Landscape Timber Planter Plan

Now here’s a way to add a flowering touch to your yard or garden without a lot of effort: build a plant stand from ordinary landscape timbers. Anyone can build this simple design, and all it takes is some wood and screws. A beautiful landscape timber plant stand could be all that your yard is looking for, and you can do it this weekend, in just a few hours!

Shaped like a birdbath, this clever design brings your flowers up, off the ground, while allowing you to place the plant stand just about anywhere in your yard or garden. Having multi-tiered flower beds can give your flower garden a very unique and rewarding look.

If you have never worked with landscape timbers before, you are in for a treat. You can create wonderful things with them, and you can pick them up at any lumber yard or Home Depot, etc. They are strong, sturdy, and are treated, so that they last for many years without rotting. Their rustic appearance gives an extra added ruggedness to your outdoor atmosphere, especially if you don’t paint your project, and leave it natural. I, myself, love the look of natural wood. When I look at natural landscape timbers, I get more of a rustic, backwoods, log cabin feeling. To me, you can never have too many landscape timber displays in your yard or garden. Try it. You will never look back!

CUTTING NOTE: If after making your 30-degree angle cuts on your hexagons, you find that the angles don’t quite line up, you can make some adjustments to fix this. If, when you assemble your hexagon, your gap increases as it goes to the inside of the hexagon, then you need to INCREASE the angle on your saw by a degree or two. If, on the other hand, your gap increases as it goes to the outside of the hexagon, then you need to DECREASE the angle on your saw by a degree or two.

This and many more Landscape Timber Plans are available at www.SherwoodOnline.com.

Hope Chest Plan Article!

Here’s a great Christmas gift! A hope chest is a precious heirloom that is handed down from generation to generation of girls. You don’t hear much about them any more, yet they still remain popular among woodworking enthusiasts and those who value nostalgia. Hope chests not only store valuable keepsakes for young girls, but also help create a certain elegant atmosphere in one’s room. Whether it is used for its true intention, or to store quilts, sheets, pillows, or extra blankets, hope chests can be a very classy way of creating extra storage.

A good hope chest is hand-crafted, sturdy, and can withstand many years of opening and closing, being sat on, and possibly kicked around a bit. And if built properly, it can be handed down to your children and grand children. So you want to make sure that when you build a hope chest, build it to last. Use good, hard wood, make strong joining corners, sturdy feet, use strong hinges, and have a good overall plan before investing a lot of time and money.

Hope chests are all basically the same size. They are sized this way to sit at the foot of a bed, similar to a foot locker, only elegant. The hope chest dimensions for this article will be 18”H x 18”W x 44”L.

To build this project, you will need the following materials. (5) 1” x 10” x 8’ Oak boards for the Front, Back, Ends, Top, and Base Moldings; (1) ½” x 2’ x 4’ plywood for the Floor; (5) ½” x 1½“ x 6’ Oak Trim, (10) (optional) ¼” x 4” x 8’ Cedar Slats – Tongue and Groove; (1) 1½“ x 36” Continuous Brass Hinge; (1) Counterbalance Safety Hinge; (40) #6 x ½“ Brass Screws; (14) #0 Hardwood Biscuits; (84) #6 x 1¼“ Finishing Nails; (1) Decorative Carving / Wood Appliqué; (2) Handles; (1) Small Can of Wood Putty; (1) Pint of Wood Glue; and (1) Quart of Polyurethane.

Now that you have all of the materials, let’s begin building our hope chest. Start by using 7 Biscuits (for each set of 2 boards) and gluing and clamping 2 sets of (2) 1x10 oak boards together (join at the long sides). These will be for your Front, Back, End and Top Panels. Once dry, cut the Front and Back Panels to be 15¼“W x 42½”L, from one set of the joined boards. Then, out of the other joined boards, cut the Top Panel to be 17”W x 44”L. Also, from the same set, cut the End Panels to be 15¼”H x 14½”W.

On the top edge of the Back Panel, we need to make a cut to allow for the Continuous Hinge to recess into place. Starting 4 inches in from the end, and cut 36” long, by ¾” wide, by 1/8" deep.

From the plywood, cut the Bottom Panel to be 14½”W x 41”L.

Now that the main pieces are cut out, sand everything smooth and we are ready to start assembling our hope chest. Start by gluing and nailing the Back Panel to the Side Panels. Next, glue and nail the Front Panel to the Side Panels. Now, making sure your box is square, glue and nail the Bottom Panel to the bottom of the box assembly.

