DIY Child's Picnic Table that Converts to Benches

I feel this is a bit overdue as I planned to post the details of this birthday gift sooner! You know how it goes, life happens.

For our child's one year birthday, we really wanted to do something special. It's not that she would remember the day, but it is pretty monumental for the parents! I mean, we survived! All joking aside, this birthday is such a bittersweet one for parents!

We decided we wanted to make a gift for her that would last a lifetime. We combined this post and this post on Ana White's blog (one of my fav bloggers, by the way) to create a child's DIY picnic table that converts to benches.

This was actually a really quick present to make (roughly equals a weekend project) that will be even faster if you don't have wood you need to sand first! We reused wood that used to be part of a deck so we had to sand down and stain again. That part was very time consuming, BUT made for an inexpensive table! Since we used scrap wood we had on hand, this whole project cost us $24.

First, we came up with a plan! We must always have a plan in hopes that things will run a bit smoother. 

Again, this post and this post were our guides, take a look at their specific instructions. 

As I said, we started off by sanding the scrap wood. Lots and lots of sanding. Like your hands hurt soooo bad sanding.

Alas, we finished sanding and were left with this:

Now, it was time to stain. We did 2 coats of Minwax Polycrylic Protective Finish in clear semi-gloss (the link is to amazon and is for a 1 gallon can, we paid $18 for a 32 ounce can and used less about 1/4 of the can).

Lastly, we cut and assembled the wood! Almost done!

Now, since this was for a birthday, we weren't really done until we put a bow on it!

We were nervous Payton wouldn't really understand her gift yet, or even show interest in using. We couldn't have been more wrong! She loved it, as did everyone else at the party!

This is now being used every time we go outside!

So, the breakdown financially:

Wood: FREE

Screws: $6

Stain:    $18

         _______

Total:     $24

Next, we want to match this table with an adult one! Won't that be cute?

What gift did you give your child for their first birthday?