Pallet Wood Bottle Cap Catcher. Plus a Scare.

What is going on with me and all the pallet wood lately huh?!  Right?  I know, heh.

Ah, the deck.  How I miss it during this cold weather season!

Although, I do not miss the super tall step in and out of the garage, thank you deck, so I'm not missing it too too much in a general blanket sort of way.  Boy, I'm pooped, can you tell?  But whoooo doggie, am I looking forward to when we can lollygag out there again!

And I'm extra splendiferously excited to see the plants come in too!  Yeaahhhhhhh....(that's me nodding and happy smirking)

As with nearly every project around these parts, things happen in stages.  We got deck.  Check.  Yay!  Move mini fridge to garage.  Check.  Yay!  Bottle opener.  Yay....hey where'd that cap go?

Mike picked this opener* up on Amazon and I attached it to a post.  Super handy ya know, go from butt in chair to mini fridge to butt in chair with chilled bottled beverage opened.  Perfect for lazy hangin' time.

"If you're not focusing on me, what thing is stealing your attention away?!"

But the caps, if we missed catching them, they would end up on the deck or the ground which is less than ideal as of course we would like Finn's monstrous feeties to go bottle cap stabbing free.  Plus, trash everywhere?; nah thanks.

So one day I thought hey, uh duh, make a cap catcher.  Duh.  Insert a why-didn't-I-think-of-that-earlier eye roll.

With some free pallet wood, it was mighty simple to make.  Nope, did no real measuring nor any real planning.  Again.  I know, I wing it often, huh?

Started with one longer slat piece as the "background."

My pieces and parts pile.

Chopped up a few other pieces and cobbled together the cap catching box portion.  Glued those pieces with the perennially-popular-in-this-house Gorilla glue.*

Test fitting the pieces and parts pile together here.

I pre-drilled holes and whacked in some galvanized nails to aid in the holding-it-together department and ya know, for aesthetics.  Always all about the aesthetics, I am.  The wood is oh so dense and strong so I wasn't able to just bang them straight in, hence the pilot holes.  Dabs o' glue, good to go.

I unearthed an itty bitty hinge* in my stashes of random hardware, yay handy stashes, and attached it to the bottom for easy cap removal.  Holes were drilled in the bottom part as well so when it rains or if somehow something spills in there, liquid drains out nicely.

Hinged bottom flap with drainage holes.  Yessiree.

Lastly I stuck a lil' hook and eye* on there to keep the bottom closed plus it makes for super easy cap dumping.

Sweet little hook and eye, aw.

I realized after I attached all the hardware that yeah, yep, oops, the bottom won't open if I attach the background slat directly onto the post.  Doh.  Heh.  That's all right.  I glued some strips of pallet wood to the back to bump it out a bit.  Not how I wanted it all to look but eh it is what it is.

I suppose it's not a terrible thing really.  Moisture won't get trapped between the post and pallet wood now.

Not what I wanted the back to be but ah well.  That's what I get for not planning.

Once back outside, I screwed the slat to the post and then attached the bottle opener over one of the mounting screws.  This way one screw is hidden and not unsightly.  Aesthetics, yup!

I used some galvanized screws I had around though huh come to think of it, the deck builder guy left us a whole gigundo box o' screws....huh.  Duh.  Ha!

Cap catcher!

And there we have it!  Humble lil' cap catcher!

Yeah, catcher of caps baby!

And no, by the time I got the thing built and up last fall cold weather landed hard and fast so we haven't even tested it out yet.  Sad, right?!  I don't know if the proportions work, heh, if there's enough room despite using a sample bottle as a guide or if the cap will even fall in.

Aw, ain't it sweet?!

Well, spring is coming (or clearly I'm itching terribly for spring) and with it deck lounging time.  Sounds like a future update!

Finn, everywhere you want to be.

So sure, ok, it's not the most earth-shattering world-changing item to construct nor share with you.

My point is, as with everything I share with you, that with a little imagination, doing things yourself allows you to have fun custom items all about your house.  That *you* made.  And that's cool, right?

I'm thinking for my next pallet wood project, a poopy bag* dispenser for the yard.  Heh.  I know, I'm weird but boy that'd be immensely handy.

Oh the scare, you ask?  Mike and I came home from a bite to eat on Saturday evening and we're chillin' on the couch with big Finn boy when we hear this slow and strange ripping tearing sound.

Before either of us could finish our "what the..." questions we're watching the wall mount television console I built tipping downward.

Holy crap!  Mike grabs ahold of it before it falls off the wall, omg, and I dash to the basement to grab stuff to support it.  Whoa!  Disaster averted though -- and holy thank goodness we were home to catch it!  The screws are pulling right outta the wall anchors, yikes.  I think.  I gotta look again.

Regardless....

So, boy, as soon as we get some time, we'll be revisiting that!  Wow, right?  Rather bummed, disappointed in myself but hey, nobody's perfect.

All righty, heading into week two of The Exorcist pilot....

*The bottle opener, Gorilla glue, hinges, hook and eye and poopy bags are Amazon affiliate links.  Mwah, thanks!  Please see the "boring stuff" tab for more info.