Garden and Floral Projects

• If you have a plastic planter box that looks dated, cover the outside of the box with wood shims to give it a classier appearance. Cut the thinner end of the shims with utility scissors so they all measure the vertical height of the planter. Line them up along the outside of the planter and attach the shims to the plastic with silicone sealant. When all the shims are applied and the sealant has dried, paint the shims with a coating of spray primer and then three coats of spray paint. The planter can be used outside, or you can fill it with foliage or fruit and display it on your table as a centerpiece. To make a wooden backdrop for a floral piece, stain a dozen or so wood shims. Once they've dried, lay them out face down side by side on a work surface. Cover two scrap shims or other thin pieces of lumber with silicone sealant and lay them across all the lined-up stained shims. When the sealant has dried, turn the piece over, and you have a backdrop for a floral arrangement. Glue or staple dried or silk flowers to the shims, and hang the arrangement on the wall. Other garden and floral projects include making a small picket fence around a flowerbed, using wood shims as identifying plant markers in a vegetable garden and creating plant stakes for supporting plants such as bush beans and dahlias.
  
  

Wall Art

• For a modern look on your walls, create wall art out of wood shims. Stain or paint the wood shims, and apply them to pre-made wooden forms. For example, you can make a sunburst shape by gluing wood shims to wooden wreath forms, which you can buy at craft stores. You can also line them up in a grid pattern, alternating the wedged edges to create texture, and glue the grid pattern onto a piece of plywood or old bulletin board. In addition to textured wall art, you can also make picture or mirror frames with wood shims. The wedge shape inherent to wood shims offers you many options for frames. Create sunburst shapes by patterning the shims in a circle. Create texture by butting up the narrow end of one shim to the wide end of the next. Glue the shims to an existing frame or create a basic frame out of scrap lumber and disguise the scrap lumber with your wood shim creations.
  
  

Lighting Projects

• Wood shims enhance lighting in several ways. You can glue wood shims around the base of an outdated table lamp to change its look, being careful not to attach the wood near the bulb for safety. Stain or paint these shims to match the room's decor. For hanging lamps, use the shims to build a structure similar to a log cabin without a floor or roof. The light bulb hangs in the center of the structure, and the light creates interesting patterns on the walls where it peeks out through the slits in the wood shims.
  
  

Furniture

• Cheap particle board furniture abounds in thrift stores and at garage sales, and although you may not like the looks of this furniture, you can use it as the basic structure for wood shim-enhanced furniture. Take a headboard, for instance. Give a plain headboard new life and texture when you glue wood shims all over it in a variegated brick pattern. Cover a plain coffee table or chest with wood shims to give a room an interesting focal point. For a coffee table, lay a piece of glass over the top of the shims for a smooth, utilitarian finish.