Below is an edited version of an original post on my former blog. 

When I saw Waldorf play stands I was initially disappointed at how expensive they were. I found very little help online in the form of instructions (without having to buy plans) so I set out to make my own and document it along the way so others could benefit as well!

Below is my tutorial on how I drafted and assembled the play stands.

* It ended up costing us about $100, which was much better than the $300 I had seen them for online.

* I will say that I gleamed inspiration from woman wife mama on what the playstands would look like but found her post lacking on the details of how to make them.

*Feel free to use these plans to make play stands, please do not use them for profit.

*Email me if you have any questions or if anything is unclear.

*If this is helpful please share it on social media so others can benefit as well!

Waldorf Style Playstands with Canopy Tutorial

Materials:

Lumber (I used pine)

3    11” X 8 foot

1    10” X 8 foot

1     8” X 8 foot

1     3” X 8 foot

4     3/4” diameter 42” long wooden dowels  (scrap pieces of dowels)

scraps for shelf support

Wood stain/sealer (I used a light pine)

Tools:

Table saw or Jigsaw

Drill

Screws

Sandpaper

measuring tape

Measurements:

One Side: 40″h x 11″w x 42″l

Overall (2 sides w/arch): 50″h x 54″w x 42″l

Inside Space: 30″ between play stands, 50″h at center apex of canopy arms

Breakdown by piece:

2 shelves: 10” X 42”

2 shelves 8” X 42”

4 supports for shelves: about 2” X 6” and 2” by 8”

4 42” wooden dowels (and 4 2” segments to lock top cross bar) (we ended up only using 3 and having the middle dowel go through both canopy arch pieces to join the two which gave it a  little more stability) * you may want to wait to cut these until the end when you have everything assembled

2 Top cross bars 3” X 46”

4 Sides of Play stand

4 Canopy front/back pieces (for these it is helpful to draw out the pattern on a larger sheet of paper and trace it on the wood because they will be alternating in order to fit)

How to:

1Gather materials and draw out pieces on lumber

2 Cut out pieces with jigsaw

3 Sand down edges and stain all pieces (looking back I kind of wish we hadn’t stained them or had finished them with a beeswax polish BUT the point of this all was to save money and so it was cheaper to just finish them with typical wood sealer)

4 Assemble the sides of playstands by screwing in the support bars first and then screwing from the outside in the shelves)

5 Put in the crossbar on top

6 Assemble the wooden dowels into canopy front and back pieces (use wood glue, but if you use only 3 to join the pieces as I did then don’t glue the middle piece in place)

7 Put canopy on playstands

8 Finishing touches

I put 2 of these little dragonfly hooks I found on the inside of 2 sides so we can hang little things from them

And… Ta DA!!

This took us a few weeks to complete as I did most of it myself during kid naps :) But it could be quicker if 2 people were working together more or didn’t have a curious toddler getting in the way) my husband helped with staining and assembling.

I hope this is helpful!