A-Frame Wood Guitar Stand

I was making my husband something awesome for Christmas.

My luck...he found it midway being done.

So I'm going to share it with you (and then figure out something else to make my husband for Christmas).

My husband breathes music.

He's actually a very talented drummer.

His love, though, is playing the guitar.

I let him keep his acoustic in the living room, because I think it looks classy.

For some reason, every time I see an electric guitar, my first thought is Gene Simmons.

Odd?

Anyways, I know he's been wanting a guitar stand.

I don't like the plastic ones. Sure, they are cheap, but I also think they belong in a college dorm, not my house.

The nice wood ones average $200-$300.

Ouch.

Betcha I can make one!



I found this template online.

If you would like this template, the website is listed by the picture.

So I printed it off in 8x10 sheets, then taped them all together.

The guy that originally made this used two pieces of scrap wood, hence that line in the middle.

I wanted this to be decent quality, so I bought a full 3/4 sheet of plywood.

I cut out the template and traced around it on my plywood.

Once I cut it out, I used that piece as my second template. I stayed outside my line so that I could sand the edges.

Then I had two identical sides.

Then I needed to sand the edges.

I learned a really cool trick (in a magazine maybe?) for sanding. Instead of trying to hold your work and maneuver a sander around it, you clasp the handle of the sander in a vice grip and that leaves you with two hands to rotate your material.

This is much easier! I love this trick!

To make sure that the sides remain exactly uniform, I clamped them together before sanding.

After the usual sanding, staining (True Walnut by Miniwax) and polyurethaning, I attached the two sides together at the top with a decorative hinge.

You need to make sure the stand doesn't completely spread while a guitar is on it.

The template calls for two slits to be made so that a ribbon could pass through.

I thought that it would look sloppy.

I thought a chain would look much better, plus I wouldnt' have to try making slits.

To give myself leverage to twist the eye hooks into the wood, I like to use a C-clamp.

Once I got one eye hook in, I carefully closed the stand and pushed down, causing an indent on the other side. The ensures that the eye hooks are in the exact same spot on each side with no measuring!

You also should add padding on the stand so that putting the guitar down doesn't cause any chips.

On the website, he used felt and glue.

Why don't we skip that step and use 3/4" Velcro?? Only the soft side, of course.

;)

I cut off a small piece and stuck it on the front like this:

Then a bottom piece:

And the rest on the back. Repeat on the other side.

I used a hanging basket chain to connect the eye hooks.

I'm not happy that it's green, but since it was just sitting in my garage (FREE!) and it wouldn't be seen when the guitar sits on the stand, I wasn't too worried about it.

It will be replaced some day, I'm sure.

Ready to see how it turned out?

You like??

Coming Up:

Two huge kitchen projects. One is going to knock your socks off!

A quick bathroom organizing idea.

How to make an important woodworking tool.



Featured: The Creative Crate

My charging basket was featured over at Creative Crate!

 

It's a great blog to get great ideas for your home!

Click the button above!

Thank you so much, Stacie!

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Nothing says "Halloween" to me more than the smell of pumpkin seeds roasting in the oven.

My fondest memories with my dad was gutting pumpkins and saving the seeds to eat.

He did a lot of special things like that.

Now I have passed that tradition onto my children.

Spiced Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

-raw pumpkin seeds

-few drizzles of olive oil

-few splashes of Worcestershire sauce

-a dash of salt

Mix everything together. Spread a thin layer on a cookie sheet. Put in the oven at 275 degrees for about an hour.

I used roughly 2 1/2 cups of seeds. The more seeds you have, you will need to add a bit more of the other stuff. I can't give you exact amounts, I just throw everything in there!

My kids were eating these by the handful!

It's such a nutritious treat, especially after a day scarfing down candy.

;)

Happy Halloween!



Ooops!

Shoot, I forgot to let everyone know that I received a clean bill of health from the doc!

Yay!

I've been covered in sawdust for the past 2 days on 2 seperate yet equally awesome projects.

They will both take me a while to finish, but I'll be sure to show you some mini-projects along the way!

And because no post is complete without a picture, I'll show my son's epic "Double Pick."

Awww. He was just a baby.

:'}

Charging Basket

So what did I do with this simple basket?

First, I went to Hobby Lobby to find this basket. They have a huge selection, and I knew I would find one with about the measurements of the shelf.

Wait until the flier says they are 50% off!

I used the template that came with the bronze grommets that I used.

I placed the template where I wanted it, then traced with a white paint marker (easier to see).

After cutting the basket with wire cutters (the basket was too thick for scissors), I glued on the grommets.

They need to be glued because a basket is obviously thicker than fabric, so the grommets won't snap together.

Don't skip this step, because the grommets help the basket from unraveling!

Put a power strip inside the basket....

....and thread the cord through the grommet.

Then I attached two ledgers on each side.

I screwed the wood from the outside of the basket with black screws to have them camouflaged a bit.

I did this because my basket would be in an enclosed space, so you won't be able to see the screws.

If you are having the basket sit out on a table, you will need to find a different way of securing the wood to the inside of the basket, unless you don't mind seeing the screws.

Wood glue might work, but it may ooze out of the basket....

Anyways, just make sure that the two wood ledgers are level with each other, and that you leave enough room for not only the power strip, but all the plug-ins that you will be adding!

Next, place your basket upside-down on a sheet of wood. I used a scrap 3/4" plywood that I had from a previous project. You can definitely use a thinner plywood!

Trace around it.

Now, if your basket is beveled, like mine (the bottom is smaller than the top), you're going to need to cut on the inside of your line, so that the wood fits further down the basket.

If you don't do this, the wood will sit on the top of your basket.

I had to take about an inch off all the sides.

After cutting that out, you will need to make several straight cuts along one side, to thread the cords through.

I accomplished this with my table saw, but a circular saw or jigsaw should do the trick. I made two passes per line to thicken up the line. You may have thick cords!

That's a bit hard to see. it seems as if the wood is the same color as my floor.

Ooops!

Anyways, put the power strip back in the basket and attach any charging cords that you may have.

I only put our cell phone chargers in there, but I have a bunch more for cameras/GPS's/etc.

Place the wood in the basket, thread the cords through the slits, attach your power strip to an outlet, plug in your gadgets, and your all set!

I will definitely be staining that wood.

I'm also thinking about adding tags to each cord so that we don't have to guess which one is the right cord. Masking tape wrapped around the cord should work fine!

You wouldn't even guess that's the function of this cute little basket on our entertainment center!

<3

I think this may be my favorite organizing project to date.

We used to plug our phones into an outlet by the countertops in the kitchen. That means gadgets would be in my way as I cooked. Not only that, but there was only 1 free plug, so it was a constant battle between my husband and me. I would have to unplug his charger, neatly wrap it up, stick it in the junk drawer, then plug mine in. He would unplug mine, throw it "God knows where," and plug his in.

Now I know where my charger is.

;)



Hubby's favorite organizational project to date is the magazine storage in the bathroom.

He's odd.

Haha!