Now let’s cut and assemble the Base Molding. Using the 1” x 10” x 8’ Oak board, cut (2) 44” long, by 3” wide boards for the Front and Back Base Molding. From the same board, also cut (2) End Base Molding pieces to be 17½” long, by 3” wide. Cut all of the ends (of all 4 Base Molding pieces) at 45 ° angles. Use a router, with a Classic Ogee bit, to router the top edges of all of the Base Molding pieces. If you like, cut a nice design out of the bottom of each of the 4 pieces. You can make it look like scrollwork, or give it some classy legs. Either way, make sure it looks elegant and keeps the same pattern consistent throughout. Now, glue and nail the Base Molding pieces to the bottom of the box, allowing the Molding pieces to hang down below the bottom the Side and End Panels. There should be a 1” overlap of the Base Molding and the bottom of the Side and End Panels. This will make the Base Molding become your legs for the box.

Use a router, with a Classic Ogee bit, to router the top edges of the Top Panel (lid). Attach the Top Panel to the Back Panel, by using the Continuous Brass Hinge. Pre-drill all of the holes for the hinge, by using a 1/8” drill bit and drilling ½” deep. Using the Brass Screws, secure the hinge to both the Back Panel and the Top Panel, so that the Top Panel will close properly, and is lined up correctly. Screw on the Counterbalance Support Hinge to the Top Panel and the inside Back Panel. This will keep the Top Panel (lid) from falling closed from the open position.

It’s time to add the Trim to the middle of the End, Front and Back Panels. Using the ½” x 1½” x 6’ Oak Trim, cut (4) 38½”L x 1-3/8”W Front and Back horizontal Trim Pieces. Cut (4) 12”L x 1-3/8”W Side horizontal Trim Pieces. Cut (8) 10¼”H x 1-3/8”W upright Trim Pieces. For all Trim Pieces, cut the ends at 45 ° angles. For the Front and Back Panels, use 2 horizontal and 2 upright pieces, each. Figure out the center of the panels. First, using finishing nails, nail the shape together at each corner. The, glue and nail the rectangular-shaped box Trim Pieces assembly into the middle of the Front and Back Panels. For the End Panels, create the box from 2 upright pieces and 2 end horizontal pieces. Also nail the pieces together before securing to the hope chest. Find the middle of the panels. Glue and nail the square of trim into the center of each of the panels.

Now, add the 2 Handles. Screw in the Handles on each End Panel, centering left to right, and position
1-5/8” under the top horizontal Trim Piece.

And finally, glue the Oak Appliqué to the absolute middle of the Front Panel. Now your hope chest is assembled. If you wish, line the inside with the optional Cedar Slats. Glue the tongue and groove slats together, cut to length, and nail them into the inside of the chest. Start with the floor, then the ends, and finally, the front and back. Measure and trim to size before nailing into position.

To finish, sand the entire chest and remove dust with a tack cloth. Fill all nail holes with putty and sand smooth. Stain the wood, if desired. Apply two coats of polyurethane, sanding between coats. Do not apply finish to Cedar, or the underside of the lid. And that’s it! Enjoy!

If you would like detailed instructions and a full-size pattern for this project; Cedar Chest #881 Click Here.

For more informations visit www.sherwoodonline.com

Pumpkin Carving Patterns Article!

Are you getting tired of the standard way of carving pumpkins? If so than this might just be what you are looking for. It's a new fad that's growing more popular year after year. This year we thought we would join right in. Designing patterns for pumpkins seemed to be a natural transition since we've been developing woodcraft patterns for over 10 years now. Instead of the standard jack-o-lantern faces, try something new and exciting. It’s easier than it looks and offers hours of family fun. Here’s how it’s done...

Take one of our designs from either Pattern #2028 or #2029. I’ve selected the cat design from Pattern #2028 for this demonstration. Select an appropriate sized pumpkin and center the pattern over the preferred good side. (You may have to enlarge or decrease the size of the pattern depending on the size of the pumpkin you have.) With a pointed tool, like a stylist or small finish nail, perforate the design into the pumpkin. Make sure that you poke enough holes through the pattern into the pumpkin and that the holes are close enough together so that when you pull the pattern off the pumpkin you can clearly see the image on the pumpkin from the holes that you have made. (These holes need not to go all the way through the pumpkin; rather just to indent (dimple) or break the skin of the pumpkin.) Cut a hole in the bottom of the pumpkin large enough to scoop out all of it’s seeds and proceed with removing all it’s contents.

