Lots and lots of people have been busy making Valentine hearts! Here are some more that have been posted on my Facebook page this past week.Paul St George made this heart-shaped tea-light holder with a wood-burned rose for his wife. It kind of reminds me of my project this week!

Jason Weigles heart-in-a-heart display is made with white oak, African Mahogany, and walnut. He is going to finish it off with with a little plaque plate commemorating his wedding anniversary.

Sam Bittinger and his daughter worked together to make this tea-light holder.

I absolutely love Mitt Lilla Snickeris unique Yin and Yang heart. (There seems to be a tea-light theme running through this projects!)

And Im happy to show off  Lance Briggs version of the heart-shaped bandwaw box I made last week.

Really cool scroll work on B?a?ej Wudniaks tea-light holder.

*****

Project preview

Yeah...Ive made a tea-light holder too! Well, two of them. Video and plans tomorrow.

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Make an itsy bitsy teeny tiny wood box and earrings

Mothers Day is approaching!Well now that you have let that sink in and have entered into the panic stage, heres a project that is easy to make and will finally buy your mothers love.
Okay, that was a joke. Seriously, we all want to build handcrafted items for gifts. Why not use some of that special scrap wood youve been saving and make a little box. If you are ambitious, put some earrings in it.
No one needs to know that they were made with cutoffs that we considered tossing out.

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Oh dear dear dear

Im always amused when I hear from people who tell me their kids like to watch some of my videos. Perhaps the future of woodworking is bright. On the other hand, we all may be doomed.
Chris sent me this video of his 2 1/2 year old watching my "Woodworking Hoedown." (That was actually one of the most difficult videos I have ever made because I had to memorize stuff. And well, try to sing.)Anyway, this is pretty cute. Thanks a bunch Chris.

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French cleat tool storage system

I have used pegboard for years as an easy way to hang my hand tools. I can see why it is popular with a lot of guys: its fairly inexpensive and there are a wide variety of hangers you can buy that will allow you to hang just about anything.
The problem I have always faced is that the little metal holders continually fall off when I try to remove a tool.  I understand there are more modern hangers than the ones I used that will stay in place, but I never got around to purchasing any. I bought an assorted box of hangers when I set up my pegboard and never added to it.
Nor did I ever move the pegs around. I set them in place and instead of getting the right hanger for the tool, Ive always just plopped tools on whatever hanger they will fit. Usually awkwardly.
Ultimately, I like building stuff for the shop whenever possible, rather than buying stuff. Especially since everything else on my tool hutch is hand-made.
This french cleat system lets you get creative with storage and is infinitely adjustable to your tools and set-up. Plus french cleats are sturdy. I use one to hold my TV on the wall.

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Candle wall sconces

This weeks project is completely different than what I started out with. Last week I asked for your suggestions for an Olympic themed project. Lots of good ideas, and a lot of you wanted something with an Olympic torch.
I gave this a lot of thought and decided that a wooden torch was probably not a project that would hold wide appeal. This led me to the notion of creating a torch intarsia: piecing together various types of wood into a torch "picture". (If you are interested in this process, you can see a scarecrow I made a couple years ago.) After designing a few templates, it quickly became clear that a torch would only require a few cuts. Not much of an intarsia project.
Still exploring the idea of a torch, I thought perhaps a wall sconce shaped like a torch would be interesting. I spent quite a bit of time designing one, but kept running into design questions. Mostly, the candle seemed to be competing with the shape of the torchs flame making the overall concept confusing.
Sometimes just spending time in my shop leads to inspiration. Looking through my scraps of lumber, I discovered a tiger-stranded bamboo board a viewer sent me a while back. It has a crazy grain pattern that reminds me of flames. Suddenly I had the inspiration I needed. Though not Olympic themed, it retains the torch idea and is something that will hold wider appeal, especially after the 2014 games are over.
Plans

• WWMM Wall sconces (pdf)
• SketchUp file

Own this pair of wall sconces

Bid now! Hurry...auction ends next Friday. 

If you would like to own this pair of sconces, you can place a bid here! Auction runs until next Friday and I am donating 100% of the winning bid to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. I make a lot of stuff and it really feels good to be able to reduce my clutter, send a project to someone who can enjoy it,  and help out children who are going through some awful times.