Hidden storage or wasted space (or both)

This was posted on Facebook on a Nifty FB page and I could not share it on Pinterest. Searched for another source and could not find it, so I'm sharing via a back door.

I am big on finding wasted space, or places to securely hide thing. This offers both and, depending on the type of chair, this could create a LOT of space!

Here is a link to the  how to video.

https://www.facebook.com/buzzfeednifty/videos/1948621365392586/?hc_ref=ARS-D-hi4_Osh7f2FQAuuYe6kylWLUMoJArLDDkhg5KrVgraQwaRd_XO3JGvWYR2jqY

Do it yourself Nail Art

Originally I had wanted to design a temporary tattoo, a rainbow peace sign to wear at the Pride Parade.  Had heard of doing them yourself using a special inkjet printer paper, available at Staples.com, Amazon, and possibly at Joann Fabrics.  Unfortunately I didn't realize I would have to be ordered online.

Then on June 26th I went looking for rainbow nail art at Sally Beauty, after work, needless to say with the events of the day the pickings were pretty slim,  so I did some online searching and found an idea of making my own nail art.

Using a plastic baggie, I painted rainbow stripes using nail polish:

My first attempt wasn't very neat, and honestly I didn't think it had worked, until this morning. When I looked at it in the morning light I could see it had possibilities, so I tried to "peel" it off the plastic, and it worked, easily.

 

I trimmed the edge, and cut off a small "slice"

 

 

I then applied it to my pinky nail and was THRILLED!!!

 

Repeated with a nail on the other hand and that was even better:

I wanted to make a larger palette, to make a stripe big enough for my large toe nail, so my 2nd try I used a business card to "cut" the edges:

As you can see, it still doesn't look very neat.  But when you look back at the cuts, the neatness of the actual painting doesn't seem to make much difference on the cuts.

Here's how I applied it.  After cutting the slice, I did it on the diagonal so it would fit the nail I wanted, while leaving all of the colors of the rainbow.  I used base coat and just touched the edge of the purple so that it would stick at the starting point, then laid it down over the nail and positioned it.  Brushing a little more base coat carefully to lock it into place.  I let that dry, then painted a full coat over the nail, again letting that get good and dry. Then I painted two generous coats of clear 60-second dry top coat.

It did take a steady hand, but it really was not that hard, it just took a little patience. In my opinion the outcome was well worth the work, and because the rainbow "slices" are actually pretty small, I have enough left to do this again several times (or share).

Glass Mosaic Table with diode underlighting

I made this table after spending months looking for just the right piece to fit into a too small kitchen. When I saw a table that I thought might work, I hesitated because it was wrought iron based, which I wasn't sure would go with all of the wood I own.  Called a friend to meet me at the store to take a look and get his opinion, and the table was GONE!

So we started walking around the store and I saw a simple glass mosaic candle pillar, and in my head I started plotting. After a few minutes I told my friend I was going to make the table I want.  John knows me pretty well, but I think even he was surprised by the outcome.  BTW, this is my first blog.  I just recently discovered the wonder of Pinterest and decided I have to share some of my projects.  Thank goodness I did before, during and after shots of a lot of the stuff I've done so I can offer some instructions.

Here's the finished table, in a couple shots.

Lit, full view

Tabletop only, before grout.

 

Started by doing my research.  Cost of the round glass, cost of the glass tiles.  I found a local glazier that got me to two rounds (I put a plain piece on top to protect the mosaic) for about $45.  The square "tiles" are actually cut glass that is used to make stained glass, which I found on Ebay in bags of 100 (I think I put about $80 in glass on this table).  My only problem was when I got the glass, the edges were SHARP!  Solved that by tumbling a few bags at a time in a rock tumbler for an hour or so (just long enough to dull the edges without taking the shine off of the glass).  If I made one mistake, it was that I used 1/2 square tiles for the entire project, this is a 36 inch round glass tabletop, do you have any idea how many tiles, laid one at a time, that adds up to? (Nearly 600 per square foot!)

 

Here's a shot after 5 days, just finished the first few rows of color and am transitioning to the amber ring. 

 

You will see a tube of grout in the shot, this is clear grout like you use on porcelain, and it bonds glass well.  I chose to use the smaller tubes because I was squirting and placing one tile at a time, the large tube with the "clicker" was just too cumbersome.  Warning here though, this grout takes time to dry.  A lesson I learned the hard way by trying to do too many rows at the same time.  It took an exacto knife and a lot of scraping to clean up where a slip and skid ruined hours of work.  And when I say one tile at a time, I'm not kidding.  There is a pattern to some of the glass, I had to pay attention!  Here's a close up shot with the tabletop off center so the light shows through.

 

 

 

The base is an adaptation from a simple Mission style tower shelf that I cut in half to make it work for my needs, I think I got it at Target; I know it was less than $100, because I had a budget.

 

I literally cut this tower in half, the top half I adapted to the base of the table, but I did not use the very top piece of wood for the table.  (The bottom half, with the top piece I made into a printer table-no waste)

 

Here's what the half finished table top on the base looked like.

 

I made the transition from round rows to square to disguise the framework from the tower under the table, and because I knew I would be under-lighting the tabletop.

I used IKEA Diode light bars (these were the only ones I could find when I made this table, now there are LOTS of options!).



These put off a lot of light, here's a close up shot of the tabletop, unlit and lit.

When I grouted the table, I used white unsanded grout.  Once it dried I thought it was too bright so I tea stained it (dark tea, wet sponge, kept wiping until I got the shade I was happy with).

The table is set at bar height; I actually have 4 stools to go with it, thought only 2 are shown in the photo.  I pretty much leave it lit all the time; the lights are not as bright as they appear in the above shot.  And I lined the underside of the lit area with shoji film (rice paper) to diffuse the light and hide the wires from the diodes.

Here's another shot of the finished table.  You can see the wire and controls to the diodes. Though I could have set this up with hidden wires and a battery pack, am glad I didn't.  As I said, this table pretty much stays lit all of the time.

If I had to do it over again, the only changes I would make would be to use 1 inch squares of glass, and my next project the table will be bigger  (I already have the 42' square glass top I've "rescued" from the trash).  This table was a project, but I love the end product!