base – A Smith of All Trades

I really try to like colors that aren’t a shade of blue or green. Honest, I do. I bought a coral/pink candle holder from Target a few weeks ago on clearance that I thought would add a nice pop of color to my living room.

You can see it on the table, pulling the same color from my poppy pillow on the couch.

And again on my console table pulling out the color in the maraca I brought back from our honeymoon.

I like the coral color on both of those pieces, but I hate it on the calendar. Seriously, it is awful. Every time I walk by our living room it jumps out at me. “Ha ha, there’s ugly pink in your rooooooom.”

Well, ugly pink no more.

I didn’t want to return the piece since I paid $5. It was a good price and I liked the overall look, just not the hideous color. I taped off the wooden based and, for good measure, a stripe to remain coral.

Then I rushed outside to spray paint the whole thing.

Ahhhh, so much better already.

Once the white dried, I pulled off the tape… and still hated the coral. So I sanded down the line left from the paint and did the entire thing in white. I liked it, but thought it needed something special. Something extra.

So of course I added mint to it. I can’t help it… I just love mint green. And aqua and teal and blue and green.

I then slapped a light stain on the wood base!

It looks so much better (to me anyway). And now it looks right at home on my new console table.

No more ugly pink staring at me in the room. I can breathe a sign of relief.

So what do you think? Better before or after? If you are pink people, then you probably think I’m nutso. It was a cool piece to begin with. But if you are like me and coral pink makes you want to tear at your eyes, the after is much better.

Tomato Tally: 120

Christmas, Craft Projects, Holiday

Christmas Eve Craft: Wooden Tree

January 6, 2014January 5, 2014 Jessica Smith

Last year, err 2012, my dad and I did a craft on Christmas Eve. It was one of the highlights of my Christmas break and I was looking forward to doing one again this holiday season. My family loves traditions, and when you do something awesome, why not do it every year?!

Well, turns out my dad scheduled carpal tunnel surgery the Thursday before Christmas Eve. ON BOTH HANDS! He is crazy, and tough, and did I mention crazy?

If I had asked him to Christmas craft with me on Christmas Eve, he probably would have said yes. So I didn’t ask. Sometimes the kid has to play parent.

Instead, I set out to make a craft as a final Christmas gift for him.

When we made our Christmas Tree craft in 2012, we cut out one extra base for this year — we had grand plans to make a light up tree!

With the base already cut, I got out my supplies for my craft: shims, paint sticks, Minwax stain cloths, wood glue and battery operated lights.

First, I cut off the “tree stand” from the tree we created last year. Basically, I trimmed down the tree so it was a triangle with an itty bitty rectangle stump.

Then, I lined my shims and paint sticks in rows to see how many I had and if I wanted to cut any down to size.

I definitely had a few to trim and sand, but first I got to staining.

Speaking of stain, I was fortunate to receive a few Minwax goodies before the holidays. One of the goodies I got was a new product I hadn’t heard about. Minwax now makes stain cloth wipes! They look kinda gross (OK, really gross), but they are awesome.

I wanted two different tones of wood on the tree, so I opened both pouches. Each wipe is soaked in stain and each pouch comes with a handy set of gloves (it’s like they know I won’t wear gloves if they aren’t taped to the package!)… use a wipe, toss wipe, toss gloves, you are clean! I am pretty sure this product was designed for me…

Awesome, huh?

I let the stained shims dry for about an hour before moving on with the project.

Dry stain meant time to get moving. I was doing all of this on Christmas Eve after all. I used wood glue to adhere the shims to the tree base (after trimming down a few here and there with a hand saw). When all of the shims and paint sticks were in place, I smushed the entire tree under a heavy bin to put pressure on the shims to help them stay in place.

With the three dried and holding up well, I moved onto the lights. I bought battery-operated LED lights from Target. The strand had 18 itty bitty lights on it, so 18 itty bitty holes I drilled. I taped all of the wired down against the back of the tree and added the battery pack to the back with velcro command strips. Last, I drilled a hole in the top and wove a ribbon through the top.

Unfortunately, this next picture doesn’t do the tree justice. But in the hustle and bustle of the holiday, I didn’t really care to get the perfect picture. Forgive me?

All that really matters is that my dad loved the tree. He hung it up immediately 🙂 In 2014, we are definitely crafting together though. That was just better, even if my tree is pretty darn cool.

Did I mention the lights twinkle, too? Light-up tree? Mission accomplished!

Furniture

Metalic Pedestal Side Table

July 25, 2013July 22, 2013 Jessica Smith

I’ve had this beautiful silver tray for more than a year now, holding onto it because I knew eventually I’d come up with something cool for it. Well, I finally was inspired to tackle the tray, turning it into a side table for my navy blue chair.

My coworker and I were rummaging through a local thrift store on our lunch break last week and I found (what Rachel called) a plant stand that would become the perfect base for my table.

A whole $5 later and I took that puppy home and got to work. First, I had to remove the top of the plant stand. Whoever built this screwed the top in right through the top itself. It didn’t look so hot, but whatevs.

Once the top was off, I wanted to cut the icky part of the base off of the top. It was covered in an adhesive and was rather gunky.

My hacksaw quickly did the trick.

Next up, drilling through my tray. I used a drill bit that was capable of drilling through metal to put a hole smack dab in the middle of my tray.

Then using a screw, I secured the tray to the top. In theory, I’ll eventually get a nicer screw for the top that is even less noticeable, but the one I chose you can barely see, so it works for now.

Ta da!

Except my hubby thought it was really ugly. And the more I looked at it, especially next to the chair, the more I thought it was sorta ugly, too

So then I decided to spray paint the base black. I did the best spray paint job of my life, which involved a TON of patience. A few coats later and a coat of primer and I was almost finished.

One last step — I cut a small circle of thin wood out to sit under the tray so it wouldn’t be flimsy. After painting this black, too, I secured the table back together.

Much better, huh?

It’s the perfect size for a side table, although Brian still hates it so I might relocate this table into our downstairs bathroom to hold a few decorative knickknacks and some hand lotion.

I think it’s pretty darn cute, though. And for under $10 — heck yes!

Tag: base

White and Mint Metal Candle Holder

Christmas Eve Craft: Wooden Tree

Metalic Pedestal Side Table

Rate this:

Share this:

Like this:

Rate this:

Share this:

Like this:

Rate this:

Share this:

Like this: