Posted by Amy

Bernzomatic Hose Torch Kit Tool Review

This Bernzomatic Hose Torch Tool Review is sponsored by The Home Depot. I have been compensated for my time and provided with product (tools). All ideas and opinions are my own. This post contains some affiliate links for your convenience. Click here to read my full disclosure policy. 

Today’s tool review is a little less conventional ‘tool’, but neverless a super useful tool on the job, around the house and on projects. Growing up on a turkey farm, my Dad always carried a propane torch in the truck tool box.  His torch was a basic torch head mounted on a propane cylinder.  We used it a lot to light all of the brooder stoves. Having the continuous flame made it easy to get those pilot lights lit and warmed up.

Today’s tool review does basically the same thing that old torch did, but with so many more bells and whistles.

Tool review of the super handy Bernzomatic hose torch kit, great for soldering, brazing, wood burning, etc.

BZ8250 Hose Torch Kit – $59.97

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King X Barn Door Farmhouse Bed Plans

This King X barn door farmhouse bed is sponsored by The Home Depot. I have been compensated for my time and provided with product (tools). All ideas and opinions are my own. This post contains some affiliate links for your convenience. Click here to read my full disclosure policy. 

After having my youngest child, and being a bit older ;-), my back started to really hurt.  Usually it would just hurt in the morning until I got going, so I figured it had something to do with my mattress being a bit older too. Putting it off for a few years, I finally bit the bullet and bought a new mattress.  We also upgraded to a King size mattress, which I’ve wanted to do for years! New mattress size = new bed frame to build, wahoo!

I really like the plank look of farmhouse beds especially with the barn door X accent like this one and this one, Ourfauxfarmhouse has a cute rendition too.  We always find ourselves low on storage and space at our house, so I wanted to make the base of the bed have pull out drawers. A little secret on the ‘drawer’ at the head of the bed, it’s fake, since we’ll have nightstands at the side of the bed. (Plans for the coordinating –> Farmhouse X nightstand). Each side of the bed has 3 drawers that are 22″ deep, yay for storage!

Build a barn door farmhouse bed with X headboard. Free king size bed building plans on hertoolbelt.com.

Other Plans:

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Tool Review – Ridgid 18V Octane Angle Grinder

This Ridgid Angle Grinder Tool Review is sponsored by The Home Depot. I have been compensated for my time and provided with product (tools). All ideas and opinions are my own. This post contains some affiliate links for your convenience. Click here to read my full disclosure policy. 

An angle grinder power tool is a diverse tool that is handy to have in your tool box. It is used to surface grind metal, prep for welding, cut metal, cut tile, grind concrete and stone, polish materials, power carve wood and the list goes on. When I use an angle grinder, it is rarely convenient to a power outlet. Often times it’s a situation where you bring your own power. 🙂 Having a good angle grinder that is cordless is super convenient, but not if it can’t perform. Ridgid has added a 4 1/2″ brushless angle grinder to their line up of Octane powered 18V power tools and I’m excited to check out how it performs.

Tool Review of the 18 volt octane battery powered Ridgid angle grinder. First of all, why Octane and Octane with Bluetooth?

The Octane battery cells are supposed to give you faster startup speeds and increased performance because the battery and tool ‘talk’ and respond to each other and the situations they are in. It has a chip that constantly monitors temperature, voltage and current. The bluetooth feature can give you performance notifications on your phone if you install the Ridgid App. It can also locate, lock/unlock batteries if your phone is within range of the battery.

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DIY Backyard Fire Pit

This DIY backyard fire pit post has been sponsored by Home Depot. I have been compensated for my time and provided with product(tools). All ideas and opinions are my own. This post contains some affiliate links for your convenience. Click here to read my full disclosure policy. 

Summer projects are in full swing around here and I have quite a list that I’d like to accomplish this summer. My outdoor DIY list mostly consists of projects in my forgotten sad corner of the yard. My spring was packed with work, activities, youth camp, family gatherings and a whole lot of rain (for Utah 😉 ). Back at the end of April, I finished my redwood pergola, which we love! Now it’s time to mark the next project off my outdoor list!

I have been wanting to make a permanent backyard fire pit, I actually bought a 36″ fire ring 3 years ago (hangs head in shame 🙂 ). We love to cook dutch oven dinners by the fire and the kids love roasting marshmallows for s’mores (or seeing how big they can blow up their marshmallow!) The ring I bought has a little grill that pivots over the fire. I think my big hangup on getting the fire pit done was choosing the location. Now that I have the big pergola in place, and I’ve moved the kid’s playhouse, I’m starting to picture the space in my head. Around the firepit, I want to do a circular paver patio next.

How to build a DIY backyard firepit with wall blocks from Home Depot.

Choosing the Materials for the DIY Backyard Fire Pit

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Connie Round Side Table Plans

The round side table plan and Ridgid battery starter, hammer drill and jigsaw tool review is sponsored by The Home Depot. I have been compensated for my time and provided with product (tools). All ideas and opinions are my own. This post contains some affiliate links for your convenience. Click here to read my full disclosure policy. 

This summer I have been chipping away at projects in my backyard. In the spring I built this beautiful Redwood Pergola that we love, and recently put in a much needed fire pit.  My kids love roasting marshmallows and making S’mores. I like to cook dutch oven dinners and make the occasional hobo tinfoil dinner. Quickly I realized that I would like a little outdoor side table for cooking supplies. I had some redwood left over from building the pergola and decided to use that since I’ll leave this table outside. One of these days I need to buckle down and do a paver patio! One of these days…

This simple round table is inspired by a table that my Mom’s good friend Connie had in her sun room for years. I love the simple, yet cool style of the legs. The legs and feet make for a really easy, quick and affordable build. The table top height can be easily adjusted by making the legs longer or shorter. I made the table just under the standard table top height of 30″.

You can make this simple round side table with as few as 2 power tools! I used a Jigsaw and a Drill!

Free plans to build a simple round side table for about $20 in wood!

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