DIY Train Table I Made from Free Plans

I meant to post about this before Christmas, but since I just barely got it finished (like I requested a five minute warning to make sure I got it in off the porch and hidden in plain sight as a coffee table on Christmas Eve barely got it finished) I didn't get any pictures taken. I also failed to take any while it resided in my living room until it was picked up by my in-laws.
Thank goodness Grandma was wielding her camera on Christmas morning or I'd have nothing.

That's it in the background. Isn't it cute?

Are you as distracted as I am by the adorable father daughter moment happening in the foreground?

So yeah, basically I hid the table in plain sight not four feet from the present opening extravaganza and my nieces had no idea until they got a train set. They were pretty excited it. 

When we said we should set it up, they were like, "where?" and I was all, "HERE!"

Note to self: train sets are super complicated. With four adults helping I think we got it done in like half an hour.

The only changes I made from Ana White's free Mom's Train Table plans were skipping the bottom shelf and cutting half circles on either side for opening the top. I wanted it to be flat so you could set things on top without them running in to handles, but in hindsight it also means you can easily lose the balls from your Hungry Hungry Hippos game down the holes.

I painted it aqua at their mom's request and I love the color. I distressed it a bit and stained the bare parts. I should have taken some photos of the finish, but I didn't.  I also painted the opposite side of the top with chalkboard paint so the girls can draw when they aren't busy playing with trains.

Sorry I don't have a better full table shot. I'll try to update when I get one.

UPDATE: My wonderful sister-in-law sent me a photo.

DIY Chalkboard Upcycled Mirror

Hey kids! It's (How)Tuesday. I haven't done a how-to post in a while but felt inspired to bust one out today even though on this project what I really learned was what not to do. Don't worry. Doing it right it's not super elaborate or time consuming, but I think it made a big improvement. I had everything on hand so it was free to do which was an extra bonus, especially since I think I'll need to do it right one more time if I want it to be perfect.

I started with this fabulous mirror a mirror with a similar vibe to this one that my mom pulled out of someone's dumpster or off their curb or something. I forgot to include the picture and it's on my laptop which is in intensive care at the moment.

Interesting note: I had to image search "etched mirror goose" to find that image. If you image search "duck mirror" you get a TON of pictures of this

Anyway, she left the mirror on my porch and I poached it. I figure if I make use of it becomes mine. Adverse possession and whatnot. 

I gave it a quick coat of chalkboard paint (no primer, no nothing) and sent this text.



I gave it a couple more coats and left it on the porch for a month or so before I got back to it. Hence the date of that text relative to now. I have a baby, okay?

When I did I noticed that it had some serious brushstrokes.


See those little lines? They looked worse in person and something told me they might be a little problematic for writing. I did some internet research and found this helpful tutorial.

Turns out you should, at least theoretically, use primer and a foam brush and apply the coats are right angles to each other. Not exactly earth shattering, but potentially important. I sanded the surface in a circular motion with a sanding block to smooth out the lines until it felt smooth and gave it another coat with a foam brush and perpendicular to the previous ones. in case you're curious I didn't have any issues with the paint standing up to sanding even without primer so I'd just skip it out of laziness. It probably really still needs another coat of paint to be totally smooth, but I decided to hang it up instead. Perfect is the enemy of done and done is pretty important to me at the moment.

Here it is above my mantel.

Stay tuned for my fall mantel reveal next week. I'm going to join a link party on Centsational Girl on the 25th.

Reader Poll - No, really, I want some comments about this.

I'm going to the Whimmydiddle Arts & Crafts Fair in Scott City KS this weekend to help out my mom with her booth. I got this wild hair today to bring along a couple items of my own to sell. I'm torn about what to do with one. That's where you come in.

 I had this little piggy bank. He was hot pink and argyle, two things I love.

Austin said it was a girl, but obviously he's not. Look how masculine his face is.

Please don't hate my Sallie, but I just had this hankering to coat him with chalkboard paint and draw a butcher diagram on him and see what that would be worth to someone.

Isnt's he cute?

Poorly lit, but adorable, right?

And yes, that's a copy of the Joy of Cooking in the background. It has butcher diagrams at the beginning of each meat section.

Austin thinks it's a little morbid, but I disagree. My little pig is quite happy with his new look. I think he likes the idea of becoming bacon. Delicious, transcendent, bacon.

Anyway, I'm planning to display this little guy in my mom's booth and I have to decide if I want to label him as a literal diagram (i.e. loin, belly, ham, shoulder, etc), or with a collection of things one could save for (i.e. retirement, vacation, emergency, shoes, etc.).

You know... because piggy banks are for saving money...get it?

Or maybe something else. I'm open to ideas here.

I made the lines permanent, but the writing in chalk won't be (unless they want it to be. I'm planning to bring along clear matte paint in case someone wants it to be permanent). I figure if someone were to buy this little guy they could write whatever they want. The question is more about display value. So what do you think? All reasonable and some ridiculous comments will be read and considered.

Thanks!