One of my favorite memories as a child spans back to about 1990. My parents had moved some years prior to Texas, and my Dad was always looking for ways to do things himself. Whether fixing a car, building an addition or a million things in between, he believed that showing love wasn’t done in how much was spent. Rather it was the energy that went into it or better yet the thought behind it. Embracing the Texas spirit, he decided to make handmade clocks in the shape of Texas. I can still see the image of me bouncing into the garage with pigtails and a pink flower dress and watching him cut wood on a band saw which by the way, I am pretty sure still functions today. I asked a million and one questions about it, and my love of building things from nothing was forever instilled.
In today’s world, homemade gifts are somewhat antiquated. But we shouldn’t forget what it means to us to receive something someone spent time and energy creating, all the small imperfections somehow make it even better. I mean, who doesn’t have a special sentiment for Grandma’s homemade cookies, or the special soup your Mom would make when you were sick. I personally have built furniture for family members and friends for occasions like a first home or Christmas, and I’ve also refinished furniture for my kids. I’ve built a number of things in my own home from shelves to console tables, and they always hold special meaning because my kids were able to help with the details like sanding or picking a shade of stain. There is nothing more meaningful than the things done out of love!
So, with Mother’s Day approaching I offered the idea to the Tools in Action team to showcase projects that could be made in a day or weekend that any Mom would hold dear. Being a mom myself I love homemade treasures from my kiddos and thought we should take it a step further and make something both useful and sentimental that every mom, grandma, aunt or the special woman in your life will love!
John and I designed a few projects that are designed to be done in a short amount of time and are meant to be fun and creative. There will be a total of five projects, one of which will be extra fun to do with your kiddos as well! Every Thursday from now through Mother’s Day a new tutorial will go live, so be on the lookout. The articles will include a supply list and detailed instructions on how we put the project together and a ton of photos to help explain the process. While this is new to us, we look forward to working all the kinks out and including a lot of future how-to’s and DIY projects on our site. While Tools in Action will always be the place to come for honest reviews and perspectives amongst all of us tool lovers, we also want to keep adding fresh content for our readers. We welcome feedback on this endeavor and hope you enjoy this as much as we enjoyed designing these.
Be sure to use the hashtag #TIAcrew on social media to let us see your projects as well!
