Not Wood Butchers!

These photos are from a few weeks ago but I know there are some grandparents, aunts and uncles that my find them interesting. 

Yip and Yap signed up for woodworking in 4H this year. I grew up knowing very little about woodworking. Not that I didn't help my dad build stuff growing up, I was the oldest of 7 on a farm after all, but my dad willingly confesses that he's a wood butcher. (oh, the joy of building those basement steps with you dad! *sarcasm*) 

Anyhoo...DR and the boys spent a warm Saturday morning building in the garage. 

Yip is working on a coffee table.....

....while Yap is working on a shelf. 

I was all excited about the new furniture I was going to get but DR informed me these are only practice and not good enough yet. Shoot, they sure looked good enough to me! But I was raised by a wood butcher so maybe I don't know what I'm talking about. One things for sure I didn't marry a wood butcher and he's not raising any wood butchers. 

My New Dining Table Is Here!!!

Tada! Our new table!!

Isn't it beautiful? DR did a fabulous job.

We stained it with ebony stain which turned out so much better than I imagined it would. Even though part of the table is just stock 2x4 pine, DR wishes now he would have used nicer wood, I think the stain looks wonderful and pulls out the wood grain beautifully.

There are four coats of polyurthene on the table top which makes it so easy to clean up. The rest of the table has two coats. The stools have two coats of polyurthene on top and one on the legs. I almost didn't polyurthene the legs but now I'm really happy I did. The finish just adds a nice touch to the overall look.

When we aren't using it all the stools slide neatly under the table out of the way.

And my vaccuum slides right under the table! (I know really not that exciting to many but it's a big plus for me!)

Look how much room there is!!

No one's elbows are sticking in someone's ear while we eat.

DR, I love it!! Thank you so so much for building us a new table!

Now what other wonderful wood working project can I come up with for DR to make for me?? I asked him to make me an automatic house cleaner but he just rolled his eyes at me.

Thanksgiving Table

Look how hard at work the men in my life are! There they are in the garage slaving away.

Cutting, nailing, sanding...what are they up to?

Okay, only one of them is hard at work. DR runs the power tools while Yip is always standing at the ready to pick up wood. Yap keeps his bum useful holding down that seat!

DR is building me a new dining room table! He always amazes me....he had the whole table and 8 stools built in one day.

And they're great!

Dirt and sawdust looks good on you Yip!

The reason DR is so hard at work is for Thanksgiving. Now, I don't expect a big crowd for Turkey Day but I did invite a few people and our current dining table just wasn't big enough; I'll compare the two later. Our dining room is small so space is at a premium; rather than chairs DR and I decided stools would work well.

Now that the table and stools are done Yahoo and I have the job of sanding and staining. Okay, it's my job alone...

DR tried a couple different stool designs. I'm thinking a dark walnut stain. What do you think?

Even though DR banged this out fast and I really love it, because he made it, it's not anything fancy. This table and chairs was designed for kids in mind. I know my kids will climb, draw, paint and give this table a good workout in the next decade or so. But it's sturdy and affordable. DR only spent about $100 and all the materials!

I love the looks of it all though. Sturdy, a bit rustic and practical...nothing fancy.

My new table is 3 ft. by 5 ft, big enough to seat 8 people. I can't wait to get it finished and in the house!

Even though I only invited a few family members (you know who you are) don't be offended if you didn't get a call from me! Hey, I'll happily feed anyone who shows up on my doorstep on Thanksgiving. So, if you have nowhere to eat turkey swing on by and check out my new table!