Community Brag Posts

I made this coop twice as wide like Ana suggested since I have 4 chickens and wanted to make sure there was some extra wiggle room in case “chicken math” got the best of us. I made a nesting box to mount on the outside. I also used plywood for the sides like Ana did in the video. I installed a Run Chicken automatic door that opens at sunrise and closes at sunset. I added some hasps and clasps to make sure all my doors would close tightly. I put hardware cloth across the top before installing the roof panels. I stapled and buried hardware cloth around the perimeter for predator protection. I also spray painted the hardware cloth flat black so that it would be easier for us to see inside the coop. I stained the rest of the wood with Varathane Semi-Transparent stain, color “Carbon Gray.” I also added some roosts and cedar shingle siding for some extra protection during our New England winters at to match our house. Working 2-4 hours a day, off and on, with a bum shoulder and weak hands, this took me about a week! Thanks for the great plan, Ana!

My wife saw something like this on Pinterest and desperately wanted one. The one she saw was hexagonal in shape. We didn't need as many swings so we went with just a plain square shape. We used 6x6s for the legs and posts across the top and used 4x4s for the angled support pieces. We built the swings using the plan from this website. All the materials can be picked up at the blue and orange stores. However when it came to the springs for the swings, the blue store was 1/3 of the price of HD. The legs are 12' long and buried 4' under the ground and cemented in for strength. Luckily I am retired military and was able to rent an auger for 1/2 the price of HD or the blue store. You could do it by hand but it saved us hours and lots of back pain. We found our dimensions for the size we wanted and spray painted dots on the ground where the posts were going to go. We dug the holes and stuffed the 6x6s in them. Using a post level we made sure they were plum. We braced them and added the quickrete and left them to setup over night. The next day we had to make sure all the tops were level with each other. This is where having some knowledge of physics paid off. I took clear tubing and screwed it above the height that I wanted on one post and then screwed the other end to another post. Fill it with water until the water level on the first post is where I wanted it (8 feet high) and it will automatically fill it level on the other end. There is a picture of this above. Water will always level itself out. I had to do this because my yard is at a slight down hill grade. We marked it and cut the tops off to make it level. After attaching the 6x6s on the top with 8" lag bolts it was time to paint. After painting was done we built 3 swings from Ana's plans. We shortened them by 6" to give room to walk between the legs and the swings. All in all it was a great project that only took two dedicated weekends. My wife still has to paint the swings though.

I shrunk the size and dumbed down the plans to fit my skill level.

Two Piece Portable Outdoor Wood Chair

Great plans!  I modified the bench by adding a slanted back (which enabled me to put the slats closer together), extending and curving the front of the arms and extended the seat to the outside of the legs.

I started with the original plans for the sandbox with the benches, and then just sort of took off with the modifications.

When it's open, it's a 4'x6' sandbox with a bench on one side and a canopy overhead. When it's closed, it's a stage complete with curtains, or can also convert into a puppet theatre.

I had to make several adjustments to the original plan to allow for enough support for the stage to be walked (and danced) on, including an extra armrest in the bench, and a few blocks built up from the base of the sand area. I also used 1x6 boards for the top instead of 1x4, to cover the entire 4' with only the one bench.

Thanks so much for the plans, my girls love it! (and thanks to KnittingEmily for posting the plans for the 6' sandbox, which gave me a jumping off point for the sizing I used.)

The story of how I built it can be found here:
http://www.thislemonyogurt.com/a-box-of-sand/

I made this Ice Chest Cart for my son’s schools silent auction. It features a spigot for drainage, bottle opener, hook for a bar towel and I also set it on castors so it can be easily moved.