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. 

We bought a house with a death trap for a back step. Until we get to re-doing the entire back patio area I needed a temporary solution to keeping the kids from toddling off the back 'ledge'. I modified Ana's plans to make a nice border around the step so kids can't fall off when they are coming and going from the backyard. We had left over cedar fence slats from when we did our fence last spring...PERFECT and FREE!!!!!

I started creating the furniture for my new craft room by making the Easy Three Cube Benches I found here.  I modified them so that my cats could lay on top and look out the windows.  The cube benches gave me the confidence to design a printer stand.  Using Ana White's technique of "build the box" and then add the rest, I designed a custom printer stand I am so very proud of!  After the printer stand, I moved on to the final piece that would complete my craft room, a modular desk with plenty of workspace to complete any craft I want.  I modified each module a little to keep with the theme design of the room.  I created three modules.  The last one being a bookcase that is a modification of the Modern Craft Table bases.  I used better quality Oak plywood for the desk top, and good pine and whiteboard plywood for the modules.

For these beds I modified the original farmhouse doll bed plans to accommodate a few more dolls. In the process, I discovered that, while doll furniture turns out SUPER cute, it takes me about the same amount of time to build a little piece as it does to build a big piece, especially when you consider the time it takes to sew the bedding.

I put these together mostly with nails and glue, but used my kreg jig to join the rails to the headboards and footboards.

Darling Mud Kitchen by Sarah Jean Gammon

"I had this idea of making Sonny a mud-kitchen, a kids play kitchen for the yard. I mentioned it to Brent and he laughed saying he had enough projects on his list. This was not something he was going to build. Sooo I built this all by my self...or as Sonny would say, “me do this my own self”. It cost ~30 bucks in lumber and a trip to the thrift store for some second hand pots and pans. 3 hours later, a little paint, a little stain and voila... Sonny Side Up Mud Kitchen! Thanks for the plans Ana."

My 11 year old is a girlie girl and has been asking my wife and I for the American Girl Star Armoire cabinet for 2 years. I found a similar plan here on Ana-White's Plan page. I decide to use a little nice quality wood (Aspen) instead of just a clear pine wood. It turned out nicer than even I could have expected.

My daughter got this for her 11 Bday this past Sunday and has already filled the cabinet with all her special AG Dresses. I added my own twist by putting a 1/4" Chalkboard back on it so she can use it to play school with her AG Dolls.

I have a couple people interested in making one for them for Christmas. :)

My next project will be one of the bunk-beds featured on Ana's website.

I loved the idea of building a washer and dryer pedestal for extra laundry basket storage underneath! Sashua's is beautiful so I took her idea and modified it a bit to work for me. My washer is very, very heavy and I was worried that if there was no support under the weight in the middle, it would start to bow and sag. The original plan also put the washer too high for me to have been able to use without a step stool. So in my modification I screwed cleats into the 2X4 frame of the laundry room wall, placed the 3/4" plywood on top of it and screwed it in. In the front, I used 4X4's as the two corner leg supports and then added two 1X6 supports in the front center, creating three laundry basket bays. I placed it directly onto the floor as opposed to building the bottom base. This saved me money since I was able to buy half the lumber and also allowed me to lower the height of the platform while leaving enough space for my baskets. The top of my platform is approximately 14 1/2" high, which is just low enough so that I can see into the soap filling compartment at the top of the washer. Being that I'm only 5'2" I would have needed to use a step stool to use my washer at the original 19 1/2" plan height. I framed the top edge of the platform with 2X2's, to ensure that my washer or dryer never walked off the edge. Finally, I added some trim along the front edge and around the legs and that's it!

I built this and then ordered storage baskets that fit to the size. I built it exactly to the plan except I did not make the top flush to a back wall and I added decorative trim. I think adding trim really adds a nice look to this project.

The tower was super easy to build and took hardly any time. The most time was spent on the finishing work (sanding and painting).

Handmade rustic entryway table. Stained with Varathane Stain and made from 2x4s & 2x6s Canadian white pine

Our extra long living/dining room was just begging for a little definition. So I scoured all of Ana White's plans for some inspiration for the perfect-for-us table. I have never built anything, so I enlisted the help of my genius dad and we got to work!

We ended up using elements of the Modern Outdoor Patio Table and the Farmhouse Table. We sized the patio table down to six feet long and used the board layout from the farmhouse table for the table top. We also changed up the table legs a bit to add some visual interest.

After tackling the table, we built the banquette and beadboard wall. I never thought I would learn so much about power tools. Ha! This project was so much fun. Thank you for the free plans!! I can't wait to work on our next project!

You can read more about our table here: ‎ http://www.becomingwhitney.com/dining-area-progress/ ‎
here: http://www.becomingwhitney.com/it-is-finished/
and here: http://www.becomingwhitney.com/christmas-cheerin-it-up/ ‎

Four station sewing table. Each station separated by a 15” 3 drawer cabinet. Blind corner includes a pull out shelf/book case which doubles as support for the back corner. Long end supported by a bookshelf which is turned 180 from the original design due to other furniture placement that can easily be changed later. Short end supported by temporary legs. 5th station and additional 5ft. of cabinets on the way. Roughly 10ft x 8ft x 26in. x 31in. high. Wife saw similar on Pinterest which was tagged Ana White but only found brag post so used imagination and basic cabinet design plans modified to meet my size requirements.

This bench was perfect for our front porch, but after I bought all the lumber I realized how big and substantial it would be. So, I slimmed it down and swapped out the following: seat slats 1x2, posts and supports 2x2, arms 1x3, backrest 1x6, aprons 2x3. Looks great and feels like a better fit for our porch. Enjoying the afternoon sun in style now, thanks!

When I first saw Mimi's Faux Mantle I dreamed about building one for my house but I didn't know where. When I began renovating my Master Bedroom I found the perfect place for it on a bare uninteresting wall.

To add interest to the mantle, I stained the top and attached a faux hearth using a 1x12 painted the same color as the rest of the mantle. I also Diy'd a distressed mirror glass insert to bounce the lighting off. I added low voltage LED lights too.
It turned out better than I expected.

Visit my blog http://thepursuitofhandyness.com for a full tutorial of the building process and the distressed mirror glass.