How To: Make a Beard Box

I decided to make all of my Christmas gifts last year. It’s really cool and personal, and, of course, saves money.

The only hole in my plan was my dad. He doesn’t do all of those traditional dad-ish things that you find in gift guides: He doesn’t hunt or fish or watch sports or even wear ties. To make things much harder, he’s an amazing craftsman and the best designer that I know, so I put off making a decision for a long time. (You know, fiddle-dee-dee and all.) One week before Christmas, I sat down to brainstorm. While browsing ManMade, I came across the Hierarchy of Beards. My dad has an awesome beard; I would probably classify it as a kitchen shelf.

I’ve never seen him without it, and I don’t really want to. I decided to pay homage to the greatness of his beard this Christmas, and create a bearded box to store all his goodies.

Materials and Tools

• Round wood box
• beard template 
• yarn
• masking tape 
• drill and 3/32-inch drill bit 
• large needle
• sandpaper 
• scissors

1. Print out the beard template. (You may need to adjust the print size of the template based on the size of your box.) Trim off the excess paper and tape the template to the box.

2. Drill holes at the termination points of each line (or line segment for all of you sticklers out there). Drill a single hole for each mustache tip. 

3. Remove the template, and check to be sure all your holes were drilled through.

4. Sand off any rough edges or splinters on the inside and outside of the box.  

5. Thread a piece of yarn in a large needle. Tie off the end of the yarn. Weave the yarn through the holes. Tie knots in the tips of the mustache.

And…you’re done! 

This ManMade guest post was written by K. Faith Morgan

K. Faith Morgan is a designer, stylist, online editor, and producer. “I am a southern girl, but design is my football.  As a design school graduate and the child of two artists, I can’t follow X’s on a football field, but John Singer Sargent’s portrait of Madame X makes my heart skip a beat. I believe great design can change lives and life is too short for beige.”https://www.kfaithmorgan.com/