During the second half of June, our calendar is jam-packed: we're looking forward to not one, not two, but three sets of friends visiting from out of state. In celebration of "guest season," I decided it was high time we had a picnic table. See, our land is beautiful, but there's nowhere to hang out comfortably, especially with guests. The camper is too small, and it's difficult to relax outside sans porch or any outdoor furniture.

So, I decided to build a table in preparation for our visitors. After finding a great set of picnic table plans on Ana White’s website, I headed down to our local lumber yard to buy materials. The wood (after I returned a few pounds of nails we didn’t end up needing) cost all of sixteen dollars. We already had screws, and all the necessary tools. We also already had the stain I wanted to use (my favorite, Black Walnut Danish Oil).

We even had a workshop that I could use AS A WORKSHOP for the first time ever. It was awesome. First, I sanded the lumber, and then, I cut all the pieces to length according to Ana's instructions. Finally, I stained them. I did all of this while it was raining—the novelty of being able to do something productive in bad weather still hasn't worn off!

Once the boards were dry, I assembled them. Compared to say, building a house or raising a Viking timber frame workshop the whole process was pretty easy. And the pieces were all so small!

Voila! We have a picnic table!