Monday, February 9, 2009

It was (practically) free!

Last month when Steve and I were in Oklahoma City visiting parents, we spotted the metal base to a patio table. The glass was gone, but the base was in good shape. I even liked the slightly weathered blue paint on it.

We got it back home and I decided it needed a mosaic top . We used a sheet of Hardie board for the base.

I priced tile and realized that I didn't want to spend that much. I had some garage sale plates and white tiles. We bought mastic and grout.

I broke the plates between pieces of cardboard with a 4 lb hammer. Wear goggles!

Steve helped me with this project. It's too bad we don't have a movie of us hurriedly trying to stick the pieces to the table before the mastic dried!

I could have gone hunting for more plates, but honestly I didn't have time. We both think it has a nicely casual look as it is. And it was (practically) free!

7 comments:

Betsy said...

I love how this turned out and I love the way you economize.
Everyone assumes quilt book writers and teachers are well off.

Becky said...

My husband is an academic. He's tenured and is now dean of the science division - but we're not rolling in money. And it might surprise you to know that our house has just under 1800 sq. ft. It's a great size for the 2 of us!

Anonymous said...

I love this table-I have wanted to do that for some time but don't really understand how-it would be wonderful if you could email me some quick-down and dirty instructions!

Thanks, Tina
tdwjohnson@yahoo.com

Anonymous said...

Beautiful tulips! Love your table, and love the plates. I "collect" plates, and would be a good idea to do a mosaic table...It would be great if you could share the process..Thanks alot. Bev....amesbeverly@yahoo.com

Kay Koeper Sorensen said...

Love it.
K

Unknown said...

I'll blog the how-to next week :-).

Laurie in Maine said...

Okay. Had to take deep breaths when I saw the "willow" plates smashed on purpose :)