Community Brag Posts

I had tons of help from this website and from the employees at Lowe's in deciding what to purchase and what steps to take. I ended up spending around $130 on all the items needed - but if I ever need to make more it will be just the cost of the lumber!

I am the poster girl for making mistakes while learning, no joke. Generally, I make the uh-oh on a step that I’ve done a zillion times, because I am so busy making sure that the parts that are brand new to me go well. Years ago I was trying to impress a roommate and I worked super hard on a lemon spaghetti dish. I learned to zest and juice a lemon but completely forgot about draining my noodles. Hello disgusting! Putting together my Ana-White project was no different. I gently sanded the wood with my sanding sponge and wiped them off with a rag. I then placed two of the 1x4’s together and made sure that they were even. I discovered that it would be next to impossible to have perfect shelves, so I was going to let it go and just have fun. I pre-drilled a hole, then used a countersink bit to match the head of my wood screw, and held the boards together with all my might while I drilled in the first screw. Of course, since that worked out so well… I decided to try something different! Cap had told me that these particular screws practically countersunk themselves. Sweet! Therefore, on the second screw I predrilled and then tried to see what would happen if I skipped the countersink bit step and just put the screw in. Fail! The wood made this groan sound and the screw didn’t go into a nice neat hole, but instead just kind of escaped in like a finger in pudding. No good! I realized that I had forgotten to use wood glue, so I took both screws back out, put the wood glue in, and back in the screws. I returned to the first method of predrill, countersink bit, wood glue, then screw and finished it off. I held the 1x2 into place and used finishing nails to attach it to the 1x4s. Using a nail punch, I made sure there was a little hole atop each nail. I filled all the holes and a few of my mistakes with wood filler. While the filler was drying I repeated all the steps, sans many of the mistakes adding in a few others, and was done with the first step of building shelves! Next I used a two inch angle brush and applied the primer. After it was dried I applied the paint using a two inch roller. When it was all dried I marked my studs and my board, predrilled, and screwed them into the wall! That was it! It was so much fun and completely empowering. I can't wait to do the next one.

I built these 2 shelves for my 2 older children to use when hanging up thier backpacks and for a place to put library books so they don't get lost in the pile of other books laying around the house. I didn't have a convinient stud to attach them to, so my husband used 4 drywall anchors. They seem pretty sturdy. It only took me about an hour to cut and assemble both shelves and cost around $20 to make 2. I did find that the screws that came with the hooks were too long and poked through the back of the front board, but I just used a file to smooth out the tip of the screw so it didn't catch anything. Building this really made me wish I had the Ryobi cordless nail gun. I may or may not have hammered my thumb pretty good during assembly.

So thankful for the plans to build the closet shelves. They were key to our building out our new walk-in closet.  Love it and this site!  Onward to the next project! 

I had a great time building this desk. The finish turned out amazing and the desk is leveled prefectly. I added a 2x3 between the 2x12s and I also added a 1x4 as a trim piece to the front of the desk.

This is a solid, quartersawn white oak 5-legged dining table. It was originally built in the late 19th or early 20th century. The table was in need of a refinish. The massive turned and fluted legs were full of cracks, chips, and splits.

I took the table completely apart and began stripping and sanding. The legs were re-glued where needed and clamped. I filled the cracks, splits, and and chips with wood filler, sanded, and repeated until I was happy with the results. I replaced some bracing and replaced the screws where needed. Heavy duty casters were added. They have brakes/stops that can be locked to keep the table from rolling on a hardwood or tile floor.

Once the final sanding was completed, I applied 2 coats of Minwax Dark Walnut stain with a foam brush. I wiped down after each coat after waiting 10-15 minutes or so. After drying I began applying Minwax Fast Drying (oil based) polyurethane. The table received 3 coats and the top received 6 coats. I hand sanded with 220 grit sandpaper between coats.

After applying the final coat of poly to the top, I allowed it to cure 48 hours. I then hand sanded the top very lightly using 400 grit paper. I did the same using 0000 steel wool. I then added a few drops of dish soap to a cup of water and wet sanded with the 0000 steel wool. I used a circular motion to remove any scratches. I then wiped down the table and buffed out two coats of Johnson Past Wax with an orbital buffer. It resulted in a super smooth finish.

