The concrete bench we made for my parents.

Christmas will be here before you know it.  The economy is tough.  Unemployment is high.  Even if you have a job, money is tight.  What to do?  What to do?

I personally prefer making gifts by hand regardless of the amount of money that my family has.  It takes time and thought to make something special for someone else.  In years past I have made and give a variety of gifts.  This week I am going to share some of my best ideas with you.

Today I decided to start with the hardest gift we ever made.  We had no plans when we started; we only had the idea.  My husband is very gifted in making my ideas a tangible product.  We have made three concrete benches now.  Each one is unique and one-of-a-kind, but they follow the same formula.  Each bench cost us about $40.00 to make.

First you build the forms for the concrete.  We used plywood and 2x4s.  The bench is 3 feet long and 16 inches wide.  Each leg is 16 inches long and 9 1/2 inches wide.  There are two legs.  Once you have your forms built, cut two pieces of 2×4 9 1/2 inches long.  Decide where you want the legs to fit into the top and nail the cut boards into place.

To give the top of the bench strength, we cut a piece of cattle panel and placed in the big form.  Then we mixed and poured the concrete into the forms.  As the concrete was beginning to set, we used handprints, stamps of all kinds, and letter stamps to decorate the bench.

On my parents’ bench, we stamped in the words, “Your Little Cowhands.”  Then each child (we only had three at the time) placed their hand prints.  Then I stamped their names beside their hands.  We decorated the top with my dad’s cattle ranch brand, a horse, and cows.  On the legs, we decorated with chickens, leaves, etc.

My husband has two sisters.  When we made the bench together, each family had three children.  Everyone came over and was involved in the bench-making process.  For my in-laws, we stamped in the words, “Count Your Blessings.”  Each child drew the stem of a flower.  On the stem each grandchild placed one hand print.  So there are three flowers with three hand prints on the top.  Lane and his sisters then put a handprint on each leg for their mother.

The third bench we made was for ourselves.  It has everyone’s hand prints on the top.  The words, “The DeHavens,” and our names are stamped in the top.  We also decorated the legs of our bench with stamps of the sun and animals.

We kept the concrete in the forms for at least a week.  While the concrete was setting up, I painted the top and legs.  This was fun for me. The nerve-racking part was removing the concrete from the forms, but it went well.  Thankfully the legs slipped right into place, too.  The benches are sturdy.

We made these benches seven years ago.  They still look good.  They are still standing, which is a good sign that they will continue to endure.  They are a lasting keepsake for the one who receives the bench.  These benches are simply precious.

If you want a slightly challenging project, this one might be for you.  It would be a gift for someone who lives in your area.  This gift would not ship well.  I don’t even want to think about the cost of shipping for this bench.  To deliver the bench, take it apart and assemble when you arrive.

Tags: concrete bench, handmade gifts, homemade gifts, plans for a bench, present from the heart, unique and original

This entry was posted on Monday, December 7th, 2009 at 5:54 am and is filed under Homesteading. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.