Community Brag Posts

Hi Ana!  This project was pretty much inspired by ALL the great things you build on this site, as well as from watching a 'Fixer Upper' marathon (hence, the white color and shiplap).  Last Christmas, I promised my sister that I'd build her a hall tree since she's now up to 10 grandkids and needed more hooks for all those coats and hats.  Unfortunately, I also came down with a WICKED case of vertigo, so no power tools for yours truly. : (

Well...  The vertigo finally cleared up, so it was time to get out my trusty ol' Kreg Jig and fire up the tools.

This project started with 2 4x4s.  I cut 17 1/2" off each, then used the long pieces as the back and the sort pieces as the front legs.  Then I built a rectangle (shored up by some cross supports) out of 2x3s and used those to attach the back legs together with pocket holes.  I did the same thing with the 2 front legs, then attached the 2 sets of legs together with shorter pieces of 2x3s that framed up the side.

Next, I added a front to back support to the underside, and then attached the bottom of the seat on top of that.  I built the front, back, and side pieces of the bench section by cutting a couple of 8' x 8" x .5" planks to size, and attached 2 pieces to each side by gluing and nailing them to the frame.   Then, I rans some shiplap up the back (glued and nailed to the back frame) and topped it all off with a mantle.

For the seat, I used a 12" project board ($11 at Lowes for a 6 foot section) because I love all the knotty details and nail marks.  I framed it out with 1x1 and attached with pocket screws on the underside.  I finished that piece by staining it in Rustoleum Dark Walnut.

As for the rest, I just framed the shiplap section with leftover 1x1s, then sanded and stained the whole piece with the same Dark Walnut stain (so that something would show through after distressing).  Finally, I applied 2 coats of Rustoleum Linen White Chalk Paint (LOVE that stuff!), distressed it, and topped with one coat of Minwax 1 Coat Poly (ALSO love that stuff), and added some hardware and country do dads from Hobby Lobby (Rustic Hooks, 'Bless This Home' Sign, Decorative Doorknob, and "Mitten Clip" for wet mittens and gloves coming off little hands) .  What do you think?  ヅ

Barn board flags made from a dilapidated barn.

I was looking for a plan to build a miter saw cart but also wanted to include my table saw.
I was leery about making a permanent station for the miter saw in case in needed to move the saw for an inside trim job so I made the miter portion of workstation portable.

This took me longer to build than I expected -- maybe because I was working from scraps and had to figure out what would fit where along the way. Also, I initially cut all the side pieces with parallel cuts. Oops. So I had to re-do them all.

For more info, check out my blog post!

I made the back slats taller on the second chair (salmon colored one) so I could just lay my head back. They were so easy and I can't believe I did this myself! We made the baby chair with the scraps and our grandbabies love it!

First stab at this table turned out so well a friend bought it off me and I had to build a second.

LOVed building and painting this. Although using European wood is a headache as of course the standard wood sizes are different. ... always 4-6 mm off... so all my things are crooked. I don't care though and it is my new favorite chair. I used ArchiTect blue exerior color, two coats, and pine wood.
I am grateful for Ana White's metric conversion chart in the book I now have but when going to the hardware store here, I am confronted with numerous standard wood sizes that are not the same as in the US!

So I bought a tv for our bedroom rather spur of the moment last year and when I decided I didn't to wall mount it I needed a console for the tv to sit. This was going to be my 3rd build and I had recently made the Mini Farmhouse Bedside table. I modified the Mini bedside plans to make the console a larger two drawer style. I also increased the height by about 2" to put the tv at a better viewing angle. I didn't know that there was a similar plan in Ana's book at the time, as it probably would have been easier to just follow that. Oh well.

This is a pretty easy project and makes a nice holiday gift. This version was made from a scrap piece of hardwood and a 5/8" dowel. As an extra touch, I added a compartment inside the board to store the pieces. The compartment panel is held on with magnets for a clean look.

The quick video shows how the compartment works.

https://youtu.be/jEzhipj-BjA

(I don't know why my picture is horizontal, it shows up fine on my computer).
In redecorating my oldest son's room, we needed him to have a loft bed, but all the commercial loft beds are too tall for his bedroom. So then, we thought we would re-work his current bunkbed. In order to use it as a loft bed we had to remove the bottom support rails and that meant we needed a new solution for a ladder (because it was part of the support system). After looking through the site, I decided that this ladder was the best for our needs. The ladder went together smoothly. We had to modify the directions just a bit to make it the right size. We put a set of U-brackets on the end of the ladder to put over the bunk bed. We also drilled through the bed frame and into the ladder for additional support.

I sent these plans to my dad and said I wanted him to help me build it for Christmas. He came with everything cut and ready to be sanded and assembled! It was put together and stained in a day! I love my Christmas present, and love that my dad and I built it. It will be a family table, for sure! 

These are a few of my turnings. They are available for sale. Message or comment for price and shipping.

Made this Accessory Holder as a Christmas gift for a male cousin to hold his phone, watch, ring, glasses, and wallet.  Comes apart for easy movement.  I like the two-tone of the stains and the simplicity of the holder.  Router kept giving a bit of kickback, biting into the wood where it was unwanted, hence the messy cord line, but as with most of my projects, I don't mind the mistakes that make them more "unique".  Artistic choice?  : )  Also difficult was figuring out the angle to cut the opening slot for the side piece.  It needed to be angled to set the side piece just how I wanted it.  Eventually decided on 10 degrees.  
The idea for this holder was based on this: http://cleverwoodprojects.org/woodworking-projects-for-beginners-six-ea…

Don't read the site- it was clearly written by a bot or ESL individual, because it's mostly gibberish.  Just used the image for inspiration.

I freehanded a design that then was drawn on the wood and had plenty of fittings and mockup pieces made throughout to figure out how things would fit.  Fun challenge, great gift.