Make it a Family Affair

Build this unique outdoor dining table made with saw horse brackets and a pair of benches with hinged legs designed to fold down for cold weather storage.

Lower rope supports add a nautical detail and keep the legs from splaying apart.

Celebrate your roots by stenciling your family heritage on the tabletop for a personal and decorative detail.

Coast Guards!

Craft coasters from a cedar post embellished with a maple leaf and wrapped with sisal rope for a nautical look. View video.

What You'll Need

• 4" x 4" x 8' cedar post
• sanding sponge fine/med 1061-066
• manilla rope 5461-715 (allow 20" per coaster)
• hot glue gun 2047-144 and glue 2047-653
• maple leaf stencil cut from acetate (leaf pattern provided)
• Beauti-Tone flat black paint 1835-447
• stencil brush 1610-344
• hobby knife 1033-401
• Minwax dark paste wax 1874-760

Here's How

• Cut coasters from cedar 1' to 1 1/2" thick. Sand smooth.
• Trace the maple leaf pattern on the acetate with a fine black permanent marker.
• Cut stencil with a hobby knife.
• Place the stencil in the centre of the coaster and secure in place.
• Stencil the leaf with the black paint using a dry brush technique. Let dry.
• Coat the entire coaster in dark paste wax, and buff. Apply a second coat to enhance the cedar wood and offer water resistance.
• Cut and hot glue the rope around edges. NOTE: glue only one side at a time and hold in place to set.
• Note: glue only one side at a time and hold in place to set.