I have been working on a series of sculptures using scrap material from a local furniture manufacturer.
Here's one of them:

I recently made these using some scrap from a local furniture manufacturer.

This birdhouse on wheels will be part of an auction to support arts education next month - WeMake PDX's "put a bird in it."
It's a bird cargo bike, or birdfiets if you will. Perfect for Portland's avian commuters.

If you have something flat that you don't want to put a hole in, a key-style picture hanger is a good option (does anyone know what this is actually called?). It involves a small length of board cut in half at a 45 degree beveled angle. You stick one piece of this board to the back of your flat thing with the long end on the outside and facing down, and the other half, you attach to the wall or surface on which you would like to hang said thing. It looks something like this:


The beveled edge acts like a clip, holding the thing in place. You can pick whatever fasteners suit you, and it's easy to get the whole thing level by leveling the board first.

If you don't have a tool that makes nice beveled edges, you can use a bit of tongue and groove flooring in the same way. Just cut it in half (or thirds, as I did), flip the halves over, and you have a nice key system. The two pieces should lock together nicely. Once you procure a saw and some flooring, the rest is pretty simple.

Step 1: Safety. Eye protection, hearing protection, gloves, dust mask.

Step 2: Cut in half or in thirds (as shown).

Step 3: Remove waste

Step 4: Flip halves over


Step 5: Test fit

It seems to me like the tongue side should hang on the wall, and the groove side should be attached to the thing, but I'm pretty sure it would work the other way, too.



Apologies for taking liberties with perspective. It's late.
The tongue and groove design makes it easier to use those removable double-sided tape things because the tabs don't get in the way of the clip.
The thing will end up being set off from the wall just a bit.
I hope that somebody out there finds this useful!

Old kitchen cabinets make nice furniture such as bookshelves or a sideboard:


I used old kitchen cabinets from Portland's fabulous Rebuilding Center (as seen on tv), plus some trim, and the legs and top from a discarded coffee table. I also picked up some leftover stain from Habitat for Humanity's ReStore. It's a lot less expensive than buying new stuff, and saves a lot of waste from the landfill.
The sideboard uses a piece of plywood for the top, a bit of trim, and the legs from a coffee table. I think the oils from the kitchen permeated the wood because I got some interesting dark patterns when I stained it.
The bookshelf with the globe on it started out clad in veneer that was painted white. It was a nasty, sticky mess, and I wish I had a picture of it. The top is from the coffee table. It used to have drop leaves.
The third bookshelf had a single door in the middle and some chunks taken out of the left front side. I split the door in two for the back section of the top, and relocated its support to the left front side. I filled in the missing pieces with scrap wood and wood filler. The front top piece is a big piece of salvaged trim. I wanted to let the imperfections show through, so I just gave it a quick sanding down before staining it.


Here are some pictures of the cabinets in progress:

A typical Ikea Gorm hack. I shortened the supports, raised one of the middle shelves to accommodate a heating vent, put plywood on top to make it sturdy, and added chaise lounge cushions. It's quite comfortable and fits a fair number of books.

2011
Made from scrap wood. The top was scrap that I turned into a plant carrier.
I flipped it over and added legs made from a piece of stair rail.

Summer 2010