Community Brag Posts

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.

I'm building a doll bunk bed from Ana's plans later on for a friend's daughter.  I figured that since I had all the materials to do the linens, I would get that finished now.  I used the plans from Ana's 18" doll mattress instructions and created these two sets of beds - they're "sisters" but not twins, since I ran out of materials to make 2 quilts.  Since it's going to one recipient, I figure she won't mind having 1 quilt and 1 blanket that coordinate.  The mattresses were SUPER easy to put together, and I opted to keep them plain without buttons, in case I want to make fitted sheets at another time.  Took me about 10 minutes to make each mattress.

Made a 4 foot version of the farmhouse bench. I also used 4x4s for the legs instead of 2x4s. They work great, just makes the bench a little heavy. 

This was my second build (easier than my first project...the Adirondack chair). Its a heavy piece and plenty sturdy as a birthday present for my one year old nephew and his sister and cousins to play on. Bought a plastic steering wheel from amazon.com. the textured paint (Anchor Gray - textured metallic by Martha Stewart was perfect for the wheels). Couldn't find the plans on ana-white but did get them from http://www.morelikehome.net/2012/10/day-26-build-little-car.html?m=1

Created the stand for the raised planter using 2X2 assembled using dowels. Painted the stand mixing black with a bit of white to simulate metal. The actually plastic window box fits within a wood open box with mitered corners fir clean log. Bottom of the stand provides a shelf using (9) 2X2s with a dado placed on either end to fit on the runners of the stand.

My daughter wanted a dressing table and we had just dismantled a small wooden shed so I made her one by recycling the wood. I’ve only been woodworking for about 2 years and I’m really proud of it. Hope you all like it.
Steve Ross

Made the swing then just kinda came up with my own frame.

Modified the design to allow me to roll lawnmower directly in the end. Fun project.

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.