Community Brag Posts

X coffee table

This X coffee table built from ana's plans. Fairly easy project. Used douglas fir for the frame and top and pine for the shelf. Finished with dark walnut stain and 2 coats of poly. The only thing I modified from the plans was the top. I added the breadboard style ends.

Estimated Cost
$60.00
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
2 coats of dark walnut stain and 2 coats of poly.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Handmade by Trenton

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 12/22/2016 - 17:45

These made the perfect benches for my first farmhouse table.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
@ $55 Per bench
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Sherwin Williams Wood Classic stain and Target Coatings Emtech 9000 poly
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Outdoor Sectional

Submitted by ahkatie on Fri, 09/05/2014 - 10:28

After spending most of our budget on patios and grass this summer, we needed some furniture. These plans worked perfectly for our space and were so easy to build.

 

Estimated Cost
$150.00, not including the cushions.
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
Behr Interior/Exterior High Glass Enamel - "Natural Gray"
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Beautiful and sturdy dollhouse

Submitted by DIYMomof4 on Sun, 12/25/2016 - 13:04

Thank you Ana for the wonderful dollhouse plans!  I have been making furniture using Ana's plans for a couple of years now.  I made this as a Christmas present for my 3 year old daughter.  This dollhouse is safe, strong, and my daughter loves it!  It took me about a month to make the dollhouse and furniture.  I do have 4 children and have limited spare time, so I'm sure it could be done faster.  I followed the plan almost exactly as written.  I used screws for the stair treads and added 1x2's underneath for support.  I just put up 3/4" plywood for the roof as my jig saw is not the best.  I also added small push LED lights for the first and second floors.  This dollhouse will last for years maybe even be passed down to grandchildren!

Estimated Cost
It was under $100 for the dollhouse. I'm not sure how much the furniture would cost, as I used a lot of scrap wood.
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Lindseed Oil - I really liked using this finish. It is so easy and there are no fumes. I also used it on the furniture.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

My daughter’s first project assist

Submitted by tcorstange on Sat, 09/05/2020 - 20:05

My daughter wanted to help with building her loft bed. She handled drilling all the pocket holes, sanding, painting and some of the assembly. This was her first project. We opted to not use the landing from the plan. Increased height to 70 inches. Used 1x4’s for the mattress supports. Anchored to the wall to eliminate any shaking in the bed when climbing up

Estimated Cost
$100
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Semi gloss white paint
Recommended Skill Level
Starter Project

My fancy farmhouse table version. 10' long

Submitted by JS on Fri, 11/23/2012 - 10:48

Built this fancy farmhouse table for the back patio. Made it 10' long. Instead of 4 2x10's I used 5 2x8's 10' long. All yellow pine from Home Depot. This is the first table or wood type construction project I have ever made. Screwed everything together, filled in holes with stainable wood filler, used 3 coats of Minwax Provencial stain and then 3 coats of outdoors Helmsman Spar Varnish (sanding with 000 steel wool between coats). Turned out great. Total materials including wood, screws, sanding, stain, varnish, and brushes was a little less than $300. The stain and varnish I bought was about $100, 1 gallon can of stain and 1 gallon can of varnish. Tools used were miter saw, cordless and corded drills, and sanders before staining. Thanks for the plans Ana-White.

Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
MinWax Provencial stain (3 coats)
Helmsman Outdoor Spar Varnish (3 coats 000 steel wool sanding between coats)
Recommended Skill Level
Starter Project

Comments

Yo

Wed, 07/31/2013 - 10:12

That is a great table. You clearly are a talented homemaker. I build kit cars. I bet with your skills we could do great work together.

SOCOOLJ

Wed, 07/31/2013 - 10:52

Looks great. I did the same but I went and bought a Home Depot table(pre-built) and just stained it. Looks almost identical except 1/4 of the time and cost. BTW I love the painted brick. Thanks for sharing. I give your table a 10!

Long Console Table

Submitted by ceabrm on Sun, 09/07/2014 - 17:17

Modded the cheap, easy console table for a taller, longer and less deep table with bottom shelf. This particular table ended up being relatively expensive, though. I ended up using poplar since the pine at Big Blue was in horrid shape; pieces were cupped, bowed and splintered. If I was going to make a good looking table -- I needed to start with good looking materials. 

