• Home
  • about emily
  • before + after
  • HGTV + DIY Network
  • good press
  • contact
  • Let’s Organize These Posts:

    • Art Attack
    • Backyard
    • Barn
    • Basement
    • Bathroom
    • Beach
    • Bedrooms
    • Being Thrifty
    • Business-y
    • Buying and Renting and Selling
    • Casual Celebrations
    • Closets
    • Curb Appeal
    • Dainty Details
    • Deck
    • Decor
    • Dining Room
    • DIY
    • Dog-Related
    • Entryway
    • Flooring
    • For the Kids
    • Garage
    • Gardening
    • Helping The Economy
    • HGTV + DIY Network Projects
    • Holiday-Related Projects
    • Home Safety
    • Kitchen
    • Lighting
    • Living Room
    • Merry Travels
    • Office Space
    • Organized
    • Other Pads
    • Outdoor Living
    • Scooter Fun
    • Stairwell
    • Sunroom
    • Supporting Sponsors
    • The Art Room
    • Tools
    • Uncategorizable
    • Wedding
    • Windows
    • Work-pads
  • Search

  • Hi, I’m Emily

    Emily Fazio

    I'm a home improvement enthusiast, living a very merry DIY lifestyle.

    You can find me writing for HGTV and DIY Network, follow me on facebook and instagram, or drop me a note if you'd like. I love notes.

    Thanks for visiting!

  • BROWSE POSTS BY CATEGORY:

    • Art Attack (7)
    • Backyard (92)
    • Barn (8)
    • Basement (27)
    • Bathroom (43)
    • Beach (13)
    • Bedrooms (73)
    • Being Thrifty (53)
    • Business-y (12)
    • Buying and Renting and Selling (23)
    • Casual Celebrations (36)
    • Closets (17)
    • Curb Appeal (44)
    • Dainty Details (8)
    • Deck (23)
    • Decor (286)
    • Dining Room (37)
    • DIY (577)
    • Dog-Related (24)
    • Entryway (59)
    • Flooring (58)
    • For the Kids (32)
    • Garage (17)
    • Gardening (70)
    • Helping The Economy (30)
    • HGTV + DIY Network Projects (283)
    • Holiday-Related Projects (80)
    • Home Safety (12)
    • Kitchen (83)
    • Lighting (31)
    • Living Room (77)
    • Merry Travels (21)
    • Office Space (21)
    • Organized (41)
    • Other Pads (14)
    • Outdoor Living (12)
    • Scooter Fun (8)
    • Stairwell (20)
    • Sunroom (22)
    • Supporting Sponsors (43)
    • The Art Room (3)
    • Tools (43)
    • Uncategorizable (1)
    • Wedding (28)
    • Windows (14)
    • Work-pads (10)
  • Search

  • Pages

    • blog
    • Merrypad Features
    • Privacy Policy
    • about emily
    • before + after
      • before + after, our current home
      • before + after, our first house
    • contact me
    • choose a badge and share the merrypad.com love
  • Home
  • about emily
  • before + after
  • HGTV + DIY Network
  • good press
  • contact

A Beautiful Red Spruce Upcycle

February 26, 2013

Our friends and family know us quite well. One of our wedding gifts was a set of matching toolboxes, and I imagine that they’re the most special toolboxes I’ll ever own.

Our wedding gift, a set of handmade toolboxes.

My parents live in a very wooded area, and as you might expect, they’ve lost some trees in the 27 years they’ve lived there. Some trees are rotting and are thrown into a chipper head first, but when healthy ones come down naturally or a have to be taken down for one reason or another, my Dad has turned to little local mobile mills and had the trunks of those trees ripped into rough usable boards right in our own backyard. It’s not something that I appreciated when I was younger, but those boards that are stored in neat piles in their barn could really be something cool–most of them are 2×8 or 2×10–they’ve been accumulating for almost 20 years. They’re actually one of the reasons we’ve been shopping for a great wood planer over the last few months. With a few passes, I’m sure that most of those boards could become something great.

What’s especially cool about these two boxes is that they’re made from Norway Red Spruce trees taken from that stash on my parent’s property (I guess our family friend, a handy woodsmith, borrowed a few pieces at one time or maybe just for this occasion…I’m still not sure).

Personalized wooden toolbox.

From the raw material, he designed each box to 1′ x 2′ x 6″ specs so that we could use it as a rough measure in a pinch, and assembled the boxes with dovetail joiners and absolutely no nails or screws. Good craftsmanship is so refreshing and inspiring.

Our wedding gift, a set of handmade toolboxes.

I wish this was feel-o-vision, because the wood has been planed, sanded, and then polyurethaned into a state of perfection. No splinters or scratches happenin’ due to these boxes.

Our wedding toolboxes.

They’re personalized too, each box sports one of our names on it so there’ll be no quarreling.

Personalized tool box.

They don’t live on our deck, of course, they spend their days in the basement on the workbench, just awaiting an opportunity to work their way into our tool organization (it’s a little too cold to spend a day organizing our messy workbench right now).

Aren’t they great?

Pretty norway red spruce boxes.  

Share

DIY  / Tools

Emily
I'm a home improvement enthusiast, living a very merry DIY lifestyle. You can find me writing for HGTV and DIY Network, follow me on facebook and instagram, or drop me a note if you'd like. I love notes.

