Community Brag Posts

I built this without the current plans with the pocket holes in the bottom. I also made the width a little smaller, by 2 boards. This is very sturdy, my daughter uses it as a platform to perform all the time. I have even stood on it many times. Plus, it can be used as a bench if needed.

I used a darker stain on it and roughed up some of the edges a bit.

B-day present for my niece 

My eldest daughter contact me to show me the standard doll bunk bed on this site. I decided then that I was going to build one for Christmas for my 6 year old, since she loves to play with her American GIrl dolls. Before I got to it, she ended up drawing a name for Secret Santa gifts with her gymnastics team. I got the idea to build my first bed for the girl who's name she drew, therefore, I'd learn what to and not to do first, since I'll be building my daughters in Oak and not the pine that I would build this one out of. I talked with her mother to see if she played with dolls and she confirmed that she had 3 American Girl dolls that she adores.

You'll also notice that we added another level, since she has three dolls, and you can't leave on without a place to sleep. It was quite easy to add the extra level by measuring the distance between the first and second and then adding that onto to second. In the pictures you can see that I added metal feet to each leg, and that made the bottom of the ladder sit a little above the floor by that same distance. I think that I'll start the ladder on my next one at the bottom rung of the lower bed, and not leave that piece at the bottom.

Needless to say, the little girl was beside herself when she opened the wrapping paper. My daughter learned a lesson on how much more fun it is to give, especially after all of the work, than to receive. Before the party, all she could do was say, "I can't wait to see her face when she opens this." I asked her about it when she came home today, and she said that she must have thanked her a hundred times throughout the night, as it was a sleepover at the gym.

I wish that I had taken pictures along the way, but I didn't. I will however, when I build the next one for my daughter.

It cost me just over $20 to build. I needed 7 - 8' 1x2's. I used a nice piece of cardboard for the floor of each bed. I found it at Sam's club while shopping. They had it between something that was stacked on a pallet, and whatever it was was gone. I asked the manager if I could have it and he was happy to be rid of it. It's not your standard cardboard, but has a double wall. At a width of just over 9", it's very sturdy and especially cheap. The feet were bought at Walmart for $1.57. I glued each connection, even though they were held together by pocket hole screws. With one pocket hole screw per piece, it had the ability to swivel on that screw. I learned that Kreg, the maker of the pocket hole jig has come up with a mini jig, which allows double pocket holes to be drilled into a piece of wood just 1" wide. I asked and received one for Christmas. My daughters will feature the new holes and therefore, I won't be glueing it.

Hope you have as much fun building it as I did with my daughter.

Built this table 11 feet long with live edge sinker cypress. Hand rubbed 12 coats of tung oil, then finished with Waterlox satin.

Found the old Home Depot plans, and decided to add my hand burned touch to it.
Have seen some that were using vinal or painted letters, but i like the burned effect, and its easier to seal right over the top with the outdoor stain/seal treatment..

One of my first projects, but really worth the time and effort. It helps so much with space in the kitchen and I learned a lot in the process. It's really sturdy and was a pretty easy build. Most of the time was spent staining and nailing the slats.

A 36" sink base is the center, flanked by two 18" cabinets made by modifying the 21" base cabinet plan.

Here are some of the more structual photos to help people along the way. 

I did the head board and foot board using the directions. I used 2 4.5 inch screws on each 4x4 post to secure the 4x4s to the head board. 

I used 2 4.5 inch screws to secure the head board to the frame. 

I used some brackets I had lying around to secure the footboard to the frame. 

I used 0.5 inch partical board to put on top of the frame I put the joists down 0.5 below the side rails so the partical board would sit down and inside. 

I used 2x6 boards for the frame with deck brackets to secure it. 

I used left over wood from the 4x4 to be cut 10inch each and 2x6 study 3 of those 4x4 to lift the frame up.

for the fourth raiser I used left over wood from the 2x10. 

I primed the wood and painted white. 

Hopefully these pictures help. 

All said and done it was close to 500-600 to build. I did this in Canada where materials can be a little pricier. 

