Community Brag Posts

This easel was my 2nd Ana White project.

I decided to use an old picture frame to surround the chalkboard portion of the easel. I picked it up at an antique shop for under $5.

The wood was left unfinished, mostly because I ran out of time (I still haven't sanded the putty spots!). But now, I actually prefer it that way because it blends better with our furnishings. The legs of the easel are hinged so that it can fold up when not in use (I added removable pins on the tray support to make this happen).

This easel has been used every day - It has been such a great addition!

Thanks Ana for the great plans!

I made this as a Christmas present for my little cousin. I was looking for something fast and last minute and found this. The plans were super easy to follow. The only change I made was the headboard is a little shorter than the plans because I used all scrap wood for this. It was a hit at Christmas! Thanks Ana!
 

My husband did the build and I did the finishing. This would have been much easier with the correct tools such as clamps and squares but he got by. We did have a Kreg jig that made the assembly much easier. This took about 15-20 hours over the course of a week long spring break.

My daughter has a small walk-in closet, so I wanted to make some storage bases. I had a full sheet and half sheet of plywood each ripped into 4 pieces, with each piece 11 3/4" wide. I then built the sides and corner shelves separately and connected them with connector bolts. I have since added doors to the shelf on the left.

I made this bunk bed for a friend's daughters.  I modified the plans by using 2x2's for the bed posts instead of 1x2's.  It made it harder to hide the screws but in the end I think it looks better.  

I had an idea of what I wanted and this plan helped me get started.

I built our boys matching twin sized headboard based on the reclaimed headboard plan. I added some height to the headboard to account for the lights (to avoid them smacking their head on the light) but that's about it. You can read more about the beds here: http://thehouseoflists.wordpress.com/2013/03/10/twins/ The build time was ridiculously quick. I just measured once, set the guide for the saw and cut both sets of all the pieces. The majority of the time was waiting for the poly to dry in the basement. It was a bit too chilly and damp I think, but eventually it dried.

Great storage idea which makes things easy to see and get to

I love how this turned out! 

This was only my 2nd project after the tabletop easel. Due to my inexperience this took longer for me to build and required more trips to the store, but was overall a straightforward and uncomplicated build, and my girls love their new bed. The stain application isn't perfect, but I'm very happy with the color / informal look, and found the Minwax water based stain very easy to work with - my 5 year old was able to help.

Tips:
-To make construction easier I ultimately inset the side rails 1", using scrap 1/4" plywood and 1x4" to support the sides while the bed was on its side. This made it easier to get a more precise fit, and enabled me to manage it without an additional pair of hands.
-I should have accounted for the cleats interfering with the drill before putting pocket holes in the support 2x6's, as I wound up needing to redrill them after gluing on the cleats as the cleats got in the way of the drill.
-We do find the bed shimmies a bit back and forth, so will be adding another 75" support brace at the bottom.
-To fit our space I narrowed the platform 1.5" and there is still plenty of room to play on the platform, and the small ladder is easy to navigate.
-The full stairs wouldn't fit our space so I first tried adding 2 2x4's steps directly into the platform frame as a ladder, but my girls (3 & 5) found this a little difficult to navigate. So I wound up building a modified ladder from the Simple Bunk Bed plan and that works well.

This console table was built using Alder lumber.  I modified Ana's plans slighly by removing the center, vertical brace, and changing the thickness of the top.  I also altered the top by making it a "breadboard" style top.  The finish I created was unique in that fact that it was a 5 layer process.  Because Alder wood is a "blotchy" prone wood, I sealed it with shellac first, applied 1 coat of antique walnut gel stain, sprayed a toner (dye mixed in shellac)  to darken the wood, and then applied 2 coats of poly.  

I love using recycled and refurbished wood.  I saw some Cedar leftovers and made this project.  @theshopbycecilia

I chose to modify one end to incorporate the ladder using The 2 x 6s. I made a template and used a jigsaw to cut out the u shapes. A lot of work! Mostly sanding I made the bottom sides removable for guests an when they eventually are not needed.

Had to buy a new washer and dryer several months ago and wanted the front loaders.  I was unwilling to pay $600 for the pedestals at the hardware store so I had been dealing with them on the floor until I found this plan.  Built these and absolutely LOVE them.  No more killing my back getting laundry done.  These sit higher than the ones from the hardware store so even better!!! I keep 3 laundry baskets underneath.

Went with 1x4 instead of plywood for head and footboard and dragged a classic cherry stain from minwax total cost of $280 in louisiana