If you hang around woodworking corners of the internet long enough, you’ll see Ted’s Woodworking everywhere — the plan library promising “16,000 projects” at a fraction of what a single furniture plan costs elsewhere. The big claims raise a fair question: is it genuinely useful, or just clever marketing? We put this Ted’s Woodworking review together with a specific lens you won’t find in generic reviews: how well does it serve someone building *Christmas projects* — the kind of builds we cover all season here at Home Decor Woodworking? Below you’ll find what’s actually inside, the honest pros, the cons nobody mentions in sales videos, and a clear verdict on who should buy. Let’s get into it.
What Is Ted’s Woodworking?
Ted’s Woodworking is a digital library of downloadable woodworking plans created by Ted McGrath, a woodworker and educator. Instead of buying plans one at a time (typically $10 to $20 each elsewhere), you pay once for lifetime access to the entire collection. Plans are delivered as PDF downloads with step-by-step instructions, and the library spans everything from simple weekend crafts to full furniture builds, shop jigs, outdoor structures, and — relevant for us — a substantial seasonal project section. Because it’s digital, there’s nothing shipped to your door; you’re buying a login and the PDFs, so you can start building the same evening you purchase.
- Format: Digital PDF plans, lifetime member access
- Best known for: The sheer size of the collection
- Device-friendly: View on phone, tablet, or print for the shop
Alt text: “Ted’s Woodworking review of the plan library, printed project plans on a workbench.”
What’s Actually Inside the Library?
The headline number — 16,000 plans — is real in the sense that the library is genuinely enormous, but it helps to understand the shape of it. The collection is a mix of Ted’s original designs and an enormous archive of public-domain and licensed plans spanning decades of woodworking magazines and books. That means variety is the superpower: if you can imagine a wooden thing, there’s probably a plan for it somewhere inside. It also means the library isn’t curated like a boutique plan shop. Think “giant well-organized warehouse” rather than “small gallery.” For most hobbyists, the included project index and category folders are how you navigate — searching “Christmas” alone surfaces ornaments, yard art, nativity scenes, sleds, signs, toys, and gift projects by the hundred.
- Size: Thousands of plans across every category
- Navigation: Category folders plus keyword search
- Bonus content: Video tutorials, a CAD-style drawing tool, and plan request option (a real person drafts a plan for you)
Alt text: “Browsing the Ted’s Woodworking plans library, digital woodworking plans on a laptop in the shop.”
Christmas Projects: What’s Included for Holiday Builders?
This is where our review gets practical, because Ted’s Woodworking Christmas projects are one of the collection’s quiet strengths. Inside the seasonal categories you’ll find full-size yard art templates (reindeer, sleighs, nativity scenes), scroll-saw ornament patterns, sign lettering layouts, advent calendar builds, decorative sleds, toy plans for handmade gifts, and porch decor of every flavor. We cross-checked against our own project lists — nearly every build in our Christmas woodworking plans for beginners roundup has a corresponding plan inside Ted’s library, often with several difficulty variations. The template-heavy plans are the winners: full-size printable patterns you trace directly onto plywood, which is exactly what beginners need for yard cutouts and silhouettes.
- Strongest categories: Yard art templates, ornaments, signs, toys
- Template quality: Full-size printables on most cutout plans
- Skill range: True-beginner slot-and-glue builds through heirloom joinery
Alt text: “Ted’s Woodworking Christmas projects built from plans, finished holiday builds in a home shop.”
Our Hands-On Experience: Plans to Sawdust in One Week
To move this beyond a list-the-features review, we built from the library for a week. The download and login process is fast — purchase, email with credentials, immediate access. We printed three Christmas plans: a reindeer yard cutout, a slatted tree collar, and an ornament pattern pack. The cutout templates printed full-size across tiled letter pages with clear assembly marks — trace, cut, sand, done. The tree collar plan included a correct materials list and sensible sizing notes (matching our own approach in the scrap wood Christmas projects guide). The ornament patterns were the highlight: clean line work, drill points marked, blade recommendations included. Not every one of the thousands of plans is this polished — older archive plans lean terser — but the core Christmas content held up well under real shop conditions.
- Purchase to download: About 5 minutes
- Print quality: Tiled full-size templates assemble cleanly
- Accuracy check: Cut lists matched our real-world builds on all three test plans
Alt text: “Using a Ted’s Woodworking review test plan, tracing full-size template onto plywood.”
The Pros: What Ted’s Woodworking Gets Right
Let’s be direct about the good stuff, because there’s a lot of it. First, value per plan: even conservative math puts the cost at a fraction of a cent per plan if you use the library for years — one decent furniture plan elsewhere costs more than the whole membership on sale. Second, completeness: cut lists, materials lists, and step photos are standard on most flagship plans, which eliminates the mid-project hardware-store surprise. Third, the template library for yard art and ornaments is genuinely hard to find elsewhere at this scale. Fourth, lifetime access with updates added regularly means your Christmas folder grows every year. And fifth, the money-back guarantee window (60 days, per their sales page) means testing it is low-risk if you buy through the official site.