Now you are ready to cut out your design. Starting in the center of your design working your way out, carefully, with a sharp knife or carving saw, cut along the dotted lines. Standard household knives are all you need to carve these designs but there are several tools available for carving pumpkins to make the job easier and more precise. We suggest making a trip to a Halloween store or searching on-line for such carving tools if so desired. Following the pattern as closely as you can and taking your time will guarantee success and hours of family fun. Remember safety always comes fist, be very careful using sharp objects and kids should only be carving pumpkins under close adult supervision.

To extend the life of your pumpkin after your down carving seal the pumpkin with a polyurethane spay. After the sealant has had ample time to dry add a light or candle and set it out for decoration this Halloween season. It’s just that simple and look at what you just created. Your neighbors will be in awe and surprised to find out that you carved it. Lets face it carving standard jack-o-lantern faces were fun, but wouldn’t you rather carve something a little more challenging? Have a Fun and Safe Halloween!

If you would like detailed instructions and a full-size pattern for this project, or a project just like it Pumpkin Carving #2028 Click Here! There is 15 patterns per set! Visit www.SherwoodOnline.com for more information.

Yard Art Shadows Article!

Making your own shadow yard art can be a lot of fun, and can really spruce up your yard! Have you seen the many different types of silhouettes displayed on lawns, as you pass by? Sometimes, they make you do a “double-take” because they look so real. Some of the shadows that I remember are Indians riding a horse, cowboys leaning against a tree, various animal scenes, waving people, and lots more. Shadows are very popular and very easy to make.

So how does one go about creating their own shadows? Well, there are many ways this can be done. First, you need to find the image that you would like to display. This could be a person, or an animal, or say, an eagle. If you wanted to find an eagle, one way is to look on the Internet for some pictures of eagles. Probably the best place to go is www.google.com and click on images. This way you are just searching for images of an eagle, and not the word “eagle”. Another way to find images is in magazines or books. Pictures can be copied for personal use on a copier.

Once you have the image you are looking for, blow it up to the size you would like the finished product. Do this either on a printer or a large-scale copier, to get to the desired size. Once you have the correct size, trace it onto a piece of ¼” to ½” plywood and cut it out with a jig saw. Once cut, sand smooth, and paint it black.

Another way to enlarge an image is with an overhead projector. Or, if you cut out the image on a small piece of wood, you can bright light behind it, casting the shadow of the larger image onto a large piece of plywood. Once traced, cut the larger piece out, sand and paint.

With this shadow being an eagle, you will want to hang it from a tree limb to show it in flight. If it is a perched shadow of an eagle, then you will want to mount it to a fence post, or something similar.

I think that some of the more interesting shadows are ones of Whitetail deer, or black bears. To me, these seem to look the most natural out in the yard. More than once, I have had to look twice to see if the silhouettes that I was passing were really standing there! This is part of the excitement of displaying designs like these, to make people wonder if what they are looking at is really standing there. To do this, make sure that the designs you choose are life-like, and not “cartoonish”. Choose a design from nature.

Try all different types of shadows and see what you think. Some other ideas could be images of a person waving from your porch, Santa sneaking to your chimney on your roof, reindeer on the roof or in your yard, a cowboy leaning against your tree, or kids playing. Enjoy!

If you would like detailed instructions and a full-size pattern for this project Flying Eagles #26 CLICK HERE, or Painted Bears and Cubs #292 CLICK HERE!Visit www.SherwoodOnline.com for more information.

Halloween Yard Displays Article

It’s that time of year again… Time to scare the neighbors and trick-or-treaters! There are a lot of fun ideas for Halloween yard displays. One of the spookiest places to be at Halloween is in a cemetery. Just thinking about it gives me the chills! And making your trick-or-treaters walk through your own cemetery to get some candy, will give your Halloween-decorated front yard a chilling atmosphere!

So how do you create this eerie cemetery in your yard? Well, what does a graveyard have the most of? Tombstones, headstones, gravestones, or whatever you want to call them. They are easy to make out of plywood. Just cut them out, paint them, write or paint an epitaph on them, and stake them into the ground.

You will need several shapes and sizes. There is the common rectangular shape with the curved top. Of course, rectangles are always nice. A stacked tombstone, with a large base or two, and a tall rectangle shape on top (for the wealthy), is a nice touch. A basic cross or a small headstone can be used for the poor dead guy.

You are going to need a few different darker colors of paint. Black can be nice, but you will also need a few shades of brown, and some dark and medium grays. These colors will be used for the stones, themselves. You will also want to have some lighter colors on hand, for the R.I.P and epitaphs. These might be colors like oranges, lighter grays, yellows, light greens, etc.

