Coffee Table Part 1

I hope everyone has had a great Thanksgiving Weekend!


I've been giving a lot of thanks this weekend myself. We've had wonderful family in town, spent a lot of time with friends, ate some good food, and started building a coffee table. 


Wait, what? 


Yes, you read that right, I finally started working on my coffee tables. I bought the steel for them last week and was able to begin working on the smaller one thanks to having family in town to watch the Con-Man.

So to begin I cleaned the grease off my steel bars. I just used some Goo Gone that I had but any degreaser or even paint thinner will work.

Ew look at the grease!

Next, before I started assembling it I used my Dremel Tool with the grinding bit to grind off any rough ends. This way my corners will fit together nicely.

Rough End

Smooth End!

I started the small coffee table first. I thought it would be good practice and it would go quickly. I wanted to lay out all my pieces first just to make sure everything would fit together properly.

As I was doing this they kept falling over, so I remedied this by using Gorilla glue to hold it all together until I could tack weld everything. This might sound silly to someone who does this for a living but it worked for me.

I was finally ready to start some welding! My Mother in Law was nice enough to take a picture of me in action. Thanks Ms. Dee!

And after a while I had the base and frame together.

It's not finished yet, I still need to straighten out any angles that aren't 90 degrees, grind off any slag, then polish it up and find some reclaimed wood for the tops. But it's a start! I'm getting excited!

Before to long I'll have this:

Anyone else take on a big project over the long weekend?

Thrift Store Steal (of the Century!)

I happened to have some time off this week and just happened to pop into one of the thrift stores near our house. I almost didn't since I usually don't find anything of interest there but this time I did.


Look! Two Mid Century Lounge chairs in near perfect condition!

I couldn't believe it, I'd never seen anything like this at this store before. My heart started beating fast- two people were sitting in them. I was sure they were thinking about buying them and thought I was to late.

I decided to ask if they were going to buy the chairs and it turns out they were not! So then I looked at the price preparing myself to be disappointed with a high number. But they were only $16.99 each! OMG! OMG! (In case you don't search Ebay often these type of chairs sell in the $100 range.)

Ok, act normally- don't call attention to yourself.

The Con- Man and I sat in them for a while trying to decide what to do. I was going back and forth about buying them because I really didn't need them. I'm really only supposed to be buying dining chairs. 

But I just couldn't pass up this deal. They were so cool! I knew I would regret it later if I didn't buy them. 

So for now they're just chilling in the sunroom waiting for me to decide what to do with them.

Have you ever had a heart stopping thrift store moment? I sure did today!

Nerd Alert!

It's no secret to my friends, or even people who aren't that good of friends- I love me some Harry Potter!

I've been waiting and waiting for the first part of the 7th movie to come out and we went to see it this weekend. Earlier in the week though I had come across Raegunwear's blog where they had a Harry Potter crafting party.

How fun! I was inspired to make a Harry Potter shirt of my own (Yes I am a 29 year adult with a child and I'm making clothes for myself based on a children's book- I'm not embarassed.)

I have made some T-Shirts before but this time I thought I'd try a technique I saw on Susan's blog Living With Punks.


I started by creating my template on the computer. I downloaded the Harry Potter Lighting Font and created this:

After I printed it out I traced it onto Freeze Paper and cut it out using an Exacto Knife (See Susan's Blog for all the details!)

I ironed the Freezer Paper stencil onto the shirt then painted it. I ended up with this:

Ya, I wore it to the movie. Probably won't wear it again until the next movie comes out but I'm proud of it. 

Mission Impossible, or not?

Do you hear what I hear? That jingle, jangle, clank, clank in my car? It's not Santa's Sleigh or a broken axle. It's the first part of my Christmas present to me!

I finally made it down to the steel supply here in town and bought my materials for my coffee tables! It's 3/4" Steel Tubing, I bought it from the friendly folks at Triple S Steel

They were super nice and helped me decide which was the best product for my project. They were so helpful and didn't mind that my order was small compared to most of the orders they receive.

I can't wait to get started! I am a little nervous though. This will be the biggest welding project I've taken on by myself. When I made my end tables I had my grandfather in-law helping me. So this will either go well or really bad. I'm optimistic though!

In the next few weeks this -

Will hopefully turn into this -

Wish me luck!!

Have you ever had a project you weren't sure you could complete? Any success stories would give me some encouragement!

Dining Room Dreaming

This past weekend I had a little time to hit up some of the thrift shops here in town with some success. I've been on the hunt for a new dining room set. I've been looking at Craigslist, Ebay, and thrift stores when I have the chance.


