Community Brag Posts

I made this out of walnut, no stain just a clear poly coat to protect the wood.

Jennifer

We built this dollhouse bookcase pretty much to plan. We did add "shingles" to the top.
View more on our blog: http://www.bearrabbitbear.com/2012/02/dollhouse-bookcase.html

This was mine and my husbands first build! Considering we had absolutely zero knowledge and experience with tools, I think they turned out ok. Definitely need to find better board next time, and we know a few things to better/differently for the next build! :)

Yes, really a bed in a day! It took 24 hours from the time we bought our supplies to completion. So much nicer than any store bought we looked at, these plans are really a breeze even though I had never tackled a project like this before.

I love the look of a nicely organized closet, but after moving into new house where closets weren't as big, organization became an issue. I love the look of this plan. The modifications I made were making it nice and tall and still fitting a full shelf in at the very top. Also, I didn't want to have to worry about redoing bars when my daughter had adult sized hangers and clothes, so I made sure that my clothes would fit in the top and bottom levels. I love how it turned out. Now to make over all the other closets in the house...

I built this bookshelf over the summer and finally decided on paint over the weekend. I LOVE how it turned out! I followed the plans for general directions, but my dimensions are taller and wider than the plans. I used 8' 1x6's for the sides and the shelves are about 14". I also added bun thingy's (or whatever they're called!) to the base so that the unit would fit completely flat against the wall. Otherwise you'd have to either cut out your existing wall trim or notch the shelf trim around your wall trim. This was my first time using the Kreg pocket hole jig. It took a little getting used to, so I'd suggest practicing with some scrap parts first to make sure you don't end up drilling the pocket hole completely through the board.

I made this using leftover pallet wood, sanded plywood backer, leftover sliced pebbles from my bathroom remodel and plain old sticks and stones from my backyard. Took all of 2-3 hours or so to cut, sand and glue. The longest part was finding the perfect stones for the family and the layout of the trees. In case you're wondering, that's my wife and me and my three young daughters. This was the perfect piece to finish off our newly remodeled bathroom. This would be a great project for a family of all ages.

The most time consuming part was staining the wood, and getting the Xs to fit properly.  We love how it came out and are making an outdoor bench and end tables to match.

With all our changes and renovations, we no longer had a place to put up Christmas stockings. When I saw the idea for a fake mantle I knew this would be a good solution. The wall area I had was only 30 inches wide, but we made it work! The mantle itself was made almost entirely out of wood scraps. We also painted a thin piece of wood with chalkboard paint and used metallic Sharpies to create the grate and logs. That attached to the back of the mantle to serve as the "inside" of the fireplace. The kids added their own version of flames with some colored chalk on Christmas Eve night. Best part is I can store it in the attic until next year!

I was so inspired by Ana's plans I made two tables, that can be put side by side, alongside each other or used as two separate tables with benches. I also made a bar with granite top...... It was lots of sanding as I did not have a planer at the time, but I love the finished project and get compliments by all that see it. Thank you Ana White.

Cathy B

My husband and I built this kitchen for my son's 2nd birthday and it continues to be a huge hit. We scaled the dimensions up a bit so he can use it longer, and used 3/4" birch plywood with veneer on the ends. The oven knobs spin on dowels, the stove burners are just painted on and we added moulding to the edge of the countertops to give it a nice rounded edge. We used a cheap bar faucet from ebay, hardware from IKEA, and a stainless steel bowl with a rim for the sink. I highly recommend using a flap stay on the stove door to keep it from slamming open, and magnetic catches on the oven and fridge doors. We also used anti-tip furniture straps because these suckers are heavy.

I spent time over my winter break from work to build this for my nine year-old. She absolutely loves it. It is much sturdier than the basic wooden loft I had in college. Now my 6YO wants one! I bought a Kreg Jig, which was a great investment to build something like this. I used a circular saw but next time around would borrow or purchase a miter/table saw for the large number of cuts required. I spent $475 in lumber, screws, nails, paint, etc which was more than I had planned, but we are happy with the result! It took me about 40 hours to build this in my basement. Great project for daddy/daughter time while school was out; she made the majority of the measurements for me! There were very slight issues with the plans but overall it was not too difficult.

I decided since I was doing a lot of wood working projects I needed to have a work table. I came across the patio table on Ana site and fell in love. I now have a great table in my garage for all my woodworking projects.

I modified the tapered planter plans to create a decorative open-bottom well cover. I used cedar picket planks and a 2x4 and 2x2 frame.

Untreated 4x4s are so hard to find around me so I used 2x4s for the legs. To get the legs truly square, I used my table saw to rip about a 1/4" off from each side of 2x4s (making the legs 3" by 3"). This also helped the legs appear to be one solid piece. After sanding with palm sander I applied Dark Walnut Minwax Stain. After the first coat set, I applied more stain to random places on the table to give it a somewhat "worn" look I guess. I finished with two generous coats of Minwax Semi-gloss poly. I like the way it came out. I also built the tryde coffee table, and after doing so I realized that the 2x6 breadboards had a slight angle to them. To fix this on the console table I attached the breadboards more inward toward the center of the table. The level look is just more appealing to me, but it's no biggie. Now I'm working on finish two tryde end tables, and soon I'll be starting a tv stand. Love the plans and the site in general! Thanks!