Community Brag Posts

I built this truck to give to my son for a Christmas gift.  It came together really fast.  It took about 2 hours including sanding, painting, staining, waxing, and assembly.  I really love the finished product!  I have a lot of pictures of the process on my blog.

This was my first project. We are using it in the Man Cave.

I scaled down the large rustic x bench plans to create seating for my grandkids at the new kid's table.

This was my first attempt at building a big project! I invested in a table saw a couple months ago since I sell handmade signs, but all I had tried to make were the signs and some very simple projects. I had been wanting a big farmhouse table for the longest time, but was so intimidated by such a big project! 

I finally got up the nerve and tackled it over the course of a weekend, and made the whole table by myself! I decided to buy a pocket hole Kreg Jig, which made the project go pretty smoothly. Ana's plan was easy to follow and I followed it to a T, other than using 2x6s instead of 2x8s for the tabletop, 2-2x4s instead of 4x4s for the legs, and extending the length a bit (my table is about 8.5 feet long!) It took me longer than it should have, I'm sure, but even as a beginner I finished the table from start to finish in a weekend. 

The finish is my favorite stain color, a half-and-half mix of Mixwax Weathered Oak and Espresso, topped with a coat of Varathane Triple Coat Matte Poly.

I built a matching bench the next day because I couldn't resist! I did accidentally put the end pocket holes on the wrong side of the end aprons, so they're facing outward (oops!) but I still love how the table turned out! I posted more photos of the process and finished product on my blog if you'd like to see more! 

It took about 7 hours to complete this project. We used Ana White's Farmhouse Queen plans, with some modifications: the bottom of her bed frame is about 4-6 inches off the floor, ours is 17 inches for extra storage space. We also made the footboard slightly deeper to accommodate longer legs. Due to limited space, we built it on the bed of our truck with the "help" of our 18 month old. We love the way it turned out.

Modified the Camp Loft bed with Stairs plans slightly so that the dresser would fit under the bed without banging your head for access.  The heght is taller creating the need for railings to be added to the platform.  Conversion to bunk beds was considered so all bottom boards save the front rail were installed.  If bunk beds are needed, just add the 2x6 front rail.  The mortise slot is already cut.  Went with mortise and tenon joints instead of pocket screws.  Cubby storage area created under the platform accessed from left side.

Airplane swing made from pine and "A" frame made from 2x4's

Friends of mine are having a girl and needed a bookshelf for the nursery. Loved the simplicity of this design and wanted to see in an antique white finish. Great plans and design.

When we started building this bed, we liked that it wasn't too tall for our low ceilings, but could still utilize the space beneath it. As we were building it, we thought we would just put a 2nd mattress on the floor, but when we measured it, we decided we could safely turn it into a bunk bed for our 2 youngest daughters. We just built an additional set of rails. Instead of buying another piece of wood for the mattress support, we used the support from an ikea bed that we weren't using. We put the bottom mattress off the ground around 10 inches.

This took about 6 hours from beginning to end, but next bench should take about 4-5 hours. Most of the time was spent on sanding the wood and waiting for the stain to dry.

Main lesson learned: Drill pilot holes throughout. I used no-drill construction screws, but it didn't pull the wood tight enough against each other. Also, stain all the wood pieces before assembling (as opposed to just the top slats as suggested in the plan). Remember that the leg pieces will not need stain on the flat surfaces, just the sides that will be exposed. Use a square tool to stay as close to 90 degrees as possible.