Instagram Builder’s Challenge

Recently, I started following Wood Grain Girls on Instagram and saw that they were doing an Instagram Builder’s Challenge.  I signed up determined to actually build something “normal” for a change and to follow the plans exactly without throwing in a bunch of Make-Dos.

They sent out the plans, and it turned out to be the Shanty2Chic Farmhouse Table. I had been toying with the idea of rebuilding my kitchen table, anyway, as it was very unstable.

First lesson of these types of builds, “$50 in wood” means in their geographic region, and you should expect to double that if you have to buy screws, wood glue, stain, poly, etc.  Factor all that in when planning your budget, or you will be shocked.  Don’t get me wrong, building a nice wood table like this is still WAY cheaper than buying one from Pier 1, World Market or RH.  It just isn’t only $50.

First I went over to dad’s and used his table saw to cut down the 2x6s.  I was intending to do 5” boards, but….well, I’m still learning, so they turned out to be 4.75”.  Great, now I will HAVE to make-do things.  Speaking of make-do, what do you think of my out-feed table?

Then I took everything home and started cutting to length. I really tried to follow the plans, but after some measuring, realized that the length would be too long and the width too small, since I had made the cutting mistake.  I opted to add another 2x6 (2x4.75) to the width of the table top, and forego the breadboards across the end to save myself that 10 (9.5) inches.

The plans called for drilling pocket holes in all the boards, and then glue and screw it all together.  I really should have done a dry fit of the boards, first, to see which way they all fit together in the smoothest way without gapping.  But, I didn’t. So I started gluing and screwing and realized that a) I was on my patio and it wasn’t a smooth level surface and b) Some of the boards weren’t actually square so there were gaps in between them and the screws wouldn’t hold them tight.  BUMMER!!

I also realized that I hadn’t bought enough screws. 

I wrestled with everything for about 30 min, and finally got it all screwed together, then realized that it was TOO HEAVY for me to carry back to my shed by myself! :o That was my first clue of how sturdy this table was going to be.  It is a HUGE difference from the flimsy one I have used for 15 years. 

Once D2 helped me wrangle the top back into the shed, I started working on the legs.  The plans called for me to glue together two 2x6s for each leg. Except I got to cutting and made a mistake, so….

I happened to have a 4x4 that I was planning to use for something else, but, hey, it would save a bunch of gluing, so cut it down for the legs. I then did the measuring and cutting for the rest of the base, testing it all out by laying it out on top of the drying table top.

By that time, it was getting late, and I knew I was out of screws, so spent the rest of my day drilling all of the pocket holes in the base so that I could glue and screw those after doing a HD run the next day.

SO MANY POCKET HOLES!!

The next day, I came back to assemble the base and realized that I had measured the apron as all flush with the legs when I was cutting/drilling and the plans called for the aprons to be inset on the legs. Another mistake!!  But I persevered, glued and screwed everything else except for those and then went to work sanding the top.  Time for another HD run.  This time, I needed another 2x4, and some wood filler. YIKES!! 

I did a test patch of the stain I had picked out on the wood and decided it was just too dark. I wanted a lighter color table top, but I had spent $20 on it, so I was going to use it!

After the HD run, I finished putting the base together, and then I opted to use the black stain for just the base. I learned why people wear gloves when staining.  OH MY!  That stuff doesn’t come out. A week later and I still have it around my cuticles. 

While waiting for the base to dry, I filled in the cracks in the top with wood filler, then called it a night. The next morning, I sanded down the top, added some more wood filler, where needed, then moved the base outside.  After putting on gloves (see I learn!), I went over the base with one coat of poly. In the Texas sun, it dried really quickly! 

Gave the top one more thorough sanding to get the wood filler blended, then wiped it down with a wet towel and let that dry for a bit.  I was afraid to start staining the top.  What if I didn’t like the color?  What if I messed it all up?  GLAAAARRRGH!!!!!!

But, since time was wasting and I was on a deadline, I just went for it.  Only put on one coat of stain, wiping it off almost immediately after applying it, working in sections.  I’m so very glad that I actually did like the color.  Let that dry overnight, then sanded it in spots to give it that distressed look, wiped it all down again, then applied a coat of poly. 

In all, I put two coats of poly on the base and 3 coats on the top.  After the 2nd coat on the top, I let it sit for 24-hours, then hand sanded with 220 grit sandpaper to make sure there were no drip spots and put on one more coat of poly. 

