Community Brag Posts

My first woodworking project since building a mug tree in school (I was about 12). This project started in the holiday break after I received a Kreg Jig as a gift, and this seemed like a good first project to tackle. We have a little boy about 20 months old who LOVES to help out, needed something more sturdy than standing on a chair, and this fit the bill perfectly.

I modified the design very slightly to ensure that the tower fits neatly under our kitchen island so that it stows mostly out of the way. That necessitated removing one of the "levels", and altering the dimensions somewhat to keep it proportional.

The biggest challenge of all was painting at the end! Made the mistake of using a spray can first, which made the wood fuzzy. So, sanded it all again, added primer (originally it was black), and then a couple of layers of white semi-gloss/enamel. Need to improve my painting technique to avoid brush marks in the future.

Here's my version of Ana's 'Numbered Cubbies on the Wall'.  Mine is made from a 6' long 1/2" x 3" craft board and a 6' long 1" x 4".  I followed Ana's plan, adjusting mine for a smaller size and proportion.  I used a finish nailer with 1" nails.  The numbers were drawn on with black Sharpie following Ana's method.  First print out a 3" number in your choice of font, cut it out and tape to the cubby, press HARD to outline the number with a ball-point pen, then remove the stencil and fill in with paint or marker. 

This is an easy and fun project.  It's very versatile and cute and looks store bought and expensive.

I built the simple outdoor table using a black frame and Brown boards on top.  

I only was able to complete this project for less than $10 because I happened to have most of the supplies I needed lying around the house already. If this isn't the case for you, it will cost slightly more, but not much.

I had 2 extra 12x12" mirror tiles left over from another project that I've been saving for something creative. When I saw the plans for this picture frame I knew I had a winner. I figured out how much wood I needed and purchased the cheapest type I could that wasn't warped. Since I wanted a bit of the "weathered" look, I didn't mind wood with knots in it. I followed the original plan exactly, the only exception being the specific measurements I knew I needed to fit these mirrors. I also had some extra burlap lying around and made my own stencils for my "M" and "L" monogram letters. After cutting them out, I simply hot glued them directly to the mirrors. Finally, I attached the mirrors to the back of the frames and hung them in place!

I originally wanted more of a rustic look with the paint (similar to the original blue one), but I think the burlap brings that in enough. Overall, I'm very happy with how this turned out!

Easy to build 

na

This is a twist on the Modular Family Entryway Mudroom System - Pullout Rolling Bench Cart . There have been many posts on the net for a mudroom locker set such as the one I have. In our case we had a mudroom with a closet, not much room to move when sliding the doors open, and as well we have kids that need a place to sit in order to put boots/shoes etc on. I took advantage of my husband's work assignment out of the country to rip back the closet,to 20 inches deep and open it up and added a bench for seating, baskets above for out of season/rarely used stuff, and used rolling cubbies below, but in my case I wanted storage bins instead. My thinking was so that I could make it look clean pretty quickly by just chucking every thing in to the bin... These are tall enough for our boots. In the bottom of the bins I put a piece of outdoor carpeting, then a plastic grid, and over that another layer of outdoor carpeting so if the footwear is wet it will drain and dry-no biggie to vacume or sweep out. Best deal: I can simply roll them out of the way when I want to sweep underneath! I measured cubby space to basket size above, and made the bins below after doing the bench and middle supports, to ensure a good fit. The bench top is an old piece of pine board I sanded, stained and used 4 coats of marine varnish so it would take lots of wear and tear.

followed Ana's plan to a T!!  took 2 full days of cutting and assembling.  Then stain and many, many coats of poly.  14 foot dining room table seats the entire family together!!

Made from birch plywood and painted. 

This bench is on my back porch. Its nice to have a few extra seats when entertaining!

I made a version of the "DIY Rolling Pantry - Classy Clutter" project, but I sized my shelves differently than in the original photo. This is an easy starter project for just about anybody. It is full of counter-sunk butt joints and can be constructed in a single afternoon or evening.

We couldn't apply any finish because it is too damn cold.

The frame is 59"x26" to match the size of my fridge (minus the door). Add in the casters on the bottom and it matches my fridge perfectly.

Materials Used:
- 4, 1x4" select Pine boards
- 1, 4'x8' sheet of Red Oak plywood
- A bunch of 1 1/2" wood screws
- A bunch of nails

I made these to use as counter stools for our breakfast bar. They're shown in the pics at our outdoor grill island but that's only until the finish dries completely. I built the set of three in "assembly line" fashion - in other worlds I built 12 leg assemblies, 3 seats, etc and then assembled it all. Total it took me around 8 -10 hours to build all three. My 11 year old daughter even helped.  I taught her how to use the drill press and had her drill and countersink all of the pilot holes on the legs. I used pocket holes to attach the cross braces and the seats are attached with just wood glue. A pretty easy project and we ended up with a nice, simple set of counter stools.

This table is made from beautiful reclaimed wood from local Washington DC buildings.

The matching benches are a great space saver for a small space!

my first project, the second went a lot easier. We are still waiting on the doors to dry to hang them but the girls are excited for their horses to have a place to sleep.

Mudroom bench and organizer. 

I built the Lydia Daybed for my nephew's new big boy bed. Was a little worried about doing the fancy decorative corner pieces, but just adapted the design a little so it was not such an intricate cut. Everything turned out great and there are a few more pictures on the blog, www.atouchofarkansas.com. Thanks! JM