Stairs — The next level
By Skip Thomsen
Website Exclusive • August, 2004
Any good carpenter can build a staircase. What we're talking about here is taking that staircase to the next level: beyond just a means to get from one...
Make adobe bricks
By Rev. J.D. Hooker
Issue #110 • March/April, 2008
Last winter I got a phone call from an old friend in Arizona. One of his sons had fallen in love, gotten the girl in trouble, and...
Vise Dremel Moto Tool mount
By Dana Martin Batory
Issue #84 • November/December, 2003
Sometimes it seems two hands are not enough—three would be nice, four even better. This economical, easy to build jig solves that common workshop problem. Designed to...
Build a homestead Copy Cart
By Charles Sanders
Issue #45 • July/August, 1997
I don't know too many homesteaders, gardeners, or small farmers who haven't at one time or another wished for one of those fancy big-wheeled garden carts. It seems...
Build Your Own Hoop House
By Jackie Clay-Atkinson
Issue #171 • May/June, 2018
I’ve had my own garden for more than half a century, and I have learned a few things after all these years. One of the most valuable things...
Build a pallet fence
By Clay Sawyer
Issue #69 • May/June, 2001
If you have access to various sizes of free pallets, consider this idea for your next fence. Now I know for a fact that I would rather dig...
Build your own log home in the woods
By Jackie Clay
(Photos by Bill Spaulding and Jackie Clay)
Issue #72 • November/December, 2001
This is the third part of a three-part series.
The first two parts appeared in issues 70 and 71.
In the last two issues...
From triumph to tragedy to triumph again. Dorothy Ainsworth makes her valiant comeback
By Dorothy Ainsworth
Issue #50 Mar/Apr 1998
BHM readers are familiar with Dorothy Ainsworth, the log home-building Ashland, Oregon, waitress who spent more than six years building a beautiful log home, only to have it burn...
Here’s how to make a musical bamboo flute
By Robert E. Kramer
Issue #42 • November/December, 1996
Materials
1 propane or butane torch or campfire to heat up metal rod.
1 steel rod at least 1/2" diameter
1 oven mitt or heavy cloth
1...
New invention— The Fencerunner
By Dietmar Berg
Issue #68 • March/April, 2001
Here's a gadget I developed to run barb or barbless wire. You mount it on the back of a pickup truck using the ball hitch (see drawing) so...
Our Unconventional House
By Judy Zent
Website Exclusive • December, 2002
Fig. 1 - Tire walls with roof framing.
Need a prolonged workout? Want to do some major recycling? Want to stay warm and cozy with the help of the...
A recycled dresser makes a useful bathroom vanity
By Jackie Clay-Atkinson
Issue #152 • March/April, 2015
Here's the finished vanity with our unfinished dresser
that will store our extra towels and linens.
We've had our log home built for more than eight years now, but until...
How to Resurrect Old, Rusted Tools
By R.E. Rawlinson
Issue #176 • April/May/June, 2019
The homesteading lifestyle can require a number of tools to cultivate the garden, maintain the home, repair the tractor, and build various pens and coops. We use them...
Build a Simple, Inexpensive Greenhouse
By Jennifer Poindexter
Issue #157 • January/February, 2016
Since my family is homesteading on a budget, the task of building a greenhouse had to be done as inexpensively as possible. Luckily, my husband is extremely crafty;...
A house a tornado helped build
By Robert L. Williams
Issue #16 • July/August, 1992
On May 5, 1989, tornadoes ripped through parts of three western North Carolina counties, including ours, and left piles of debris where houses, also including ours, once...
Herb Boxes from Fence Boards
By Maggie Larsen
Issue #86 • March/April, 2004
During a binge of spring cleaning, I ventured outside and began to renovate the exterior of my home, a 47-foot trailer in a mobile home park. While waiting...































