Community Brag Posts

I really wanted to add a layer of depth to the front of our house, and my favorite option was adding new shutters! I used fence boards to keep cost low and to be sure that the wood would stand up to all weather conditions. I protected the wood with an oil-based sealant made for exterior use. I attached the cross braces with chunky screws and painted those black. I love how they turned out!

Been a while since I had time to actually build anything worth posting about! My wife wanted some items for her Kindergarten classroom this year, so built several items, most inspired by the Farmhouse family.

After searching the town high and low for a 10" high wooden stool, I decided to make one. Ana had the perfect stool pattern to modify for our needs - A little shorter, a little wider.....et Voila!

It's the perfect height for little ones to reach the taps in the bathroom, as well as helping out in the kitchen from time to time. And, the cedar smells wonderful.

Finished height: 10"
Top measures: 11.25" x 16.5" (2 boards, cut 16.5" long + a space in the middle)
Footprint: 12.375" x 17.375"

I also lined up the rails (instead of staggering them), similar to the Harriet Higher Chair plans. The joint will be weaker, but I prefer the cleaner lines on such a short step stool.

Thanks Ana for the great plans!

We took Ana's original coop plans and diva'd it up a bit to suit our needs and our climate. We added a pop door and decided to split the roof panels into four, three of which open up. We put the hinges on the top of the roof panels so we could easily prop them open. We also added a brace across the bottom of our ladder for support. Since we added a door I believe our ladder is a bit more steep than in the original plans.

Because we put our hinges on top we added lattice strips inside on the top of the door panels that go just under the 2x4 of the roof peak to keep the rain out. We also used a roof cap for the same reason. We went back and added silicone to the strategic places to prevent water leaking into the nesting box while also being careful not to affect the necessary ventilation.

We used OSB for our roof panels instead of T111 because it's what we had on hand and also because we were going to be painting it.

Finally I added handles to each of the hinged panels to make opening easy. And cute!

With much needed seating in the mudroom, an unused space (nook) was used to build a mudroom bench and shelf. No plans were used. I basically looked on-line and mentally drew up an idea of how I wanted the final product to look.  

There were some setbacks such as not like the knock down textured walls (after partially painting the bench). I ended up covering the textured walls with hardboard and repainted.

A bench cushion was made for added comfort and style.

Complete tutorial for the bench is here and the bench cushion tutorial is here.

Thank you.

Julie

Built the porch swing and was inspired to build the glider frame by another "Brag Post" Looks great and fits perfectly in my back yard!

This is our 2nd project - we liked building the bookshelf so much, we decided we're gonna keep going and need a good workbench. Got these plans from the Family Handyman Website (http://www.familyhandyman.com/DIY-Projects/Woodworking/Workbenches/how-…). They claim the cost to be $50, but it was closer to $80 for us - still a GREAT project and easy to put together with the nail gun.

This was a fun project that I made for my wife. I saw a Crate & Barrel table with legs that alternated directions. The plans were easily adapted to match. I stained the standard pine boards with Minwax Prestain, Minwax Red Mahogany stain (2 coats) and sealed with a matte polyeurathane. The matte finish cut down any shine and should prevent any fingerprints from showing up, though witha 2-year and 6-year old this is inevitable. I may still add some small 3-4" triangular braces on the ends of the table at the legs to add stability, but it seems quite stable as it is. The bench is next on the list, but this will have to wait until after Thanksgiving.

Our large lap dog finally discovered he could easily get whatever he wanted out of the trash, so I built the tilt out bin to help keep him out of trouble. lol. I made it cabinet height so we could move the microwave off the counter, and added a drawer to the extra space to keep garbage bags and such in.