Community Brag Posts

I was looking for a shed to keep pool towels and other deck and pool items. This shed hit every feature I was looking
for. My husband loved the plans. He's always saying he can build anything with a measured drawing and a
cut list. The only thing we changed was the roofing material. we were given some metal roofing by a friend.

I started on the project when I went home for Thanksgiving and finished up the drawers when I was home for Christmas. I live about 7 hours from my family. I took a few tools with me (kreg jig and drill) but borrowed a circular saw and miter saw for all the cuts. It was difficult working on it because it was fairly cold and my dad only has a carport. Which is why it took longer. My step-mom says she wants to paint it maybe with some milk paint. She also did not want the center shelf as she wanted a place for taller items.

The butcher block top was $299. It comes from lumber liquidators in 25" by 96". My dad had about 2 feet cut off the length. Ikea also sells butcher block tops for roughly half the price I think, but they were out of stock in both Atlanta and Charlotte.

I also made the small kitchen island before and this one went much more smoothly. Having the extra set of hands was awesome and made for a wonderful memory as I built it with my father:-)

Built from the Balin Console Table plan.  I needed more storage for my entryway table, so I added the extra drawers.  First, I had it stained but found this chalk paint in the mistints at Lowe's.  Perfect color!

Spring is around the corner and I had no outdoor furniture. My boyfriend had just talked me into a new weber grill, which did not leave much budget for new outdoor furniture. That's when I came across this web site and thought 'I can do that'. So I talked me boyfriend into helping build this Simple Outdoor Conversation Set. We used plans for the Simple Outdoor Lounge Chair and Simple Outdoor Ottoman and then followed the alterations by post for 'My Modern Outdoor Patio Collection' to make the loveseat.

The whole project came together over 5 days.
Day 1: Cut all boards (5 hrs)
Day 2: Sand all boards (5 hrs)
Day 3: Stain all boards (6 hrs)
Day 4 & 5: Assemble furniture (9 - 10 hrs)

The total project took about 25 hrs and cost about $350. Here's the breakdown wood and supplies $204 from Lowe's for pretreated wood. $145 on cushions (NOT ON SALE); $60 for the seat cushions from Home Depot and $80 for the back cushions from Wal-Mart. We were originally planning on only having the seat cushions, but the seats were long when you set in them with your back against the bear wood (I was setting so far back, my feet couldn't reach the floor) so we opted for thick back cushions to make it more comfortable. The project finished up just in time for our first BBQ party! (March 2012)

This plan was easy to follow, accurate and came together in just a few hours. I used some reclaimed barn wood for the 2x6s and dog-ear pickets for the remainder.

I made it harder for myself than it had to be. I didn't follow the directions closely enough and cut the box ends at 5 1/2" instead of 5 1/4". That meant that the bottoms had nothing to press-fit against. So, I had to do a little workaround to fix that. I made a 1" shelf at each end of each box so that the bottom could sit on these little shelves. The upside to this mistake is that there was now a drainage slot all along the front and all along the back of each planter box. 

I stained and sealed it. Finally, I lined each planter box with weed matting that I'd cut to size and cut drain slits in. The matting doubles as a way to keep the planting mix from falling out of the long drainage slots while allowing water to drain through the little slits I poked in the fabric. (I poked drain slits only along the front edge so that water would drain into the planter box below instead of onto the ground.)

I'm happy with the plan and the finished planter!

Coffee table stained in Jacobean, and finished with Minwax satin Poly.

Watch the video on how I did this project here: http://youtu.be/IoP2cKN2WeY

For this week's woodworking project I'm building a Rustic Cooler Box from used Pallets. The project was a lot of fun to do and pretty simple! By just using some old Pallets that were free I was able to build something that will get a lot of use. Plus, by using the Pallets I think it turned out really cool looking!

How to video http://youtu.be/IoP2cKN2WeY

This is my take on the classic Oliver String Puzzle. It was built from scrap wood, a ring from a previous project, purchased wood beads and rope.

The goal is to remove the ring from the puzzle. My kids and wife found it quite challenging. I would rate the skill level at 3 out 5. If you can't figure it out from the pictures, refer to the video.

Build Instructions: https://www.instructables.com/id/Oliver-String-Puzzle/

Solution: https://youtu.be/VTb0IlMXSiU

This is a Murphy Bed that I made for my daughter Alicia for their getaway home at Canadian Lakes, MI. Due to limited space i had to make it horizontal instead of the normal way of being vertical. It really comes in handy and takes up very little space.

Modified to have more of a modern style. Removed shelf and half the X. Also, lengthened it to 11ft. Love!

Camp Loft Bed modified to fit two twin loft beds in the bedroom with a shared platform step.
Age of boys in bed: 6 and 4

The boys have yet to agree on a stain color...awaiting their decision.