Lego Friends Table

 Hello dear friends! I have a little project to share with y'all today. 

If you have been following along on Facebook, you know that I have been doing a little series called Thrifty Thursday's. It's where I share things that I have purchased from thrift stores or yard sales, and show you that it's possible to have awesome stuff without going broke. 

This thrifty find deserved an actual blog post.

S.R. has been after me for a few months now to make her a Lego table. I'm sure you recall the Lego Table I made for her brother 2 years ago...has it really been that long?!?

When I made it for E, little sister wasn't really into Legos, so I didn't feel the need to make her one at the time.

Well that time is here, so I had to come up with something for her as well.

And here it is.

 I found this table at one of the thrift stores I frequent. I happened to show up on one of their sale days. The table was $5. The store had coupons you could draw from a basket. I drew a 50% off coupon, so I used it on this table. $2.50 on a mostly wood table. Not too bad, eh?

I knew it would be just right for S.R.'s new Lego Table.

 

I needed to knock the finish off, so I used an orbital sander with 80 grit sand paper. It removed all the gunk off as well. It took about 10 minutes to finish that task.

The table had a 1/4" recess in the center, I need to fill it with strips of wood, so that the Lego plate wouldn't bow when being pressed down on.

Enter compound miter saw.

I forgot how.much.fun.this.thing.is!!!!

I want to start sawing everything in half now...just kidding...maybe not ;-)

Once I measured and cut the wood, I stapled it down using the hubs' nail gun...also an awesome tool.

 

Now this was the tricky part. Here in Alabama, we are known for nasty, sticky humidity. One of the worst places to spray paint.

But I have a trick. I spray quickly, and immediately bring back into the house between coats. The dry time is a little longer because of the WET air, but it still works pretty well.

I really like Valspar for spray painting. I used to be a Krylon girl, but you only have a 1 hour painting window. Valspar is a little more forgiving, and if I have to go longer than an hour, the finish isn't compromised. I love it!

Sister chose pink, of course!

 I sprayed the legs, apron, and the top edges of the table. I didn't paint the center because the Lego plate would be covering that space.

 

Here's a close up of the top. You can see I got a little staple happy...I Love Power Tools!!

 

I forgot to take a picture of the next 2 steps.

While the last coat of paint was drying, I drilled two holes on the table top and added some glitzy  hardware to hold the Lego bag. I had originally intended for the hardware to go on my hair sink cabinet, but I saw how much S.R. loved them, so I decided to surprise her with them. She loves all things that glitter and sparkle...I don't know very many girls who don't!

After the knobs were in, I glued the Lego plate down with Liquid Nails. I set some heavy books on top to help it adhere.

I also sewed a bag with fabric I had in my stash to house her Legos. She only has a few Legos right now, so the bag should be enough for now. If her collection grows, there's plenty of room to set a basket under the table.

 

And here's the finished product.

 A close up of the glitzy hardware.

 

 

And once again, the before and after.

I am so glad to have a project completed!

We start school in 2 1/2 weeks, so I am squeezing as much as I can into what little summer we have left!!

Make sure to check in with me on Facebook. I do most of my posting there.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Tweet

A Little Rant

You know that moment when you feel like you've had an amazing idea, and you work really hard on that idea, and it turns out better than expected?

Then you decide to share it with others because you want everyone else in on the fun?

What you didn't realize was that eventually, no one would know that it was your idea in the first place, and your feelings are just a little bit hurt.

This is where I am right now...my feelings are just a smidge hurt.

 

Almost 2 years ago, I turned a little old $5 yard sale table into this LEGO Table.

And for those of you who may be concerned...the table had been sanded down by the previous owner, and it wasn't a priceless antique that I decided to butcher and then paint;-)

It was cheaply made, and thus, I felt completely justified in giving it new life.

 

Since then, I have seen this table EVERYWHERE!

At least weekly, I see it on a blog, Facebook or Pinterest.

When you search "Lego Table" on Pinterest or Google, it's one of the first images to appear.

 

I find this truly mind-boggling...especially since my blog only gets a little over a thousand page views a day.

 

What bothers me, is when my images are taken from my blog without permission...altered...and then sent across the internet with no recognition of who the owner is. This is a common thing, I know, and comes with the blogging territory, but it's still slightly irritating.

 

Case in point.

I have seen this picture over and over again on Facebook.

It's exciting to see at first because I see how many "likes" and "shares" it has under the picture(sometimes a few, sometimes hundreds of thousands).

But then, I notice that something is missing.

My water mark.

Big thumbs down.

Now obviously, if someone really wanted the complete tutorial, all they would have to do is type "Lego table" in any search engine, and they would come across it in no time.

But that's not the point.

It's my work, and I'd like for people to be directed to my blog...plain and simple.

Like I said before, I realize that's the nature of the beast...got it.

I will say this...for those of you who have found me, whether it be from Google, Facebook, Pinterest, or any other search engine, and have commented on the post, shared the post, sent emails asking for permission to use my photos, or sent words of encouragement, I thank you for that.

It means so much to me to know that I am inspiring others to turn "trash into treasure", to give new life to an old piece, to be creative when you start with something small.

That is what I love to do, and if I can help someone else develop that same love, then it's been a good day.

 

And for those of you who say that this table obviously belongs to someone who doesn't have "a real Lego collection," you'll be happy to know that all of our Legos do not fit in this table, but we don't have a huge collection either. We have enough, and the kiddos seem to be completely content with what they do have:-)

 

Rant over. :-)



 

 

 



Tweet