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Mag Ruffman's Anything I Can Do

  

Mag Ruffman's Anything I Can Do is a show for anyone who strives to become a Renaissance human. Whether you want to learn techniques of the arts, crafts and trades, or you're just looking for new ways to feel self-sufficient, adventurous and accomplished, Anything I Can Do will help you prove to yourself (and your relatives) that being creatively engaged is good for the soul.

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NOTICE: At this time DVDs of Anything I Can Do are not available, we hope to have them again soon. If you are interested please send us a note: mag@toolgirl.com

 

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Volume 1: Greatest Hits
Mag offers her most popular projects in an entertaining format that delivers robust design, step-by-step instructions and off-the-cuff humor. Each project is packed with helpful advice and tool know-how. Ruffman’s reflective moments add depth and irony to the creative process, and encourage anyone with a dream to get cracking. You’ll also learn how to:
• Operate a router
• Frame a small building
• Use ancient metal-working principles
• Use body parts in unusual ways

   English bench - A romantic English garden bench wrought from heavy lumber will make any garden nook feel enchanted and aristocratic. Easy construction, basic tools.   Copper Trellis - Through the miracle of refrigerator tubing, you can build yourself a glorious trellis or gate. Includes lots of tips on soldering technique and metalwork design.
 

English bench
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Copper trellis
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  Pine bookshelf - Build this classic bookshelf and put an end to shelf denial. A bone-easy and perfectly useful piece of furniture that your children will fight over when you croak.   Garbage hutch - A perky shed to conceal homely garbage cans, pool equipment or firewood, this project is easy to build and offers so hutch for so little.
 

Pine bookshelf
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Garbage hutch
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Volume 2: Beginners Woodworking demonstrates simple woodworking skills for those who want to take their first steps in learning to create heirloom accessories. Each project is aimed at beginners who have more imagination than tools. Learn the basics of crate construction, cutting and applying trim, working with hinges and knowing what to do when unexpected houseguests arrive. Ruffman includes all of her own mistakes and irritations so the viewer develops problem-solving abilities and a rakish attitude.

 

   Cookbook holder - A gorgeous gift for cooks or project enthusiasts, the oak bookstand keeps any book open at an easy-to-read angle, and is adjustable to hold different-sized tomes.   Room divider - A simple room divider screen that disguises messes, stops drafts, offers privacy and gives you somewhere to go (besides the car) after you’ve announced, “I’ll just slip into something a little more comfortable.”
 

Cookbook holder
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Room divider
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  Platform bird feeder - Build this simple tray feeder from a single board and enjoy a colorful show of feathered buddies all year long. A perfect project for kids and beginners.   Hope chest - The old-fashioned hope chest, updated for the modern girl, is light enough to carry from relationship to relationship, but still packs a whack of silk.
 

Bird feeder
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Hope chest
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Volume 3: Mixed Media Ruffman designs and creates projects using tin ceiling panels, pine, copper, plywood and glass. Spanning the range from whimsical to serviceable, these projects will inspire and entertain beginners who crave a handmade touch in their decorating. Plus, you’ll learn the following skills:
• Using a microwave flower press
• Creating an easy ‘crackle-paint’ finish
• Embossing your designs on copper

 

   Primitive sconce - An easy, primitive candle sconce with an embossed copper reflector to brighten your winter evenings. Paint it with milk paint and you’re practically a pioneer.   Garden lantern - Make your own primitive, Japanese style garden lantern using rough pine and a few chunks of granite. Sounds bad, looks good. The ultimate in low-tech garden lighting.
 

Primitive sconce
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Garden Lantern
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  Tin headboard - An easy, classic headboard to enhance your horizontal hours; made with a plywood base sheathed in embossed tin panels and painted to match your boudoir.   Tea tray - A generously sized serving tray to encourage luxurious breakfasts in bed; featuring a crackle-paint finish and flowers pressed in a microwave.
 

Tin headboard
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Tea tray
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Volume 4: Furniture instructs beginners in the basics of furniture building. Learn the joys of using a biscuit joiner, a belt sander and a wood-burning pen. Each episode is bursting with advice, tool tips and short-cuts that will help you design and create furniture for your own home. As usual, Ruffman lives through the mistakes so you won’t have to.

 

   Harvet table - Make this antiqued harvest table to impress relatives, wow future spouses or give your descendants a reason to revere you. Simple construction, basic power tools.   Butcher block cart - A primo cutting surface atop a rolling cart - this portable unit increases kitchen productivity and turns a humble cutting board into a mobile workstation.
 

