DIY Children's Stool

Cut the 1-by-12-inch lumber into three 12-by-12-inch squares. Two of the squares will be the legs of the stool, the other will be the top.

Place one of the squares in front of you on a flat surface. Find the center of the board, and mark it with a dot. Make another dot on the left side of it, one-half inch away. Repeat on the right side of the first dot. Erase the center dot. Draw straight lines down from the dots to the bottom of the square. Connect the two dots along the center line to join the lines. These are the outlines for the leg slots. Repeat on another square to make a second leg.

Use a jigsaw to cut out the leg slots, following the lines. Slip the two legs together, so the slots criss-cross each other. Adjust the slot size until the tops and bottoms of the legs are flush.

Place the remaining square in front of you. This is the top of the stool. Drill a pilot hole in each corner and in the center of the board.

Place the top board on top of the legs. Align the legs so that one end of the ""X" shape is in each corner of the stool. Use 2-inch wood screws to screw through the pilot holes and into the legs of the bench.

Paint the entire stool in the desired color. Let the stool dry thoroughly.

Nail a nail-in plastic foot to the end of each leg. This will prevent the stool from scratching the floor.

Use a carpenters pencil and a ruler to draw a grid of 1-inch-by-1-inch squares across the top of the stool. Cut 1-by-1-inch squares of painter tape. Place one piece of the tape in every other square on the top of the stool.

Paint the entire top of the stool black. Allow stool top to dry. Peel the painter's tape off the top of the stool. This will leave a checker-board pattern on top of the stool.