Ikea Hack For FREE!!

Yes, you read that correctly, this table was FREE! It is made from two different IKEA products found in the garbage.

 

 

First you take one Klubbo side table which looked like it had been left out in the rain...

 



 

Then you add the slatted bed base from the Fjellse bed...

 

 

 

and you get this gorgeous table all for $0.00!

 

 



 

 

I found the original table in a neighbours garbage and thought I would buy some wood to make a new top.  Later that evening I noticed the bed slats in another neighbours garbage and realized it would be perfect for the top. 

 

I started by measuring my wood so I have about a 3/4" overhang and I cut the wood  (using my husbands mitre saw all by myself for the first time ever!).  I used black satin finish Rustoleum spray paint and covered the base with three coats.  While that was drying I lightly sanded and then stained the wood using Special Walnut colour stain.  When dried I laid the wood on the ground and used some offcuts of the wood to join them all together on the bottom.  I attached the top using wood screws to the frame.  To finish off the table and to protect it, I used two coats of Polyacrylic in satin finish and left it to dry. 

 

I love the combination of the smooth, modern metal and the rustic, aged wood.







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Sharing With:

Funky Junk Interiors                                   French Country Cottage

Life On Lakeshore Drive                            The Thrifty Groove
Be Different Act Normal                            The Chicken Chick
Thrifty Decor Chick                                   The Dedicated House
Alderberry Hill                                           A Humble Creation
An Original Belle                                       A Pinch of Joy
Serendipity and Spice                                 The Tumbleweed Contessa
The Rustic Pig                                            Elizabeth & Co
Not Just A Housewife                                Kathe With An E
Coastal Charm                                            Fluster Buster
If It's Not Baroque                                      Savvy Southern Style
Creative Cain Cabin                                    A Diamond In The Stuff
Someday Crafts                                           I Gotta Create
The Shabby Creek Cottage                         Made In A Day
Common Ground                                        Embracing Change
52 Mantels                                                  No Minimalist Here
Live Laugh Rowe                                       House of Hepworths
The Pin Junkie                                            French Country Cottage
Miss Mustard Seed                                     Diana Rambles
Funky Junk                                                 Redoux

Bedside Table

Three years ago when we bought our cottage it suddenly dawned on us that we had to furnish a full cottage and a guest cottage and had no money to do it! It's amazing what you can get for free. I will write a post one day with all of the items we were given and how we sourced them, but for now I wanted to show you the before and after of this cute little bedside table. Unfortunately the pictures don't show the full extent of the bad condition it was in, but it was free and we all love that, don't we?

When I was sanding the piece I found the note below taped to the top of one of the cubbies.  I had to put it back in once the piece was finished as it's part of the history of the table. I will try to remember in 10 or 20 years to look up this little girl and see what she is doing for a living.

I hadn't heard about chalk paint so thought I had to sand it all down to paint it and as I started sanding I realized what a great solid wood piece it was and it became harder and harder to convince my husband that it should be painted. In the end we compromised and only painted the cubbies to save me the work of sanding those. 

I used two coats of "Colonial Oak" coloured stain. That was okay, but not the colour I was looking for so I then added a coat of "Special Walnut". It didn't go as dark as I would have liked, but the wood seemed to be "full" of stain and wasn't absorbing anymore so I settled on this colour. I did two coats of Polyacyrlic all over and four on the top (I am obsessed about protecting the wood on pieces I refinish and don't even get me started on coasters, I have them everywhere!) I used homemade chalk paint on the cubbies and two coats of polyacrylic on those after to protect them.

 

 

What is your favourite freebie project?

 

 

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A Pinch of Joy      The Dedicated House        Crafty, Scrappy, Happy         An Original Belle
A Humble Creation   

Pallet Heart Art

I convinced my husband to pick up a pallet for me, but it had been sitting in our driveway waiting for some inspiration for quite a while now. Finally I decided to make some Valentines art with it, but now I like it so much, it’s going to stay up year round.

