Scrapwood Creatures

My wife always tells me I keep too much stuff that we don't need. Cardboard boxes, paper, left-over pieces of wood. In my mind there is always some creative future purpose for these items and I can't bring myself to throw them away.

Although this instructable shows you how to make one of the Scrapwood Creatures that currently decorate our garden, it is meant to be read more like an 'inspirable' than an instructable. Since everyone has other 'trash' lying around I will not give specific measurements for the build. I will show you ways to transform random bits of scrapwood into fun and durable garden decoration.

The supplies you need will depend on the items you choose to work with. To make the Scrapwood Creature in this example see if you can find the following:
- a left-over piece of a 2x2 beam, preferably cut at a slight angle
- a random wooden plank cut-off about the same width as the 2x2 beam
- a couple of sturdy sticks or wooden skewers
- a popsicle stick
- a wooden dowel
- 2 big screws, about twice as long as the thickness of the plank cut-off
- 2 small screws

The tools you need:
- drill with drill bits (small to large)
- screw drill bits or screwdriver(s)
- I used a hex key / Allen key to screw in the IKEA screws I chose for the eyes
- box cutter or other craft knife
- sand paper

Optional:
- wood glue
- extra piece of wood or cutting board to protect your workspace

For the creature in this example it works really well to have a bitof wood cut off at an angle. If you only have straight pieces you can cut a longer piece in half at an angle so you can make 2 of these animals.

Scrapwood and cut-offs are likely to have rough edges and maybe even have old nails or screws in them. Choose your materials and remove any old hardware to avoid damage to your drill bits. Get some sandpaper and smooth the edges.

In our case the Scrapwood Creatures occupy the front garden and draw the attention of the neighbourhood's kids so I try to make the creatures as child-safe as possible.

Put the 2x2 cut-off down with the longer side facing up. Get a drill bit the same diameter as the sticks you will be using for the legs. Drill four holes about 1/2 inch deep, depending on the size and shape of your material.

Sand the holes' edges and test get one of the sticks to make sure they fit snugly in the holes.

Place the 2x2 cut-off on the angled side to have the square end facing up. Get a drill bit that matches the size of the dowel and drill a hole in the center. If you drill straight down the tail will be at a downward angle. Try to fit the dowel to make sure it fits.

Get the bit of plank cut-off and put it upright on your workspace. Check both sides and see what side looks better and use this as the top. Use the bottom for the mouth.

To make the mouth I used a thin drill bit roughly the thickness of the popsicle stick I had. I drilled the first hole a little off to the side. Then I measured the width of the stick and drilled the second hole to mark the size (see picture). I then drilled some more holes in between and drilled at an angle to create a slot wide enough for the popsicle stick to fit in. Try fitting in the popsicle stick and drill deeper if necessary.

Depending on the depth of the slot, cut off a piece of the popsicle stick to use as a tongue coming out of the mouth. The popsicle stick I used just happened to be stained from a fruity icecream which was perfect for a tongue.

I chose to add some extra bits to the top of the head using two smaller thick screws. You can put these either on the top or the sides of the head, whichever you like best. Get a drill bit that matches the screws you will be using and drill two holes where you want the ears or horns to go.

Depending on the screws you use, drill down so the screws will not split the wood. When screwing in the screws, make sure they are fixed in place, but aren't screwed all the way in. Leaving them sticking out gives your creature a bit more character ;)

Tip: use screws that you wouldn't normally use for other projects. I have a ton of extra IKEA hardware that is perfect for this.

To attach the head to the body we use the longer screws that will also form the eyes of your Scrapwood Creature. Get a drill bit that matches your longer screws' thickness and check how deep you need to drill to get through the head and into the body part.

Hold the parts against each other firmly or use some double sided tape to temporarily hold them in place. Drill two holes where you want the eyes to go. Make sure these holes do not align with the holes for the ears or horns or legs.

Sand around the holes if necessary and screw in the screws until they are at the desired depth. To line up the screws with the holes easily first screw the screws in so they just pop out the back of the head and then place the head in the correct position. Because I used flat head screws I let them poke out a bit. If you use round (convex) shaped screws you can screw them all the way in and still get the 3D effect.

If you already have 4 sticks you can skip this part. Otherwise get the 2 sticks and cut these in half to make 4 legs of the same length. If you only have 1 longer stick, cut this in 4 equal pieces.

Depending on how firmly the sticks fit you can choose to use some wood glue to fix the legs in place. Check to see if the creature can stand up without wobbling. If not, cut a little bit of one or more legs to get the balance right.

I used some glue to fix the tongue because mine was a bit loose.

Double check everything is sturdy and there are no sharp or rough edges and your Scrapwood Creature is done!

And that's it, you're done! Now find a nice spot with plenty of fresh leaves for your Creature to make sure it doesn't go hungry. And don't forget he needs some friends ;)

Like I said at the start this is more of an 'inspirable'. So here is some more inspiration to spark your imagination!

I hope you enjoyed this instructable and I would love to see what crazy, funny and cute creatures you will come up with!