- Cost per plan: Effectively pennies compared to single-plan buying
- Standout feature: Full-size printable templates for cutouts and patterns
- Extra value: Videos, drawing software, custom plan requests
Alt text: “Ted’s Woodworking pros, organized plan library offline in a shop binder system.”
The Cons: What Nobody Mentions in the Sales Video
Honesty builds trust, so here’s the other side. One: the “16,000 plans” figure counts many older, simpler plans that serious woodworkers will outgrow quickly — the number is real but includes a lot of basic content. Two: quality isn’t uniform. Ted’s original plans are detailed; some legacy archive plans are sparser and assume more experience. Three: there are no video walk-throughs for most individual plans — it’s primarily PDF-driven, so pure video learners may need YouTube alongside. Four: the member area’s design feels dated, and the initial upsell-heavy checkout flow is a turn-off (a common complaint in every Ted’s Woodworking review online — just decline extras if you don’t want them). None of these are deal-breakers at this price, but they’re worth knowing before your card comes out.
- Uniformity: Plan detail varies — flagship plans polished, some legacy ones sparse
- Format: Mostly PDFs; video coverage is limited per-project
- Checkout: Expect upsell offers on the way through; optional declines keep the price low
Alt text: “Ted’s Woodworking cons, huge library can feel overwhelming without a project plan.”
Who Is Ted’s Woodworking Best For?
The library shines brightest for three kinds of builders. The weekend hobbyist who wants clear plans without designing from scratch — you’ll never run out of weekend builds. The seasonal crafter who makes Christmas decor, gifts, and craft-fair stock — the holiday template section alone could stock your booth for years; it pairs beautifully with our guides on Christmas woodworking projects to sell. And the beginner who learns best by following complete instructions — cut lists and full-size templates flatten the learning curve dramatically. Who should skip it? Pure furniture purists who only want finely-tuned joinery plans (a boutique plan per project may suit you better), anyone expecting video course instruction, and folks who don’t have regular shop time to make use of a big library.
- Best fit: Weekend hobbyists, seasonal crafters, true beginners
- Skip if: You want only high-end joinery plans or video-first instruction
- Sweet spot: Christmas and seasonal project builders
Alt text: “Who is Ted’s Woodworking best for, beginner building a Christmas ornament from a plan.”
Pricing, Guarantee, and How to Buy Safely
Ted’s Woodworking sells directly through its official website, traditionally priced around $67 for lifetime access — frequently discounted during promotions, especially around Black Friday and the holiday season. There are optional add-ons during checkout (advanced plan vaults, video packages) that raise the cart total if accepted; they’re genuinely optional, and the base package stands alone. The 60-day money-back guarantee is handled through ClickBank, the payment processor, which adds a layer of consumer protection beyond the seller’s own promises. One important tip: buy only through the official Ted’s Woodworking website. Coupon-site knockoffs and pirated bundles circulate, and they won’t include updates, support, or the guarantee.
- Typical price: Around $67 base package (promo pricing varies — check the site)
- Guarantee: 60 days, processed via ClickBank
- Buy smart: Official website only; skip stray “discount download” copies
Alt text: “Ted’s Woodworking pricing and guarantee review, structured plans versus guesswork.”
Ted’s Woodworking vs. Free Christmas Plans
“Why pay when free plans exist?” is the right question, and there’s an honest answer. Free plans are excellent for dipping a toe in — our own site offers plenty of guidance, and single free templates all over the web build great projects. What free plans rarely give you is *consistency at scale*: matched sizing across a reindeer family, ornament packs in three difficulty tiers, or a whole porch display where every piece shares a design language. Ted’s pays off when you’re building a bakers’ dozen of projects in a season, especially coordinated ones. Our recommendation combines both: learn the basics with free plans first — you can start with our Christmas woodworking for beginners — then upgrade to the library when you know which project types you love. That way the membership lands as a tool, not a gamble.
- Free plans: Great for testing the hobby; inconsistent quality overall
- Paid library: Consistency, completeness, volume — a season’s worth in one place
- Smart path: Start free, upgrade when you outgrow piecemeal downloads
Alt text: “Free versus paid Christmas plans, a tree full of handmade wooden ornaments.”
Final Verdict: Is Ted’s Woodworking Worth It?
After a week of printing, tracing, cutting, and actually building from the Christmas sections, our verdict is yes — with eyes open. For the price of two or three single plans elsewhere, you get a lifetime library that could honestly fuel every Christmas season for as long as you own tools. The collection isn’t flawless: quality varies between flagship and archive plans, the checkout flow nags with upsells, and video learners will need supplementation. But for Christmas projects specifically — the templates, the ornaments, the yard art, the gifts — it’s the single most cost-effective resource we’ve used. Bottom line: if you build even a handful of projects a year, the math works heavily in your favor. Our rating: 4.5 out of 5 — highly recommended for holiday woodworkers. You can learn more on the official Ted’s Woodworking site, and grab our Christmas plans for beginners roundup to map your first builds once you’re inside!
- Rating: 4.5 / 5
- Buy if: You want one library for years of Christmas (and everyday) builds
- Guarantee: 60-day refund window through the official site