After that dried, we moved the base into the house, then set the top on it, measure to get it all square and centered on the base, and screw everything in.  WHAT A RELIEF!!!!

And I love it.  It’s just the right size for us, and I know it will last for 30 years.

That said, go check out some of the other contest entries, and see the winners, over on the www.woodgraingirls.com site. There are some really amazing and creative people out there!

Total Cost: Stain/Poly - $45
           Wood - $55.42
            Screws - $16.43
           Wood Filler/Brushes/Sandpaper/Misc - $30.01
All told, and including tax, I spent about $180.  However, I have enough leftovers to make at least one more project.
Total time: Two solid weekends, mostly drilling pocket holes and waiting for stuff to dry.
Outcome: HUGE SUCCESS!!!!!!

Now go Make-Do a success of your own.

**************UPDATE!!!!*************

I have now built my scraps from this project. With the additional purchase of 2 4x4s, and one 2x4, I also have two benches and 10 office gifts. Not bad for $200.

Pallet Barn Door

Over on YouTube, Sterling Davis hosted his annual Pallet Upcycle Challenge, and being the pallet lover that I am, I decided to participate. Besides, it was also a fundraiser for the Make A Wish Foundation.

I opted to replace this 80s-era cabinet door with a barn wood looking one. 

Here is a link to my entry.

And here is a link to all of the 2016 Pallet Upcycle Challenge entries. 

It was a lot of fun and I am thrilled with how it turned out. 

COST: New Clamps & Oil finish - $60.

TIME: About 15 hours

OUTCOME: SUCCESS!!

Now go Make-Do something of your own. 

Pallet shelf

Well, of course I’m using pallets, again. I collected a bunch a couple of years ago and need to use them up before I can pick up more! (Good thing I don’t have a hubby to gripe about my pallet hoarding problem.) HA!

 

You see ALL the time on Pinterest about how people take this old dirty ugly pallet and turn it into a shelf or art or something.  Well, I thought I would give it a try. Mostly because I needed to make room in my cabinets for other stuff and my mugs really didn’t need to take up the WHOLE cabinet, but partly because I wanted to see if it really was just that easy.

 

It IS just that easy, actually.   It’s all about knowing where to cut the pallet.  

 

Once you get it cut down, then it’s just a matter of sanding everything THOROUGHLY, then applying your paint of choice. 

Here’s what it looked like after I lightly spray painted it with some white.  It was a light coat because the paint can keptclogging and eventually just stopped entirely. After messing with it for a while, I just gave up and decided I liked it well enough.

 

Then, my tall tumblers didn’t really fit down into the space between the slats, so I just took some other leftover wood from the pallet wall I did, (I should write that up, also, eh?) and added the red accent shelves with my Ryobi Brad Nailer.  

Lastly, I screwed mug hooks into the wood, and called it done.

 

Of course, the hanging it part was pretty tricky.  I wound upusing my stud finder (wonder what would happen if I walked around Home Depot checking all guys with it) to locate the studs in the wall above my coffee bar, and then screwed it into the wall.  Remarkably, it is still hanging 24-hours later.

 

Total Cost: Mug hooks - $4.00

Total Time: About an hour, mostly for paint drying

Outcome: SUCCESS!!

No go Make-Do something of your own.

Enhancing my She Cave

So I have this shed in my backyard.  It’s WONDERFUL!  It’s big and has real walls, a big door, windows, electricity….it’s my workspace and I love it.  Except for July and August when it’s 100+ degrees here, in Texas, and the lack of air circulation in the shed makes for very sweaty projects.  I honestly think I lose about 5 pounds each weekend I’m out there in the heat!

At any rate, I saw this video on YouTube done by the wonderful April Wilkerson, and thought, EURKA!  I have a window AC unit. I should totally put that in out in the shed to see if I can just cool things off enough that I don’t worry about passing out when I get so focused I forget to keep slamming the water.

After much thought, I opted for a spot next to my workbench, thinking that the closer it is to me, the faster it will cool me off.  Makes sense, right?  Here’s the lovely wall that a kid started helping me paint.  

 

If you look at the picture for very long, you’ll have some foreshadowing on what the biggest issue with this whole project turned out to be.  Any guesses?  

 

After measuring the size of the unit, I measured and cut the 2x4 studs to build a support structure under the unit, along with a header, of sorts, to go over the unit. That’s when it hit me.  There was an electric wire in the middle of the studs and to add more in, I would need to disconnect the wires from the plug, pull the wires out, run them through the new 2x4s, and then re-attach. GAAAAH!!!!!! So. I drilled holes in the new studs through which to thread the electric wires that run to the plug nearest the unit. 