Harvest table
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Butcher block cart
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  Cedar table - The world's easiest table doubles as workbench, laundry counter, project table and spare bunk bed. You can fancy it up with stencils or wood-burning, but it's noble just as it is, naked.   Ottoman - A great little footstool that teaches joinery skills and also takes a load off! If you don’t want to go another day without learning to use a biscuit joiner, this is the project for you.
 

Cedar table
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Ottoman
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Volume 5: Outdoor Projects instructs beginners in an entertaining series of woodworking projects designed for the great outdoors. Each project is jammed with tips, improvisational skills, helpful advice and tool know-how. Ruffman’s reflections on life add pith to the episodes as she strives to resolve dire design predicaments.

 

   Twig screen - Add a touch of mystery to your backyard. This whimsical twiggy screen will stand up straight even on undulating topography thanks to the flexible leather hinges.   Potting bench - A piece worthy of Lady Chatterley’s lover, the potting bench stands proud with its stout framing members and wood that just won’t quit (cedar).
 

Twig screen
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Potting bench
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  Twig bench - Create a beautiful, all-season resting place in your garden. Best of all, a twig bench costs almost nothing to make, and you can add custom cup holders.   Bird house - Build some housing for friends with feathers and provide a few crucial amenities to help the little ones fledge.
 

Twig bench
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Bird house
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Volume 6: Accessories demonstrates woodworking basics for those who want to be able to create handmade accessories for their homes. Each project is aimed at any beginner with a teeming imagination and a modest endowment of power tools (jigsaw, sander, circular saw, drill). Ruffman includes all of her own mistakes and frustrations so the viewer gains problem solving skills and the ability to maintain composure when swearing would be more natural.

 

   Box joint box - A finger-jointed box is a riot of precision for those with a compulsion to ‘get it right’. Easy construction with basic hand tools and inexpensive materials.   Plate rack - The classic English plate rack comes to roost with an ornery, imperialistic attitude that will challenge your spatial skills but reward you with years of service.
 

Box-joint box
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Plate rack
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  Bathroom shelves - A sculptural set of shelves for the wasted space above your toilet tank; this project was featured on the cover of Popular Woodworking, so it must be good!   Garden trug - A garden trug introduces you to the glories of compound angles. This retro basket looks fetching when tarted up with a fresh coat of milk paint.
 

Bathroom shelves
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Garden trug
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Volume 7: Projects for Kids Ruffman designs and creates projects for the immature human. Ranging from wildly imaginative to mostly practical, these episodes will entertain and educate beginners of all ages. Plus, you’ll learn the following skills:
• Drawing with your eyes closed
• Creating ‘spill-proof’ upholstery
• Accommodating the portly bellies of youngsters in table design

 

   Kids' table - A simple kid-sized art table that breaks down for easy storage, and sets up in under a minute when the art bug strikes.   Mirror frame - A wacky, Harry Potter-ish mirror frame that teaches you how to work with a router, a scroll saw and your imagination.
 

Kids' table
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Mirror frame
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  Go-cart - If you didn’t have a go-cart when you were a kid, this is your baby. Complete with tail lights and a hot chassis, Mag’s go-cart has everything but an engine. And that’s a good thing.   Kids' furniture - Attractive furniture for kids, inspired by Dr. Seuss. If you can hold a pencil, you can make this furniture.
 

Go-cart
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Kids' furniture
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Volume 8: Metal Work Whether you want to create copper accessories or weld giant garden structures, Volume 8: Metal Work is a primer for the wondrous appeal of working in metal. As usual, Ruffman leaves in the screw-ups so viewers learn how to generate solutions for their own metal problems.

 

   Welded trellis - A lyrical garden trellis made from rebar that is first bent and then fused together using the miracle of wire-feed welding. Easy? Yes. Fun? Wow.   Wind chimes - The secret of creating beautiful wind chimes is yours. Mag shares tips on achieving optimal spacing, musical tones and great patinas.
 

Welded trellis
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Wind chimes
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  Copper lamp - You’re unique. Why shouldn’t your lamps be unique too? And while we’re on the subject, how unique is too unique?   Embossed copper - Build a punched copper wall sconce and come to understand why early man favored this metal before he got distracted by bronze and iron.
 

Copper lamp
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Embossed copper
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Volume 9: Concrete and Plaster instructs beginners in the subtle art of masonry. Learn the elusive principles of mixing concrete, mortar, hypertufa (lightweight concrete) and plaster of Paris while laughing, sometimes uncontrollably. Each project is laden with tips and short-cuts that will prepare you for more ambitious projects like tiling a backsplash or lining your pool with mosaic.

 

   Concrete pots - If you haven’t had a good laugh this week, simply slide this episode into your unit. If you don’t laugh, we owe you big money.   Cherub sconce - Create a cherubic blessing for your home with this plaster candle sconce, cast in the beguiling palette of the Sahara.
 