There is some discussion on the safety of using pallets (see here).  I had my husband cut the pallet so I would have enough wood to make four boards each 12” x 12”.  I then soaked them in hot water with bleach (to kill any bugs) and used an old toothbrush to clean them off.  I left them to dry and then we used wood glue and clamps to glue three boards together to achieve the desired size.  I needed to stain the cut ends so I made some steel wool and vinegar stain, but it was very strong so I needed to dilute it a lot.  

I made a heart shape template from paper and used that as my guide for the first piece.  I nailed nails (appropriately enough) in a heart shape. 

That looked boring so I then used kitchen string and wrapped it back and forth across the heart until I was happy with the pattern and tied it off.

For the second heart I used some raffia I had and soaked it in water for a few minutes, I then shaped it into two hearts and weighted them down and left them overnight to dry.  I simply used hot glue to attach it top and bottom.

 

The third heart I shaped some thin copper wire around the nails on the first board and twisted wire to secure them leaving a couple of long ends at both points.  I drilled two small holes in the boards and put the ends of the wire through and covered them with hot glue to secure and to stop them from scratching the wall.  I was very disappointed with this one as it didn’t stand out very well.  I decided to put white glue on the board and covered it with some sand we had.  This improved it, but it does look better in person than in the pictures.

For the last board I laid out shells on the template and then slid them off onto the boards, adjusting as necessary.  Using hot glue, I attached them to the board.

To hang them I drilled pilot holes (I actually made a template with paper to show where to put the holes and to speed up the process) and put in ¾” screws and tied string to them to create something to hang on the wall hooks.

I am so pleased with these and they look great in our master ensuite.  Total Cost:  $0.00

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Funky Junk Interiors #173         Crafty Scrappy Happy #21            French Country Cottage
The Pin Junkie                           Tater Tots and Jello                       Sunny Simple Life
The Dedicated House #35         The Francis Family                        A Pinch Of Joy

Debbiedoo's                                Fox Hollow Cottage                      The Thrifty Groove #94

Common Ground #125               A Little Knick Knack #31             I Gotta Create #37
Lamb Around                             The Chicken Chick #19                 Someday Crafts
Homemaker On A Dime #97      Alderberry Hill                              A Humble Creation
An Original Belle                        Or So She Says                             The Rustic Pig #20
Elizabeth & Co. #55           A Bowl Full of Lemons                 If It's Not Baroque #5
Serendipity and Spice                Savvy Southern Style #104            Someday Crafts
Embracing Change                     Made In A Day                              The Shabby Creek Cottage
Diana Rambles                           Sassy Little Lady #3                       The Creative HomeAcre
DIY Showoffs                            Costal Charm #150                        Not Just A Housewife
Fluster Muster

 

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Power of Paint

I was so exicted to open an email this week from Maryann at Power of Paint and find out that my Union Jack trunk was selected as one of her features!  She has so many super projects from such fantastic bloggers that I'm honoured to be chosen.  If you haven't been to her blog yet, do stop by for a visit, you will be amazed at what you see.  Off to do my little happy dance now...

 

 

Read more about My Take On The Union Jack Craze 

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With Love From The Dollar Store

You gotta love a challenge and using materials from the Dollar Store is an economical way to make a super gift box.

 

I bought this great box for $1 and then typed out a page of the word "LOVE" in all different fonts.  I made a few copies and then used a wet tea bag to stain the pages to look old. 

I was going to use modge podge, but the cost seemed a lot so I used plain white craft glue and watered it down.  After adhering the words I gave it one more coat of the watered down glue and left it to dry.  It's now the perfect box to wrap homemade treats, jewelry or any other gift for that special someone.



