Logan's Christmas Gift - Toddler Bed

For the past 6 months or so I have been thinking about making a bed for Logan, but there was no real need to hurry because he was seeming to enjoy the crib so much. But then over the summer came the news that we would be expecting number 2 this coming spring :-)

So I thought to myself, 'I better get a move on it!.'

While I was away for work in the first week of December I researched some building plans on toddler beds, and found one that I really liked. All in all it wasn't too bad, something that could be done in a day for sure. Here is how the timeline went down:

Wednesday: bought some lumber from Lowe's (they had slightly, I mean slightly, better prices)
Thursday: bought a few other pieces from Home Depot (I liked their plywood better)
Sunday Morning: took a couple hours to set up shop and make all the cuts needed for the bed
Sunday Evening: assembled the bed in a couple hours
Sunday Night: Primed the bed

Enjoy!

UPDATE:
Here is a copy of the plan from  Ana White's website: Traditional Toddler Bed
Cost of Materials: $50-$100 ( around $50 for the lumber and $50 for the Kreg Jig - which is worth it)
Time to Build: roughly 4-8 hours depending on your speed and level of comfort (always work at a comfortable pace)

From Lumber to Slumber (haha, cheesy):

Every good project needs direction. Lucky for me about a year ago I found a great DIY Website authored by Ana White. She is excellent. You can find plans for all sorts of projects for your home by going to her website: http://ana-white.com/.

I heard it said from my brother's father-in-law, "Measure twice, cut once." I took my time with this project and measured all the lumber a couple times and was very meticulous on the cuts too.

Since Renae and Logan were out, I made out dinning room into my "workshop" for the day.

This little baby is worth it's weight in gold. You can pick one of these Kreg Jig Jr. kits at Lowe's for about $30 and the clamp for about $20. This allows you to drill pocket holes which is a must for any sort of furniture.

A few pocket holes and screws later, the head board and foot board were ready for rails.

I figured he wouldn't realize what it was, so it was ok for him to be around his "surpise" Christmas present.

When the rails were on I was taken back by how tiny it was. For a guy standing at 6'3" this bed looked awfully tiny.

See what I mean?!?

So we brought in the little guy to make sure it wasn't too small for him! And it wasn't :-)

Then we needed to put guardrails on the side so the little man won't roll out of the bed while sleeping.

Then the last part was to put the slats in to make sure that everything looked good.

To stain or to paint? That was a tough choice. We figured we would paint it so that we could add unique touches for each of our children that will use the bed throughout the years. Paint you can go over, stain in more of a hassle.

So we added a couple coats of primer, until we can figure out what colors we want to use on it!

And there it was Christmas morning, waiting for someone to find it!

 Christmas Morning:

The Moment Mommy and Daddy Were Waiting For: