The Cost of Christmas

Since this holiday season always ends up costing us more than we plan on spending I thought it would be a good idea for Erik and I to make each other a gift. He immediately knew what he wanted to make me. I however hadn't a clue what to make him, so I asked, "Hey, what would you like me to make you?" Answer: a bench.

This should have been an easy task and probably would be except my whole plan was squashed when E didn't have to go to Florida as originally planned. That was when I had set aside time to design and buy materials. Instead we went to Home Depot together so he could get supplies to make my gift and while we were there it only made sense for me to purchase the items I would need. Since he was present I thought I'd let him have some input in the design since I hadn't a chance to draft anything yet. He decided on a bench with storage. Fine, I love storage, one can never have too much storage or be too organized.

I bought some wood, L-brackets, screws, etc. At this initial phase I only planned on making the frame and would figure out the rest the following weekend. Yesterday I built the frame and it looks decent. Yesterday we also went to Lowes because I didn't like the feet that Home Depot had. I let E choose the feet for his bench and he chose well. But the feet, the top, and the other needed incidentals to complete the bench are quickly adding up. Turns out it would have been way less expensive for me to just purchase something for the hubby... oh well.

Buying something isn't nearly as fun as playing with power tools. Oh wait, we don't have any real power tools. I don't count my cordless, electric drill as a "real" power tool. Sure it works and gets the job done, but a band saw, or a heavy-duty dual bevel sliding compound miter saw... now that would be cool! Maybe for next Christmas the hubby will make me a workshop with my own bench so I don't have to sit on the cold, concrete garage floor.