Community Brag Posts

I modified the original plans to fit the height and length of my sofa as well as to show off the chevron planks. I was offered some pallets...so, I greedily accepted them, to which my husband rolled his eyes and sarcastically said, "Great, more wood!" I tried to make all of the table from the pallets but I ended up using pine for the table edging and the "X."
I laid out the table top in a chevron style on 1/2in plywood, glued and screwed them in from the bottom with wood screws. I attached edging with pocket holes. For the bottom part of the table, I attached larger pallet boards using glue and pocket holes instead of attaching to plywood. I actually attached the edging first to the bottom boards and then attached to the table rather than attach the bottom edging and then try to make the boards fit. I sanded the top and bottom tables with 40, then 80, then 120, and then 240 grit sand paper until smooth. I also sanded the legs the same way. To say that total time sanding for the entire project was 20 hours maybe an understatement. If you look at the underside picture, you can see the roughness of the wood...and I had already lightly sanded them! I ripped my own 1x2's for the edging and "X" from 2x4's with my table saw because I could not find anyone who sold unwarped wood...so frustrating!! The wood was so much straighter when I ripped them. I will rip my own wood as much as possible for now on!!
The "X's" were a challenge and I ended up cutting the ends at a 47.5 degree angles. I do not know why I had such a problem. I had right angles, but the wood is imperfect in many ways and not perfectly straight. I attached the "X's" together and to the table with glue and pocket holes. The legs had ink stamping, so I tried to keep that and not sand the ink completely off.
I added the metal "bling." I dulled the metal, primed and painted with metal paint. The paint chips off easily. So I think will end up replacing these pieces later on. The bolts were originally black, so they will stay.
Total time...several weeks because of all the sanding. I cannot devote whole days to woodworking because of family and work and I can only sand one hour at a time before my hands start to go numb. Also, the Waterlox requires at least 24 hours between each application. Cost: approximately $15...for the pocket holes screws (fine Kreg screws), hardware, other wood screws and 1 8ft 2x4. Everything else I already had (I already had the Waterlox, bolts, screws) or was given to me (pallets).

Skipped the 2x4 top and shelf and replaced with a 1x4 board. Got lucky with some scraps. The Colorado logo was distressed with a rotary sander. 

I would like to thank www.stonecoatcountertops.com for the ideas on the countertops, 

first off I used 3/4 MDF for this project, Ana White's momplex cabinet plans and just extended the plans to the size i needed, i created the doors out of MDF cut to size and used a router to create the design on the edge and the countertops are made with MDF, expoxy,spray paint, and metallic powder in 91% alcohol. this plan was so eazy, and my kids had a blast doing it, Thanks Ana for the cabinet plans

My first project where I made the whole thing by myself! My friend and I each loved this idea and so together we each made our own version! It was just what I needed for some bathroom beautifying in a small space!!

My husband made this for my daughter's 4th birthday. she loves it! We did decided not to add the wheels and it seems to be fine without them. We chose to do her name in letters as well. I did the lines and dots with a sharpe marker.

I built this for my oldest brother.  I only used 2x2's for the legs.  I built the carcuses out of plywood and used 1x2 select pine for the face frames.  I built the top shelfs to be 5 feet tall.  So the whole thing is 7 feet high by 8 feet wide.  

We needed a surround for the TV and really wanted to have a fireplace underneath. I took the Shanty Hutch/Sideboard plans and made some modifications. Took about 2 weeks to complete.

I love my dogs, but their wire kennels were an eyesore. Removing them completely was not an option, but I was tired of looking at them. I went back to my first-ever rehab project, and took it one step further to create a one-of-a-kind castle for my pups.
The original piece of furniture was an old console-style TV cabinet. Sliding doors on the front revealed the TV, and two lids on top contained the tuner and a turn-table.

Armed with screwdrivers, hammers and a dremmel, all components were removed form the cabinet, leaving just the shell. (PLEASE be sure you remove all sharp, potentially dangerous, screws, staples and what-not’s from the inside of the cabinets, to avoid injuring your pet! The dremmel allowed me to cut off and grind down stubborn screws.)

To cover the holes in the top cabinets, I used old checker boards. The cubbies are now a great place to store dog treats and leashes.

OPTIONAL: The back panel of the cabinet I used had holes from the TV components. I elected to replace the back board with a new sheet of peg board. (The peg board allows for much-needed ventilation.) In order to get the size perfect, I traced the old back onto the new and marked the original screw holes.

I vacuumed the inside to remove all construction debris and polished the exterior with Pledge. Then, I inserted an old comforter into the kennel, and stood back as my two pups launched themselves into their new abode.

The doors can stay open during the day for them to enter at their own will, and close for bedtime. And my eyes no longer hurt.

We took the general plan of the Cassidy wood shim bed but added some features of our own. Since my husband is in the military we knew we would be moving more than the average builder so we made the bed to be more durable for frequent disassemblies. Instead of screwing the frame to the head and foot board we used carriage bolts to secure the pieces.

We also wanted to add a reclaimed aspect to our bedroom. We bought some reclaim cedar siding from a local estate investor and decided to do a chevron pattern. After staining the whole frame, we applied the siding to both the head and the foot board since we bought basic plywood and wanted to cover both ends. Plus, we liked the look with both ends done better. We cut the siding at 45 degree angles and then custom cut each piece to fit. This was a time consuming area since, with reclaimed wood especially, each piece is unique. We then just used liquid nails to secure the pieces.

To finish we assembled the bed and applied a paste wax.

This was my first Ana White project and the first time using my new Kreg jig that my wife bought for me as a birthday gift.  I modified the plans to build this as one complete unit and not as separate bins to be stacked.  I used my Kreg jig on the dividers and ends to attach each section to the next.  This saved on material and made it a bit lighter since I was building it 4 units high.  I added small 2x3 feet to the bottom to clear an outlet behind the toy bin.  Two L brackets were used to anchor the unit to the wall. 

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 used the plans from Michaela's kitchen island, but modified the top. Instead of 2x4s pine studs, I used black walnut boards a friend of mine had lying around. They were ~1x8" boards so I ripped them to ~4" width and ~60" length. They were a little warped so I glued and screwed them togther using a Kreg jig (best tool ever). This made a huge difference and there was only minimal gaps (1/16") between the boards. I ended up borrowing a belt sander from another friend to take out the 1/16"-1/8" lips in the boards. First time using a belt sander and it took a few minutes with 80 grit across the grain to get a level surface. Used 120 grit paper with the grain to smooth out the scratch marks from the 80 grit. Attached the top to the base with screws, finish sanded with 220 and 320 grit, cleaned up the dust with a tack cloth and then applied a few coats of polyurethane. For the drawers, I couldn't find 21" slides so I ended up modifying the drawers for 20" slides. Another fun and satisfying project!

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.