Why just reuse a bucket when you can reinvent it? The New 5-Gallon Bucket Book updates a quirky classic with 30+ new ways to take those old buckets and put them to use.

Five-gallon buckets are ubiquitous and cheap (or even free). They are right up there with some of man's best inventions, like the wheel and sliced bread. Sure, they can be useful on their own, holding stuff or transporting stuff from place to place. But that's no fun. Put them to use around the house, garden, or farm instead! With common tools and the instructions in this book, you'll find 60+ ideas and projects to make today. Connect with your inner engineer as you:

• Make something for around the home, like a shoe rack, trash compactor, water filter, or mousetrap.
• Become more self-sufficient, with a chicken waterer, egg incubator, nesting box, or bee feeder.
• Have some fun with an air cannon, beanbag toss, drum set, or washtub bass.
• Get creative by dressing your kid up in a bucket costume for Halloween, making a boat anchor, or a set of music speakers.
• Grow more in the garden with a sweet potato starter, rolling composter, Japanese beetle trap, vermiculture bin, or walking watering can.

As you can see, there's no shortage of ways to put these humble and hard-working mainstays to work past their prime and keep them out of landfills. Simple step-by-step instructions, as well as parts lists and images of the completed projects, make sure you will have fun and love the results of your work.

Chris Peterson is a veteran home improvement and design author. Among the many books he has written are 5-Gallon Bucket Book, Building with Secondhand Stuff, Manskills, four books in the Ideas You Can Use series, and many books in Cool Springs Press's BLACK+DECKER Complete Guide series. He has also co-authored numerous home design books with noted media celebrities. He lives in Ashland, Oregon.