DIY Picnic Table

Angel and I have a fire pit, or two, in our backyard, which come in handy when we want to cook dinner the old-fashioned way. Or when we need to burn the evidence. Either way, in addition to our two firepits we usually have one substantial log pile that we draw from to feed our fires.

Only currently, we have excessive quantities of wood in the backyard. See?

I'm not entirely sure where all this wood came from or where it is eventually going, but I know that it belongs to my grandpa, and that much of it isn't in very good shape, as far as wood is concerned. Other pieces, however, are in great shape, But it seemed that no one had any specific plans for much of this wood, until Angel had a great idea.

He looked at the piles of wood, and declared, "I want to make a picnic table!"

I have to admit, I was a little skeptical. Granted, a picnic table is not the most elaborate project in the world. But my husband isn't very experienced in building things. Our recent mission trip was his biggest introduction to the use of power tools and methods of contruction. Until the picnic table project, he had yet to use the drill that he received at our wedding.

But Angel's not one to let not knowing how to do something stop him. He got permission from Grandpa to use some wood, and found a picture of a picnic table that he liked. With the help of sundry power tools that he borrowed from my uncles and the wedding gift drill, he built a picnic table--for only the cost of the screws it took to put the thing together and the polyurethane we varnished it with!

The table in the early stages of construction.

 My man with a sander.

 The completed masterpiece!

Angel said that he wanted to make the table without having to work with diagonal cuts at all, which is why he chose this pattern over a more traditional table.

We already have a picnic table of our own, so Angel gave this gigantic one to my uncle and aunt. I hope they wanted one! It's a beast of a table, it took three strong men to load it and unload it off of a trailer to take it to their house. I'm so proud of my husband!