Concrete pots
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Cherub sconce
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  Steppping stones - A free-form stepping stone accented with stained glass and slate. Why buy a kit when you can make your own?   Mosaic shelf - A sturdy, glorious mosaic shelf that will seduce you into the heady world of busted china and grout.
 

Stepping stones
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Mosaic shelf
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Volume 10: Rustic Accessories instructs beginners in an entertaining series of woodworking projects designed to accommodate any level of personal taste as long as it’s rustic. Each project is full of tips and tool know-how. Ruffman generously includes all of her impasses and errors so the viewer gets insight into problem solving and also learns how to make jokes under duress.

 

   Cricket bench - A solid standby in all pioneer homes, the cricket bench gives you a leg up on relatives, especially when you add your initials.   Barn board sconce - Made for cold winter evenings, the barn board candle sconce is as good as a fireplace in small spaces.
 

Cricket bench
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Barn board sconce
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  Rustic cabinet - Looking for a spot to store bag balm and udder cream? This is it. A cabinet designed for the barn or boudoir.   Coat rack - Festooned with elfin ivy, this coat rack will teach you the basics of relief carving, and it’s useful to boot.
 

Rustic cabinet
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Coat rack
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Volume 11: Highly Individual Projects instructs beginners in a series of projects that are designed for those who like to add their own custom flavour to any project they attempt. From leather or ultra-suede toolbelts and accessories to wildly eclectic clocks, this Volume is full of ideas, tips, trade secrets and advice for the artisan-in-training. Plus, you’ll learn the following techniques:
• Using an awl to create leather fashions
• Using a mini-grinder to create unique finishes on metal
• Laminating hardwood to create surfaces as tough as a bowling alley

 

   Clocks - When time stoppeth for no woman, it’s time to take charge and build your own clocks. Make treasured timepieces from metal, wood, basket, china or old work boots.   Cutting board - It’s a rare kitchen that has a dream cutting board. Build your own made-to-measure custom surface using a few pieces of hardwood and a big honkin’ plane.
 

Clocks
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Cutting board
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  Leather toolbelt - Create your own slim-fitting, hip-hugging toolbelt for those occasions when you’d rather be hot than right.   Fountain - Human nature craves the soothing sound of running water. Create your own Elysium with an indoor-outdoor fountain.
 

Leather toolbelt
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Fountain
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Volume 12: Experimental Designs rides the sharp curves of the leading edge in this volume of projects aimed at the fearlessly creative. Each project in Volume 12: Experimental Designs is stoked with the fervor of creativity as Ruffman tries projects that most people wouldn’t think of let alone attempt. Whether you’re an inveterate inventor or an unconventional person with a flare for the extreme, this volume will give you that extra edge of confidence to go where angels have definitely trod but probably wouldn’t go there again.

 

   CD cabinet - Old shutters find their second childhood by posing as CD storage racks in this wacked-out project that reveals the secrets of Lazy Susan technology.   Carved tray - When you need a gift that keeps on giving, try this carved serving tray. Your mother-in-law will be speechless in a good way.
 

CD cabinet
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Carved tray
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  Cold frame - Every seed deserves a good start. Be a fearless February gardener by building your own cold frame from recycled materials.   Wine rack - Wine is an ancient art form so wine racks can afford to be innovative. Try this unusual vertical design fashioned from brass screen and plastic rods.
 

Cold frame
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Wine rack
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Volume 13: Severe Creativity cavorts through a series of projects that are replete with the ‘uh-oh’ factor – the feeling that spreads noiselessly over projects that were better imagined than actually created. In spite of their too-unique-to-live outcomes, these projects are still pregnant with advice if not regret. As usual, Ruffman’s reflective moments add resolve to the creative spirit as she attempts to undo the damage of ill-conceived design.

 

   Paper pod lamp - Did you see The Invasion of the Body Snatchers? I did. And it shows. This hellacious lamp could only have been conceived in the mind of a disturbed person. And I am that person.   Bathtub tray - If you’re a person who spends 5 hours a week in the bathtub reading romance novels and sipping fermented beverages, this project will thrill you to the tips of your naked toes.
 

Paper pod lamp
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Bathrub tray
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  Umbrella stand - No one has ever complimented this design, so let that be your warning. In fact, people usually laugh and point. But umbrellas smirk and enjoy their stay.   Etched glass lantern - This is a great project to try if you’ve ever wanted to say, “Would you like to come up and see my etchings?” That’s the best thing about this lantern. No, really.
 

Umbrella stand
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Etched glass lantern
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