In Southern California, we're gearing up for a little something called "fire season," and while the flames are alighting the mountain tops and clouds of smoke are hanging over the city, putting your fireplace to use can sound a little less than cozy. Use your lumber logs for something other than a roaring fire by repurposing them into a much more harmless use: a plant stand. Having only used a hand saw once in summer camp many years ago, let's just say I'm no lumberjack. However, this project was a breeze and the actual assembly took me under an hour.
What You Need
Materials
Hand saw
Cross section of a tree branch
Wood plaque from craft store
Wood glue
Books or heavy objects
Instructions
1. Select a wooden plaque from your local craft store. These come in a variety of shapes and colors.
2. Find a log from your woodpile or a fallen branch from the great outdoors. You will need a section of the branch that is thick enough to use as the base of the cake stand.
3. Use your handsaw to cut a section of the branch into a short base. It does not need to be tall (mine was only 4 inches high) but it does need to be relatively level on both sides.
4. Paint both wood pieces with a wood sealer.
5. Glue your base and top together. Coat one side of your base with wood glue and firmly press your wood plaque down. Stack books or other heavy objects on top to aid the sealing process.
Thanks, Katie!
(Images: Katie O'Gorman)
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that's so easy and so adorable! what a good idea. i'm totally going to make that for my house. thanks!
Super cute. I could use these for all kinds of things. I even like it with a stack of books on it!
I love, love, love this! I spend a lot of time hiking in the great outdoors and will keep an eye out for logs with character and plant stand potential! Thank you for the idea!!
I'm often in areas of logged wood, and I often think, "What could I do with this scrap wood?" How cool!! I'm totally gonna do this.
First time commenter, long time viewer. I really like projects like this that are completed so easily and in a short amount of time. The satisfaction of completion is there but the end result belies the effort. This is a great Sunday project. I've volunteered to make a couple of these for a upcoming friend's wedding. I'm going to do a large one as a cake stand and several as a plant stand for each table. Thanks for the inspiration.
I ADORE this! I think this will be a great project for the whole family this weekend. Just what I had in mind, but needed to see something first. Thanks!!
I have a tree stump I brought home years ago to do a Martha Stewart project with. It's so complicated it's never going to get done. I'm totally gonna do this instead. Sweet!