Can we build it? Yes, we can (and did)!

A few weeks back, my sister told me about this lovely little blog called Knockoff Wood. She creates plans to build all kinds of knock off Pottery Barn, etc. furniture and the plans are FREE! I checked it out and got inspired. We had been looking for a train/activity table for Luke and hadn't come across anything we loved that we were willing to fork out the dough for. The Pottery Barn Activity Table is a whopping $349. I had to twist Ryan's arm a little but he eventually caved and agreed to build it. Ryan built a workbench and some shelves in our garage a few years back and I knew he could do it. I went to Lowe's and got everything we needed for around $80. Luke was so excited when I told him what we were building. I took a few pictures of the process to prove we really did it ourselves (in our basement storage room since it was so cold outside).

Here's the initial frame...

With support added...

And the tabletop and edge. Wah-lah!

Here's the builder at work (with sawdust flying and everything). Please don't be jealous of my broad-chested, good-looking husband with his terrific smile.

I was hesitant to let Luke help me paint it but it is HIS table after all. He had been begging me to paint it for about 2 weeks. Thankfully, we got some warmer weather that made it ideal to paint it in the garage and I just used the leftover paint from his room. Cost: $0.

Ta-dah! The table is done and the kids have LOVED playing on it. Luke's been in there non-stop the past two days.

P.S. The carts that go underneath are almost done. They will really be the finishing touch so I'll probably have to post more pictures when they are completed. I'd been getting some pressure from those who knew of my project to post pictures right away and not delay any longer. What do you think? Now I need to convince Ryan to build that sideboard/buffet I've been wanting....