Community Brag Posts

Instead of using galvanized pipes, to save money we opted for ready made closer rod & hardware from Lowe’s and added additional 2x4 pieces perpendicular to the shelf supports and screwed the closet rods into those. 

Well, this crib is STILL unfinished, and the date-stamp says I built it December 5th.... So... Uhh.. I should really get on that!

I had initially built this crib for a friend's daughter's birthday gift, but the baby (8 months old at the time) got REALLY sick, so I wasn't able to finish it in time (don't worry, we got her a Pillow Pet - she got a gift still!). It was just before Christmas, so instead of going out and spending more money that we were tight on, I just bought 3 1x2s and used scraps for the rest of it.

The crib's basically been sitting in the baby's room looking cute until about a month ago. That's when she decided that her stuffed owl (from Build-A-Bear) needed to be put to bed every night before I put HER to bed. It's become such a routine that I have no idea how she'd react if we couldn't put her owl to bed! So I'm scared to try to start filling all the holes and painting in fear that we'd have a mental breakdown if I didn't finish in time for bed! EEK!

Maui Costco had a craft table but I waited too long to go back (1 week!) and they were sold out & discontinued. I stumbled across Ana White's website and found the "modern craft table." After a couple of modifications I am extremely happy with the results, as is my Golden Retriever "Buddy" who likes hanging out underneath while I am working. And yes, he has a mohawk!

I built this bookcase for a friends son for Christmas. She sent me a sketch of what she wanted and I drew up the plans in sketch up. I built it out of plywood and capped plywood with poplar strips. I made the Cedar shingles out of Cedar shims that I cut down to 2 inches, I used corrugated metal for door panels to give garage look.

I made this chair for my 3 year old son's Birthday, he loves it. Really easy build.

Finished this project using scrap pine for the frame and shelves and old barn wood for the doors/siding/table top. Turned out great, can't wait for other projects to finish.

Christmas project for the back.  Built it from cedar from big box store.

We really liked the plans for this table, but it was too narrow for our taste. My husband altered the plans so that the table is 36" wide. The solid oak boards on the table top are reclaimed from the old barn out back.

This was something I had always wanted to build for my nieces and nephew! it was a blast to build and see it come together. Two people working on this job is best. I loved the look of being able to open the doors top and bottom! I added the awnings above all the windows and doors to prevent as much water going into the playhouse as possible. The roofing was a little overwhelming at first but as we got going it turned out just fine! I wanted to lantern in the front to actually light up but I didn't want to run electricity so I got the lantern and put a motion sensor battery light on the inside and it works great! I also put one on the inside for more lighting there too, along with 3 battery "candle" lanterns. For the inside decoration I went with a wood land theme, put a growth chart on the inside wall to measure their height each year, and even made face masks! This is always and ongoing project for me seeing as how i'm always adding something new. The little ones love coming over and getting mail in the mailbox. Thanks Anna for the playhouse plans! I'm excited to see my nieces and nephews imaginations grow with all the possibilities the playhouse brings!

Enjoyed this project. Already have a request to build a whole set. 

Love the easy to follow plans!!! Make sure you have room when building....this a Big bench.

Rob V.  

I built this for my son's bedroom, but modified it to fit our needs. It is 42" high, 38" wide, and 18" deep. I did a double thick top, which I love, and my Dad routed it for me. This piece is solid! I am very happy with the result! Sorry for the not so great cell phone pics!

Well, as my first project off of ana-white.com, I decided to make my two little guys the Little Helper Tower. I had seen store versions that cost $200 or more, so was excited to be able to have something that we wouldn't normally be able to buy.

It was supposed to be a Christmas present. It was finally painted and ready to go by mid-March. Which is to say, I couldn't find time to work on it too much, though it also took me much longer to do than what Ana said, which is not unusual for me.

The main problems I faced were 1x2s that I bought wet and that warped by the time I got around to using them; not having an honestly flat surface to work on, not having lots of experience with my jigsaw, so my top arches and bottom curves are not that attractive, and using some leftover red paint that took about 3 layers, plus the primer, to cover well.

In the end, I have a working helping tower with a movable floor that both my kids, now 2 and 4, can use in the kitchen (mainly - we didn't make the folding kind because the hinges were way too expensive!, so it doesn't move around too much) and it has helped my little guys help me on endless baking projects. My 2-year-old still can't get out of it himself, but my 4-year-old swings on it like a monkey. Thanks, Ana, for all your inspiration! I have a list a mile long of projects I want to tackle. Hopefully I'll get to one soon!

I recently started collecting vinyl records and wanted to show some of them off but also have them readily available to play.  I saw some options online but decided to make some shelves myself.  No judging my music!  :)

More details and instructions on my blog:

http://www.woodworkingfourdummies.com/blog/diy-record-display-shelf

Made this corner cupboard in an afternoon. It was easier than expected especially with the sliding compound miter saw, and the kreg jig haha!

After building a custom sized farmhouse table by combining and tweaking the two plans here, we knew we wanted another piece of dining furniture as substantial as the table and in the same style. The farmhouse bench was the logical choice!

After calculating our desired height and length (our table is taller, but not a long as Ana's) we jumped right into building. Other than waiting for the glue to set and the stain to dry the building itself took less than two hours.

Before we stained the table we distressed the wood by tossing a bag of screws, nails & miscellaneous cabinet hardware against the bench top, followed by random scatterings of hammer blows and a few fuax-nail punch holes to make it seem more time-worn and aged (we used the same process on our table before finishing it). The key was to not go over-board and keep it random to make it seem as if the marks had been acquired over many years.

We love how both pieces turned out, from the cost to the look to the peace of mind knowing that it won't break our hearts to see the furniture get a little scratched or banged here & there as well as the substance given by having a solid wood dining set. This is one bench that won't flip over willy nilly. :)