Community Brag Posts

I followed the directions for the apron pretty much to the "T" but I did end up using double fold biased tape which made doing the trim a bit easier (it's just what I had on hand). It took me less than 2 hours, (kid interruptions included). Easy project and great work apron!

For this table I combined  few designs that I liked to give me a large (8'x4') outdoor dining table with a big cooler in the center.

Really fun and easy to build. Thank you for the inspiration and plans.

I shopped for these types of crates long ago, but resigned not to buy one because the professionally built ones were way too expensive ($400-$600!). So I was so happy when I saw these plans via Pinterest and got to work! I modified the dimensions to make the shortest side of Ana's original plans to be the longest side of my crate. Which ended up to be the exact width and depth of my Maltipoo's wire crate. This was my first building project ever (not counting high school shop class over 10 years ago). It definitely took longer than I expected and if I could do it all over again I learned a few lessons that I will implement when I make a large crate for my Golden Retriever, but overall the directions were easily followed and we had fun experimenting with things that work and things that don't.

1) Pick good wood-- even for the 1x3 and 1x2 pieces we just went to a big box hardware store and thought we could use just anything, but quickly found out that it was warped and cracked easily when we tried to start assembly.

2) Pre-drilling is essential- especially for the thin cuts of wood which were already soft and prone to cracking. When we predrilled we were able to avoid these headaches.

3) Invest in a good wood for the top- Since we were using as a night stand, we decided we would like to use a nice wood for the top of the crate since that is ,mostly what we would see and come in contact with everyday. We found some beautiful Birch wood on sale (plus they gave us an additional discount for a footprint--which was easily sanded off) and it was really worth it. It has some nice texture and grain patterns which really came out when we stained. Worth it!

3) I wish I would have added a drawer- Since I am using this as a night stand, and my dog is so tiny, she does not need all that head room. I could have easily extended the open slats further down the sides and installed a drawer in the upper space for bedside storage. My Golden will need all the headspace in her crate so this is something we still wont try with our next build, but I wish I would have thought of it for this one.

Built in a few hours and cleaned up seams with caulk.  Finished it off with standard trim paint.

Loved this project! Now I can really start building some other wood projects.

I decided to modify the one piece kitchen plans for just a stove and sink as I wanted something a bit smaller. I added a shelf (or rack!) to the oven and "tiled" the backsplash with scrapbook paper and Mod Podge. The burners are wooden plaques from Hobby Lobby that I painted with chalkboard paint and on the side outside of the kitchen (not pictured) is a chalkboard and towel rack. The Kreg Jig was incredibly nice to have for this project but I did add L-brackets to the outside shelves in case a lot of weight (i.e.. a 30 lb toddler) was placed on them.

I started building built-in bookshelves based loosely on the LACK copy-cat plans Ana posted.  I started getting to work on them and realized I needed a way to handle the 8' and 12' boards I have to cut down to make the parts.  Back to the home store I went!  This was an extremely easy project to put together.  I used one sheet of cabinet grade plywood ($30) and had it cut down at the store on their giant saw and three furring strips (as described in the plans, about $1.50 each).

My cuts were: 

1. In half lengthwise (now you have two 24"x96")
2. 24"x36" (on both halves from 1)
3. 24"x30" (on the long part remaining from both parts from 2)
4. You are left with two sections of 24"x29.75" (depending on the blade)

Assembly at home was really fast.  It took me 90 minutes, it would have been probably under an hour if I had the table already!  I didn't like the folding brackets at the store, so I went with fixed cheap ones for now.  I'll swap them later. You'll notice the saw sits a little lower than the side tables.  I'm going to mount the saw to the table and I'll fine tune with that.

Back to the bookshelves!

I had so much fun building this!! It ended up being 80"L x 29"W x 40"H

I added a removeable center seperator to make it available for 2 dogs and a hinged top for easy cleaning. If you would like to know more, mssage me here! https://www.facebook.com/almshousecreations

I built this bench for a Christmas present. She loves to work in her garden and I thought this would be the perfect touch. The plans were easy to follow. I made a few minor adjustments to fit the lumber I had on hand. The center bench is only 4 foot wide so I could conserve on the amount of 2x4 I had to buy. I thought the bench turned out great!

These planters were really easy to make, and held up well all through the spring and summer. This was my first garden, and I was excited to try raised planters. I added some reinforcement to the middle just to keep everything together, and they were really sturdy! Thanks Ana!

This is the rustic x coffee & end table I used 2x4's for the X. I like the wider look of the 2x4's over the 1x's it adds more dimension to the table. 

