DIY Kid-Sized Adirondack End Table

My brother recently moved into a new house. I wanted to make a little something for the two kids. I made this cute Adirondack set.

I built the two chair's and table using Ana White's plans. I built one of these chairs last year for a charity event. If you want to see the details for that, check out my Building a Kid-Sized Adirondack Chair for Charity post.

Here are the steps that I took to build this end table.

Needed Materials:
1 - 2" x 2" at 6 feet
2 - 1" x 3" at 6 feet
1 - 1" x 2" at 3 feet
1 1/4" Kreg pocket hole screws
1 1/2" Finishing nails
Wood glue
Paint or Stain

Needed Cuts:
4 - 2" x 2" cut at 17 1/4" (legs)
4 - 1" x 3" cut at 9 1/2" (aprons)
2 - 1" x 2" cut at 9 1/2" (side supports)
1 - 1" x 2" cut at 10 1/4" (stretcher)
5 - 1" x 3" cut at 14 1/2" (slats)

Step 1: Make the cuts. I used my miter saw for all my cuts.

Step 2: Drill pocket holes into each end of the 4 aprons, 2 side supports and the stretcher.

Step 3: Using the pocket hole screws and wood glue, attach the aprons to the legs.

Step 4: Using the pocket hole screws and wood glue, attach the side supports to the legs.

Step 5: Using the pocket hole screws and wood glue, attach the stretcher to the side supports.

Step 6: Using the finishing nails and glue, attach the slats to the top.

Step 7: Fill the pocket holes with putty and sand everything.

Step 8: Paint or apply finish of your choice. I used Rustoleum spray paint.

Step 9: Enjoy! To give you an idea of size, my nephew and niece are 1 and 4 years old.

You can find more details and the full plans to build this Adirondack end table on the Ana White website.

DIY Wood Rocker

My one year old nephew came to stay with me for a little while. I made him a few toys to play with while we were together. He loves to rock, so I made him this little rocker.

I found the pattern on the Ramblings from the Burbs blog way back in March of last year. You can find the template and some great tips on her blog. Here are the steps I took to make mine.

Needed Materials:
2'x4' 1/2" Plywood
2 - 1"x4"
1" Kreg Pocket Hole Screws
Wood Glue
Paint or Stain

Needed Cuts:
9 - 1"x4" cut at 13.5" (slats)
Template from the Ramblings from the Burbs blog (rocker)

Step 1:
Copy the template onto your wood.

Step 2:
Make the cuts. I used my miter saw to make the slats.

I used my jigsaw to make the rockers.

I used a hole saw to make the initial hole for the hand holds. If you don't have a hole saw, just use the largest drill bit you have and then put the jigsaw blade in the hole to cut out the hand holds.

Step 3: Make the pocket holes. Set your Kreg Jig at the 5/8 marking and drill into each end of the slats.

Step 4: Sand everything well. I usually wait until everything is built before I sand, but I wanted to paint before it was assembled.

Step 5: Paint or apply finish of your choice. I used Rustoleum Ultra Cover paints and I sealed it with Rustoleum Clear Gloss spray paint.

Step 6: Mark the locations of the slats (optional).
You may want to place marks on the rockers at the locations that you want to place the slats. I did not do this, but I wish I would have. My rocker is not exactly even because I did not do this.

Step 7: Using 1" Kreg screws and wood glue, attach the slats to the rockers. I started in the middle and worked outward on each side. I did not measure, but I placed them about 3/4" in from the base of the rockers. Be sure that you attach the slats so that they are at the same place on each rocker. This is where the marks would have come in handy.

Step 8: Fill the pocket holes with putty (optional).
I filled my pocket holes, sanded, and did paint touch ups. You could also skip this step and leave the holes.

Step 9: Enjoy!
I am so glad I finally got around to building this! You can not only rock in it.

You can use it as a tunnel.

You can play peek-a-boo.

You can climb on top of it.

It can even be turned on it's side and imagined that it is an ice cream stand, check out, puppet stage, etc.

This would be an easy gift to make for any little one in your life!