This is a basic console table, aside from the drawer. This was my first time attempting drawer, and it wasn't too bad. The top I put together from a piece of 1x8 and 1x4's using my Kreg jig. It ended up being a bit long, so I trimmed the breadboard ends down a couple inches. For the base I used reclaimed table legs and 1x6's for the aprons. To make the drawer opening, I simply cut out a rectangular hole slightly larger than my drawer box out of the front apron. The drawer box I built out of 1x3's and 1/4in plywood and then attached a piece of 1x4 for the face. Since it was a small drawer, I didn't want to purchase drawer slides for it. I pocket holed some 1x4 stretchers, going from the front to back of the table on either side of the drawer opening. I then screwed a strip of 1x1 to the drawer box horizontally, lined it up to the stretchers and screwed another 1x1 to the stretcher. So basically, I made my own sides using 1x1. I added a bin pull and was done. I feature a few other projects like this on my blog http://pneumaticaddict.blogspot.com .

Restoration hardware style coffee table.  We saw a coffee table we liked but didn't want to spend $2000 on.  Designed my own and managed to build for $200.  Main expense was the $130 for the legs from Osbornewood.com.

I love this table. I modified it to fit my needs.

I built this toy box for a friend who just had a baby. I followed the plans, except I used pocket holes for the main box. Instead of the base moulding I used 1 x 4's and carved out the shape with my jigsaw. I also used quarter rounds instead of cove moulding because I couldn't find that.

Ana's plan called for using 8 hinges (I'm not sure on the placement of those).  I used a total of 16 to ensure sturdiness.  I put two hinges on each corner of the 1x8 piece and a hinge anywhere the corners connected.  I used Narrow Utility Hinges (1-1/2" Zinc plated).  The pack of 2 cost $2.27 and comes with screws.  My biggest regret is not painting the hinges before I put them on. I waited until after screwing them in and it was a pain and makes my paint job look sloppy.

Although I priced this build out, I ended up using wood I already had in the garage.   I didn't have enough 1x3 to make the anti-tipping feet so I used a 2x4.  I also didn't make the rounded edges, just a few angled straight cuts.

THESE ANTI-TIP FEET ARE A SAFETY MUST, DO NOT SKIP THEM!!  I've seen a few commenters say they skipped the anti-tip feet, but for us they were a must.  My kid would have easily knocked his tower many times if it weren't for these anti-tip feet!

Couldn't be happier with this build.  Totally worth  every penny.  Hands down my favorite kitchen addition!  

Wrote about this on the blog too: http://thehuth.blogspot.com/2014/11/ana-whites-little-helper-tower.html

Not much to say here other than THANK YOU ANA! I built it right to the plan, used plain dimensional spruce for the drawer box, and reclaimed fir for everything else.  Had fun using my thickness planer to save many hours on the belt sander.

We made eight of these benches for Christmas gifts this year. It was a lot of fun and we learned so much along the way. We made 5 benches in the standard 30" length, 2 in 36" and 1 42" bench on request.

Suggestion for building: Make jigs so that the legs and side boards are the same size. It doesn't exactly matter if the measurements are a little off from the plan, as long as they are consistent in each bench.
We chose to paint the bottoms off-white and stain the tops for an elegant rustic look. However, we fully stained a couple of the benches as well because we thought they would look best for a few of our family members.
It was hard to tell exactly how long each bench took because we worked on all eight at once when we had free time, but one bench shouldn't take more than an afternoon if you are new.

I also added a picture of the one bench we chose to distress.

Wanted to give my great-nephew something handmade for his 2nd birthday and hopefully something he can enjoy for years to come. Spent the weekend with my hubby doing this and loved every minute and thrilled with the final outcome 

I present the "Castle Loft Bed" with minor modifications. Finished in a "Frozen" theme.

It was time to upgrade my youngest to a "big kid bed" and she was insistent on a frozen bed. After searching for various options we settled on the "Castle Loft Bed" from the Ana White catalog of plans.

We left the slide off, due to available space. Also we changed the steps to be more of a usable toy box/storage and hamper area. I also modified the internal bookcase to have a small "secret" cubby for her "valuables". We also added color changing LEDs to fit the little princess's mood.

I hope you like my rendition and keeps in spirit the DIYers quality.