Table from BBQ Grill and Speaker Stand

I have two really cute vintage swiveling bar stools and decide they would look lovely in an empty corner in the living room. And they did. But something seemed to be missing and I thought a tall table would be the finishing touch. I started looking around for items I had around the house that could be used.

I found an old speaker stand and round grate from a BBQ Grill.  Perfect! I covered a small wood block with a scrap of fabric using a staple gun. I centered the grate over the side of the block with the staples. The speaker stand had a hole in each corner. I turned it upside down on top of the grate and attached it to the wood block with screws. To keep the grate more stable, I used clips used to attach speaker wire to the baseboard. I positioned them so that the clip fit over the wire grate and nailed them to the wooden block.

When it was flipped over, I had a small height-adjustable table! It completed the corner perfectly.

Bike Parking

I have two vintage Schwinn bicycles - one from 1969 and the other from 1976. Currently, I have no garage or shed for storage for them so they have been incorporated into my home decor. Yep, two bikes park in my living room! The other day, I was looking at them and thought I need a way to really make them more like I intend for them to be decorative pieces. The perfect solution - art!

I realized I had a long, narrow picture frame that I'd picked up for less than a dollar at a yard sale. It had a  cardboard backing so I took it out and started working. If it had not had this backing, I would have cut one to fit from a box. I have alphabet cookie cutters that were the perfect size to use as a pattern for the sign. I spaced them out on the cardboard and traced around them. I intentionally varied the spacing and didn't try to  keep them on a straight line. I wanted the appearance that the sign was hand painted.

I painted the letters with white acrylic paint. Again, I did not strive for perfection. So much less stressful this way! After the acrylic paint had dried, I watered down some brown latex paint I had on hand. Using a paper towel, I daubed the watery paint over the entire piece. I used a clean towel to take off some of the paint to ensure a variation of color. After it dried, I decided another coat would be good, so I repeated the process. Once it was completely dry, I slipped it back in the frame and hung it behind the bikes. It's perfect!