For the wood, you will want to use a good, ½ inch plywood. You can use a thinner board, but you risk the possibility of warping, or it falling over in the wind. Also, the thick wood looks a lot nicer as tombstones. You can also double the wood to give your stones a thicker look. The thicker look is much nicer.

A good, outdoor wood sealer is also needed. Use a varnish that resists yellowing. By sealing your wood (after painting), you will keep the paint from running and protect the wood from warping. Plus, this way, you can use your tombstones year after year.

Cut out your tombstone designs as one shape each (don’t try to connect pieces together, as this will weaken the display and it won’t look as nice). Cut your stones anywhere from 16” H x 24” W to as big as, say, 35” H x 20” W. You can obviously vary them in size, from very small to very large. Just remember, the smaller ones are hard to see or read from the road, and the very large ones can cover up other displays and will cost quite a bit for the wood. So, use your own judgment here.

To make the stones look old and broken, cut various v-shaped cuts on the outside edges of the stones. They don’t need to be big, or many. Cut about 2 or 3 per side. To add the crack to the v-shaped cut, when painting, continue a line from the point of the “v” for a few inches into the stone. Use a darker paint (such as a black or dark gray) for this. Once they are all cut, sand them smooth (you don’t want any trick-or-treaters to get splinters!).

Randomly paint each stone a different color and let dry. Now, using a thin brush (or a colored marker or paint pen), write “R.I.P.” or your own clever epitaphs, such as “Here Lies A Man Who Zigged, When He Should Have Zagged.” Use different colors for each stone. For an added touch, make it look like the paint has eerie drips hanging from the words. Use different style lettering for each tombstone.

Now we have to make them stand up in the yard. This can be accomplished a couple of ways. Either use a staking kit (which attaches to the back of the project and stakes into the ground), or cut out a board (larger than the tombstone) to use it as a flat base to keep it from tipping over. Either nail or screw up through the flat board and into the bottom of the tombstone. Use waterproof wood glue between the boards, for added strength. Remember, the taller the tombstone, the deeper the base will have to be. Test one before cutting all of the bases.

After your tombstones are built, use the outdoor varnish to seal them. Again, this protects the wood and the paint, so it will last from year to year.

For added effect, you can use a smoke machine in your cemetery. Hide it behind one of the tombstones, and turn it on at dusk. A smoke machine can really give your cemetery that spooky feeling you get when strolling through a graveyard at night. Another added touch would be to install orange and green lights around, or poked through, the tombstones. The lights, added to the smoke, will create an eerie glow that is sure to scare the bravest trick-or-treater!

Have a Fun and Safe Halloween!

If you would like detailed instructions and a full-size pattern for this project Create A Graveyard #1070 (8 tombstone designs and dozens of sayings, in 2 alphabet sizes!) CLICK HERE. There are many more Halloween projects available. Visit www.sherwoodonline.com for more information.

Full Size Color Prints Article!

Wood crafts and holiday displays can be a very fulfilling and rewarding hobby. There are many aspects to creating a beautiful display piece: picking the right pieces of lumber to use, tracing the pattern onto the wood, cutting the pieces out of the wood, tracing the inner lines of the project, painting the project, sealing and protecting it, and setting up the final display on your lawn for all to see and enjoy! All of these elements can be a lot of fun. Some of them are more fun than others, for some.

I have found, in talking with fellow woodcrafters, that some people love cutting out the wood, and would like to skip right to the displaying part of the process. They seem to just endure the tedious painting part of the craft. They wish that there were some other way to get past it. Well, there is a light at the end of the tunnel for those who would like to quickly cut out and setup their holiday displays, without the tedium of hours of painting: Color Prints.


There are many benefits of using color prints, over painting the display yourself. One, in particular, is that the color print is a flawless reproduction of the original. The lines are crisp and sharp, the colors are impecible, and the entire print is consistent. Even the best painter will show imperfections in their painting, but a color print is always perfect. If you want a perfect color display, and have little time to accomplish it, then you will want to use color prints on your holiday displays.

This is how it works.

Obtain full-color, poster-strength color prints (there are a few companies who offer these very specific types of prints – see below). Glue the print down to your wood. To do this, use a good spray adhesive (one that sprays consistently, and allows you to peel back the print if you make a mistake) to spray the wood and the back of the color print.

Carefully spread the print across the wood, starting at one side of the print, and gently pressing the print down and across the wood, with your hand. Make sure that you have pushed out any air bubbles. If air bubbles persist, don’t worry, you have a little time to gently, and very carefully, peel the color print back up, until you reach the air bubbles. Then, very carefully, continue to press the rest of the color print back down to the wood.