DIY Workshop Step Stool

Ana White is currently hosting the #GetBuilding2015 challenge. This month's theme is #BuildCave which involves building something for your workshop. Originally, I had planned on building something to corral and organize my scrap wood. It had been shoved in piles and I had to dig through it whenever I wanted to build something.

While I was in the basement trying to think up a plan to build, I realized that I had an old metal filing cabinet that I hadn't used in years. I took out the drawers, turned it on its side, and it was the perfect solution! The only problem was the shorter pieces were getting lost in the bottom. I simply put some empty cat litter buckets in the holes where the drawers used to be. I put the longer pieces around the bucket and the shorter pieces inside the bucket. It worked out perfectly. But, I no longer had an idea about what to make for the challenge.

While I was putting some stuff away on the top shelf of one of the shelving units, I realized that I could use a step stool. I had been standing on top of a Rubbermaid tote whenever I needed to get to the top shelf. I searched the internet for some ideas for a simple step stool and I found this plan on familyhandyman.com. This would perfectly fit my needs. Not only does it give me a step stool, but also a small table top or stool to sit on.

This step stool does not take much to make. I actually had all the needed supplies in my scrap pile. If you need to buy the supplies, you can buy everything for under $10. You can view the complete plan here. I did not follow the plans exactly, but here are the steps I took to make it.

Needed materials:
2 - 1" x 3" x 8'
1 - 1" x 4" x  2'
1 - 1" x 6" x 3'
1 - 1" x 8" x 2'
Saw
Countersink drill bit
Kreg Jig (optional)
1 1/4" wood screws
2" wood screws
1 1/4" pocket hole screws (optional)
Wood glue
Hinges
Sander or sandpaper

Step 1: Cut your boards. I started out using my miter saw for this, but it broke and I finished it with my circular saw.

Needed Cuts:
4 - 1" x 3" at 25" (legs)
6 - 1" x 3" at 14" (rungs)
1 - 1" x 4" at 16" (back brace)
2 - 1" x 6" at 16" (steps)
2 - 1" x 8" at 19" (top)

Step 2: Using wood glue and countersunk 1 1/4" screws, attach the top rung to the legs. This rung should be flush with the top of the legs.

Step 3: Using wood glue and countersunk 1 1/4" screws, attach the middle and bottom rungs to the legs. The top of the middle rung should be 8 3/4" from the top of the top rung. The top of the bottom rung should be 17 1/4" from the top of the top rung. Make two sets of these.

Step 4: Using a Kreg jig set at the 3/4" setting, drill pocket holes in each end of the back brace. You can skip this step if you are not using pocket holes.

Step 5: Using the pocket hole screws, attach the back brace to the legs. You could also use 2" countersunk screws to attach the brace.

Step 6: Using wood glue and countersunk 2" screws, attach the two steps. The bottom step should be flush with the front. The second step should be 3 1/2" in from the front.

Step 7: Attach hinges to the two top pieces. The plans suggest using non-mortise hinges. I just grabbed regular hinges that I had at home. It left a slightly larger gap between the two boards on the top, but that's not a big deal.

Step 8: Using wood glue and countersunk 2" screws, attach the back top piece to the top rung.

Step 9: I normally would fill any holes with putty, at this stage. But since I am only going to be using this when I am working in the basement, I did not bother with this. If I ever decide to use it somewhere else, I can do it at that time.

Step 10: Sand all surfaces. I gave this a quick once over with my Random Orbital Sander. I actually won this sander as a give-away over at Home Repair Tutor. If you haven't checked out that site before, it is definitely worth it. He has a ton of great ideas!

Step 11: I normally would paint or stain at this point, but I don't need it to look pretty in my workshop. I may decide to paint it at a later time.

Step 12: Enjoy your new step stool/table!

This was really easy to make and I know I will use quite a bit.

If I was to do this again, I would have used pocket holes screwed into the rungs to attach the steps and the top. I didn't think about doing this until after I had the ladders built, so I only used pocket holes for the back brace.

Be sure to check out all the other #BuildCave projects on Ana-White.com.