Janet Clark at Home

Beginner Projects

How to Build a French Champagne Crate Coffee Table

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Sitting room with french champagne crate coffee table

Do you remember the antique French champagne crate that I built to hold my Christmas tree? Well, I really didn’t want to put it away after Christmas because I loved it so much. I couldn’t find anyplace to use it however, so away it went. A few weeks ago, I rearranged the dining room to have a little seating area, and guess what? The champagne crate works perfectly there as a coffee table! Today I am going to show you how to build a French champagne crate coffee table, but I am really just building a top for the crate I already built.

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Build Your Own DIY French Drying Rack

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A Girly Girl’s Guide To DIY – Beginner Building Series Project 4

Level: Beginner

Skills: Hammering A Nail and Introducing The Miter Box And Back Saw

How to build a DIY French drying rack

Learn how to build this “antique French” drying rack. This rack can be built in any size and used in many ways. Hang it from the ceiling or use as a table centerpiece.

If you can’t or don’t want to spend the money on a true french drying rack, this is the project for you! It is so authentic looking. I love it!

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DIY Rustic Antique Garden Cart

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A Girly Girl’s Guide To DIY – Beginning Builder Series Project 3

Level: Beginner

Skills: Hammering a nail

How to build a rustic garden cart | A Girly Girl's Guide to DIY | Project 3

Learn how to build this antique rustic garden cart for outdoor decor using only a hammer and nails. If you built the french market crate, this is almost the same, just bigger pieces of wood!

This build includes an optional shaped handle. It can be built leaving the handle square and it will be just as cute.

And as always, I recommend at least reading project 1 and project 2 before beginning this one.

DIY antique rustic garden cart decorated for fall
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DIY French Fruit Crate

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A Girly Girl's Guide to Diy | How to build a rustic french fruit crate | Beginner building project

A Girly Girl’s Guide to DIY – Beginner Building Series Project 2 – A DIY French Fruit Crate

Level: Beginner

Skills: Hammering a nail

Supplies: hammer, 1-1/2″ common nails, wood glue, optional C clamp.

A DIY french fruit crate filled with fall decor

Can’t find or afford authentic French wares? Try building this “french” fruit crate. It is a simple DIY that only requires a hammer and nails to build.

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Easy DIY Weathered Wood Tray

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A Girly Girl’s Guide To DIY

Beginner Building Series Project 1: A DIY Weathered Wood Tray With Optional Handles

Level: Beginner

Skills needed: Using A Hammer

DIY weathered wood tray with sheet music

There are so many home decor projects that can be built using just a hammer and nails. Simple projects like this tray, but also much more substantial builds and renovation projects. And until (or if) you ever want to buy a nail gun, hammering a nail is a skill worth mastering. There is a correct way to do it.

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