GRAND Magazine - July 2009 - 43

long ago learned to appreciate her determination she could squeeze hammer-wielding talents. fifty-five 2x4x8’s in her PT Cruiser! And then, her two granddaughThis time, she stuffed her car ters, Heavyn and Neese, moved to with cement blocks for the foundaPlant City so their parents could tion. She spent two days leveling reap the benefits of grandparents as the blocks in beds of sand, then laid after-school and vacation caretakers. the plywood floor and built the roof On a very ordinary, sunny aftertrusses. noon stroll around the neighbor“Grandma’s building a shed,” she hood, Denise and the girls came told her curious granddaughters. upon a tidy home with a gingerTwo of her neighbors—both single bread playhouse in the backyard. men—had viewed her with skeptiDenise watched as the girls pushed cism when she first moved in and set their cheeks against the wrought up her table saw. One told her that iron fence and lapsed into a wistful women and power tools made him reverie. She looked at the girls; she nervous; the other thought she was looked at the playhouse; she went slightly eccentric. But after seeing home and Googled “How to build a how she had transformed her house, shed.” (Although she’d experienced both now had a healthy respect remodeling houses, she had never built one.) For the next few months, determined Denise mined the Internet for every article she could find on building small structures. As she broke down the various steps of the construction, she realized she could do most of them. Heavyn, 7, and Neese, 4, inside their playhouse “I was confident I could build a wall. The thing that stumped for her carpentry skills and readily me was how to put a roof on.” volunteered to help carry the sheets Then one night, she stumbled on of 3/4-inch plywood and hoist the an article that “read like an idiot’s trusses into place. guide” to building roof trusses. The Other neighbors entered into the playhouse on paper was about to playhouse conspiracy. One found a become a reality in the backyard. large ceramic puppy at a yard sale Energized by the possibility of and knew it would make the perfect surprising her granddaughters with front porch pooch. When Denise, their own playhouse, Denise headed with granddaughters at her side, out to the local building supply store. stared blankly at the proffered gift, She had already discovered that her neighbor adamantly reiterated with a bit of ingenuity and a lot of in a conspiratorial tone, “You need it Click and connect to more resources instantly where you see this symbol:  Toolbox basics if you can bake or sew or read a map, you can build, fix and repair. as the writer Pat Westfall learned when she moved to a decrepit farm, plumbing is much like sewing: The pieces fit together with strength and logic. Paul Holstein, from cable organizer , talked with GRaND about where to begin: Metal toolbox: Even if other people in your household have tools and toolboxes, you need to have your own—and nothing makes it your own like setting up the toolbox. Our pick for a good starter box is the $35 Excel 20-inch two-drawer. It only comes in red, but a jar of Mod Podge and those photographs of your roses should do the trick. Hammer: The most important hand tool of all, a hammer is used for everything from hanging pictures to installing decorative molding. A smart option is the claw hammer: a steel head on one side and a claw—the crowbarlike nail-pulling lever—on the other. Tape measure: What’s that those guys are always saying on Design on a Dime? Measure twice, cut once. Incorrect measurements waste time, money and what’s left of our mental health. JULY 2009 GRAND 43

GRAND Magazine - July 2009

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of GRAND Magazine - July 2009