Community Brag Posts

We made this little no-plans table from leftover pieces from a platform bed and pin legs ordered online.

This project actually was a lot bigger than we thought it would be. Hubby and I are almost newbies, and we thought we could knock this off in a week or two! It actually ended up taking us 6 months to finish, although to be honest we didn't work on it consistently.

We needed a replacement for an old coat closet that was falling apart, and decided to tweak the design for the simple armoire to fit what we need, which is basically coats, table cloths, shoes, and just about anything else we want to hide away in our dining room. It's 18 inches deep by 36 inches wide. Since we couldn't find 18 inch wide wood planks, and aren't skilled enough to make them yet, we went with a hardwood plywood and covered the edges of the plywood with iron on veneer. It turned out very well; you can't really tell that it's plywood unless you know what you're looking for.

I will say that I couldn't find the kind of hinges called for in the plans, not even on the internet. So hubby and I went with 1 inch non-mortise hinges. They worked well, though they were a bit hard to hang for a couple of novices.

The see-saw was the hit of my nephew's two year old birthday party. Multiple kids played on it at once.

Super easy bookrack made in an afternoon. Great addition to any childs room or maybe even a smaller version for an avid readers bathroom.

This was my first shot at something more technically challenging than a simple desk. it was a fun project and I will probably going to make a few other pieces that have the metal accent hardware. We love the look of the dark stain (Rust-oleum, Kona) along with the blackened brackets. turns out the Kreg Jig drill bit was the perfect size for the 3/8" bolt I threaded into the lower legs

Adk chairs for my nephews 

12/16/14 UPDATE:  Posted a plan for this project, linked in this brag post

This is a variation of the Easy Jewelry Box plan. The completed measurement is 11” wide, 14 ½” high, and 7 ½” deep. This one has a center “tower” with 5 drawers 5 ½” wide, and a wide overhang on the top and bottom, which covers the 2 side doors that open out for hanging necklaces. The drawers are lined with embossed felt, and the drawer bottoms and insides of doors are covered with sticky-back felt. The 2 removable ring drawer inserts are some scraps of 1” foam, covered with scraps of the sticky-back felt, with slits cut into the foam with a utility knife (cut the slits into the felt first, attach it to the foam, then cut the slits into the foam). Cost breakdown: antique brass knobs: $28, sticky back & embossed felt: $14, hooks: $15, wood: $35, hinges: $7, paint: $5. (already on hand: finish nails, glue, sandpaper, left over stain & poly) . I worked on this a few hours a day over a long weekend, probably about 12 hours total. Finishing took most of this time, the build was actually only a couple of hours.

We loved the playhouse loft bed, but not the complexity or cost of materials. Then we found the camp loft bed with stairs. It was mostly 2x4 and 2x6 construction. We then cut out holes in plywood for door and windows then screwed it to the bed frame. The other deviation from the plan was making the stairs steeper we needed them to take less space. We just used 2x6 for the stringer and treads. the stairs are at a 30 degree angle instead of a 45. We also attached the rails using brackets from Rockler. This bed is super sturdy. Beware - it took us about 3 days from buying wood to painted completion. For the paint, we just used semi gloss latex, but my paint person recommended a paint additive called Floetrol to make the paint self leveling and prevent brush marks - it really does work well. Materials including wood, brackets, mattress and paint cost us around $500.

My husband and I made this for my daughter for Christmas.  It was a huge hit!

We have been doing some work in our garage and the old workbench had to be dismantled. My husband asked for a new workbench for father's day, but I didn't like any of the ones we saw at the stores. I told my husband that I could build a better one for cheaper and he said ok (although I don't think he really had much faith in it turning out). We bought the wood and then, after putting the baby down for a nap, knocked this thing out in 2 or 3 hours. It was very easy, just straight cuts and screwing the pieces together. I did the whole thing myself with a little help from my brother at the end. My husband loved it and showed off pictures of his Father's Day present to his boss and co-workers. We probably spent about $60 in materials and it really did just take a few hours. I changed the dimensions to fit our space and needs. We had some extra wood left over so we added a back-stop to the top to keep things from rolling off the back and I made the bottom shelf deeper. It was a fun and easy project to do.

My husband made this for our son! He uses it everyday and sometimes our 5 year old does too! Best idea ever!!

Built this Pergola next to my house. Worked by myself, took several days. a Very relaxing spot !!

I built this on the floor of my apartment with just a drill for power tools.  (Lowes cut the wood for me.)  After two years of having the headboard up without stain or paint, I painted it white and moved it into my guest room of my new house.  I also made the two little bedside shelves.

My nephew and I made this bench for his mom and dad's 24th Anniversary

We took the basic plan but made it a smidge higher (36" high) and added a second shelf. The island is longer that the plans, at 60". Provides us space for all our pantry items.

For the top I followed the plans for the most part.  I made this for my mother for Christmas and she wanted shelves under the bench instead of a storage bin so I modified the original bench plans.  I purchased the baskets for $12.99 each from "At Home" and the medium size fits pretty good.