Dad-To-Be Makes Baby Bed Out Of Jack Daniel’s Barrel

A crafty dad-to-be decided to get creative when it came to making a baby bed for his unborn child, using a Jack Daniel’s barrel in what has to be one of the most unique pieces of furniture you’ll ever see. Harry Newman, 25, and his 26-year-old partner Kayleigh Arber are expecting their first baby together in November and it looks like they’re wasting no time getting ready for the little one’s arrival.

1. Sure, they could have just bought a baby bed, but where’s the fun in that? As Harry told LADBible, when he found out he was going to be a father, he was inspired to make something with his own two hands rather than just grabbing something from the store. “After finding out we were going to have our first child I decided I wanted to hand make something rather than just buying a standard item off the shelf,” he explained. “I trawled the internet for inspiration on a cool alternative to traditional baby furniture and found something similar to this.”
2. Harry has always been into building things. “All my life, I have been hands on,” explained the maintenance engineer. “I have learned many skills and have been inspired by my dad and I’ll be passing them all on to my children in the future.” Those are some excellent things to pass on to your kids for sure. 
3. He almost did something entirely different with the Jack Daniel’s barrel. His other options were a hinged toy box or even a planter for the front garden. However, he ultimately decided to go for a baby bed and it turned out amazingly well. “With everything going on at the time, I needed something to enjoy and take my mind away from daily life and this fitted the bill perfectly,” he said. 
4. It took a long time to put together. As you can imagine, a Jack Daniel’s barrel doesn’t just automatically turn into a baby bed overnight. Harry estimates the project took roughly 50 hours of work in total, which makes sense given all the detail he’s put into it. “The project from start to finish took around 50 hours, mainly after work and weekends at the time. The majority of the work was sanding and prepping,” he explained. “The barrel itself is made from 1″ oak so with a good saw and blade, cutting was no issue. Lining out the inside with material took around 5-6 hours and a few attempts to get how I wanted it.”
5. Don’t worry, the baby will still have a real crib too. Harry isn’t silly enough to think that his Jack Daniel’s baby bed is going to be all the little one needs. Instead, they’ll use this one as a sleeper cot during the day, which sounds like an excellent idea.