this was such a fun do-it-yourself project. partly because I did it with my dad . . . and he is the epitome of FUN. but also because I know that my little family will get so much use out of this picnic table. gosh, the memories we will create gathered around it. they will be endless. because the possibilities are endless.

it’s portable. I can literally carry it on my own. it is collapsible. which makes for easy stowing in the car. and its just stinking cute. take it anywhere with you . . . a picnic on the go.

I love that we made this at a low level . . . so no chairs are required. the vision behind it was that we could plop it down anywhere. lounge around it on the ground. eat. drink. and enjoy the great company & the great outdoors.

like I said. this DIY is a memory maker that keeps on making.

see what I mean? can’t you just tell we are having fun from that photo? I’m not entirely sure who is goofier . . . my dad or myself?

so, my dad is super handy. I am not. but I would love to be. as a single mother, I am always saying to my boys “moms can do anything. girls can do anything.” I say this often enough that they will finish the sentence when I begin. it is so important to me that they know that women can be strong, and tough, and independent, and do stereotypical “boy things.” Just like it is so important to me that I raise them to be gentle, and affectionate, and emotional, men. displaying those stereotypical “girl” things. if I do my parenting job right, boundaries from men & women will be broken. and we will all be better because of it.

so while I may have bent a dozen nails trying to hammer this table . . . I completed it. because . . . girls can do anything.

ta-da! after a bunch of hammering . . . it is complete! and sturdy enough to hold me on top of it! gang, this literally took us less than two hours to build. and if we had used a staple gun, it would have gone a whole lot faster. but we preferred the old fashioned hammer!

the materials are minimal. and the instructions are simple. highly encourage you to build one yourself. and the cool thing is you can build it to your size preference. we wanted it big enough to hold a lot of food . . . because we love food . . . but we also made a two person one much smaller. so . . . here are the instructions . . .

you’ll need 40 feet of 1×3 precut pine wood.

cut 10 pieces at 36 inches long.

cut 3 pieces at 35 & 1/4 inches long.

use two of the 36 inch pieces, and the 3 35 inch pieces to build the frame. one of the 35 inch pieces will be the center support beam.

for the top of the table, use the remainder of the 36 inch pieces. space each board 1/2 inch apart.

for the legs. cut 4 boards at 12 inches. using a soup can (always going back to food) to template the rounded edge. use a jig saw to carve the rounded edge.

drill a hole in the center of the rounded edge. attach to the frame with slightly smaller screws than the hole itself, so that the legs can swing & collapse.

after the four legs are attached, angle cut the feet so that they splay out & lay flat on the ground.

that’s it, gang!

a quick, and easy, DIY picnic table. be sure to share photos of your tables! I love to see what you have created!