Community Brag Posts

When I saw this, I knew it would be perfect for our mantle. I need to add photos to it, but I love it! I plan on changing things out for each season... I can see autumn photos of the kids hanging beside pressed leaves in the fall, christmas cards hanging here during the holidays, etc. So many possibilities. Very simple to make. Love it!

Well after completing the console table I decided to change the sizes a little and create an entry table and stain it to match my great great grandmothers mirror that we have. That mirror has to weigh 50lbs. It turned out great and I did sanding and staining before putting it together which saved a lot of time trying to get into all of the corners. Then just had to ploy and stain the edges of the top once finished.  

This is approximately half the width of the console table so calculations were fairly easy to figure out. 

I modified Anna's plans to make these heavy duty saw horses.

Let me first preface this by saying that the only similarity between my little creation here and the Craftsman Frame is the actual structure of the frame. I altered just about everything else about it, but since the idea was born with this plan I figured I would post it here! :)

A friend of mine just moved into her first apartment after graduating college and is quickly realizing she is in need of décor. For Valentine's Day, her boyfriend (a photographer) gave her a photo he had taken of the mountains in Colorado, a trip they had taken together earlier that year. The picture is absolutely stunning; the only problem is that it is a panoramic photo, measuring a whopping 18"x55". A quick Google search revealed that even a cheap poster frame with these dimensions would cost $110 at minimum; not to mention that it would have zero character. And a custom frame? psssh, don't even go there...this girl wants to decorate her apartment, but come on she still has to be able to afford groceries! :)

Anyway, as the new owner of a miter saw I saw an opportunity and I'm so glad she let me give it a go. We discussed the plans I had and ventured off to our local Lowe's. About 2 hours--and lots of laughs--later we walked out with all supplies in hand (who knew two girls in their young 20's could spend so much time at Lowe's?! We had a blast).

I loved the base idea of the Craftsman Frame, but since she doesn't have a lot of other décor yet (and isn't allowed to paint the walls of her rental), I really wanted this piece to be a focal point. She listened to my ideas like a trooper and, to my surprise loved every one of them. We thought about making a collage frame so she can display additional photos from this trip, but instead decided to frame only this photo and to use a 1x6" board (rather than a 1x2" as in the original plans) so she can use it as a shelf to for her other photos. Since this piece will be a focal point above her bed, I wanted it to look almost like the mantel of a fireplace, so we picked out some accent pieces to achieve this look on the sides (we really had no method to this; my only suggestion is to go wild and try things in the store that you normally wouldn't). We also purchased some LED lights (battery operated, since she doesn't have an outlet nearby) for ambient lighting. I wanted these to be as invisible as possible, so I fashioned holes in the top shelf for them to fit into!

Honestly, the toughest part of this project was finding glass large enough for my frame and making it fit. I had to call several local custom shops and was very pleased with the final result. (my sliced-up fingertips however, do have one suggestion to offer: if you get glass custom-cut...PLEASE make sure you are wearing gloves when inserting it into the frame--OUCH!) The original plans for this frame include just finding a way to attach the picture to the back side of the frame. Since I was using glass in this frame, I simply used a router to create a groove on the back side for the glass and photo to sit inside.

Overall, we are both thrilled with how this turned out! Time for my next challenge...

Salvaged from an old dock cart. The wood is rough hewn oak.

This was my first project with my daughter. After a divorce, I wanted something fun to do with my daughter-something where she would learn, have fun, and see a project from start to finish.

I did a lot of pre-cutting and prepping, but she did some cutting with a handsaw and mitre box, drilled holes with the Kreg jig, stained, used the nail gun, and glued. I installed the shingles, and touch up staining, but she did a lot of work for this project!

Since then, we have built a collapsible corral (fence) for her three horses, and next is the farmhouse bed for her doll!

Thank you for the great instructions, my daughter thinks I'm the greatest person on earth because of these projects!

I found this plan on your site and fell in love with it. I followed all the directions but added a bevel to the rear of the seat match the the seat back and I rounded over all the edges on my router table. I also stained it and gave it 3 coats of polyurethane. My 6 year old son loves his chair and he is going to help me make one for his 3 year old brother.