 

Then I turned the power off to the shed, pulled the electric wires out of the plug and backed them through the existing 2x4, threaded the new ones in, used my Ryobi Brad Nailer to attach the studs to the other studs, along with some other screws just for good measure, and then reattached the wires to the plug.  WHEW!  Trying to manipulate that electrical conduit was WORK and without power, I didn’t have my normal fans running, and it was July in Texas and I was so afraid that I had sweat all over the wires and would short out the whole thing!  YIKES! I was worried!  I can’t tell you how relieved I was to flip the breaker back on and have the shed not explode!

 

Next, I drilled pilot holes in the wall in what I was planning to call the corners of the opening.  After trying a couple of times to get the circular saw to cut out the opening, I gave up and went to borrow dad’s jigsaw, again.  I REALLY should invest in my own jigsaw!  

 

The jigsaw was the right tool and I quickly had the opening.  

After checking the sizing multiple times, I trimmed more area off the face, then built a header of sorts to frame out the rest of the opening.  Then wrapped the whole opening with the pink foam insulation stuff, and slid the unit into the wall.  

After I was sure it was snug, I emptied a can of spray foam insulation all around the edges to try to help keep out air/water, and then put more particle board over the whole wall area to help with the finish out.

 

Once I got it in, I realized something.  The unit blows air UP….not OUT…..thus the totally ghetto plastic trying to get the air to go OUT into the shed.  What a bummer!  At any rate, it’s done and I think once I get the rest of the shed insulated and walled off, the unit will have a much higher likelihood of success.  

 

Total Cost: $18 for spray foam insulation, and the pink stuff from Home Depot

Total Time: 8 hours, mostly because I kept having to stop and go get another tool/item.

Outcome: Partial Success. 

Now go make something of your own!

**NOTE: Looking at these pictures has promoted me to go out a faceplate on that plug. MUCH better! 

Patio furniture repurpose

Since entering that 2x4 challenge, I've been trying to build/create and post YouTube videos. I felt so bad that I had all these subscribers (a whopping 14), and almost nothing for them to watch. Ha!

I must admit, though, my heart and comfort are with the written word and still pictures (does anyone actually like how they look or sound in videos????).

At any rate...one night I built a fire in my fire pit, and D2 (2nd daughter) brought her homework, a flashlight and a blanket outside and completed it by the fire. She commented on our need for a side table on which she could set her drink and music, and it got me thinking. Here's the fire. It was really nice.

The next day, I went out to my shed to see if I could figure out a side table for outside, with existing materials. 

First, I grabbed some scrap 2x4, and built a rough frame. Then I painted some of my fence picket scraps and using my new Ryobi Brad nailer, affixed them to the side of the frame. I had some extra tile that I used as the top. I used construction adhesive to glue it to the wood frame. 

At first, I used some reclaimed scrap wood for legs. I painted them and then wrestled with how to connect them to the table. I used screws and brackets and didn't have enough clearance in the 12"x12" space to get all the screws in good and tight. It was frustrating!! 

Once I did finally get them on, I realized that the legs weren't even close to straight, and the table seriously wobbled. 

By then, I was tired and frustrated and felt like I would just have to live with it, and after all, it was scrap and would be outside being constantly degraded, so why did it matter? And I set it outside and went to bed. 

I probably would have left it like that and just thrown it out, eventually, if the dog hadn't gotten involved. 

We got so mad about her tearing up the wall, (see YouTube videos) that we chained her outside for a while. She wrapped the chain around the table and knocked off one of the legs. Now I had to fix it!

So, first I cut the legs off to the point where the one seemed to bow the most, which made a big difference. By then, the girls had given me a Kreg Jig R3 for Mother's Day, so I used it to drill pocket holes in the legs and between that, and the shorter/straighter legs, the table became instantly better! Now I actually liked it and wanted to improve it. 

I measured and cut more fence picket pieces and stained them with weatherproofing and used the Brad Nailer to place in the empty corners. I also went over it all with a sander to smooth out the rough spots. 

FINALLY! Something I could appreciate and post! :D 

Then I got to work on repurposing some other patio items. Here's the picture of those. Hopefully, I can get it all written up shortly.

Total cost: $0 Materials on hand

Total time: maybe 3-4 hours total, mostly me trying to figure it out and re-do it. 

Outcome: SUCCESS!!

Now go make something of your own...