DIY Warm Up: Make Your Own Firewood Carrier
Keeping a home warm in the winter is difficult. And if you’re constantly carrying armfuls of cold wood, the difficulty meter goes way, way up. But with a little innovation and scavenging, you can construct a sturdy, DIY firewood carrier.
We’ve scavenged the web to find what others have done in the way of firewood carriers and listed two of our favorites below.
Modify a welder’s cart
According to an October/November 2010 issue of Mother Earth News, a few MEN magazine readers from Blue Mounds, Wisconsin, easily modified an inexpensive welder’s cart and turned it into a firewood carrier. The duo found the cart at a building supply surplus store. The other materials that tied the DIY project together:
- A hardware cloth
- Zip straps
- Two steel shelf supports
The couple reported that it took 30 minutes to build and all the materials cost less than $50!
Coffee sacks, to firewood carrier
This creative and cute idea comes from the blog A Foothill Home Companion. Start digging through the coffee burlap sacks you’ve hoarded over the last few years, and read the construction directions below:
“Cut two large rectangular panels from burlap, 19 inches wide by 33 inches long. Cut two long rectangles for the handles, 5 inches wide by 20 to 22 inches long. You can also use heavy twill, denim, or decorator fabric for the carrier. Make two handles. Fold and press the long sides of the handles over 1/2 inch. Fold handles in half and sew about 1/8 inch from edge.
Place and pin the handles on carrier, one handle on each short side, sandwiched between the two rectangular panels (right sides of panels facing each other). Extend the handles beyond the edge of panels by one inch (for reinforcement in step 5).
Using a 1/2 inch seam allowance, sew all the way around the carrier, leaving a 10 inch opening along one of the long sides. Reinforce the stitching on handles by reverse stitching. Make sure to lock seams at beginning and end of stitching. Snip all four corners at a 45-degree angle, close to the seam.
Turn carrier right side out. Push corners out to a point with a turning tool (I use the bigger end of a chopstick). Press all seams flat, pressing the unstitched opening under 1/2 inch. Topstitch 1/8 inch from the edge all the way around the carrier, thereby stitching the opening closed. Reinforce the handles by sewing a small rectangle on the panel at the base of each handle.” – A Foothill Home Companion
You really should click on the link to see how the blogger’s bags turned out. The ones featured are quite attractive and look very sturdy.
If you don’t have any coffee bags, you can use canvas material, or for a super-easy fix: tear up an old, beat up, cloth grocery bag!
Image: slgckgc
