Community Brag Posts

I made this sliding mirror jewelry cabinet for my wife for Christmas. 

I saw your outdoor chairs so decided made 2 out of 2x4 from your plans. I put the 1 that is finished in my sun/ coffee room. I love it and ha e had many brags so I give them your info and a couple of friends are making them. Thank you

This isn't directly from a project but it was heavily influenced by the Benchmark Media Tower. I had made two of the towers (pictures coming soon) and had some left over wood. I used the same process to attach the 2x2 poplar boards to the 1x12 and added a 1x3 at the base to give it some visual weight at the bottom. I plan on digging through the rest of my scraps and make more of these to put vases and pots on. Why not! (sorry for the camera phone quality shots) :(

With lots of deer, rabbits, coyotes, and the occasional bear, garden enclosures are a must in our area (although I am not sure they will really help if a bear decides they're interested in our food). As our old garden enclosure was falling down due to the high winds and a quite a few winters in upstate New York, my mom found a horseshoe shaped garden with rasied beds that she loved. So, after searching around for a good plan, I found Ana White's collaboration with Home Depot for this enclosure.

While the original plan was far too small for our needs, I was able to expand the length of the enclosure creating enough room to add two small beds on either side of the door and a center bed, which is perfect for herbs. The build was not difficult as I was able to do most of it by myself (with the exception of contructing the frame and attaching the door) and I am sure this would go much quicker with an extra set of hands. As I did not have a large chunk of time to devote to this project, it did take me quite some time stretched over a few weeks. Nonetheless, I am very happy with how it turned out.

After construction, my family got a little garden happy and decided we wanted to plant even more vegetables than we had originally planned. So, we created a much simpler but nonetheless less pest-proof enclosure for two more beds to the left of our original project (shown in the photos).

Although this was an expensive project (exact price is unkown), it is quite sturdy and we expect it to last a long time and provide lots of vegetables. We added some hanging baskets for decoration and decided next year we will add some morning glories around the outside corners for some extra shade during the afternoons. Some minor alterations also included a latch that allows us to open and close the door from both sides, we actually picked up a gate latch kit for this part of the project, and using welded wire fencing instead of chicken wire. While the welded wire added to the cost, it will hold up better to the wind and snow and is still protective enough to keep out our main predators.

Thanks so much for the plans Ana! In the begining, our neighbors joked we were building a guest house :). I have included some photos from throughout the build as well.

This was my very first build. I used all 2x4's except for the top with was a project board from Lowes. I also used pocket holes instead of 2in screws.

Some built-in bookshelves finished using milk paint. 

General Finishes 'Lamp Black' base coat + 'Driftwood' top coat, sanded down so 'Lamp Black' showes through. Yellow Ochre Glaze coat to add an aged look, then a quick coat of polycrylic for protection

This was my first major woodworking project and i couldn't be happier with the result! I also built a miniature version for our dogs' dishes.

Building the desk was pretty straightforward. I actually saved a little money going with the 2x6s (4 of them was under half the price of a pine project panel) rather than the panel which I actually brought home first. I went with the 2x6s instead because it felt sturdier, and the straightest panel I could find was a little warped (which I didn't want to force).

My biggest piece of advice is, if you don't have a wood planer, DO NOT use a Kreg Jig to assemble the top first. 2xWhatevers just don't seem to "lay" the way you want them to if they're all connected together. I built the legs, added supports and then used glue and 2" finish nails to secure the top, butting them up as close as I could (there's only very minimal gaps, ~1/16 or less) It is SOLID. I filled in the nail holes with Elmer's stainable wood filler. After staining, I used a tiny artist brush with the stain on the filler so it could penetrate a little longer. Worked like a charm!

We decided to go with a color stain on top because it's going in a craft room/office so we wanted it to be bright and fun to get our creative juices flowing. The walls are a light gray so we figured we could afford some color :)

Fancy X table and bench

I built the queen sized version of this bed and love how it turned out! I decided to use two 6" bolts on each post to connect the side rails. The reasoning behind this is so that it would be sturdier and easier to disassemble/reassemble.

I also made the headboard larger than the plan. We may add finishing touches to it to make it more polished.

Daniel

Great plan. Easy to follow.

I am not a carpenter, I do not even have a tape measure. I got tasked by my leadership dothan class to build a farmhouse table for the academic dream room which is part of the Bright Key Program. Which is being renovated at Honeysuckle Middle School. Found your plans and got inspired. One glitch they wanted this table to be able to sit fourteen chairs. So I had to make a few adjustments like increasing the main boards to twelve foot. Because of your plans, many urban middle schoolers will have a place to get tutored considering cafeteria tables are so expensive. I am a believer of your plans. The positive feedback I received was well worth my time and would not of been a sucess without your plans. I did mine with pocket holes as well.