Community Brag Posts

This was my first EVER wood working project.

With that being said, it took me more than just an afternoon.
I used cedar, and all the materials on the cut list had to be sanded , since I didn't like the roughness of the cedar.
I also made the box 4x8. I didn't take into account that that would require a minimum of 48 inches for the top planks. So, some of my top planks are shorter.

I also wished I had a little more instruction from which side to screw the screws in. May sound a little needy for some of you, but I never did anything with wood before. The instructions simply read attach top planks to arm rests (or something int that manner) and I wish it would have told me from which side to screw in (or give me a picture). Looking at some of the brag posts helped a lot.

Because its larger size, I decided to make the seats 3 top planks wide (and also the back rest) and made another middle cover piece to bridge the additional gap when both seats are folded down.

Also, the cedar was VERY expensive, and all the screws, hinges, and handles almost cost me as much as the wood.

The sand to fill the box ran us another $80 (for good plays and), but that was because we made it so big.

All in all, a rather pricey sandbox, but worth it because of the large custom sizes, and the cute little seats.

Pictures show the sandbox without sand, and with some of the handles still missing. I also still need to fill the holes.

Will add a picture of finished box filled with sand when it is available.

We bought the house my husband actually grew up in. In the garage, on the wall, is theire family's height chart. When they moved taking it with them wasn't really do able. So, for Mother's day we wanted to give his mom a NEW (relocatable) height chart for her grandbabies.

One long board, another small board to insert at each foot mark, some house address numbers, and two different colors of stain, and we had what we wanted.

My husband made this in no time.

Farmhouse bed with storage sized up to a King

I built this wardrobe for my daughter. I wanted cubbies to keep her folded clothes neat and easily accessible, yet giving her two drawers for undergarments and accessories.

I followed Anna's plans pretty closely though deviated somewhat as well. Added additional length and one more seat separators & seat, increased depth by a few inches, changed design of seperators to allow for arm rests, added some additional trim, a second inset shelf w/in the shoe box area (for sandals and whatnot), and then inset wainscoting.

I wanted to build my wife a matching set of bedside tables for her birthday and loved these plans! However when I measured the space on either side of the bed found that these plans were too large. Some quick calculations later I modified the plans to create some smaller tables and it worked out perfectly! I removed two 2x4s from the top and the bottom shelf and took 7 inches off each of the aprons and voila, smaller tables!

i used minwax wood conditioner, “honey” stain and two coats of polyurethane. Very pleased with how they turned out and the wife was so surprised and happy! Thank you!

Recycle bin from Ana's Book. I mod poge glue on burlap to the top, placed on a piece of Plexiglas so I could wipe down, then stained the whole thing with an antique finish over the crackled paint. I also did an L molding around the Plexiglas to keep in place. Came out lovely! Added baskets for my veggies and done!

We loved Ana's plans for the large pet kennel / end table combo but we needed a medium-sized one for our Welsh Terrier, Watson. I reduced all the dimensions, ending up with a kennel that's 18"(W) X 24:(H) X 28"(D), perfect for Watson.

To prevent Watson from using the rails as chew toys, I lined the inside of those areas with chicken wire. I also extended the table top an extra 3" to accommodate a swing-arm end table lamp (with the cord outside of the kennel, of course). We painted the kennel black to match our other end table.

This was my first time using the Kreg Jig (80+ times on this project!) and I love it!! In fact, I'm looking for more projects that require the Kreg just so I can play with it some more. :-)

This was my first major project to build. I modified it to resemble Macy's Captiva bedroom set. I finished it with General finishes lamp black paint with some slight distressing.

We estimate that the cost of this project was right around $50, but we had a lot of tools and materials already.  This was a fun project and a great piece for the cost. I would suggest staining as much as you can before assembling those legs!  Staining and applying poly was a pain in the butt!  We used a dark mahogany Minwax stain and 2 coats of Minwax poly. It took us a while to do it because we have a 11 month old that keeps us on our toes. 

Address Sign

My father gave us a whole mess of reclaimed barnwood that a neighbor had given to him, and I knew just what to do with it! My husband had an old cooler that would be the perfect size to create a rustic cooler case from. We built a frame out of 2x2's, faced it with the old wood (which looked like old cedar fence pickets) and popped the cooler inside. I've got a whole step-by-step on my blog. Love the way this turned out! We used an antler shed to make the lid handle, and bought some great rustic looking handles for the sides, as well as an old rustic bottle opener. Can't wait to see it in action!

Thanks for the plans Ana!

I stuck to the design but changed the dimensions to suit the space and the boxes we intend to store. This made the shelves 7.5 feet high by 8.5 feet wide. The timber was supplied in 17’ lengths so this also meant very little wastage. The frame is composed of 2x4’s, the shelves are 4.5 x 1.5’s  - as I wanted the shelves slightly shallower this meant I could get away with three boards for each shelf instead of 4 as on the plans. 

For the short cross pieces I used woodglue and screws – to attach the long shelf pieces I just used screws. I predrilled holes in the first piece for each of the screws, but I didn’t drill a pilot hole in the next piece, the screws were self-tapping and didn’t need one.

The back wall is concrete block and I screwed each upright to the wall using wall plugs and screws. I’ve 2 young children and as the shelves are quite high I was afraid they might climb on them and tip them over otherwise. The attachment to the wall definitely makes the whole thing feel much sturdier – the structure is completely rigid.

The only real issue I encountered was that some of the boards were slightly twisted or warped – and I had to apply some force to keep everything square when I was gluing up. Overall I’m very happy with the end product, and found it reasonably easy to put together. Now its time to put the shelves to good use and start tidying up the garage!

I chose to modify one of your headboards by only doing step 1-4.

We made a queen headboard and I wanted it slightly taller than the plans suggested so I added 12". I used 3/4" MDF as the back cut 60" w x 48" H, 1x4s for the sides and top and a 1x3 for the bottom. I glued and nail gunned each piece to the edge letting the sides extend down for the legs of the headboard.

I filled the nail gun holes with wood filler. The piece was primed, then painted with 2 coats of color, and then the photos were Modge Podged onto the interior of the headboard touching and overlapping. As my daughter gets older we can add more photos or I can make a fabric insert to go over the photos. She loves it and I'm happy we could do something different.