Feline Friday

 Lily's got that "Is it Friday yet?" look about her!

The good news is that YES, Lily...It's Friday!

FELINE FRIDAY, that is!

New Bar Cart Project

 Stand back...I am on a teeny tiny roll! HA! 

I finally got up the gumption to tackle a new bar cart project! But first, do you remember THIS bar cart?

 I'd like to say I use it mainly as a lovely tea cart or coffee station, but that would not be completely accurate! Most of the time (at least on the weekends), it functions as a bar cart. I'll share more pictures in a future post, as we've now outfitted it with quite a bit of fun bar ware. Now, gentle readers, I do not want to give the wrong impression here: We use it only for an occasional drink now and then on the weekends. But if we ever had a party, we'd be set! :)

The rehabbed bar cart came from my dad's shop, where he used it as a tool cart. Prior to that, my grandma used it as a dessert cart for Sunday dinners. So the cart is now having it's THIRD life! I love the fact that it was used so much by people I hold dear in my heart.

So now this is my next project:

 This cart also came from my dad's shop. You can see in the above picture that I strung a zip-tie around the leg and labeled it with my name so that it would not accidentally be sold at the auction. :( I've had this cart in the garage for two years now, waiting until I felt emotionally ready to tackle it.

This is what I want to do with the cart, in colors to match my craft room. I cannot express how much I love this inspiration photo!

This past week, I tried sanding the bar cart with a couple of grades of sand paper. UGH! I sanded enough to learn that the cart was originally painted red. But several coats of brown paint have left the surface very rough. What to do? I COULD use contact paper on the shelves like I did on the other bar cart, but that's not really the look that I'm envisioning for this one. 

The process of sanding made me think of my dad. If he were here, he would sand blast it for me. (Well, if my dad were here, I wouldn't have the cart in the first place, I guess...) *sigh*

So Spouse and I took apart the cart and after closer inspection, we decided it would be worth spending a bit of money to have a friend sand blast it, which will provide a nice, smooth surface to spray paint. Hopefully I'll get it back soon and can get started on this project!
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Bar Cart-Part 5: Done!

 

Well, I'm sort of back from my blog hiatus. Life has been complicated lately. Thanks for hanging with me!

Today I want to share the results of our recent bar cart project. Notice I wrote "our" and not "my"? As I started lining the shelves, Spouse dove in and decided to assist. He has a knack for wallpapering and felt right at home with the shelf liner!

So here is the BEFORE and the AFTER. Definitely a big improvement!

The bar cart turned out very nicely, but I'm not thrilled with the end result because the pattern is far more white than I'd envisioned. Options for retro-looking shelf liner are terribly limited. I'll live with it for awhile but may change it if I can find a pattern I like better.

Even though I don't completely love the new look, I do love the fact that this cart has history. It first belonged to my grandma (Mom's mom) who used it as a serving cart for our Sunday lunches. When she passed away, my dad somehow commandeered it for his garage, and that is where I found it last summer. I love that the cart has a connection to both of my parents, and now it has a completely new life.

Okay, back to the process we used:

Applying the paper was easier than I anticipated, perhaps because Spouse and I worked together on the project. (And yes, we are still speaking!) First we traced around the shelf on the back side of the shelf liner.

Next I cut on the lines.

To apply the paper, we peeled back half of the paper liner and cut it off. That way we weren't working with a large sheet of sticky-backed paper at once. We began at one end of the tray and applied the paper carefully, using my brayer to roll out any air bubbles. Finally, we trimmed up the edges with an X-Acto blade.

Lily supervised us closely.

Here it is set up as more of a breakfast/coffee cart with dishes that belonged to my mom. I can see using it for lots of different occasions. The great thing is that it rolls around easily so it could move to different rooms depending on how it is being used.

Meanwhile we've been collecting some vintage barware pieces so that it can be set up as a Mad Men era bar cart, too. When I have everything assembled, I'll share a picture.

Now on to the second 3-shelf cart I salvaged out of my dad's shop, which is destined for my craft room!

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Bar Cart: Part 2 - Painting Prep

I'm pleased to report that progress continues on my bar cart project! Luckily we've had some very nice, calm days lately so I decided to start spray painting. Too bad Bailey, my spray painting buddy, is away for the summer. I'm on my own with this one, although Spouse has a bit more interest than usual in this project since the word "bar" is in the title!

 Aside from taking apart the cart, I've been planning what I want to do with it. I decided to paint the cart to match our other metals using Rust-oleum Metallic spray paint in Oil-Rubbed Bronze. We've used this for other projects around the house with great results.

 With that "big" decision out of the way (whew!) my next task is to find some mod/funky/retro type contact paper to cover the two shelves. I've found several fun patterns online but of course nothing local, so it looks like I'll be ordering it. That makes me a little nervous because there's always a possibility that I won't like it when I see it.