I needed a console table to go under a painting that hides my power box. At most, I could spare about 10" of space deep, but had plenty of space side to side, With just a few mods to the basic plan, I bought really nice poplar since knot free = less sanding :-)

I used my Kreg jig to make pocket holes to put this table together; even though it's very long and not very deep, it's very, very sturdy. I added a small shelf using some leftover hardwood plywood that I had from another job, then glued a little scroll on the apron for some extra oomph. I'll probably use some milkpaint, distress it, coat it with poly and it'll be done. I think it looks beautiful!

Estimated Cost
$100 using popular, much less if all pine
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

2 Story American Girl Dollhouse

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 12/27/2016 - 11:57

I built this as a christmas present for my daughter.  Three stories was a bit too large, so I modified the plans a bit and cut out the bottom floor.

Estimated Cost
Wood cost around $100 and paint was another $30.
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Charlie's Personalized Highchair

A few days before Thanksgiving, my mom told me she wished we had a restaurant style high chair for my daughter. The old one was so large and bulky, and was hard to reach food on the table. I knew just where to look for plans! I spent $6 on the lumber and used scraps for the seat and back. The chair is painted in three coats of lime green paint. We used my mom's Cricut to cut the vinyl letters and stuck them on the back. Then three coats of polyurethane for easy wiping and it was ready for straps! I picked up $3 worth of 1" webbing from Hobby Lobby along with a parachute snap clip. I used two small cabinet screws for each strap on the bottom to attach. I decided to loop the front strap over the 1x2 front bar to prevent any risk of splitting by drilling into that thin side. Instead both ends are screwed down on the bottom.

We absolutely love this new highchair! It perfectly fits under the table and Charlie has no trouble eating (and throwing) food now. And for $10, you just can't beat it! Solid wood, perfect color, personalized name. I really love DIY

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$10
Estimated Time Investment
An Hour or Two (0-2 Hours)
Finish Used
three coats of lime green latex paint, followed by three coats of polyurethane
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

Simple Bird Feeder

Submitted by mtairymd on Thu, 12/29/2016 - 12:58

This is a simple project for the beginning woodworker. There are a variety of bird feeder designs available on the web but I wanted to try something a little different. Anyway, this is my try at a simple bird feeder.

Build Instructions:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Simple-Bird-Feeder-1/

Estimated Cost
$10
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
Paint for pillars and perch
Recommended Skill Level
Starter Project

Fancy X Desk

Submitted by lwinchip on Tue, 09/08/2020 - 12:28

Desk was built per the plans. The only adjustment made was to the width to fit the space. Desk was easy to build and looks great! I added Gator Hide to the top to provide water resistance.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
75
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
Chalk paint and walnut stain
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Farmhouse headboard

Submitted by benhuard on Thu, 11/29/2012 - 06:04

This was my first project. My wife wanted one, I made one. End of story. Now I'm hooked on woodworking and each time my wife says she wants something, the first thing out of my mouth is, "I can make that".

Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

They loved them!

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 01/01/2017 - 15:08

I'm a newbie and loved your doll bunkbed pattern.  I made 6 of them for my granddaughters for christmas. They loved them! Thank you so much for sharing your talents!!

Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Freestanding closet

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 09/11/2020 - 20:11

I’ve been searching for a free standing closet for so long!! I stumbled across these plans a few months ago and asked my hubby and brother if they would be up for a little project and boy, did they ever do an amazing job!! I am so happy with this. We ended up making ours a little bit shorter to fit in our room and adjusting some of the other plans. The rods were cut a little short, but everything still worked out beautifully. Thank you for these plans! <3

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$250
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
MINWAX weathered oak, MINWAX one coat polyurethane.
We stained outside and the smell definitely lingered a few days once it was inside. I’d recommend staining with a less smelly stain, maybe water based?
We sanded down the rough edges and then finished it off with the protective layer.

Comments

Scrap wood heart collage

Submitted by kristen on Sat, 12/01/2012 - 09:12

I have a hard time throwing out any scrap I have after I finish a project, so I had accumulated a fair amount of 3/4 and 1/2 plywood. I used up every last bit of it putting a scrap wood heart collage in my daughter's room! This is the perfect project for getting lots of practice making cuts on a miter saw for a beginner and hanging it is a breeze if you follow the steps I took in the blog post I wrote up about this.

Easy and free. Love those kinds of project :)

Estimated Cost
Free, if you use scraps
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
I used s small bottle of craft paint for the finish.
Recommended Skill Level
Starter Project

Comments