Community Brag Posts

Loosely based on the small cedar fence picket storage shed plan, this was my first attempt at making a storage unit with a roof. There was only one unplanned trip to the store (to replace two 2x4's that I cut to the wrong length). Pro tip: "measure twice, cut once" doesn't work if you measure the wrong length twice. Also almost lost two fingertips because I'm an idiot and forgot the most basic of safety rules for power tools, namely the "don't put your fingers near the blade of a circular saw when it's in use" rule. Very lucky to only come out of it with a good scare and some wounds that will heal without permanent damage. 

As Ana mentioned in her video, this project could be made with scraps. That’s just what I used.  I used a lot of scraps and cut offs for this project.

I needed to make a K cup holder but also space to hold tea in addition to other coffee "toppings" if you well. In the pictures you can see mini creamers.

This modification was made by adding a small drawer in addition to the holes that would hold the K cups. The small drawer was made with 1/2” plywood (even more scraps) ripped just shy of 1-1/2”. I did this to make sure we did not see the plys of the drawer as I planned to add 1/4” plywood to the top all around. I wanted this to make it all uniform with the K cup area. 

I added little rubber feet’s to the bottom as this will be on a granite countertop which could results in slipping and sliding. 

My sixteen-year old son took this on as a summer project and built four bar stools. He did a great job! We lowered them by 4 inches from the plan specs to fit under the counter. He used a Miniwax Colonial Maple finish. This project took a lot of Kreg Jig screws and plugs - almost 100 of each. They are very comfortable and beautiful.

My first project using Ana White plans. Used pressure treated lumber and Kreg pocket hole jig. Cost: $126.

I remodeled the main floor bathroom for my parents. My mom had seen a vanity she like at a home center. Then she thought about doing an open vanity. Then I showed her the one Ana did for the Momplex (48" Turned Leg Vanity). and she loved it. This is what we came up with.

It has bead board panels on the ends and the doors. V-grove planks for the bottom shelf.

The top is made from 100 year old ship lap siding from my brother house. The sink is hand hammered copper with a venetian bronze faucet.

My daughter watched me do another build project and wanted something for herself. We built the Toy Barn from Ana White's plans using only scraps around the garage!

I took the pony wall idea and went with it.

Our daughter's room has built-ins on either side of the window. I always wanted a window seat to sandwich in between, but couldn't find one with the right dimensions.....THANK YOU ANA WHITE! I used her Entryway Bench plan and just changed the length and depth to fit the window. I didn't add the side and back supports on top, but I bullnosed all the edges to make it look more finished.
I built this in one afternoon and even used cedar fence planks (left over from my husband's fence project) for the backing....love the extra charm of those planks!
We also had some molding left over, so I worked that in to the bottom for a little extra detail.
Haven't painted it yet....just enjoying it's usability until I decide on a color. It's super durable. My three year old sits on it (to read), stands on it (to spy on the neighbor's cats) and tosses those baskets in and out all day long.

I was planning to make a train table trundle for my son's bed, but once I saw this plan everything changed. I'm so SO happy with it. Modifications: 1) We took off the bottom shelf because hubby likes to stretch his long legs out underneath. 2) We used laminated pine project panels for the top, they cost more, but they were already the correct size, and the finished look of the top would be nicer. We altered the design to make the panels go lengthwise. So far so good, neither have bowed whatsoever. 3) we used inset handles from Lee Valley with an antiqued finish. I had yet to lacquer this when I took the photo because we couldn't wait to get the trains in there! I have since done 3 coats of minwax Poly to protect it from little hands, crayons, etc.... We're hoping this table will graduate cars, then to legos, and then....who knows!? Thanks to Ana and all the contributors here.

My daughter and I used these easy plans to build these two shelving units for the garage. We altered the plan slightly.The sizes that I used were determined by the lumber I had available as we used rescued lumber for this project. The height on each is 5' (tallest 2x4's we had) and the length is 64". All I had for 2x4's were 48" pieces so we used some other rescued lumber for the shelves. We used whatever we had. So they are made from misc lumber. The 2x material made for the strongest shelves. Depth is 17" as in original plans. 

We added additional brackets for support under a couple of the shelves. We also attached to the wall to avoid tipping. I absolutely love these. So useful. No more unstacking each tote to find out what's in the bottom one. I LOVE IT! Thanks for the plans.

We completed these in one afternoon. 

I had been looking for pretty wooden planters for the front porch and couldn't find anything affordable when I came across Ana's plans for a planter box. So I just made it a square and made it a bit taller.

I used finishing nails and glue to put the whole thing together. If you make the sides 17 1/4" then the bottom is wide enough for three pieces side by side. I added four pieces the same as the strips that were made to the bottom so that they stuck out into the center of the planter. Then I laid the bottom pieces on top of those. I left them loose so they could be replaced if needed after a few summers of water and dirt. You could also put a liner in. The width is just enough to give space for water to drain out.

Out of 5 pickets I could have made the side strips a bit longer and put a strip across the bottom. But I had a couple other projects in mind for the scraps so I didn't.

With the left over scraps I made the small flower box for a table on my deck. I glued and nailed that together too. So for less than the price of one planter box I made two and the small flower box. If I hadn't cut one piece wrong the first time I could have made a second small flower box.