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Debbiedoo's Valentine Dollar Tree Party                          An Original Belle

Funky Junk - SNS #171                                                     Elizabeth & Co. #55

Crafty Scrappy Happy #19                                                If It's Not Baroque #5

 Be Different Act Normal                                                  Serendipity and Spice

Common Ground                                                               Made In A Day

French Country Cottage                                                     Diana Rambles

The Thrifty Groove                                                           Sassy Little Lady #3

A Little Knick Knack                                                         Not Just A Housewife

Petite Hermine #94                                                            Fluster Buster

I Gotta Create #35

Lamb Around

The Chicken Chick

Nifty Thrifty Sunday #93

Embracing Change

A Pinch Of Joy

The Rustic Pig #18

The Dedicated House #33

A Bowl Full of Lemons

Savvy Southern Style

Kathe With An E #38

My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia #120

The Shabby Creek Cottage

Someday Crafts

The Pin Junkie

Homemaker On A Dime #97

Alerberry Hill

A Humble Creation

 



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Top Furniture Projects for 2012

Having only started this blog in November I don't have many projects to choose from, but I wanted to look at the best of 2012.

 

Bird On A Stool which was made and finished by my 12 year old son, Justin is a favourite.

 

And My Take On The Union Jack Craze as I was so pleased with how it turned out and it had the most views of any of my projects.

Wishing you and your family good health and great happiness in 2013.

 

 

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Debbiedoo's Power of Pinterest Party
Fox Hollow Cottage Power of Pinterest Party
I Gotta Create Wildly Original Link Party
Diana Rambles -Best of 2012
Feathered Nest Friday
Embracing Change

Bird On A Stool

My 12 year old son and his brother, Matthew, both made a stool like this at a wood working course a couple of years ago.  (See Matt's stool HERE).  It sat in our basement unused until now.  He has been watching me refinish furniture and blog and I finally convinced him to work on it.  I Googled some pictures for inspiration and he set to work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First he sanded it smooth.

Then he stained it using Special Walnut colour.

 






Then we found a bird image online, enlarged it to the size we wanted it and printed. We cut the bird out and he put in on the stool and traced around using chalk.








We were going to use homemade chalk paint, but we found the exact colour of paint he wanted in artist acrylic paint and it only took one good coat to cover it.  After we left it to dry overnight two coats of polyacrylic were applied with a light sanding with 220 sandpaper in between.

I hope you agree the finished product is something to be proud of. 


Before

 

  

 

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Linking to:

The Rustic Pig                                                                    The Pin Junkie

A Pinch Of Joy                                                                     The Shabby Creek Cottage

Sarahndipities

Kathe With An E

Coastal Charm

Homemaker On A Dime

Primitive And Proper

Between Naps On The Porch

Home Stories A To Z

My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

Funky Junk

Crafty Scrappy Happy #19

Debbiedoo's Newbie With A Twist Party

I Gotta Create #36

 

Dollar Store Gift Boxes

Inspired by Debbiedoo's Dollar Tree Christmas Link Party I headed out to Dollarama (Toronto's equivalent to The Dollar Tree).  I found these great wooden boxes for $2 each and thought they would be perfect to wrap gifts in because they could be used over and over again.

 

The first one I wanted to be able to use again any time of the year so I stained the main box with Special Walnut, including the inside.  I then topcoated it with two coats of polyacrylic.  Don't worry if you get a bit of stain on the "ribbon" you can just use sandpaper to sand it off.

Next I painted the ribbon with an antique white, but in future I would skip this step as it wasn't necessary and who wants to make extra work for themselves?  I then used my finger to spread white glue on the "ribbon" and sprinkled epsom salt onto it.  I left it to dry overnight and now I have a elegant, sparkly gift box.  (total cost $2 for the box, everything else was left over from past projects).

 

For the next red and silver box I used some leftover homemade red chalk paint which I had used on my Union Jack Trunk to paint the box.  I topcoated the box inside and out with polyacrylic in satin finish.  Inexpensive silver paint from Dollarama dressed up the ribbon and when dry I used white glue and silver glitter again from Dollarama to create some drama.  ($2 for the box, $1 for the glitter, $1 for the silver paint = $4 total with supplies left over for future projects).

 

 

 

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The Rustic Pig

Diana Rambles Pin Me #11