Seasonal DIY

  "The key is not to prioritize what's on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities."  -Steven Covey     Maintaining a proper balance between education, a career, and a life is essential to sustain steady growth and keep a healthy mind and healthy body. When we fall out of balance an increase in stress and decrease in motivation can occur which can drastically escalate to a worse standing. When our priorities are not managed and left out of mind it is easy to dig ourselves into a hole that makes climbing back out of feel impossible at times. We can help ourselves keep this balance by identifying our priorities and goals and working through them one step at a time. Interesting video on balancing priorities in your life. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyL93MlR_I0

 

With the right tools creating a cutting board is an easy beginner woodworking project. The ideal tools include a table saw, surface planer, jointer, clamps, and sanding equipment. These tools are ideal but not necessary to create your own stylish board. Determining what wood to use is the first place to begin an easy cutting board. Due to moisture plus wear and tear a close grain hardwood is preferred for most boards. Woods such as hard maple, walnut, or cherry make terrific cutting boards and offer a variety of colors, grain structures, and patterns. Once the wood is selected it is time to prepare the wood for glue up. The most important part of gluing pieces together is the joint. A square, flat surface is required to achieve maximum strength, and to do this running the wood pieces through a thickness planer and jointer is an efficient method. You can also use a table saw and thickness planer to create a straight flat surface to glue up. If you do not own a planer or jointer your loc...

 3 Things to create/build yourself during the winter months 1. Tree ornaments and decorations - Creating tree ornaments can be an easy thing to do for the whole family. There are many different resources to procure plain, unfinished bulbs or ceramic figures that can be painted, decorated, or made your own 2. Homemade candles - Creating your own candles is a cheap easy project indoors. All that is required is the purchasing of wax (some research required on types of wax/oils) along with the wicks, colors, and scents. Melt your wax, add your color and scent and pour into whatever container with the wick. 3. Wreaths - Creating your own wreath is an easy and rewarding project to display. You can purchase a kit at any local craft store, collect your own materials and decorations and create something festive or seasonal to hang for display.