With every project there are leftover scraps. Instead of throwing them out, I decided to make something out of them. I presented it to Wifey for Valentine's Day.

Step 1: FROM TRASH TO TREASURE

Those thin strips of oak were left over from the Watch Display Case. The square of purpleheart was left over from a toy train. It has a check in it. The two pieces of oak were also left over from the Watch Display Case. The knob was one left over from the Kitchen Corner Cabinet. The quarter inch plywood was scrap in my discard pile which I salvaged. I had no idea what I was building when I began this project and scrounged around for these parts as I went along.

Step 2: WHAT DO I DO WITH 17 THIN STRIPS OF WOOD

Well, four to a side makes a box. One left over. Let's see.

Step 3: I MADE a JIG USING THE LEFT OVER PIECE

The pieces were small. By staggering them I could make a faux box joint. I built a jig to assemble them.

Step 4: THE BOX

The box went together easily. I added several pictures to show the process. Not that those are necessary. It's a box with 4 sides and a bottom.

Step 5: THE BASE

I glued the two pieces of 1/4" oak and when dried I cut them in half. One for the base and the other for the cover. I chamfered the edges of the base and glued it in place. I added some pictures to show you the straight forward process.

Step 6: THE COVER

I trimmed the piece for the cover to the exact size of the box and found some strips of oak which I used for the edging to give it a lip and make it an actual lid. I was afraid the edging wouldn't hold up so I doweled the pieces with toothpicks.

Step 7: THE KNOB

I dismantled the escutcheon, chamfered the piece of purpleheart and drilled a hole in its center. I glued it in place with super glue. I also super glued it to the cover on an angle which looked better than the other way pictured.

Step 8: TUNG OIL FINISH

I really like the way Tung Oil finishes wood. And of course I signed and dated my work.

Step 9: WIFEY LOVED IT

Wifey loved it and placed it in the center of the console table I built her.

I hope you enjoyed this build and got something out of it. Like my mom used to say: Waste not, want not. Amazing what you can do with scraps and discards.