While I'm thinking about color and pattern, I decided to go ahead with the painting. As I took apart the cart, I noticed that two of the screws were missing, so I purchased all new hardware to match -- screws, washers, and nuts. The screws are silver so I'll paint the heads to match the handles.

After disassembling the cart, I sanded it down and washed it again. I wasn't happy with the wheels so I scrubbed them with a Goo Be Gone product and washed them again in Dawn. This time the shop grease came off completely.

Next I taped off the wheels with blue tape. I decided to paint the silver part the same color as the rest of the metal, so I covered up everything else with tape. Good thing I got a new roll because it seemed like I used most of it on the first wheel!

By the time I got to the last wheel, I had figured it out!

At first I thought I'd have to tape off the center part of the trays but then I realized that all of that part will be covered up with contact paper or such, so no additional taping was necessary. Good thing! Taping is NO FUN when you're excited to get to the painting!

I consulted with Spouse about the best way to prop up the handles for painting. I didn't want to place them flat on the floor and have to turn them to paint the other side, because I was afraid that would create a paint line between the two sides. Spouse had the smart idea of propping up the handles against old yard sticks so that I could reach all sides at once. 

Here's a sneak peek of this great idea! Wish I'd thought to put newspapers on the grass. I may or may not have painted blades of grass onto the wheel brackets. :)

 Next post: Spray painting!

Bar Cart: Part 1 - Parts & Pieces

 Remember this?

Now it looks like this:

I know...Oooh! Ahhh! NOT! I've been slow starting this project, but at least now things are sort of underway!

Gentle blog readers, you surely know by now that I'm not a great DIYer (if that's a word). While my dad could fix just about anything, I apparently inherited none of his skills. I am pretty much tool-impaired, so when I get the idea to do a project, I usually need a lot of help. Still, I'm hoping that I'll be able to do most of this project on my own. We'll see!

In order to make the cleaning and subsequent spray painting process easier, I decided to disassemble the cart. I could tell that I would need some type of tool to loosen the nut (not sure if that's the right term!) around the screws on each leg.

I peered into Spouse's tool box and found a couple of possibilities. This one did nothing for me.

 

But this tool -- presumably some type of wrench -- did the trick! I was able to tighten the clamp so it fit right onto the nut, then I loosened and removed all of the hardware connecting the legs to the two shelves. I even remembered to save all of the nuts and screws so I can re-use or replace them. (At least I hope I didn't leave any in the yard for Spouse to find with his lawnmower...)

 Next I decided to wash the wheels. I know the tiny bowl looks ridiculous, but stay with me here. The wheels were greasy, so I thought I'd wash them in Dawn, just like they bathe oily birds after oil spills. Seemed to work pretty well!

 Much cleaner!

Once the cart was disassembled, I sanded the rusty parts so I would have a smooth surface to paint. I still have more sanding to do.

So far so good with this project! Stay tuned for the next installment: Masking and spray painting!

Bar Cart: Before...

 Do you ever feel like you've got too many projects started and not enough completed? That's how I feel right now. So why not add one or two more to the list?

This cart is currently sitting in our garage awaiting a makeover. It is one of two carts which I brought home from my dad's garage last summer. As I was trying to decide what I could keep that would remind me of Dad, the two carts spoke to me. I wanted to keep items that would be useful, not just packed away in a box.

This cart actually belonged to my grandma (my mom's mom) who used it as a serving cart for our Sunday lunches. At Grandma's house, it carried shrimp salads and fruit plates. After she passed away Dad snagged it for his garage, where it lived a much rougher life as a tool caddy.

To fully appreciate where this cart came from, you must see the state of my dad's garage when I first started organizing prior to our auction. You can see the cart -- piled high with stuff -- in the lower portion of the photo. 

 After I organized his garage, I could see that the cart was quite a nice tool caddy, very handy to roll around while working working on projects. Dad actually had another cart just like it in a different building, complete with little hooks for his wrenches. I gave that cart to the neighbor boy who used to help Dad with his projects.

I thought about Grandma's cart all summer long and finally decided to keep it, along with a second three-shelf cart. I will be refurbishing the three-shelf cart for my craft room, using this "before/after" photo from Pinterest as inspiration.

I am planning to refurbish the tool caddy to use as a swanky bar cart. (Of course, it would work great for any type of beverage. Maybe I've been watching too much Mad Men!) The metal will be bronze to match our finishes and I'll use some type of geometric/retro print on on the shelves. This "before/after" photo from Pinterest is one of my inspiration photos.

The bar cart project is at the top of my list for this summer. I hope to get started on it in the next few days!