Dinosaur Trophy Drawer Pulls

In the ever increasing need to upgrade my visual space, I have decided to beautify my nightstand. It's a pretty simple process that I added a few steps to. Changing out drawer pulls seems pretty easy until you actually do it.

Items Needed:
Drawer pulls from Hobby Lobby @ $2.50 each. +Don't forget to use your 40% off coupon.
Self Etching Primer Paint.
1/4" Cherry plywood.
Semi-gloss clear spray.

Tools Needed:
Epilog Helix 60 watt laser
Hand drill
Drill bits
Masking paper

Time Needed:
About a 2 hours.

Skull Level:
Advanced

Step 1: Prepping Your Drawers

As it would turn out, my new knobs have a larger threaded diameter than my old ones. This requires drilling larger holes into the drawer. The length of the bolt is also shorter than the old pulls, so I will have to drill the drawer from behind.
1. Remove the drawer from the nightstand.
2. Unscrew the old pulls from the drawer.
3. Remover the drawer faceplate.
4. Measure the diameter of the threaded bolt of your new pulls.
5. Using the correct size of drill bit, drill through the old holes to increase the diameter.
6. With the faceplate removed, drill a large hole for the nuts to fit in.
7. Replace the faceplate to the drawer.

Step 2: Painting the Drawer Pulls

In this step, I decided to paint the handles rather than simply use the distressed paint look. After I prepped the Pulls for with the primer spray, I decided that I really liked the gray color and stuck with it

1. Choose a great color.

2. Tape the threads so that no paint is sprayed on them.

3. Shake that rattle can and spray.

4. Let dry.

Step 3: Creating the Trophy Shield

I have the pleasure of running a laser for my day job. My boss is kind enough to allow my use of the laser during off hours, so I get to play with a bunch of ideas. You could actually create the shields with a drill, coping saw and a wood burner but where's the fun in that. Haha.
1. Create your design in Adobe's Illustrator program or use the file I have provided.
2. Mask the cutting area with masking paper as to not burn the wood while completing your vector cut.
3. Cut with a laser. I'm not providing a ton of details here because of the chance that if you have a laser, you already know what to do. If you would like me to cut these for you, write in the comments below and we can work something out.
4. Remove the shields while leaving the board on the laser bed and remove the masking paper.
5. Place the shields into the board they were cut from and set your laser for the raster etch.
6. Complete the raster process.
7. The video I posted shows the laser process.

Out of irony, I added a bold wood grain pattern to a wooden shield.

Step 4: Finishing Your Nightstand

Now it's time to screw everything together. This was actually the easiest part.

1. Slide the drawer pull through the shield.
2. Push both pieces through the hole in the drawer.
3. Position them where you want them and screw the nuts onto the thread.

Step 5: Bonus Round

The Triceratops also holds my phone charger.

How cool is that?