1) Build a bookshelf with ladders and wood

Would you believe that all you need to create your very own bookshelf is two ladders and planks of wood? Step one, buy two ladders. Step two, buy planks of wood that are thin enough to fit within the steps of the ladder and long enough to reach them both when they’re opened. Make sure you measure before you buy the wood. Step three, place the planks of wood within the ladder steps. Now you’ve got a new place to display your books. Extra points if you paint the ladders or wood!

2) Sharpie Mug

Have you seen those adorable customized mugs all over Etsy? Well, it’s really easy to make one of your own. All you need is a coffee cup, a sharpie, and an oven- that’s it. Simply take the sharpie and write or draw whatever you want on your cup. Once whatever you wrote or drew on the mug is dry, pop the mug in the oven and bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Viola! You now have your own customized mug (and maybe even the beginnings of your own Etsy shop, too).

3) Color Your Keys

Do you spend a good five minutes at your front door, struggling to hold all of your belongings as you flip through your various keys? Rather than buy key covers, try this simple DIY project to help. Simply take nail polish in various colors and paint a different color on the head of each key. That’s it. Much easier to find the one purple key than one of the ten silver keys you have.

4) Bathroom Basket

If you want a cute storage bin to display your various soaps and candles, but don’t want to spend money on a wicker basket, there’s a very easy and inexpensive way to make your own. Simply take a cardboard box and a piece of frayed, rustic rope. Using a hot glue gun, glue the rope along the bottom edge of the box. Continue to spin the rope around and glue, working your way up to the top of the box. Once you reach the top, snip off the end of the rope and make sure the pieces are secure. Next, take an old white tank top and cut at the halfway mark. Glue the top two halves together, then fold them over the top of the basket. Now you have a rustic bin for all of your bathroom display needs. Check out the video below to see the steps in more detail:

5) Imprint a photo onto wood

To display a photo with a more rustic feel here’s a super easy way to imprint a photo onto wood. Simply cover the wood with gel medium and place the paper photo face down on its surface. Smooth our all the bubbles firmly and let it dry overnight. In the morning, dab the photo with a wet cloth and gently rub the wetted paper residue off. Cover with Mod Podge and let it dry. And now you’ve got a rustic wooden photo to display however you’d like!

6) Wooden Pallets to Couch

This one may sound beyond your capabilities, but we promise it’s super easy. Simply start by taking some old wooden pallets and painting them with white paint. Then you stack them strategically in a corner of your house and place cushions on top. Suddenly you have a super cute couch and some storage space to boot!

7) Blanket Ladder

Supplies:

– 16 feet of wood and 8-foot furring strips
-Eight (2 and 1/2 inch) wood screws.
-Wood glue
-Stain (Minwax in Dark Walnut)
-Saw (if you don’t own a chop saw you could easily do this project by hand with a hacksaw)

First, cut one 5-foot piece of wood from each of your 8-foot pieces, so you have two five foot pieces. Then cut four 18 inch pieces of wood from the remaining wood. Lay them out on the ground to make a ladder. Put them 12 inches apart and measure 18 inches from the ground and leave 6 inches at the top so that you can hang the blanket from the bottom bar. Dab a little bit of wood glue on the end of each bar then attach with a screw from the outside of each side piece going straight into the center of the end of each bar. Stain it the color of your choice and let it dry and air out completely.

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Maker Culture and the movement around it is thought to be a reaction to the disconnect within the physical world in cities. To simplify this, Maker Culture has been created as a bridge to pull communities back into sharing and face-to-face interaction as people help one another. Another idea of why Maker Culture is significant is because of millennials. This generation wasn’t necessarily required to take a woodshop or home economics class and may have work-oriented parents who were not likely to pass on these important skills. Therefore, millennials take to the internet to teach cooking, crafting, building, and many more maker skills as they start to build homes and families.

Maker Culture which can also be called Do-It-Yourself Culture (DIY Culture), and speaks to the very informal, highly networked, peer-lead movement of sharing skills. This contains trades as well as simple or detailed crafts that you might not have the supplies or skills to craft at home or by yourself. With the movement starting within more condensed places like cities, you can see the need (and space to utilize) power tools and various other technologies, has rapidly declined. This has sparked those deeply engaged in the maker movement to set up places known as Open Source Hardware Shops where someone can come in and work with materials that they might not have space or money for.
Some of the popular fields that are addressed within Maker Culture are art, metal-working and jewelry making, calligraphy, filmmaking, website making and design, and technology. Products that are produced within these communities have a focus on sustainable development, helping the environment, and improving the local culture. Sometimes, these groups of Makers set out to improve the community through art installations or collections. The movement can be seen in classrooms, offices, elderly homes, and much more.
Maker Culture is taking off worldwide. Created to address a need to get our hands dirty and pull together as a community, it is benefitting the world in many different ways. By attending group events in a close city, checking out a DIY project online, or reaching out to share your skills; you are not only be adding to this amazing culture and movement, but you are be learning and improving your personal skills as well.

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