In other 'I guess I'll just make it myself...' news are our new bedside tables! I bought two cute little simple bedside tables from IKEA (hey, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em). I think they were about $30 each. They have a nice solid pine top and legs, with a little magazine shelf underneath.
I've had this plan in my brain for a while. I fell in love with some gorgeous tiles at my mosaic store. They are glass mosaic tiles, and they are the colour of Coca-Cola, with gold swirls throughout. Yes, gold, gold, gold. (Miss you, Cheryl! Call me!) And Stacey, no, you cannot eat them.
So last weekend I bought a few sheets of them. They come in sheets of 225 tiles, which is one square foot. And of course the tabletops aren't one square foot, so I had to cut up the sheets and fit them together to fit the tabletop. Last night I glued them down onto the tabletop in a bed of tile adhesive. I don't work with tile adhesive often, and it's not my favourite. It smells fume-y, and if you use too much, it squirts up between the tiles and you have to dig it out.
Today, after the adhesive had dried for a while, I moistened the paper backing and peeled it off. This type of mosaic method is called the indirect method, where you
initially glue the tiles upside-down onto paper, then lay the tiles face-down in the adhesive. Then you wait. Then you get to moisten the paper and reveal the mosaic, which is very exciting! Does it suck?? Is it great?? You're about to find out!!
Other than the extra adhesive I'll have to dig out, the table looks FABULOUS! Very luxe. Very not-really-my-style, but I just love it anyway. So, I just have to grout it, which will probably happen soon, because Chad misses having somewhere to keep his slippers and glass of water. And I may stain the legs, too, but I'm not sure yet.
The lesson here: you can almost always make something nicer yourself! Up yours, IKEA! (But I love you....don't hate me...)
1 comment:
Roy and I have the same bedside tables, but now I'm thinking how terribly dull and uncreative they look. I think the mosaic looks nothing short of fanfoogintastic. Swirly goodness. It does look edible, you know.
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