Familiy Life Blog: wall

Been wondering what to do with all those tiny scraps of wood youve been saving? Heres a project you can make in no time flat. Gather up a mixed bag of cut-offs or pallet wood, glue them to a board and cut out the shape of your home state, province or country.
Make your own and post a video!Shoot a short video of what you made and post it as a video response to my video on YouTube*. I think it will be fun to see all the places people are woodworking.
Find a map that you want by doing a quick Google Images search, print it out, paste it on your boards and cut it out with a jig saw, scroll saw, or band saw.
I made my home state out of various scraps of pallet wood. The interesting thing about pallets is that the wood all ages differently, giving you different hues and colors.
For my second cut-out, I used a map of Brazil. I wanted to give a shout-out to my Portuguese-speaking friends in South America. Over the years of doing Woodworking for Mere Mortals, I have made friends with quite a few Brazilian woodworkers who I have found to be among the most creative people I know. Olá amigos! Obrigado pelo vosso apoio. (I hope Google Translate didnt just mangle that!)

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One bit of shop organization often leads to another. The extra space I gained by making last months roll-around painting and finishing cart prompted me to consolidate the remainder of my paints and finishes into the area by my utility sink.

This wall-hung cabinet holds nearly as much as the wall shelves I had been using for years, but takes up far less room. Now I can consider the possibilities for all this freed up space!
The shelves in this cabinet are 4 1/2" deep, just enough to store quart sized cans of stain or paint as well as the taller, narrower cans of thinners and wipe-on polys. The space between the upper shelves is 8", perfect for storing cans of spray paints and finishes. I used about a half sheet of 1/2" plywood for the entire cabinet. (See plans for cutting diagram.)
I designed this cabinet to fit together using dadoes and rabbets that I cut on one board all at once using a stack of dado blades on my table saw. No need for time consuming router set-ups. Of course, you could also cut these with a router if you dont have access to a dado set. An even easier option would be to put the whole thing together using pocket screws.
Free plans