wood screws

I remember my childhood summers spent in the Wisconsin heat - Cardinals ball cap, sweet tea, and a Cards - Cubbies game on the radio. I used to love perfectly lazy summer days and listening to Lee Smith close out the 9^th. Those days would have never been complete without slouching back in my Adirondack chair, and my feet propped up on the deck railing.

Adirondack chairs are such a critical part of our leisure that they stand for pause anytime people walk by them, noting comments like, “Man, I wish I had one of those,” and “That chair would look great on my front porch.” But, have you ever asked yourself, “How easy is it to build an Adirondack chair?” Well, you might be surprised to know it may be one of the easiest and fun projects you work on all summer. Building a chair takes a weekend, and it’s likely you already have the tools at home, or in your workshop.

We are always on the lookout for a great weekend project. This week, I found a pretty awesome project to build for the kids. It is a picnic table/sandbox. Seriously, what kid doesn’t love playing in the sand?

We love this table for a couple reasons. Anytime you can build something that serves two, or more, purposes and saves yard space that is a big plus in our eyes. Secondly, this table is fully customizable. You can put your own personal touches into it. You can use flat boards, or mini-planks. You can build a canopy, attach storage boxes to the sides, and paint it however you’d like.

This is a great project for DIYers who don’t like to be constricted to someone else’s plans. It’s easy enough to watch a tutorial and design your own, and I did find a couple Youtube videos to help you along. The first is from Dave's Woodworks, who provides several DIY projects on his Youtube page. The second video is a nice father daughter video from DMIdea.