From Trash to Treasure

One side effect of my increased jogging efforts is that I see a lot more of my neighbor's curbs than I normally would. I typically jog through the various neighborhoods near our home, switching up my routes for variety. Therefore, on trash day (and the days before and after) I see a lot of the stuff people put by the curb to be taken away. Recently with all the wind damage, it's been mostly tree limbs, but occasionally people put out some interesting stuff. I jogged by a particular pile near someone who was moving, and noticed what looked to me like a relatively nice piece of wood working. I didn't stop (because I couldn't- fitness first), but I took a good look when I ran by it again and decided that the lack of recent rain had spared it and that I would stop by with my car and grab it asap. What I got was a cracked, cobwebby former end table with no top. Observe its beauty:

or not. 

it's seen better days

It had 4 fairly penetrating cracks through the sort of heart-shaped bottom portion, and I wondered if I had bitten off more than I could chew trying to fix it, but it also has a lot of nice detail and is a heavy, solid piece, so I decided to try. After knocking off most of the cobwebs (yuck!), I got out the clamp and wood glue. Here is Holmes modeling the table as it lays on its side getting glued.

Using 2 clamps would have been optimal, but I only had one, so I only used one. I glued each crack and clamped it at least overnight, adding a couple of finishing nails in inconspicuous places to help reinforce it. Next I took it outside and sanded it all over. I used an electric sander on most of it and a sanding sponge on all of the small detail areas. At this point I made the decision that I didn't want to use it as a table, but wanted to try to make a bench instead. We've got plenty of end tables, but we can always use more seating. With that in mind, I went to pick out a fabric to put on a top cushion. I had originally planned this for the guest room, so I was generally trying to match the color scheme of light greens, yellow, and aqua in there. The fabric I picked is an ikat, which is big right now, and it's exactly the colors I wanted, however I'm still deciding if I love the print or not. George says it "hurts his eyes." 

Once I had my fabric, I went over to Lowe's to get some paint to match. I ended up with a historic preservation color, which I like the idea of for a sort of vintage shabby chic piece. I thought about going with the deeper olive green that's an accent color, but we all know I'm a junkie for any shade of teal, so the light aqua color won out. I ended up with a Valspar paint and primer in one, since I'm both optimistic and lazy, but it actually went on really nicely and covered in two coats. I used a small foam roller to apply the paint evenly to the flat areas without brush marks. I also used a small foam paintbrush to get in the many crevices and detail areas. 

using the foam roller

foam brush for the small parts

done! 

I painted outside and was constantly harassed by mosquitos, who laughed at my bug bracelet and bit me anyway. Repeatedly. No sacrifice too great for DIY. 

Next, I worked on my cushion for the top of the bench. I went and got some 3/4 inch plywood cut to the dimensions of the top of my bench at Home Depot. It was cheap and sturdy, and I appreciate that they will cut it for you, since I have a mitre saw, but no table saw. I did some research online and found that high-density foam is what you want on your bench to cushion your buns. I went to a fabric store and got a piece that was closest to my top dimensions, then cut it down with a box cutter, using my wood piece as a guide. 

At this point I thought I was all ready to wrap my fabric around the top of my foam and wood piece, but realized that the corners were quite sharp, despite the foam. To round the corners, I used a double layer of batting over the foam and wood, wrapping it like a present and stapling it to the back. 

putting the batting over the foam

my new staple gun in action

keeping the corners neat

Once you get it all stapled on the back, it's important to cut off as much excess batting as you can beyond the staples. This will help it lie flatter when you attach it to the bench base later. Next, I did the same process with the fabric over top. Do remember to iron your fabric first though, so it's not wrinkled for eternity on the bench. The corners were the hardest part and took some experimenting to get them even close to how I wanted them to look. 

stapling again

tricky corners

finished cushion 

After a round of paint touch-ups, it was time to attach the cushion to the wooden base. I tried some nails initially, but the underside of the former table had a very small lip area to work with and I kept bending the nails. I had a feeling screws would work better anyway, and I was right. The best part was that I used screws leftover from a bookshelf we bought, so I didn't spend time and money getting them. I pre-drilled some guide holes slightly smaller than my screws and then used the power drill to screw them through the wooden base and into the plywood. Much better. Here's a shot of the bottom of the bench. 

one screw in each corner

And now it's all done! I took it upstairs by our bay window to photograph it in better light, and the cats tested it out immediately. 

tah-dah! 

I like the moldings at the top

It would have been a shame to toss it, right? 

Watson's enjoying the cushion

It turns out that it fits the color scheme of our living room just as well and can sit over the air vent without blocking the air flow, so I think I'll leave it upstairs for a while. There ends its journey from from the curb. I think it turned out well and was cheaper than buying the stylish upholstered stool/benches you see these days. 

feline tested, Holmes approved

Happy 4th of July!

Lots of red, white, and blue food has been circulating around the Internet lately ahead of the holiday. I saw some cute dipped strawberries with white chocolate and blue sugar, but nothing really caught my imagination until I saw a marbled red, white, and blue cake. It seemed simple but fun to make. Here's the original recipe from Tablespoon. Frankly, it's more of a process than a recipe, because the original relies on a box cake mix and store-bought frosting. That's just not how I roll these days though. Have you ever looked at the ingredients in those pints of frosting? It's a lot more than butter, sugar, vanilla, and salt, let me tell you.

Anyway, based on my desire to make this cake (and, more importantly, for saving our bacon during the recent power outage), I invited my BFF Amanda and her boyfriend Brandon over to cook out on the 4th. I made hamburgers, roasted rosemary potatoes, sangria, and, of course, "firecracker" cake. I wanted to get some sparklers for the top, but I just didn't get it done. The original was in a bundt pan, and I don't own one yet, so I used a regular cake pan instead.

my firecracker cake interpretation

What I learned is that it takes a whoooole lotta food coloring to color cake batter (and frosting) a strong red and a strong blue. Because I was rushing a little, and because I didn't realize it would take SO much food coloring, my cake came out a little more tribute to the '80s than a tribute to America. A little more pink than red, really. But, it tasted great, so that's what really matters. I used an amazing frosting recipe that I got from my college friend Lauren's blog, which is great- she's such a foodie. Her recipe is for whoopie pie filling, but it made enough to frost the 12-inch cake with a little bit left over. This is some of the best frosting I've ever made or eaten, so you should try it for your next dessert that requires frosting- cake, cookies, cupcakes, whatever.

a shot of the marbled interior

This would be fun in a number of colors for kids' birthdays, etc. based on the same principle of coloring white cake. Just be prepared for a lot of food coloring and a lot of stirring.