Community Brag Posts

My sister and brother-in-law recently moved to Albuquerque and purchased a home with a wonderful view of the Sandia Mountains. I built them the mirror from The Handbuilt Home (p. 36), and they hung it in the entry hall. The reflection in the mirror is a gorgeous view of the mountain range out of their large living room windows. Because this was not a rustic build, I used better pine boards, sanded very smooth.
Thank you to ANA for the great plan (and book!). Also a great big hug to JOANNE and TRACY for responding so quickly to my query regarding attaching the mirror to the frame. I ended up having the mirror company attach the mirror with silicone because I was afraid mirror clips would mar the smooth, shiny surface of the wall. We also covered the back of the mirror with craft paper, contact cemented to the frame to protect the mirror silvering.
This was a fun build, and my sister and b-in-law are very pleased with it.

I made this 4' tall reading lamp by modifying the adjustable height bolt bar stool plans. I had to modify most of the measurements on the fly but I think it turned out well! It's a bit too cold here to stain it, so I'll do that (and tuck the cord away nicely) in the springtime. Love this site! So many great ideas and plans to be found. I recommend it to friends all of the time!

I made 6 for my nephews & niece for Christmas. Great project!

This was our first ever building project. We our so happy with the results. Read more about it at http://www.sidetrackedsarah.com/2011/09/build-your-own-dining-room-tabl…

I slightly modified the X Shelf plans, using 2x2's (actually ripped my own from 2x6's since the only ones I could find were in horrible shape). The X's were a little trickier than I anticipated, but well worth it! I really like the look using 2x2's vs. the chunkier 2x4's.

I built this above toilet cabinet for my son and his wife for Christmas. They moved into a new house and wanted this additional storage space.  Turned out pretty good!

Made legs 16 inches to bring to height suitable for the mattress I had.  My first project ever using Kreg K5.  

I love to sew and create new things so I decided I would make a leather upholstered ottoman. Leather is extremely easy to work with!
I started by sewing together leather rectangles that I purchased from an online auction.
When that was complete I determined the size of the box, foam thickness and the overall height I would like for it to be, I created/designed as I went.
Other than the upholstering items (buttons, needles, foam, batting, leather) everything else was scraps that I had and was able to reuse to create my ottoman. I added a shelf below for storage and am glad that I did it is a great place to put magazines.
It ended up taking much more time that I planned because I didn't follow a definite plan. Now that I have completed one I am sure that the others will take much less time. I am so happy about how it turned out!
I gifted it to a friend for a housewarming and she loves it! It even matched her area rug; apparently it was meant to be!

This is my first woodworking project and when I saw the plans, I knew it would be perfect for an indoor study and work bench for my hubby. Not having any power tools except for a drill and two sanders, I went to Home Depot and they were obliging and patient enough to cut my lumber for me (I loved making the bench so tools will be next on my list). The plans were easy to understand and since Maths is not my strong point, I was happy to have something so easy and methodical to work with. I loved the extra shelf on the top and the larger one on the bottom.

I made 2 modifications:

The height of the front legs are 33” instead of 36” because I wanted it at wrist height for my husband on the current stool he has in his room. I kept the back legs at 48”. I forgot to account for the 3” difference when I was assembling the lower shelf, so I ended up taking a hacksaw to the base of the 4 legs after assembly to account for this and this explains why the bottom shelf is so low to the ground. But it works!

Hubby wanted something attached to the back of the bench to protect the wall behind from spills. He also wanted a smooth shelf surface where nothing could get stuck in small spaces. The shelves also needed to be able to take weight and being a newbie, I didn’t want to mess with the measurements too much. After assembling the bench (including the back supports), I purchased a large 3/8” sheet of plywood and had it cut into 4 pieces – two for the back spaces and two for the shelves and then used screws and glue to attach those to the piece. The one thing I should’ve done was purchased 1 ¼” screws for attaching the plywood to the shelves, because I overlooked it and they went straight through to the underside of the shelves and had to have someone cut the screw ends off, which was no small feat.

But overall, I was very pleased with the way it turned out, especially for a first-time project.

Variation using your King Bed Storage plans. Made from pine plywood and solid pine for the trim. Drawers made from aspen with pine fronts and 1/4 inch pine plywood. Took about 60 hours in my garage. Two large drawers (with bottom sliders) and 4 jewellery trays on the end piece. 2 smaller drawers (Custom fit without sliders) plus an open bin space on each side piece. Contrasting teak wood jewellery trays pop out with magnetic push catches. All joinery is with hand cut dovetails. Total of 144 dovetails.

Really enjoyed this project, every piece was made from slabs cut from cedar. Thanks for the plans.

This was my first project, so I picked one of the easier table plans. Once I learned how to work the miter saw, Kreg Jig & drill, it was pretty easy!

Loved this plan, decided to use it for our living room TV console. Planning to add handles to the crates during a weekend when we have some free time. Very impressed with our final product :)

This chair was made off Ana white'smodern outdoor chair with modification to add back support. Without the back support the back pillow would keep falling off.  The cushion are 25x25 but very thick for comfort.

constructed in a similar way to the outdoor sectional, using 1x4's. We used 4 1x4's laminated together for each leg.

Peggy and I modified this table to be larger, put it together with the help of our Kreg Jig and painted it, with Kaitlyn's help, chocolate on the sides with white interiors and blue on the top. We look forward to making lots of art and being crafty at this table. And making lots of other projects to complete our craft room.