A couple of years ago, my brother gave me a beer caddie for Christmas. Just when you think he doesn't care at all about you, he goes and builds something that you wouldn't expect. Since then, I have taken this beer caddie to every party I go to. Needless to say, my six pack is the envy of every room that I walk in to.
My neighbor has been eyeing my beer caddie for sometime. He periodically comes over to my house for a beverage or two or three. Sometimes we lose count... we have kids after all and you just need to let loose every now and then. So I thought that since I am pretty handy, I'd make him a beer caddie so he wouldn't have to be jealous of mine any more.
When my wife and I first bought a house, I went out and bought a bunch of power tools. I had this idea that I would build all of our furniture, our kitchen cabinets, or maybe I would mill our own flooring from trees behind our house. None of that ended up being the case. I've built things, but it never seems to be anything that my house actually needs. It's been a steady stream of half done projects and knick knacks over the past 17 years. But hey... I have power tools that look really nice in my garage and if I ever want to build ANOTHER garage, I'll be all set.
This time though, all I wanted to build was a beer caddie. So I opened up my trusty DIYZ App and figured out everything that I needed to build a beer caddie.
The app gives you a list of tools that you will need as well as a list of supplies. While I had most of the tools, the DIYZ App works with Amazon to make purchasing any that you need fast and easy. Since I didn't feel it was necessary to buy ones that they had suggested, like a power nailer, I just used what I had a home. I have a lot of extra wood laying around (see half projects above) but I didn't have the type of wood that I wanted. I could have built this beer caddie out of pine, but I wanted to give it a little extra something. While my home center didn't have anything like walnut, I decided this beer caddie would look nice built out of oak.
I figured that this project would take a couple of hours to build, but what I didn't take into account was my own ineptitude. Once I tried to cut a piece of wood and for some reason the blade of my miter saw split the wood in half and little pieces went flying. Fortunately I listened to the DIYZ App and wore safety goggles throughout the process. But the damage was done (not to my eyes) and I had to make ANOTHER trip to the home center. After I built it, I realized that it was really too short to carry bottles (perhaps something I could have modified on my own) so I had to run back AGAIN and buy a handle.
The DIYZ app could not have been easier to use. With the instructions comes a little video that you can follow along. I used it as a reference point and did most of the building on my own. There was one point where one of the measurements did not add up. But I noticed this before I made my cuts and altered it accordingly.
So while the project should have taken me a couple of hours to build, I had to run back to the home center three times in order to get things that made the beer caddie complete. First was for the wood that I split, second was for the handle, and third was for screws to hold the handle in place. I could have avoided these extra trips if I did a little better pre-planning, but I have never been known to do such a thing (see half done projects above). In all it took me parts of two days to complete and really wasn't that hard to do. If you have the basic tools on hand, depending on the type of wood that you use, it's a project that will cost less that $50 and you will have a really nice way to carry a six pack around.
As for my friend, he now has a beer caddie that will make him the envy of all HIS friends and he will now have to build one for someone else. While he isn't quite as handy as I am, perhaps with the DIYZ App... he won't need to be.
The DIYZ App is full of projects that you can complete around your home. It has a full library of projects ranging from how to build a beer caddie, to how to change an electrical socket, and even offers tips on how to tile a backsplash. Obviously some projects are more difficult, but you also have the ability to talk with a professional contractor who can guide you through the process. It demonstrates the value of doing it yourself instead of hiring someone who will charge you much more.
Follow them on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram for some really cool DIY projects.
**Disclosure: This post was sponsored by DIYZ App. All opinions are my own.
