Third Time’s the Charm

…aka coffee table re-do.  As with most of my furniture, I inherited my coffee table from some friends. At the time, the coffee table was a significant improvement from the Rubbermaid bins that previously served as a footrest/coffee table surface.

After a while, however, the worn state of the coffee table just wasn’t doing it for me.

I really liked the texture of the table top, so when I was brainstorming up-cycle ideas, I wanted to keep this principle in play. My first idea was to use PVC pipe to make a surface, akin to Alicia’s mirror or Mandy’s dresser. I guess I should have been wary when everyone I told about this idea was skeptical. The boyfriend even (lovingly) refused to do this project with me. 
Round One:
I forged ahead anyway, and 40 feet of PVC later combined with 20 minutes with a rotor saw left me with this:

Hello my pretties!
Anyway, I got right to work laying out the PVC inside the newly deconstructed and painted coffee table frame. This blue-gray color is another treasure from the the “oops” paint section.

At this point, the coffee table is upside down with some scrap boards underneath to support an even lay of the pipes. So far, so awesome, right? I was having visions of an epic brag blog at this point. But pride comes before the fall, my friends. The idea was the glue the pipes together with a high strength epoxy and between the tension and the glue there wouldn’t be any need a base support. The guy at the hardware store (reluctantly) recommended an epoxy, so I went to town. In an attempt to make a uniform pattern, I worked from all four sides inward. And, to my utter dismay, I ended up with this:

A mid-table gap. Bad news bears. I am not quite sure how this worked out, since it all fit perfectly when I did the dry run.
So round one, fail. I can speak to the strength of the epoxy, however, since it took a hammer to crack out the pipe slivers when I went to break them out.
Round 2:
Next thought was the painted wood grain plywood table top. The best example is Mandy’s lamp shade (minus the glitter).  My landlord generously showed me how to use his fancy table saw so that we could get straight cuts for plywood piece. However, three seconds of the plywood placed in the table frame told me round two was a no go.

Round Three: Fence Fence Planks
My next idea was to use some old fence planks from my landlords’ fence (lucky for me, they are extremely generous with their tools and old materials). Fortunately, they were the perfect length for the coffee table. With my newly acquired table saw skills, I took a bit off the sides. Then it was a matter of nailing the boards together. I wanted to keep the rustic nature of the planks, so I just did  a quick sand to remove splinters and then used a gray wash (gray paint + water) to antique the color a bit. Two coats of polyurethane, and ta-da! I am in love.

This was by far my most time consuming and expensive failure. Fortunately, the final fix was free and perfect. In retrospect, the table now reflects the style of the house more than the PVC table would have. I do have a box full of PVC slivers and a large piece of plywood at my disposal now. Napkin rings for all?
In conclusion, this table is the poster child of the iterative creative process and how it behooves the artist to be flexible and generous to the inevitable flops that may precede the final beauty.

One Year In

I have been living in Winnemucca for over a year now, which sets the record for the longest contiguous stay in one place since I was sixteen. Overall, it has been a good year. I have thoroughly enjoyed nesting and exploring my creative horizons. Professionally, Winnemucca has brought numerous opportunities and challenges which have led to some stress but ultimately, great fulfillment.  Living in a small town is wonderful when you want to commute to work in under three minutes, walk to every conceivable location, and enjoy a quieter lifestyle. But with this comes the limitations of breaking into a community that is either highly transient (I have now been in Winnemucca longer than half of the employees at my office) or completely entrenched (half of those who have temporal seniority on me have been here for 15+ years, if not their whole lives). It is an awkward place to be as a twenty something in a long distance relationship. While I have not given up on a rewarding social life, most of my rejuvenation and outside of work activity revolves around the art projects that I produce. I am so grateful to have the tools and time at my disposal to learn new skills. I am also deeply thankful for those of you who read my blog and provide a community, albeit a virtual one.  I am not writing this to whine, but to be honest and dispel any illusion of perfection in my life.
And while we’re on the theme of imperfection, I thought I would give you a little house tour. I did not clean up in advance, and the photography is far from ideal. I love this house. As with my personal life this place has come a long way, but is still a work in progress.
Here is the dining room in 2011:

And in 2012:

The camping table, and first roommate are gone. The deceptively comfortable white chair is now in the room of Roomie #2.  Yes, that is a tequila bottle covered fake plant in the corner. It does not belong to me, if there were any questions. Let’s play ‘I Spy that Project’:

1. Suitcase stool
2. Half finished dining table set. The table used to be the yellow oak color of two of those chairs. Eventually they will have the walnut/white combo.
3. Vintage mirror from my Christmas candle display.

