Community Brag Posts

We finally got our grass green and back yard clean, after all that work the lop sided blue little tykes picnic table stood out like a sore thumb. This was the perfect table to fit our back yard make over.

When Ana says read all comments she means it. Cherie posted "if you plan carefully you really only need 5-2x4's instead of 6. Cut 2-2x4's in half for the seats. Cut 2 legs and one seat support from the third 2x4. Repeat for the fourth 2x4 and finally cut the bottom suppport and the 2 table supports from the 5th 2x4. Just plan carefully." I still bought 6 2x4's but only used 5.
I did pocket holes on almost all the joints. I put the table on risers and was even able to use a pocket hole to add the seat boards. I did have a bit of a problem with the table top supports, I am not sure what others did but I cut mine at 45 degrees and they still wasn't enough to get the measurements the plans had. I just left it and marked where it would have been. I had some scraps from a fence pickets I ripped for my $10 raided garden bed left,over that I used as a spacer for my table top and seat boards, made it so easy and they are perfectly spaced. They are just over 1/2 an inch but It worked great.

http://ana-white.com/2010/04/plans-bigger-kids-picnic-table.html

I used Ana White's plan as a base but completely modified to suit our needs.  The post on our site includes detailed pictures, instructions, and even the SketchUp file so you can easily modify the plans yourself.

I drew inspiration for this project from Ana's basement playhouse project, however I made some modifications to accomodate the smaller (10x11) bedroom that I was working with.

Each playhouse has an upstairs and a downstairs, and each room is designed to accomodate a twin sized mattress. There is a secret tunnel under the stairs connecting the bottom rooms, and each room is wired with its own switch-controlled lighting. 

My daughter wanted her side painted pink and purple, and my son wanted his to be green and blue. I thought painting the stairs to look like a road between the two houses would be a fun touch, and the kids absolutely love this!

As you can see, it is still a work in progress, but I thought I'd share some initial pics and perhaps post updates later. Thank you for the inspiration Ana!

Sincerely,

Ron Floyd

Portland, OR

Modified the plan to use pallet wood and stained it classic grey for a weathered look.

I would love to supply plans, but I just get an idea and "wing it", need to start writing things down! Cost, less than $50.

This is my first woodwork project, completed as a team, with my husband. Was good fun at times and frustrating at times! Our wood was thicker by a couple of millimetres out meaning the plans needed to be tweaked.
Table was designed with the chair structure.

We had cushions and covers made to measure (we live in SE Asia so cheaper than UK or US) about £200.

Looking forward to building some deck chairs next!!

It was time to upgrade my boy's toddler beds to big boy beds. They wanted bunk beds but I was afraid they'd take turns jumping off the top bunk. When I came across the Sweet Pea bunk bed plans I was so excited because the design wouldn't allow them to jump off the top bunk.

I was inspired by someone else on this feed who built doors. I also tweaked the pergola a bit. I also added extra support to the rear panel framing by adding another vertical post from the top of the horizontal post to the top bunk horizontal post and then another from the top bunk to the bottom bunk horizontal post, both directly down the middle. Probably overkill but felt that was a long run for the rear panel sections. I made my roof out of plywood siding panel and framed it on the back side to keep it from bowing and added support. A few more added elements are a dedicated fan for each bunk, reading lights, and led light strips that flash and fade into different colors. 

I had a lot of fun building this and since it's been completed, I've had even more fun building much smaller projects. 

Thank you Jenny for sharing your plans on Anna White's website and thank you Anna White for sharing all of your wonderful plans as well! 

I completed this table with my 5 year old daughter as my assistant. My husband requested a table to put next to our new hot tub to set his drinks on and this is perfect. We only put one board on the top because I felt since it would be outside, I wanted a smooth top. I just screwed it in diagonally from the bottom. I also used spar varnish since it would be outside.

My husband built this with the help and guidance (and tools!) from his dad. Great family project (bro in law and nephew also helped) and bonding experience. It was their housewarming gift to us. My husband did all the finishing work (ebony stain and minwax varnish) and I got to pick out the hooks (anthropologie). We upgraded the wood to oak. LOVE it. Thank you!! 

Had some scrap pieces of 1x4 and 1/8'' ply, so I glued up the 1x4s and used a coping saw to cut out the heart shape, then tacked in the plywood behind it. 1x4 is stained in Early American, and plywood is stained in Red Mahogany. Finished in Satin poly. Added a personalized message to the back and gave to my fiance.

I had built a few of these chairs a year and a half ago similar to the red ones that you have on the step by step instructions. That was my first time at customer building and painting anything. Needless to say, my skills have improved over time.

So, I wanted to build this chair for my dad for fathers day. He had an old plastic Adirondack chair sitting in his backyard that was really gross. I wanted to replace it with something nice. So he is obviously a UK fan and I wanted to see if I could paint the logo on correctly while also giving myself the opportunity to build something and see if I can make this chair a lot better than the ones I had previously built.

So I decided to curve the back of the chair and curve the ends of the arms. I recently got a nice dewalt random orbital sander which helped out alot in getting it nice and smooth. I made my own wood putty using the leftover sawdust and glue mixed together. I also fastened the wood together using glue and polymer coated screws. Which are supposed to last alot longer than regular wood screws when using pressure treated pine.

I took my time to make sure the pieces were all square when assembled which was better than previous building projects. Also, as far as finishing the chair, I primed it and then put 3 layers of the Kentucky blue Outdoor paint with a brush (which seems like it took forever). I made the stencil by just printing the logo on a piece of cardstock paper. Then I cut out the logo with a razor, then I wrapped the paper in duct tape to make the stencil it a little stronger and to fix the areas that ripped when cutting the card stock paper. Then I cut out the duct tape where the logo is. I made a couple of test paints using the stencil on some scrap to make sure my technique was good. Then once I felt comfortable, I painted 4 coats of very thin paint on the chair where the logo is. After all was dry, I did a light by hand sanding to make it smooth and then sprayed some clear coat on it for an extra level of protection and to make it shine a little.

It was a fun project and my dad really liked it.

Some things I would have done differently for next time would be to use a router to flush cut the seat slats and also use the router to give a nicer rounded edges for the arms and all of the slats as well. Also, It would be nice to mount a stainless bottle opener to the chair to open your drinks (maybe on the outside of the arm of the chair.

Thanks for the plans. I check your site all the time for ideas.