Community Brag Posts

This is now my fourth project, I built it as a gift for my sisters wedding, she was very pleased! She wanted something white so I went with a Annie Sloan chalk paint, which is pretty pricy I found out ($30-40 per quart) and her clear soft wax to finish. For the top I used a Drift wood finish and a weathered drift wood wax. Because is was a media center I just did fold down faces instead of drawers as in the plan and added some trim that I made on my router table to give it a more antique look. The Build was quite simple however the finishing to give it the right look took quite a bit of playing around!

I had a blast building this rustic x coffee table. Fun project

I tripped over some boards in my attic a few times before I realized how perfect they would be for my island! I planed, biscuited, poly'ed the boards and, along with a few other modifications, tada!! My new island! Love it. Now I just gotta get over the "new car smell" long enough to actually use it!

My daughter asked if we could build this together for her new apartment. We had fun putting it together over a month or so. I was easily able to duplicate the plans, even with my limited woodworking experience. I think it came out rather well. It was a lot of fun! We mounted it to the wall with a 1x4 board installed between the fireplace uprights and flush with the back edge of the mantle. I built a mounting bracket by overlapping two 1 inch thick, wide boards 50% and nailing them together. The width of the bracket boards were about 4 inches shorter than the mounting board on the fireplace to allow horizontal adjustment. I screwed the bracket to the wall. The bracket forms a pocket. The fireplace is lifted up and over the bracket so the fireplace mounting board slides into the pocket between the wall and the upper bracket board. I screwed the bracket a bit lower on the wall so the weight of the fireplace is supported by its legs. The bracket just keeps the fireplace snug against the wall. It worked great. Just be sure to screw the bracket into studs. I also removed the base board trim from the wall and cut it to fit around the fireplace. I also cleaned up an old fireplace log grate I had with a wire brush and flat black Rustoleum. I used a scrap piece of board painted flat black to put on the grate as a shelf for candles.

This (so far) is my best creation yet! I had previously made a bed for my son but my joinery skills were not up to par so it didn't make it. After re-evaluating his room I realized he was lacking on space so we needed to ditch the dresser. So glad I ran across this plan on Ana's website!

Since I was ditching the dresser in his room I needed to make sure the drawers were deep (25"x18"x10.5"). I once again ran into some issues where I was not paying full attention to the instructions and ordered side-sliding drawer slides instead of under mounting ones. So I had to alter the plan a tad bit. Not to mention my drawer openings were not completely square so I added some door trim and beadboard to the face and let it cover the imperfection. I must say it was well played!

I didn't have all the tools needed right away so as I got to different parts of the project I bought so many tools!!!

I took a woodworking course through the community college and built this cedar bench for my front porch. I learned so much throughout this process and am proud of how it came out. I am now building up my own arsenal of tools and supplies. I can’t wait to choose my next project!

Plans from myoutdoorplans.com/2x4benchplans

Bench for Grandma!

This is my first build and I learned a lot along the way. I have to say I am very happy I used my scrap before I cut into my "real" wood. Definitely helped with the nerves!~~Sorry for the sideways photos can't seem to get them to straighten out~~

I changed up a few things. Instead of plywood I used 1X6 lumber and joined it with pocket holes to make the sides, top/bottom, and shelf. I made the shelf one piece and added the dividers for supports. For the doors I cut down 1x4s to 1/4 inch thickness and glued them together. Then cut down 1x3 to 1/2 inch for the trim. I just didn't like the plywood look. But I like the plank look. The doors were a bear. I should have used bigger hinges. They were a learning experience for next time.

I am very happy to have completed the up portion of the bunk bed. The full size down was done quite sometime ago and I became sidetracked on other projects.
This is a sturdy bed and a favorite in my home. One day I even found my husband napping (hiding) on the top bunk.
The part that I like the best is when we graduate from bunk beds we still have two beds to use.
I also completed the ladder and it works, but I cut it just alittle shorter than the plan called for. Lets just put another on my to do list.

Started with a reclaimed old barn door and framed it with Ambrosia Maple, see atop the base of the Fancy X Farmhouse Table base.

We took on the rustic x table project and used the oxidization process described in the links (black tea then vinegar/steel wool mix). It turned out great! A few things I learned... When using the black tea if the tea runs it makes a difference. I had my wood up against a wall and was painting vertically. It pooled at the bottom, seeping into the wood. Didn't think this was a big deal but when I went to oxidize it you could see where it seeped. I couldn't sand it out without really lightening the wood too much. So, its there as part of my imperfect project. It kind of adds to the rustic look :) I let the vinegar/wool steep for a long time so it was more brown than gray. I ended up liking it (read: i didn't want to redo the whole thing) so I went with it. I really do like it though. I had to sand a lot to get it to lighten up some. We wanted a coffee table too- but something round. So, my husband invented the coffee table you see in the picture. He used the same kind of wood as the rustic x table and we used the same process to finish it. The time estimate mentioned below is just the end table.

I actually used Ana's "Grace's kitchen" plans and modified them to make a single unit kitchen that was smaller to fit my space, after I was done this new project plan was posted! My kids love this kitchen and I love it's smaller size. I used all plywood scraps to make it, so the cost was minimal.

First project for me. Easy to do even with limited tools. Now I realize I need more tools to do bigger and better. It was a nice stress relief to go to garage and build something. My wife wanted something so it made sense to do this.