Would You Buy It Wednesday?

It's time for Would You Buy It Wednesday over at Junker Newbie and I thought I'd share this item with you. 

I bought it a couple of months ago at a garage sale for .50 cents.   I don't really know why I bought it...I don't have a thing for wooden rulers nor do I collect them.  I guess I just thought it was unique and the price was right! 

Anyway, it's been hanging in my husband's shop every since I brought it home and I actually forgot about it until I saw one for sale at Pottery Barn. 

Source:  Pottery Barn

I was checking out their catalogue, online, and found one that they had for $166.00!!!  Now, I'm sure that there are differences between my ruler and the one they have, but really?!!  Of course, it peaked my interest, so I did some further investigating and found that the same ruler I bought for .50 cents, sold on Ebay for $58.00.  It's just a ruler, isn't it? 

Would you have bought it and, if so, what would you do with it?

Thanks for stopping by...
Lesa

Kitchen Island

I'm giving you a bit of a break from my outdoor projects and thought I'd show you what I was up to on the weekend.  My husband was away on an overnight trip, so I had a couple of projects in mind that I wanted to complete.  The first project I completed was on Saturday and, well, it was an outdoor project which I will share with you tomorrow.  My Sunday project was this:

A new island for my kitchen.  I had a small butcher block, but found that there just wasn't enough space to work on.  As well, it only had one shelf for storage, so I decided to build myself a new, larger island!  I found a plan over at "ana-white.com", however, I had to modify it because it was too large for my space.  I had to cut mine down to size, which measures 44".  I basically "winged it" from looking at a picture just because all my measurements didn't jive with hers.  The total cost for the island came to $47.39.  I could have saved a bit more money because I didn't use all the wood that I bought - again, I bought what Ana's plan suggested for the size of island she built - I wasn't thinking that mine was going to be smaller.  Oh well, I will find some use for the leftover wood. 

I stained the entire island with Watco's Danish Oil in dark walnut, but felt it blended too much with my floor.

Sorry, lights were on in both the pics...so was flash. 
Also, top of island is missing as I was waiting for the varnish to dry.

So, I painted the legs and sides with a cream-colored "Sandbar" paint and left the shelves and top stained.  I applied two coats of a satin varnish to only the top, just to help protect it from any spills, etc. 

I love my new island and it has lots of storage for my pottery!

Thank you for stopping by and having a visit.  Have a great day!
Lesa

Outdoor Floorcloth

Are you getting tired of my outdoor projects?  Well, here's another one to add to the list...my outdoor floorcloth.

There's nothing new about the idea, just alot of fun to make and you can design them to any size you want and to go with any decor, inside or outside!  Mine measures approximately 3 1/2 feet x 5 1/2 feet.  I used a vinyl floor covering remnant which I picked up for $21.00.  I would have liked one much bigger, however, the remnants were running anywhere from 80.00 to over 100.00 and I just didn't want to pay that price. 

Back of the vinyl flooring

Front of the vinyl flooring

I trimmed the ends to make them square and then applied a coat of primer to the back of the vinyl.  When dry, I applied that great blue paint as a basecoat.  (I love that color!) 

I didn't want to spend alot of time on this project so I didn't put alot of thought into the design.  I knew I wanted stripes, so I used painter's tape and, well, made different width stripes.  I just "eyeballed" it to make sure they were straight.  Hopefully, they are straight!  I painted on dark brown stripes, white stripes and beige stripes. 

I thought I was done, but it was looking a bit boring so I found a can of orange paint (have no idea where the orange came from!) and added three small orange stripes to give the floorcloth a bit of a "punch".  I think it did the trick.  After everything completely dried, I added an exterior varathane in a satin finish to seal it.  That's it!

Thank you for stopping by and taking a look.  Hope you have a great day!
Lesa

Candleplace

I needed something as a centerpiece for my outdoor coffee table and I knew I wanted something with candles.  Therefore, I came up with this idea for a "candleplace". 

It was very simple to construct and it works well for what I wanted on the table.  The glass helps to shelter the flame and gives it a nice glow, especially in the evening!
 To build the box, I used scrap wood left over from building the outdoor furniture.  

Bottom of box - 13 1/2" x 5" (pine)
Sides - 13 1/2" (cut from 1x4 pine)
Ends - 6 1/2" (cut from 1x4 pine)

Assemble the box using wood glue and wood screws.

Next, I took the inside measurement of the box and cut my glass to fit (on the inside).  I cut the glass to measure 8" high.  I assembled the glass box using hot glue, but I'm sure there are products out there specifically used for glass.  I was only using what I had on hand at the time. 

The box was a little boring, as is, so I decided to make some "chunky" handles for the ends.  Just a note...the handles are decorative only!    Using more scrap 1x4 pine, I made the handles to look like this...

I spray painted the handles with Krylon's Oil Rubbed Bronze and painted the box with my new favorite blue paint.  When dry, I used an old chip brush to apply a dark brown paint over the blue paint.  I lightly sanded all surfaces with 220-grit sandpaper.

I attached the handles with a bit of wood glue and wood screws.  Make sure to pre-drill so the wood does not split.  Insert the glass, add some river rocks and candles and there you have it, a "candleplace".

Thank you so much for stopping by.  I hope you enjoyed your visit!  Have a great day.

Lesa