than throw these away, use them for creative home decor. Here are some inspiring home decor projects that use timber and board offcuts

Cake stand for special occasions or weddings

A cake stand comes in very useful for putting cupcakes and desserts on display, especially for special events such as parties and weddings.

Make a burl bowl

Burls are abnormal growths on trees, usually eucalypts, that develop when they experience environmental stress such as fungal or insect attack. They're sought after by woodworkers for the tangled-grain pattern and hardwood durability.

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Repurpose an old stepladder

Recycling an old stepladder is a great storage idea for a bathroom towel hanging rack, or for having a few decor accessories on display, or even a decorative shelf for your lounge or bedroom. Now all you have to do is find an old stepladder!

Make and woodburnt a tray

I'm always looking for ways to use my tools and decided to give wood burning a try. In this project you will make and decorate a coffee tray with a woodburnt design using a Dremel Versatip - soldering iron.

Make a decorative wood shelf

Love this project. The nice thing about this shelf is that you can easily hang in a rental home. Just use a couple of picture hanging nails to mount onto the wall. When you move out, fill in the holes with a bit of Polyfilla!

Make a tufted upholstered ottoman

An upholstered ottoman is wonderful to have in a lounge or living area. They not only provide additional seating when required, but can also serve as an extra table if needed (with the addition of a glass top). These cubed ottomans are given a tufted and upholstered top.