Well this weekend I happened to stop in at The Oz, everything they have is Mid-Century themed and they have lots of cool stuff. I usually don't stop in because they are pretty pricey. But I took a look for the heck of it and saw these a pair guys for sale:

They were marked $125 but I talked them down to $80. Not the deal of the century but I really liked them. They are made of teak, sturdy and in good shape. They are the style I've been looking for but haven't had a lot of luck in finding.

They have neat little details-

They just need some new upholstery. I just need to find them two more friends of a similar style and I'll hunt for some appropriate fabric.

And the funny thing is that The Hubs has yet to say anything about them! I don't know if he really hasn't noticed that there are 2 new chairs in the dining room or that he's so used to strange objects showing up in our house that he no longer feels the need to comment.

So to recap-

This

+ this

will eventually =

I'm so excited! Has anyone else found something they have been searching for lately? Any good thrift store finds? Anyone have some chairs they want to donate to me? ;)

The Drafting Tables Many Uses

First I just want to say a huge Thank You! to Cassity at Remodelaholic for featuring my DIY Curtain Rods and Kaysi at Keeping it Simple for featuring my Doggie Bookcase. Thanks Ladies- you're awesome!


I'll always have a nostalgic place in my heart for drafting tables. I sat many years in front of one in design school. 

(That'sme in the background!)



Sitting on a rickety stool with my laptop and sketch paper in front of me, I hadn't thought much about them since I left. And I never thought I had a use for one in my house.

Until I saw this picture on Apartment Therapy.

Now I'm having some thoughts (which is dangerous). Do I need a drafting table- no. But how elegant is that? I love it!! I've seen drafting tables for sale on Craigslist periodically and didn't think much about it.

Hmmmm....

I had seen this one for sale and considered buying it just for the wood top, thinking I might use it for a table top. But the dimensions aren't quite right. And I thought the price was a little high, especially since I just wanted the top.

I really don't have a need or space for a serving table like the first one is used for, but maybe one day I will. Or maybe I'll have a larger kitchen that will need an island and I can use one with a piece of granite on top. Ya! One day...

Plus I don't think the Hubs will be to happy with me if I bring home more furniture since I brought home some this weekend (pics to come!).

In other news I finished the San Antonio Rock and Roll Half Marathon today! Hooray!

I've been training hard for it the last few weeks, thus the lack of projects. I'm hoping to get back on the ball soon. Until then- Rock on!



Pillows for Con's Room

When I was decorating Con-Man's Room before he was born I was inspired by some of the work in the book by Amy Butler "Little Stitches for Little Ones". (Love her fabric!)

I had high aspirations of making several things in the book, the diaper bag, clothes, blocks, ect, but ended up only making this cat pillow from some remnants I had from his bedding.

It was one of the first times I've followed a pattern and I think it turned out pretty good! I hand stitched his mouth and ironed on the eyes. Con- Man loves it and sleeps with it every night.

I also made this patchwork pillow with some other leftover fabric. I think they look good together.

Easy Upgrade: Reupholster Chairs

If you're looking for a quick and easy way to update furniture around your house, reupholstering chair cushions is one of them. It's inexpensive and makes a big difference in your room. You can redo the chairs you already have or pick one up at a thrift store or garage sale.


This is a pair I did back in high school.

I wish I had before pictures because they were pretty hideous. I bought one at a thrift store for $5 and the other at a garage sale for $2. I reupholstered them in matching fabric, spray painted the frames, and they are good as new!

And here one of my fabulous followers; MalPal, shares a step by step on how you can do this yourself!

Hello Rachelle,

Looking through your site the other day inspired me to try and re-furbish an old chair myself. I found this chair at a garage sale for just $3.00.   It was pretty ugly but I knew it had potential. 

I sanded it really good then bought 2 cans of Kroylon Brown Leather spray paint from WalMart and some aqua and gold upholstery fabric from the fabric store.   The chair cushion was made of foam and not in the best of shape.  I bought some Quilt-Light Batting to wrap around the foam to make it softer around the edges.  

Then stapled the batting and fabric all around.  Then finished it off by trimming the fabric and reattaching the cushion

I love the way it came out.   

My husbands jaw dropped when he saw it.   He actually thought I was crazy when I came home with it.   So for around $20.00 I have a great new chair.  Thanks for all your inspiration.  

Wow! Great transformation! Thank you so much for sharing it with us!

And check out Remodelaholic tomorrow to see my Curtain Rods featured! Yay!

And I'm guest blogging over at Keeping it Simple tomorrow as well!