Big Kids Picnic Table in Cilantro

Here's what I've been working on and the reason why I needed to finish that pair of sawhorses. Starting on Thursday, I began cutting wood to build this:

On Sunday I finished all the construction and sanding and filling the screw holes with wood putty during one of William's naps. This picnic bench is solid in case you were wondering and the only part I needed my husband's help with was moving it from the garage to the lawn for painting. Even he was impressed with my construction job, which says a lot. He's already wondering when I might build the adult version to replace the picnic bench that came with our house but is rotten. (He even said if I keep up the construction learning, I might be able to build our next house.)

I sanded it very carefully with the orbital sander because I wanted to be sure no one gets a splinter on my account. Savannah helped me pick out the paint color, a high quality exterior paint in cilantro by Valspar that should make this picnic bench last a long time. She helped me paint the first coat after trying it out for size. It should easily fit four of her friends.

I painted two coats of the exterior paint, which has primer in it, then used two coats of a clear shiny topcoat for exterior use so it would be easier to clean and wipe down and have a better feel.

The biggest compliment of all is that as soon as all of this painting business was dry, my daughter couldn't wait to start her tea party in front of the forsythia bushes. She looks so cute in her spring dress!

The plans for this picnic table are available for free from Ana at Knock Off Wood. Ana is my new favorite person. One week ago, I would have purchased this picnic table, but this week, thanks to Ana's great plans and inspiration, I built it myself and it cost me only $15 in lumber, $4 in outdoor screws and $30 in paint and I still have 3/4 of a can of paint leftover that I plan to use on my potting bench, so $27 total. And to my great surprise, it stands solid and stable, perfectly level and square. Yay, Ana and yay me! Also thanks to Ana I now have a long list of other creations waiting for me to build them including outdoor benches, indoor tables, daybeds with trundle, and bookshelves. The possibilities seem endless!