Pulaski Day is project day

Pulaski Day is primarily a Chicago holiday, named for Casimir Pulaski. Whether or not you get it off can depend on where in the area you work, but I've had it off since I started working on the south side and I love it! No complaints about an extra day off in March, regardless of who it's named for.

Last year I used it to get started on my patio table. This year it dedicated to getting a desktop together for the crib and getting ready to put it on so we can call this project complete. Of course this is after seeing Logan, since I couldn't get out of the office Friday to see it. Unfortunately, it was an idea a lot of other people had too, including the couple in front of my with their approx 15-month old. What? Oh well. I still really love a random day off.

This project has been great to work on a little bit at a time. I find myself really looking forward to carving out an hour here or there to work on it and it's gotten my excited about what else I have in mind for this spring and summer. Which is great, b/c if I was reading "Good Clean Fun" without something to work on I think I would have gone crazy.

Digging through boards at Menards today really drove that home too. Even if I did end up getting more expensive boards b/c the cheaper ones were all in lousy shape. One thing I would do very differently if I re-did the projects from a year ago - start with better boards and put them together with more care. So I don't mind paying $50 instead of $20, especially on a project for the kids. They looked good once I trimmed them and line them up on the crib at least.

Trimmed but not cut to fit yet.

I know there are better joinery techniques I could be learning and using for something like this, but some simple kreg joints and wood glue work for me. Clamp 'em up, get the screws in, and leave them alone for a while and they'll be good to go.

CLAMPS!

And inspiration has struck...

Leaving them alone is difficult though, b/c looking at the leftovers, and at the boards...do I have enough to add a lower shelf to the desk? Hmmmmmmmmm, I just might. Might want to put a cable grommet in there too in case things are still using power cords by the the time the kids are using this for homework. And suddenly I just added more work to something I thought I could finish today. Not sure how that happened. Still, I should have known better. Still have a lot of sanding, staining, and sealing in my future anyway.