Craft Project : Golf Tee Tie Rack

This craft project is perfect for anyone that plays golf and wears ties. It's a project that children can do with a little adult supervision, and it makes a great gift.

My kids had a great time doing this project for a friend of ours who enjoys golf, and giving it to him as a birthday present. They were able to do a lot of the work themselves, which made it extra special.

First you will need to choose wood to use for this project. Any 2 by 4 or 1 by 4 board will work. If you have access to a saw you can actually cut it into the shape of a golf club, (basically long and thin with the little foot shape at the end). You can do it with a hand saw, but that will take a while.

If you know someone with an electric saw or a Roto-Zip they can cut the shape out for you. That looks extra nice, but you can do it with any plain board as well.

You will want to sand down the edges. We used a sandpaper block. It looks like a sponge but it is rough on the outside and it is safe for kids to use, unlike an electric sander. They just rub the sponge over all the sharp edges until they're not sharp any more, and then brush off the sawdust.

Next choose your background paint color and paint your wood board, or your golf club shape, with whatever background color you want. You will need to wait for that to dry before moving on to the next step.

If you have used a plain rectangle you can use a second color paint to draw on the picture of a golf club so that you still have the shape showing on the front, and then you will need for that layer of paint to dry as well.

For the next part you will need a grown-up, unless your child is older and can use a drill. You need to use a power drill to make a series of holes along the shaft of the golf club, (either the golf club shape or the golf club you painted on). Make the holes about 2 inches apart and run them down the whole length of the shaft of the golf club, stopping at that little club foot. The holes don't need to be very deep and they shouldn't go more than half the thickness of the wood that you are using. (If you go deeper than that, it lessens the strength of the wood and there is a chance that it will crack all the way through later.)

Next you'll need wooden golf tees. If you want to you, can paint them first. You can paint them all one color to match your background piece or you can paint them all different colors. (We liked the 'rainbow' effect!) Once your golf tees are dry put a little bit of wood glue into each of the holes you drilled and push the golf tee down into the glue. Make sure they are all standing up straight and give them a chance to dry in place.

Once the glue on your golf tees has completely dried them in place you'll be able to set it upright. You'll need to put something on the back so that the golf tee tie rack can hang on the wall. What I found works best are the little zig-zag 'saw tooth' backing hangers that go on the back of pictures and photographs. You can find them in the hardware section of your local discount store (such as Walmart or Target). A package of them usually has 4-6 in it and costs less than a dollar.

You can nail them or glue them to the back of your golf tee tie rack. Depending on how long it is you may just need two. (Never put just one because it won't balance; it will tilt when you hang it up.) Put at least one on each end and if you have made it more than a foot long you will probably want to put and extra one in the middle to make it stable. Once those are attached your golf tee tie rack is done and ready to wrap and give as a gift to the golf lover in your life!

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