artsy fartsy,  crafts gone wrong,  domesticity,  house stuff!,  painting

up to no good, as usual

April 6, 2011 /

and unwinding unwinding

Today after I finished up work, I rewarded myself with a trip to the local thrift stores—two of them to be exact. I’ve had it in my head for weeks now that I want a coffee table. Just something little that can sit nice and low between Bugly and Beatrice so we can set our coffee on it. (Imagine that, using a coffee table for what it’s for!) That way we won’t be resorting to setting our coffee cups on our laptops like my Uncle Tim did when he was visiting, crazy Uncle Tim.

Anyway, a long long time ago there was this neat little octagon table, probably about two feet high and maybe a foot and a half wide that would have been perfect. Except I didn’t buy it back then when I first saw it because I didn’t have Beatrice and Bugly yet and I didn’t know I’d be on this 70’s furniture kick. I do remember thinking that it was especially hideous but might look cool spray-painted pink or orange or…both! I get crazy ideas like that.

Well, you know how this story always goes. I went back for the table and it was gone. Duh. I’ve looked for it a few (hundred) times and have determined that nothing else like it will ever exist again. Predictably, I went home table-less again today and just felt sad and tired. Which also might have something to do with my terrible habit of waking up at 1am and working until 5am but whatever. Life is all about the hunt, right? Some days you just don’t find what you want, that’s the fun of it.

soooo tired

After sitting outside on my park bench and sighing loudly for nobody to hear, I finally hatched a new plan. You could say I had a bee in my bonnet.

something is about to be pinkified

I remembered this spool we found in the dumpsters by my aunt’s seamstress shop back when we were looking for empty boxes for my sister-in-law’s move. Don’t worry, it wasn’t dirty dumpster diving. All the trash in this dumpster was clean. It was full of empty boxes and some random things that cable companies use to hook up direct tv or whatever it is they do. We had no idea what the cable could be good for but the spool looked like it might be fun for Bug to play with. So we threw it in the back of my mom’s SUV with all the empty boxes and never thought of it again.

That is, until now. That spool was destined to become pinkified.

is it pink enough?

Perhaps that shade of fuchsia that is so popular around these parts? I just happen to have some spray paint in that color already. I wonder why?!!

So we pinkified it. Pink, pink, pink.

let's paint this broken phone while we're at it Barbie's calling!

Then we spray-painted an old broken phone that happened to be within reach. Nothing is safe from THE Pink.

"I'll get it!" Oh Hey, Barbie!

“I got it, I got it!…Hey, Barbie! What’s up girl?”

still talking

“Like totally. Hang on, my mom wants me to help her with something in the living room. I’ll just walk and talk.”

"and then he's all..."

“Seriously, it’s like my mom thinks she’s on some kind of interior decorating show or something.”

And that’s the story of the pink spool in my living room. I realize it’s not the best fix. It looks sort of like a cross between something from the set of The Borrrowers and something from a college dorm room but it does get the job done and it’s small enough that we can just wheel it off to Bug’s room if something better comes along.

vintage dishes

I think it looks pretty cool, especially with the new (old) dishes my mom just gave me. Aren’t they groovy? My mom bought them when she was pregnant with me. Nineteen-seventy-two, baby. What a good year that was.

* * *

In other news, don’t forget to stop by my review blog and comment on my Slim-Fast post if you haven’t already! Sweepstakes be-a sweepstaking!

15 Comments

  • Yara

    April 6, 2011 at 8:48 pm

    I love it!
    This also made me realize that I can use my little pink stool from ikea for the same purpose. And hey, it’s already pink ; )
    Perhaps then I can stop worrying that a train will crash into my coffee (I set it on Kevins train table)

  • anna b bonkers

    April 6, 2011 at 10:07 pm

    OK, I am so glad I am not the only one who sees things and thinks that if they were painted another color they would be awesome. A few months ago I went with Dave to the dump. Dangerous! I saw this old white plaster table base that was in the shape of seahorses. After leaving the dump I couldnt stop thinking about how awesome it would be painted red or orange and with an sheet of glass on top. After a few miles we turned back because I would beat myself up forever if I didnt save that table base. Turned out it was cement and busted, thank goodness so we didn’t bring it home. If I hadn’t taken that second look though I might get teary thinking about it!
    However when we bought this place I invested in spray paint and I have tables and chairs and a cabinet of sorts that I use…colorful and kinda busted but I love em!
    So, I like the pink spool table!!

  • JennyBean

    April 7, 2011 at 12:05 am

    Awww, I like the little pink table! :)

    I need your help! I’ve got a wee corner in my flat that looks SO EMPTY and I hate it. Maybe I should blog and open it up to suggestions from the public (ie: the five people that read my blog).

  • feefifoto

    April 7, 2011 at 5:54 am

    It’s charming! And oh so PINK. I have a wooden porch swing that I painted bright blue last summer. Every home needs a few touches of brightness.

  • Penny

    April 7, 2011 at 6:38 am

    I feel so much better knowing you now have a table so when your Uncle comes he will use that, not his laptop! I love that you are always thinking outside the box. I am trying to get up the nerve to paint all the wood furniture in my family room. I am afraid I will hate it and then what!

  • TexasLea

    April 7, 2011 at 1:43 pm

    Very cute! We still have a giant spool we found many years ago. It was solid oak so we sanded it and stained it. It sits as a side table between two chairs at my Moms house now. I can’t tell you how many compliments I have heard about that “table” over the years. I think it’s a great way to repurpose something that was being sent to the trash dump. As they say one persons trash is another treasure. :)

  • gingermog

    April 8, 2011 at 1:13 am

    You’ve done something I have always wanted to do. I’ve always spied those even bigger industrial spools in skips, with big holes in the middle which you put in a plant pot in and thought they would make cool coffee tables. In my college days I studied theater designs and we were always finding furniture dumped on the street old typewriters, chairs, picture frames which we would use for our productions. :)