Teach Me Tuesday: How to Make Twig Chairs

Welcome to Teach Me Tuesday! I spend a lot of time each week reading all of the great DIY tips out there in Blogland. Because there are so many fabulous projects that I can’t wait to try, I figured that it would be fun to feature some of my very favorites here each Tuesday.

If you would like to be featured in an upcoming edition of Teach Me Tuesday, please email me at LivingWithLindsay@gmail.com and we’ll chat!

This week’s Teach Me Tuesday features Gail at Can’t Stop Making Things. Through her creative blog, Gail teaches us how to make many fun craft projects that don’t require any special skills or expensive materials. Gotta love that!

A while back, I came across Gail’s super cute tutorial to make little twig chairs. I remember seeing something similar years ago in the Pottery Barn catalog and have absolutely loved them since then. I was really excited to come across Gail’s tutorial, as I’ve always thought they would look adorable hanging on a wall.

Gail explains:

Spring has sprung. I don’t know about you, but my yard is full of twigs and branches that have been shed during the winter. What to do? Make twig chairs! I learned to make these from Daniel Mack. His amazing work can be seen here.

Materials:

1″ diameter twigs

1/2″ diameter twigs

smaller diameter twigs

wood glue

Tools:

garden clippers

utility knife

saw or heavy duty lopers

drill

drill bit

large rubber bands

Cut 1″ diameter twigs into four pieces; two 12 inches long and two 4 inches long. You may have to use a saw or tree lopers to cut these as garden clippers aren’t strong enough. Cut 10 thinner twigs 4 inches long.

Drill 2 holes in each of the heavier 4 inch twigs; one set should be near the top and the other set should be about 2 inches from the bottom. The sets should match. The holes should be 1/2 inch deep and a bit smaller than the diameter of the small twigs. With the utility knife, whittle the ends of the small twigs so that they just fit into the drilled holes.

Squirt wood glue into the holes, fit the smaller twigs into the holes and clamp with a large rubber band. Drill four holes in each of the two longer, heavier twigs. The two bottom holes should match up with the ones you drilled previously. You may put the top two holes anywhere you please but the holes on one twig should line up with the holes on the other. Whittle the ends of four more smaller twigs, squirt some more glue into the holes and assemble. Clamp with rubber band and allow to dry. You should now have two ladders; one 4 inches high and the other 12 inches.

Drill four holes in each “ladder” perpendicular with the other holes in order to join the two ladders together. I have drilled them in line with the previous holes because the heavier twigs are large enough. If you have thinner twigs, you may wish to offset the holes a bit. Again, the holes should line up with each other.

Whittle the ends of the four final small twigs, squirt the glue and join the two ladders to form the chair. Clamp with the rubber bands and allow to dry.

Cut very small twigs to size and glue them to form the seat of the chair.

This is one I made several years ago. I got creative with the twigs and wove the seat. They make interesting wall decor and cast interesting shadows at night.

Tips:

Play around with different woods and sizes of twigs.

I made a lovely chair out of driftwood.

Use bark, moss or weave leather shoelaces for the seat.