DIY Lea’s Brazilian-Style Grill

Lea’s Brazilian-Style Grill is done and ready to share! We have been gradually working on this (and the hut) over the last few weeks.  I took it slow because I really wanted to take my time for the plans and find the best possible matches for the replicas. It’s pretty darn close and a very sturdy piece! It should only take you a day to build with the plans. And if you are planning on making this out of foamboard, substitute 1/2” MDF with 1/2” foamboard and the 1/4” MDF with 3/16” foamboard. Please read the entire post and if you have questions about something I didn’t mention, please ask!

Watch to see the Brazilian-Style Grill up close!

Step 1:

Attach the lower sides to the lower back. Use wood glue and pin into place. `

Step 2:

Add the oven bottom into place.

Step 3:

Cut out the opening for the oven front. Follow the measurements below.

Step 4:

Cut out the doors. Follow the measurements below and dado spaces for the hinges. The hinges I used are  3/4″ x 11/16″ and I like to make sure the doors fit into place with them, then take them off to paint, then put them back into place. The paint color I used for the doors matches the Fruit Stand, Glidden Pink Salmon.

Step 5:

Add Jumbo Popsicles sticks on the front. The popsicle sticks should hang over the door on the top and the side where the doors meet. This will also help hide any gaps between the door and the opening.

Once the popsicle sticks are glued on, you can add the knobs. I used the pegs pictured below (Hobby Lobby) and cut them down. This way they went into the wood for support. Any tiny knobs will work.

Step 6:

Cut the curve for the grill top and then glue/pin it into place.  You can also choose to leave it rectangle, or just sand the edges to get a slight curve.

Step 7:

Add the grill dome. Use the measurements below to place it correctly on the grill top.

Step 8:

Add the chimney support block and then add the sides of the chimney.

Step 9:

Attach the top piece of the chimney.

Step 10:

Add the wood storage trim.

Alternative: I used tiny square wood chips from Hobby Lobby. I just free handed the placement. I attached them using wood glue. *The ones pictured below are the rectangle ones I used for the bricks. The square ones come in the same bag. I went through two bags of squares and two bags of rectangles.

Step 11:

Add the baseboards.

Alternative: Again, I used the squares from Hobby Lobby. This time though I used the medium size.

Final Touches:

You can choose to add the brick work as I did using the rectangle chips from Hobby Lobby. I just free handed placement and wood glued them into place. You can also just paint it as is and it will still look great. I just really liked the added detail!

Also, for the woodpile I had the kids collect sticks and then I just sliced them into little pieces. If you don’t have a tiny chop saw I don’t recommend doing this! Michael’s sells a bag of the same thing I made from sticks, just more uniform in appearance.  Just use wood glue and glue them into place.

I added two cup hooks, one on each side just like the AG one.

For the pile of wood used in the grill, I used the sticks the kids collected and glued them together. I didn’t paint them, but if you want them to look like they’ve been cooked on you can paint them black with hints of grey.

For the tile work around the counter, I used a printable. I lightly brushed on Mod Podge then slowly added the printable. The key to using Mod Podge on printables is very light even layers. You will have wrinkles or bubbles! Once the printable is on, let it completely dry before you add a layer of Mod Podge on top.  Stove/Oven Tile Printables

To get the cool texture on the chimney I used puffy paint. The color I needed wasn’t available in puffy paint, so I mixed a little bit of the paint color with white puffy paint. Just glob it on and give it swirls with your paint brush. This should be done after everything else is built and painted. The only thing that should be done after the puffy paint is the painting of the flower on the chimney. I just free handed the flower and the green circle, then used a teal puffy paint for the dots.

Even though the kids couldn’t help with the build, they were very much involved in this project. I had them sort all the wood chips from the bags for the bricks and trim work. They also got to glue the sticks into place, glue the tile on the grill top, and help paint!