The Things People Throw Out - why? WHY? (This post is otherwise entitled "That's what you get when you're an amateur DIY-er")

Look what I found! She was just

leaning on a lamp-post at the corner of the street
in case a certain little lady comes by,
oh me 
oh my.
 

And boy was I glad I was that little lady who came by....

I checked with the people in the shoplot nearby that she was not wanted, and took her home with me. She had her glass top missing, but I loved those legs!



I found that the only problem as far as repairs is concerned was that the thingies underneath were loose.


See those? Those are screws (even an amateur DIY-er like me knows that!)

Those I can tighten with an ordinary screw-driver.

But see the one in the middle?
Now what the dickens is that?  As far as I know there is no screwdriver that can fit that!

 


















I mentioned this to my husband before he took off to work the next morning.  He muttered something about Allen Keys.

Geez. I didn't know Alicia Keys had a brother. But why would he have anything to do with my table?

Later, I had to message him (my husband, not Allen Keys) for clarifications. Allen keys, he said, were the L-shaped thingies you use to tighten them thingies up there.


Here's Allen Keys. I mean an allen key.


How awesome is finding out something new every day? My friend LSY recently found out what jeggings were. Hee hee hee.
(Do you know?)

So after tightening them all up, off I went to the glass shop to order a piece of glass for the top..15 ringgit (about US$4.50).

I cleaned, gloss-painted, and distressed the table by sandpapering, before wood-staining her.














Unfortunately this is the only photo I have of the finished table!  GAHHH!  I couldn't find the others in my files.  And what's worse, several people were interested in buying her, so I sold her off as I had no place in the house where she would fit.  And I was daft enough to let her go at a really low price! (do.not.ask.)

So this beauty (I shoulda named her, then I wouldn't have sold her so easily, right?) cost me just that, 15 ringgit - since I had everything else on hand.

Including Allen.

Keys, that is.

A Tongue-Twisting Teal Tea Trolley

Some people call it a bar cart. But since we are teetotallers, I'll call it a tea trolley.  And since it is teal in colour, it's a Teal Tea Trolley for Teetotallers (yes, say that ten times if you can)! Whatever, I had so much fun making this!  All out of scrap wood.

There's a furniture shop near my house that chucks out lots of stuff and I have no idea why.  Sometimes the flaws I detect can be easily fixed so I can't understand why they don't. We have salvaged parts of benches, wooden window frames, lots of wooden slats (the kind used as the base underneath mattresses of beds), even a 6-foot long TV stand.  So here's what I made with some of the pieces of wood I have been hoarding over the months.

After sawing the pieces to the required lengths (with the awesome electric saw I picked as a birthday gift when my kids asked me what I wanted), I arranged them with tiny gaps in-between and had two slats nailed underneath to keep them together.  This formed the top shelf.

 

For the bottom shelf, I used wider pieces of slats.

See those castors at the bottom?  I have fallen in love with castors!  So fun to roll my trolley anywhere I want.  But it still looks incomplete.....

Ah, I got it.....it needs some bars around it so things won't topple off easily...(that's how I work, I figure things out as I go along because I'm an amateur DIY-er like that).

Fill up any holes in the wood with wood filler and sand it smooth.

I used emulsion (water-based) paint because I find it less messy to work with.  I usually Protect my Painted Projects with Polyurethane (yes, say that ten times) anyway.  Polyurethane is in the family of wood varnish, wood wax, shellac and lacquer but I do not know the difference because I'm an amateur DIY-er like that. Then I picked this bright teal colour because I have plans for where this trolley is to go.  I have my favourite Paint Man from my favourite Paint Shop and he'll mix any colour that I choose !

Just remember to keep the colour code (of the colours blended) in case you need to get more paint later.  Here's my code, given to you free-of-charge because I'm generous like that.

And there you have it, in all its bright, glorious colour!

The amazing thing about it is I can think of so many ways a trolley like this can be used:
- to display plants
- to store your make-up and hair paraphenalia
- to stack books on
- for toys

Made completely out of discarded wood - my Teal Tea Trolley for Teetotallers (yes, say that ten times).  

What do you think?