This is the first wood project I have made in years. Just got my wood shop built and this was the first project - thank you Ana. It ended up taking me way longer than expected. It was the first time I have ever used the Minwax custom color stain and quickly discovered after trying to stain one side why many say it is best for smaller projects. I quickly learned for a large project like this, it is best to do the boards before they are assembled.
It is pretty much the stock build, tho I did deviate some and added a couple of things. First, as i was doing this project by myself, I discovered that just flipping a wall over to add the trim is not as easy as it sounds. At that point in the build, the only thing holding the walls together is the bottom trim piece so it is very flimsy. To make it easier to flip over myself, plus maybe add some extra stability, I ran a 1x4 along the entire back wall about half way up. I believe it really helped with the stability and still can't be seen.
I also added 1x4's on the inside of the front walls from the edge by the 2x4 leg to the doorway - one above the windows and one below the windows, on each side. I just wanted to make it as stable as possible as I built it for my 3 year old grandson and I knew his 5 year old sister would be jumping around in there with him. It didn;t take any room away from the inside and really helped make it sturdy.
One other thing i sort of changed was the ladder. I do not know why as the trim piece was right at spec according to the plans, but the 38" ladder came up about 3 1/2" too short, so I ended up having to cut another one at 41 1/2". Also, especially as it was for a 3 year old, I thought it was a really big drop to the first rung when they were getting out of bed, so I added a 4th step. With 3, my grandson would have had to climb into the bed and when he was getting out, would have had to hang over and find the rung, this way he just walks right up. Keeping it at the 8" apart, the 4th step fit perfectly.
You can't really see the legs in the picture, but on the front legs, instead of using bolts going thru both legs, I put in threaded inserts on the front wall legs, that way you do not see any bolts on those legs. I also used the threaded inserts to mount the ladder.
It ended up costing a small fortune as I used #1 grade wood. I was originally going to stain it something along the lines of early american, but after spending hours trying to find decent wood at both of the big box lumber yards, even buying #1 grade I could not find enough good wood where the grain patterns were similar. I tried 4 various stains on some test pieces, was not happy with any of them, so then went with the Minwax Custom color charcoal gray, and I am glad I did. It has a bluish tint to it and looks just about right for a little boy.
Also, instead of adding the top trim piece to the back of the back wall, I put it on the front where it could be seen, plus it made it easier to hide the boards not lining up perfectly.
After it was all complete, I then applied 3 coats of brush on poly, sanding between each coat. I really wanted to finish it off by then wet sanding it and rubbing it out, but I did not think my grandson really wanted to wait any longer while I waited for the poly to cure, so instead I sanded it down one more time with 220 grit and then applied the wipe on poly.
In my opinion, it was Jaime from That's My Letter idea of the window frames that really sets it off. It looked kind of plain until I added the windows. For framing the windows, I just went ahead and sort of did it like a real window. The only difference was I was a little worried about my grandson maybe hitting his head on the window sill, so I turned them around and the window sill is on the outside. I didn't think it thru as i was thinking he could set some stuff on them, like his thomas train or something, but that obviously wouldn't work as everything would fall off when he opened the window.
For the red, I just used latex paint, apple red, then stained over it with the charcoal gray.
And then to finish it all off, the last thing I added was a 16' LED rope light. I just ran it along both sides and the entire front. I do need to put a switch on it so he can turn it on and off and not have to have his dad plug it in. I will just add it to the back of the wall where you can't see it, that way he can just flip the switch.
Biggest thing is I can't thank Ana (and jaime) enough. The grandkids love it. It isn't as nice as many would have done, but I am very happy with it and I forgot how much I like doing projects like this, tho this particular one took me a looooooooong time.
I still need to make him a sign and we are thinking about putting up a bell in the space in the top of the wall.

Very happy with the results.

First table!! I used all white pine that was milled over 45 years ago cut my own lumber out of this wood and the table top was made with 3 pieces of wood to make the top. Bench is being made now! 

This was my attempt at the 'Build an Entryway Bench...' project. It was also my first Ana White build.

A few notes:

- I had to modify the length of the bench in order to fit the 12 x 16 inch wire baskets I bought off eBay. Basically, I added 5.25" to all the horizontal pieces.
- I used a jigsaw to the the half-oval cut-outs on the bottom pieces. I got this idea from a similar bench from the Pottery Barn website.
- I routed the front edge of the seat with a round-over bit.
- I also routed the inner edge of the top with a core box bit.

It was amazing how quickly this went with the right tools and a couple mornings. Thanks for checking it out!

-Will