Pallet Coffee Table

It all started with a pile of pallets I picked up on the side of the road (say that five times fast)... I used the top two for this project because there were in the best condition and the same size. Didn't really have a plan when I started. Just wanted to make a coffee table for our game room. (Freckles was very helpful!)

I used white paint left over from my kitchen cabinets. I put one coat everywhere, I tried to get all the surfaces even if you wouldn't be able to see them since this is unfinished wood and felt kinda dirty... After painted I sanded to make it distressed and to make sure the areas you would touch when its done were smooth (the sides and the outside areas of the top).Then I stenciled these details and stripes in red, and sanded back over them.WEAR A MASK! Especially when sanding over paint, you will feel sick the next day if you don't, trust me.

I painted the bottom and sides of the other pallet with red paint I had left over from an accent wall. This paint was really cheap and took 4 coats to cover the wall but I love how it turned out here. The wood grain and even some numbers on the side show through the paint. Then I sanded it lightly again to look distressed.

For the top I sanded A LOT! I wanted it to be perfectly smooth. Then I put three coats of stain to make it pretty dark and three coats of sealant so I wouldn't have to stress about coasters. (Seems a little silly to insist on coasters to protect a pallet...) I also sealed over the red and white paint just to be safe.

The table needed to be about 20 inches tall so I got these 6 inch blocks cut at Home Depot from a 4x4 piece of pine (about $13). Then just sand and stain like the top of the table. Then I used wood glue and "L" brackets to attach the blocks. It gets a little tricky for the second pallet since the drill can't reach all the angles. I had to mark where all the brackets went, the drill them in to the pallet separately then put it together and drill into the blocks. 

The casters were the most expensive part (about $9 each at Home Depot). I like the industrial look they give it plus they have red wheels! They were shiny silver so I painted them the my trusty Rustoleum spray paint. 

I LOVE how it turned out! We had friends over last night and broke the table in with a football game, dinner, drinks and even a few cards games. It was perfect : ) 

Penny Floor!!

How to create a penny floor:

1. Gather pennies... I mean really get A LOT of pennies. We hit up friends and family for pennies, they were happy to get rid of them and we were happy to take them. We got about 2000 pennies this way. Then go the bank and ask for more, they will either be excited about your project or look at you like you are crazy. FYI you cannot get rolls or new pennies from the bank. I went to several branches and they said they come in mixed. According to the teller you can order them online. That seems like too much work and the mix of new and old pennies turned out great! We used about 6300 pennies. I figured it to be $2.88/sq ft, just in pennies.

You can clean the pennies in a mixture of 1/4 cup vinegar and 1 teaspoon salt to make them SHINE! It works like magic : ) I did this to a few hundred pennies.

2. Caulk - my husband sealed below the baseboards and around the sink and toilet with this Loctite All Purpose Caulk. This is to keep the epoxy from sticking to everything. We needed four tubes but we had a huge gap between the baseboard and the floor.

3. Glue! I used this Loctite  Spray Adhesive and it worked wonderfully! Just spray a small section and put the pennies down. I put them as close together as I could and I started from the doorway, which gave me a nice straight line to work off. Mine are placed randomly, I just tried not to have too many shiny ones or too many dull ones together.

4. Keep Gluing! Here is my progress about every hour or so, I'd work about 45 min then take a break. I also wiped them with a damp towel after the adhesive dried to clean any that came up between the pennies.

 

5. Epoxy - We bought this Epoxy "Super Glaze" at Home Depot. We used two of them, probably could have used 3 but it was kind of expensive. Make sure the floor is clean clean clean. We have two big dogs, keeping dog hair out of it was a challenge. Just followed the instructions on the box. Definitely a two person job, you have to mix it for six minutes. Then just poured it on the floor starting behind the toilet and sink and working towards the door. I used a plastic putty scrapper to smooth it out and make sure it got all the way to the edges.

6. Done! - Here is the finished product:

 

  

 

 

There are a couple of unique pennies in the mix. Kinda fun to challenge people to find them. There are 2 Canadian pennies and 3 of these old really old pennies that just say "ONE CENT" on the back.

 

Before and After. I love the teal!

Summer Reading

I had the ENTIRE summer off!! It was amazing! I read a lot, here are the highlights.

       

Gone Girl - could not put it down. I don't usually read this generic fiction and/ or crime books, but a friend recommended it and I really really enjoyed it!

Night Circus - very much my kind of book. Magic and love, perfect! Another recommendation from a friend and they nailed. The story was a tad slow at first, so it took a while to get in to it.

Sorta Like a Rock Star - young adult, recommended to me by my high school librarian. Absolutely wonderful. I laughed and cried. Easy read, obviously, since it is for teens...

Silver Linings Playbook - also by Matthew Quick, amazing!! The movie is okay, I love Jennifer Lawrence... but the book is 100 times better. The movie is not really that close to the book.

Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore - meh... thought it was going to have some real magic, turned out to be a lot of computers, I'm not that in to. Did open my awesome to some of the cool stuff Google can do. It's not just a search engine.

The Mortal Instruments Series - read the first 2.5 books. I really wanted to like serious. I like to read the books that are about to movies, but this one is not for me. I'm too old I guess... Don't waste your time, unless you're 14.

The Time Travelers Wife - reread for the 3rd time. My all time favorite book! Go read it now!! Again the movie is not as good. The movie is good, but I love the book!


Now I'm reading Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly for book club at work/school. It's about a high school girl who finds a diary written by a girl during the French Revolution. I've really enjoyed it so far. Both characters are interesting and have great voice. I'm also learning so much about the French Revolution (which I knew absolutely nothing about...)

Always looking for the next read, let me know if you've read something you think I'll like!