Once the color print has been spread out and glued down to your wood, lightly press the print down to the wood with a rolling pin. Let dry for a few hours, before cutting your wood. Once dry, using a jig saw or scroll saw, cut along the outline of the color print, so that the shape is all that remains.

Now you must seal your display with an all-weather sealer. Get a really good sealer, called Exterior Gloss Varnish. It seals the print and the wood, to keep out moisture, and also resists yellowing. Standard polyurethanes will yellow very quickly, which results in a very unsightly display. The gloss will ensure that your display will stay dry, with crisp, bright colors. Test the sealer to make sure that it doesn’t cause the colors to run. Apply several coats, making sure to seal the edges and back of the display, as well.

Now you are ready to display your project on your lawn. Attach wooden stakes to the back of your project and then into the ground. Or, to make it easy to stake into the ground (without the risk of ruining your display), use a staking kit. A staking kit makes it easy to attach the stake to the back of the display, as well as making it easy to release from the stake. Stake your display into the ground, and you are done!
So to recap, glue the color print down to the wood, cut on the outline of the image, seal your project, and stake it. You’re done in minutes, instead of hours or days. You just saved yourself huge amounts of time. The end result is that you ended up with a wonderful, professional-looking display. And best of all, this frees up your time to do many projects this weekend, or just to quickly do the one project that you have been putting off for weeks.

Our color prints can be sent to you at full size, or reduced to just about any size you like! Just call us with the final size or percentage and we will take it from there! Item numbers that start with the letters CP are for the optional COLOR PRINT price, not the pattern price. However not all products or prices are listed in the catalog or online. Please call for pricing and availability for all others.
1-800-843-2571

For more information on our Color Prints visit www.sherwoodonline.com/

Dress-Up Darlings Article!

Now here’s a fun and unique idea that can be used for every holiday: Dress-Up Darlings! This adorable pair can stand in the corner of your house, or out on your lawn, promoting just about anything. You change their clothes for any season, holiday, sporting event, or just about anything.

Here is how it works. You cut the boy and girl out of your plywood, and paint them. They are wearing just their underwear. You then cut out and paint their holiday or event clothes and Velcro them to the kids. As the holiday changes, or you want to display a different event, simply cut out a different design, paint it, and Velcro it to the kids. By doing this, you reduce the amount of wood, paint, and time spent having to do the entire display. Plus, it’s a lot of fun changing their outfits every once in a while!

Dress-Up Darlings are great for special events, such as reunions, parties, graduations, open houses, sporting events, get-togethers, and more! The outfits can contain the different objects that the event would call for. For example, if it was a hockey event, the kids could be wearing a hockey uniform, complete with helmets, skates, hockey sticks, face masks, etc. For a graduation, they would obviously wear cap and gowns in your graduate’s school colors. The applications are endless! For added touches, fill theme or event balloons with helium and attach them to the kids’ hands.


To create your dolls, find a good pattern or design of a boy and girl cartoon character. If you draw well, you can do this yourself. If not, don't fret, there are companies out there that sell patterns, such as these. Trace them onto ½” plywood and cut them out. Paint the boy and girl a skin color over the entire body. Once dry, use a pencil to draw the features, such as hair, eyes, nose, mouth, etc. before going over it with paint or paint pens (make sure it looks good before making it permanent). Use a thin brush to paint over the pencil. Or, to make it much easier, use a paint pen. This will give you much more control. If you wish, you can paint underwear on them, but they will never be seen. So it is up to you. Their hair will be seen, so you will need to paint that. To finish the dolls, just add some feet, so they will stand on their own. Cut out rectangular-shaped feet, and round them at one end (so that they look like an oval at one end and a rectangle at the other). Make them the same width as the feet of the doll, or just wider than the legs. Paint them black. Nail or screw the feet up through the middle of the flat feet and into the bottom of the vertical legs or feet.


Now that you have the dolls done, you just need some clothes. Using the shapes of the dolls as a guide, either sketch up some ideas for clothes (based on their sizes), or find some pattern ideas either on the web, or from Sherwood. The tracing, cutting and painting are done the same way as the dolls. Once they are dry, apply Velcro to the back of the clothes and to the dolls, and hang the clothes onto the dolls. You are done! Now, each season, or event, you can change the clothes to match. What a great way to decorate around the house, the yard or at a party!

If you would like detailed instructions and a full-size pattern for any of these projects and more (We have over 60 Dress-Up Darling designs to choose from.) CLICK HERE!

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