I am very happy with the results. By the way the table if for sale ($600) and is located in Evansville, Indiana.

Made this pipe coffee table by laminating 3 2x10 boards.  The size of the table is 60in by 27in.  I ripped the sides of the boards down to 9 inches each to square off the sides for a jointed glued table. The pipes were spendy but easy to get and assemble.  Used Minwax special walnut stain.

Been a while since I had time to actually build anything worth posting about! My wife wanted some items for her Kindergarten classroom this year, so built several items, most inspired by the Farmhouse family.

I built this simple but super cute locker for my daughters room! She loves it and so do all of her friends! This was a super simple build just follow Ana's awesome plans!

This build is the prototype for the 1-Board Cedar Desk Accessory Set plan. From 1 cedar fence picket, I was able to build this set in 1 afternoon. It was a fun project that I'm hoping will make a great gift. No angles, rips or special cuts were required. The only tools needed were the miter saw, nailgun and palm sander. Of course you could do this all with hand tools, but I love my power tools! :) The inspiration for this plan was some desk sets which I had built entirely from scrap wood. I thought it would be fun to make a plan to build them from just 1 kind of board, just 1 board, and cedar pickets came to mind. You could also do this plan with craft boards - you would need 2 pieces, 1/2" x 5 1/2" x 2'.

The build was really very easy. A lot of sanding to get the picket nice and smooth, but not difficult. The plans show where to cut as you go, to get the best fit and account for variations in the sizes of the wood.

I finished this one after assembly, but on the next one I'm going to try it by finishing all the little pieces first.

I have a small wall  by my fireplace in my living room that's been difficult to fill.  I've had my eye on this jelly cabinet for months but knew it wouldn't fit in the location I had in mind.  I decided to put it by the fireplace, scrap the metal mesh doors, and go for a slightly more elegant look by using glass.  This suits the room much better and I'm really happy with the final result.

Designed to store 56 qt clear sterilite totes. Spaced 17” apart and used 5 2x4s so 23” deep. We have a lip of our foundation that sticks out so we had to adjust for the difference in leg heights. 

I used a combination of Ana-White's Building Plan along with close examination of the Pottery Barn Andover Table to create my Apothecary Console. I've recently picked up a bunch of free pallets and have been experimenting with ways to use them.

Pallets were used for about 95% of this project. The only thin I bought was 1/2" plywood for the doors, 20 wooden knobs, and two sets of hinges. I took some backing off an old dresser and used that for the back and I found an old rotted piece of antique wood at an antique store that I used for the top.

Since I didn't buy 1x12", I had to join together some 1x6"s that I pulled off the pallets. There's a lot more to tell about this project so if you're interested, I documented the whole thing on our blog:

http://www.tommyandellie.com/Site/Home/Entries/2011/7/18_A%7Bpallet%7Do…

This was a first project for us. We decided to make it for my daughter's birthday, and it took us longer than it should, although the painting took the longest, with drying time and all. It turned out fabulous though!

Build Instructions: http://www.instructables.com/id/Mini-Pillory-Stocks/

This wooden Pillory makes a perfect stand for your mini skeleton. If you are not familiar with a Pillory, the device was used for punishment by public humiliation and often further physical abuse. This project was made from pallet wood and was scaled to fit the 18” tall plastic skeleton. Only basic woodworking skills are needed and it should take less than 4 hours to build.

Modified to be slightly more modern by removing had the X and having a solid bottom shelf. Also, narrowed it up to be rectangular shape to save space. 

These 4 little chairs did not take very long to put together. But they did take me a while to sand, prime and paint. I hate that part of building-haha-so it always seems like it takes forever to get through with that and on to the fun part. They are very easy to make and inexpensive. My grandkids and others who have driven by and seen them out front have loved them!!

You made this project look so simple that I just had to try it. However, to suit my needs I had to make a few alterations to the plans. I had a set of bi-fold doors that were in need of replacement and I thought inset bookshelf doors would be the perfect way to replace them. This project was easy enough for me to do it myself and I am really new to the DIY game but I did have some help. I really love the way they turned out. You can read all about my my adventure at http://heresalittletmi.blogspot.com/2013/08/bookshelf-doors.html