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Squirrel Cafe

Total Time Needed:: 2-3 Hours

Just as we humans enjoy a good bite to eat at our favorite summer roadside diner, so can the bushy-tailed travelers in your neck of the woods--if your family opens up one of these easy-to-build squirrel cafes. It's a great craft for beginning woodworkers. Once you've constructed it, just stock up on dried corn on the cob (sold at most garden centers), and you're in business.

Materials

3-foot-long 1- by 3-inch (actual measurement is 3/4- by 2 1/2-inch) pine board
5-foot-long 1- by 4-inch (actual measurement is 3/4- by 3 1/2-inch) pine board
1 pound 5d galvanized box nails
One 12d galvanized box nail
Indoor/outdoor latex paints, polyurethane, and paintbrushes

Ruler and pencil
Handsaw
Drill with 5/64 twist bit
Hammer
Dried ear of corn

Instructions

Help your child measure, mark, and label the two boards as shown and then cut out the pieces with a handsaw. As you assemble the café, we recommend predrilling holes before your child nails the pieces together.

Download measurements.
Begin with the chairs. For each one, stand a leg (A) on end and center a seat (B) on top of it so that the two pieces resemble a T and the backs are flush. Nail through B into A. Now attach the chair back (C) by centering it along the back of the A/B assembly with the bottom of A and C flush. Nail through C into the A/B assembly.
Next, make the table. Stand the table leg (D) on end and center the floor (F) on top of it. Nail through F into D, making sure the nail goes into the solid part of the leg. Now nail the 12d nail through the center of the tabletop (E). This will be used to attach the corn to the table once the cafe is built. Then flip over E (the spike will be pointing up out of the wood) and nail it, positioned diagonally, to the top of D.
To assemble the cafe, turn the chairs upside down and facing each other so that they are resting on the very tops of the seat backs. Have your child turn the floor/table assembly upside down and set it on top of the chair bottoms so that the ends of the floor are flush with the backs of the chairs. Nail the floor to the chair bottoms.
Measure and mark 8 inches up from the bottom of the back wall (G). Align the bottom of the cafe floor with this mark and nail through G into the edge of the adjacent chair and the floor. Center the angle brace (H) under the floor and against G. Nail H to the floor and to G. For added stability, drive another nail through the back of G into the end of H.
Finally, drill two nail holes in G, one 1/2 inch down from the top and another 1/2 inch up from the bottom, to use for nailing up the feeder.
To spruce up your cafe before putting it up, use indoor/outdoor latex paint to add a tablecloth and seat covers. For extra durability, once the paint is thoroughly dry, brush on a top coat of polyurethane. Finally, attach the corn by carefully pushing the bottom of the ear onto the nail protruding from the tabletop.