When I realized that I would be homeschooling I really embraced the idea that I could teach my kids whatever I wanted. Not that I don't normally teach my kids a variety of things, but with them being home all day that does lend us more time in order to do things we might not typically do. Also I was trying to keep my own spirits up as well. I was thinking back to something that really brought me joy and that was woodworking. I thought it would be fun to teach the kids a bit about tools and safety. First we needed a project and it had to be something I could built with just scrap wood.
Of course I went straight to Pinterest!
Here was the inspirational piece I found. Not only was it small and I was sure we had the wood for it, but it would also be very functional. Our love seat is right by the opening into our living room from the foyer and there isn't room for there to be an end table on one side. It's always super annoying to sit on that end of the love seat since you have to pull your glass on the floor and risk knocking it over and spilling it or you have to set the remote control on the arm of the love seat and it always ends up falling off.
I gathered everything I needed in the garage before I had the kids come out. We went over safety such as wearing gloves, safety glasses and ear plugs. I also went over measuring and had each of the kids help me with that.
The inspiration piece was just a starting point I didn't use the exact measurements so I drew up a quick rendering with the cut list so I'd know what I needed. Once we got to cutting each of the kids helped me cut. Normally I like to make all the cuts and then start with assembling, but since this was my design I wasn't exactly sure how long certain cuts needed to be so we had to cut a few and then start assembling and then cut the rest. During this time was when it became more difficult to keep all the kids attention and it became really clear that Owen was the one that was really interested. That was okay with me. I feel likes that's actually a great way to learn. Try out as many things as you can to find the one you like. If you don't like it move on until you find something that's your thing.
Sweet helper boy!
We originally screwed the legs on in the center and then realized that adding that back piece that was supposed to hold magazines or books in would in turn hang over the bottom so we had to unscrew the legs and fasten them directly on the edge.
Owen really enjoyed getting to use the drill!
Here was our finished end table. It really didn't take that long and it was quite fun to build.
Dry fitting it! It's perfect for this little area.
The top little shelf is perfect for the remote to sit on or a sleeve of Ritz crackers for Michael. I read to the kids everyday for about 20 minutes so we put the book I read to them down in the lower section so it doesn't wander off.
We love dark wood at our house and I especially love dark wood with red hues in it so I choose to stain this with a English Chestnut.
I put two coats of Poly on it to protect it and give it a little shine. I did put a coaster on it since I don't want it to get water damage.
The following week Owen really wanted to build a pencil case. He told me his vision and I drew it up.
It was a basic box design.
A couple other tools we got to use for this project was the nematic nail gun and some clamps to help hold it together while we nailed it in place. At first Owen wanted to build two boxes one for Sharp pencils and one for Dull pencils.
We wanted to use my burning tool to write Sharp & Dull on each box, but it was really hard to write with that burning tool and we didn't want to ruin the box and make it look hideous. He decided that one box was enough and we'd just store it next to the sharpener so if your pencil was dull you could fix that right away.
Super happy with his build!
Here it lives right next to the pencil sharpener and RIP my Sunflower pitcher that I knocked off the back of the desk raising the blinds one day.
After posting about our building projects I had a friend from church ask if I'd take orders for the end tables. I've had people ask me to build stuff for them before, but they usually don't take me up on it. I love to build things so I was hoping she meant what she said and she did. She asked what I'd charge her and I told her to just get me a Lowe's gift card so I could buy more wood.
Owen was all about building another end table. One thing we learned from building our end table was that we really need to pre-drill the holes before we screw them. I've known this, but I'm usually lazy about it. Since I was making it for a friend I knew we needed to take the extra time and do it correctly.
It really did make everything easier even if it took longer so I'll most like do this every time now.
So proud of his build!
On to the second one!
We actually had just enough wood to make these two. The top piece is a 2 X 8 and I only had this one chunk left that I was able to cut in two.
I ended up staining these a dark color, but it didn't have any red hues in it. My English Chestnut stain was almost gone and I didn't know if it would cover 2 end tables. I also gave it two coats of Poly. My friend picked these up and April 20th. She was so sweet. She gave Owen and I money to go on an ice cream date and then money for materials. She also brought me a jar of her mom's homemade raspberry freezer jam. So yummy! The funny thing was another friend of mine had borrowed our Carpet Cleaner and she brought it back that day and left it on the porch with a homemade loaf of bread she made for us. So I had some yummy bread to put my jam on. So fun! My friend from church has actually already asked for another end table...she gave one of them to her mom for her birthday present. I need to head out to Lowe's to get another 2 X 8, but right now it seems like it's crazy at the hardware so I'll probably do that sometime in May.
If anyone would like me to build them something please let me know. I have lots of scraps, but even if I don't have the right wood or hardware if you go buy it I'll build it. :)
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