5 Comments


jb @BuildingMoxie
February 26, 2013 at 1:35 pm
Reply

*drool*



jb @BuildingMoxie
February 26, 2013 at 1:36 pm
Reply

I mean – ummmm, yes.



Henry
February 28, 2013 at 6:58 am
Reply

Where’s Julia’s toolbox?



Dale
March 3, 2013 at 5:30 pm
Reply

Yes they were made for this special ocasion. Remember you’ll alwas have a little peice of home with you.
I helped Mark mill the trees and he has repaid me many times over with milling my trees and other projects.
Put some tools in them !



    Emily
    March 3, 2013 at 7:23 pm

    We love them.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  • HI, I’m Emily

    Emily Fazio

    I'm a home improvement enthusiast, living a very merry DIY lifestyle. Follow me on facebook and instagram, or drop me a note if you'd like. I love notes.

    Thanks for visiting!

  • Instagram

    Can’t believe I ever bought dumpling wrappers. 🥟 Pulse a few cups of flour in the food processor drizzling in cold water until it forms dough. Roll smooth. Use a conveniently large cookie cutter, or just trim out squares. The end ❤️ #hny #dumplings
    Didn’t think I’d be making more masks, but her Didn’t think I’d be making more masks, but here we are (now feat. recycled t-shirt layer for added softness and bonus-layer protection). #diy #amateurseamstress #diymask
    Get out there ☀️ Get out there ☀️
    The gang finally showed up. 👻 The gang finally showed up. 👻
    A record 233 cloves + 10 shallots 🧛🏻‍♀️ 
#merrypadathome #garden2021 #garlic #gardennotes #whatisnormal
    ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
    Immeasurably tall, lanky tomatillos. #garden2020 # Immeasurably tall, lanky tomatillos. #garden2020 #tomatillos #nofilter
    32 oz., reserved for the brave 🌶🌶 😍#homeg 32 oz., reserved for the brave 🌶🌶 😍#homegrown #tomatillos #harvest2020
    Nothing says “let’s stay home all fall, too” Nothing says “let’s stay home all fall, too” like a badass custom fireplace on our patio. 🔥 #chiminea #merrypadathome
    Load More... follow emily: @merrypad



  • Like Us On Facebook

    Facebook Pagelike Widget



  • Popular Posts

    • How to fix an IKEA drawer. Cheap IKEA Drawers (And The Quick Fix) 40.1k views
    • DIY sideboard rehab. Our Refinished Midcentury Buffet 39.7k views
    • How to design and make a barn quilt. How to Make Your Own Barn Quilt 33.3k views
    • DIY driveway removal. The Driveway Rocks 24.7k views
    • How to hang art on brick surfaces using specialty clips. The Easy Way to Hang Art on Brick or Stone 24.4k views
    • Goodbye, gold fireplace covering. Less Is More: How to Remove a Fireplace Surround 22.2k views
    • Our DIY flagstone patio. Building a Patio in One Day 17.4k views
    • Bedroom paint, freshened up with Snowbound paint. Painting Everything White: We Chose Snowbound, By Sherwin Williams 16.5k views
    • Tips for dying pasta different colors, and a Halloween Recipe for the kids. Tips for Dying Pasta Different Colors (+ A Special Halloween Recipe) 15.3k views
    • Finished stained kitchen cabinets. Javalicious, A Gel Staining Reveal (Update #3) 14.2k views



  • BROWSE POSTS BY CATEGORY:

    • Art Attack (7)
    • Backyard (92)
    • Barn (8)
    • Basement (27)
    • Bathroom (43)
    • Beach (13)
    • Bedrooms (73)
    • Being Thrifty (53)
    • Business-y (12)
    • Buying and Renting and Selling (23)
    • Casual Celebrations (36)
    • Closets (17)
    • Curb Appeal (44)
    • Dainty Details (8)
    • Deck (23)
    • Decor (286)
    • Dining Room (37)
    • DIY (577)
    • Dog-Related (24)
    • Entryway (59)
    • Flooring (58)
    • For the Kids (32)
    • Garage (17)
    • Gardening (70)
    • Helping The Economy (30)
    • HGTV + DIY Network Projects (283)
    • Holiday-Related Projects (80)
    • Home Safety (12)
    • Kitchen (83)
    • Lighting (31)
    • Living Room (77)
    • Merry Travels (21)
    • Office Space (21)
    • Organized (41)
    • Other Pads (14)
    • Outdoor Living (12)
    • Scooter Fun (8)
    • Stairwell (20)
    • Sunroom (22)
    • Supporting Sponsors (43)
    • The Art Room (3)
    • Tools (43)
    • Uncategorizable (1)
    • Wedding (28)
    • Windows (14)
    • Work-pads (10)





  • a little bit of everything, friends, DIY, and inspiration

    • Dadand.com < My husband and his BFF
    • DIY Network
    • HGTV
  • Get Posts Via Email

  • Some Legal

    Merrypad incorporates the occasional affiliate link to Amazon.com and Minted; we link to many other websites and products, but if it is in context of a paid sponsorship, it is always noted as such. Please review the privacy policy and contact me if you have any additional questions.

    Theme customized by Pete Fazio Creative, the guy from dadand.com.


© Copyright Merrypad