You can follow the build on my blog at :
http://funwithwoodworkingtoo.blogspot.com/2013/01/lets-make-thumb-chair…

This is my first post. I have used a few of the plans off of here before but I thought this one turned out really well and wanted to share. I used dowel rods to give it a more open feel and think it looks good. My dog loves it! Thanks. 

I had to alter some of the measurements to a smaller size for our dining room.  66" long 2x10's on the top. & 39" 2x4's across the base.

had lots of fun building this project for my grandauther, she's only a year and a half old and I'm pretty sure she will enjoy this see saw for a long time.

Hi Ana

I would like to share my experience making this Outdoor sofa (see attached link). http://ana-white.com/2014/07/plans/outdoor-sofa-2x4s-ryobi-nation

The sofa is supposed to be made using 2x4 boards, but these are not a standard size in Australia so I substituted with 90 x 45mm pine boards. No other changes to measurements were necessary. I followed Ana's instructions and definitely recommend using wide clamps to hold the base when screwing together. I only had short clamps so was rather difficult keeping everything firmly in place when drilling the screws in.

Next step was preparation for staining. I used Cabot's pine filler to fill major holes, knots etc, then sanded lightly paying extra attention to the arms.
I stained using Cabot Exterior Varnish Stain (teak colour). This turned out a beautiful warm colour that I just love.

Finally the cushions....
For the base I purchased a 5inch thick foam single mattress (on sale $61 so worked out to be really cheap foam).  I measured to fit base and cut using an electric knife - worked a treat! I had enough left over to do a cushion along the back plus two small side cushions to go along the arms.

Next step was covering the base and side cushions. I purchased some outdoor Decorating fabric from spotlight  as sofa will be exposed to some QLD weather. For the base, I used a similar process to the Censational Girl box cushion cover using Velcro instead of zips.
http://www.centsationalgirl.com/2012/10/simple-sew-box-cushion-cover/
For the side and back cushion I made up 3 sides of the cover, then inserted foam and sewed the last end closed (cheating I know but just too awkward to do proper box ends).

Lastly, the throw cushions.....these were really easy I made envelope cushions from a single piece of fabric....once again no zips (hoorah!).  They only took 10minutes each to make and look great. See tutorial below.
http://thehappyhousie.com/simple-speedy-stuffed-sewing-tutorial-diy-envelope-pillows/

My first build so extremely happy with the result!

Thank you for the project idea! We used your Easiest Industrial Cart plans. Since this is our first project building anything ever; so please excuse any "mistakes" you may notice. We tried going with a blue stain instead of just brown, but we ended up giving the wood more character by staining over with my husband's "Warhammer Paints"...lol...

This was a very quick project. Only took 5.5 hours from start to finish, including dragging out and putting all the tools away afterwards!

I left the teeter-totter unfinished, not sure how it will make it through the winter. I may decide to paint it this summer.

I used a length of copper pipe for the bolt to ride through, along with some washers between all the pivot points. This should help keep the boards from wearing away over time.

This has been the BEST outdoor toy around! It gets used EVERY day in the nice weather.

Thanks Ana for the great plans!

I adjusted the projection of the table by using just 2 2X6's and adjusting the shelves accordingly. Planning on making the coffee table very soon. I used tea then vinegar/steel wool to stain. The top is waxed to make dusting easier. I then screwed on 2 right angle mending brackets for looks.

We created an art space for our boys to use (ages 3 and 5) but the table (2 IKEA Lack tables put together) was too low and small to do the job. I spotted this design and thought it looked like a straightforward build. It was! I don't have a Kreg Jig so still had to do everything the hard way, but it turned out okay. My plan with this one was I wanted to have it sturdy, but didn't want to paint it, and didn't want to worry too much about how great it is.

I used a cedar pre-cut plywood for the table top and had the lumber place cut everything for me. Unfortunately, their cuts were a bit uneven so I had to do some weird stuff to make everything go together. Since I opted for cheap pine for all the other pieces, the raw wood doesn't look as good as it could, but it will do the job. The nice thing about keeping it unfinished: whenever markers or crayons get on it, I can just sand it out! This is a great size for creating art. I'm just bummed my IKEA paper holder doesn't fit under the shelf. If I had thought about it in advance I would have made the bookshelf taller to accommodate.

Thanks Ana for helping me easily and affordably create a wonderful art table!