Ok, not much going on in the dining room. On to the living room.
2011:

2012:

In the living room, let’s spy:

1. Brand new fake fire place/gas heater.
2. The other half of the Christmas candle project.
3. The desk turned cabinet. While the construction of the desk is solid, I still am not crazy about the color combination. Furthermore, one of the re-purposed handles fell off today, so I may be back to the drawing board on this one. At the very least, I won’t be sad to part with it if I move away from Winnemucca.
4. Dr. Suess lamp. Half way through its transformation from your yawn inducing college kid lamp to a more interesting and austere light fixture.
5. Part of a crocheted rug. Here’s a hint: it won’t end up as a table cloth.
6. A blank wall, desperate for some Sarah-Do: February art action.

And into the kitchen! This might be my favorite room in the house.
2011:

2012:

I have probably put the most effort into this room, and it is the closest to “finished” as I have right now.  There are now cabinet doors (and drawers!) installed. We also ditched the avocado refrigerator in favor of a more sightly, and most importantly, functional appliance. You will also see:

1. The hand built kitchen table and chairs that started my DIY frenzy.
2. Microwave stand that I painted red. I also painted/decoupaged some old oatmeal and spagetti sauce jars to create cheap yet decorative storage containers for my beans, nuts, and other bulk items.
3. Wine bottle art! I am not sure if I ever blogged this particular installment in which I glued buttons and handmade flowers onto the wine bottles.
4. A Quagmire Halloween costume. Unfortunately, not mine.

Here is another view of the kitchen. For your viewing pleasure:

1. Barnyard bench, designed to contain our recycling.
2. One moderately contained craft supply corner.
3. A pumpkin shell turned bowl.
4. Safety gear. Don’t forget to wear your earplugs and safety glasses!

I don’t have a before picture of my bedroom, but here is how it looks now:

I Spy:

1. 2 lamps, halfway completed.
2. Hand made wall art, never blogged.
3. My first curtain sewing attempt, crafted from thrifted sheets. All in all, a success. At the time, I did not know the golden rule of curtain hanging: high and wide. Learn from my mistakes, gang.
4. A mirror, in need of a home on a wall and possibly a home made frame.
5. 1 slightly tacky throw pillow, that might get a make-over one day.

My bedroom used to be part of the wrap around porch.

And last, but not least, is me! 90% of my weekends are spent looking like this:

All this to say, I am not perfect nor am I the perfect crafter. It may look like a half-baked disaster around here most of the time, but I enjoy it, and I hope you do to.Before my projects make it onto the blog they usually sit around incomplete while I wait for the final flourish of inspiration to hit me. Art is messy, but in the mess I find a peace and quiet joy in my life here. And at the end of the day, that is all that matters.

Goals

Yes, it is true. This may be my third blog in less than four years. Let us put this in a little perspective, shall we? In the past four years I have:

• Moved 5 times (if you count conservatively)
• Answered 3 different e-mail address
• Lived in 4 states
• Answered to 2 different cell phone numbers
• Owned 2 cars
• Changed my Spacebook...I mean Facebook...profile picture 14 times
• Held 7 different jobs

So yes, there is a fickle streak in my blood. But you have to admit, 14 pictures in 4 years is a verrrryyyy low number of Facebook pictures. All in all, my blog count is leading the pack of stability for the past 4 years. Put that in your pipe and smoke it. 

Hopefully I will have the patience to stick with this blog for a long while. I tell myself that the next time I feel the urge to pick up and move, I really should just re-decorate. You Google Readers, hit that original item link every now and again, will ya? 

Speaking of re-decorating, I anticipate that this blog will host a few more craft projects and DIY goodies than the last one. The current hand-made happiness to-do list includes:

• Christmas presents
• Christmas tree
• coat rack
• coffee table
• wall art

Stay tuned for successes and successful failures!

In addition to blogging, this is a time in my year when work slows down and I get to hunker down to do fun things like read and cook rather than travel and sweat. I am excited about the stillness of winter, just not the cold. I plan on sharing these adventures as well. The hibernation to-do list:

• Read:
• Water for Elephants
• Life among the Paiutes
• Hunger Games
• The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
• The Hours
• Make
• Pumpkin yeast bread
• Christmas cookies
• Palatable yoghurt 

What about you? What projects are in the works? Any book suggestions?