My rudimentary attempt at an embroidery lap stand. I think this will help my speed on these projects since it can be worked using both hands. One on top, one underneath.

18" Doll bunkbed. This was a fun project for an eleven year old and a mom to do together. She wants to paint it, but I'll consider it complete.

Plans:
http://www.ana-white.com/

 

Another Rast from Ikea. I had a little help with this one.

This is the original cabinet- this picture is from the Ikea website.

Continuing with my latest wood projects. This is the IKEA "Rast". I'll include the link so you can see how it started. I'm very pleased with it. The drawers are so tiny. You can see that an embroidery floss box won't fit sideways. I'll just be using it for crafts, but my favorite part is the 'built in' bookends. All of my crafting books have been stored. Now I can see them again! I love looking at them!


Ikea Rast:
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/75305709/

Now that I've finished these three crates, and I see how they look next to our plastic ones, I definitely love them! I would like to get three more.

With a coupon, this one was only six bucks! I actually bought a small can of paint of the blue. I love it, I think all the others are going to be this same color. So much for variety!

Who doesn't love Pinterest ? For 8 bucks, I couldn't pass up a wood craft. I'd actually like to do 3-4 of these, so I have some advice for my next one.

 Sand more. Have more paint available. Don't under estimate the baby.

I had some neat ideas that involved some painted parts and some stained. I love the look of natural wood. However, when the baby needed a diaper change, and the 4 year old took over the painting, ...

After searching pinterest for ideas, I figured out an idea for a thread holder. Since I'm rarely sewing anymore with the machine, I wanted a way to store just a few spools. Most of these are for handwork. Luckily there was a five year old handy for the sawing, sanding, and hammering involved in this project.

Montessori counting rods. I made these fairly quickly. A couple of square dowels, handsaw, paint, sandpaper. They are really helpful when teaching number concepts to small people in our house.

For Christmas, Katherine wanted to make a gift for her cousin. Not just a cute popsicle stick ornament, but a real gift. We have these little wooden tables that our kids use all the time for small projects and eating on while watching football, and playing 'school', etc. She built this, really. She did drilling, sanding, some cutting. I'm very impressed. She also wanted to paint it, but the flu left us with no time.

We made these chairs for a friend as a birthday gift. It looks like he likes them! They do stack and were easy to make, and I spent less than I expected. Yahoo!

Thanks Ana! www.ana-white.com Plans: http://ana-white.com/2010/11/four-dollar-stackabe-childrens-chairs.html

Someone once asked what I do with the kids while I craft. My answer: Put them to work! Here, she is using the sander on a birthday gift for a little friend. We have to wait for a complete pic until we've actually given the gift. You should see her with paint! She actually has some great ideas but she's terribly picky about her custom wardrobe.

(Thanks to Deb's Woodshop)

Laundry Dresser
Did I ever mention how in love I am with Ana at http://ana-white.com/? Our latest adventure was this laundry dresser. I'll post an action shot when the camera cooperates. Thanks also to Deb, of Deb's Woodshop!

A very sturdy doll cradle. I am thankful to my friend Deb, who helped me finally complete it. I cut it out 2 years ago and had a neat stack of wood forever waiting. As a birthday gift it was perfect. It also can turn on its side for easier storage and it holds the weight of a six year old easily. Or a 1.5 year old as pictured.

Here it is, painted and gifted. Our friend was very happy too! We were worried, but she had a huge smile! I was so excited, I wanted to do a victory lap around the park! Here's the baby testing it out. He's quite the carpenter, you know.(She is not pictured because I didn't get permission to post her on the internet.)
Thanks Deb!!

So, with the help of my new carrier (I'll post it later), a 5 year old, a drill, some wood, glue, and my totally awesome friend Deb... The most awesome child sized picnic table EVER!! This thing is so remarkable, really.

Ta-da! A gift for our friend who loves purple! Hope she likes it!

Thank you so much to Ana at www.knock-offwood.com!!! Without her amazing inspiration and easy to follow plans, we would have never attempted it.

These pants are the fleece ones I made last month. They fit him really well- the length looks short because he's sitting. The toy he has is a wooden 'boat'. The holes are drilled so those pegs fit in perfectly. He loves to put them in and take them out. I'm not that great with the drill yet, so this is the third attempt. The green peg is actually a person whom I've not finished painting yet. Painted red and blue with a white racing stripe.