Thursday, August 18, 2016

Four (Or Five) Small Work Table Tasks


Ever since I moved furniture, the work table has become a true joy--a wonderful place to sit and actually get stuff done.  Thank goodness I kept it in the house after all.  Previously it had to fulfill a variety of tasks and I couldn't access the entire surface because it was partially behind my desk.  Now, there's lots of room to sit and work and dream.

Yesterday I spent a happy hour or two catching up on some small but necessary and fun tasks.

The first was something for eBay.  Lots of people have Planting Clocks but few people have the information on how to set them.  I am fortunate in having an instruction booklet.  I make copies of my booklet (presumably long out of copyright) to sell.  I suppose I could just copy a few pages and let it go at that.....



.....but I don't.  I like to make something special because I want buyers to be happy with their purchase.  And I'm grateful for the vintage paper-slicer that my stepdad rescued from a dumpster to sharpen and re-furbish.  He also made the base of my work table, so I know he'd be glad I covered it with my re-purposed bedroom door for the work surface.  It's a great place to use the paper-slicer--lots of room to work.




I'm also grateful for the little purse mirror that a friend gave me.  But I didn't really care for the advertising slogan across the top of it.  Nail polish to the rescue! 


The polish is an old Christmas present I received.  The color is pretty but not for me to wear, so I've used it for other things--like magically turning give-away advertising pens into pretty "bling" pens just for fun.....and just for free, too.




The mirror turned out very nice with a crackle finish but it was so shiny that I couldn't take a proper picture of it.  It's a pretty go-with for my green purse now.



Mason jars have become so popular!  But I've been using them for all sorts of purposes for decades, so it's old news to me.   One of the things I like to do is to add a pouring spout to the lid. 

 
Now, I'm sure you can probably buy such things but why spend money!  I re-purpose pouring spouts from other cartons, like this one from orange juice.  Works great.  Freebie! 

Make sure that you've washed it thoroughly and then pare down the extra edges and the ridge on the carton top.  Using the old metal lid center as a guide, mark the circle and cut the carton top to fit inside the screw ring.  And, as long as you're using it only for dry purposes, glue it to fit permanently.  Please be aware that some glues are water-soluble, so you don't want risk contaminating anything.  I use my renovated jar lids for dry stuff like herbs and cinnamon sugar and potato flakes--but I wouldn't trust them with anything wet.



And my last task of the morning was to renovate some Halloween bag clips that I picked up at the dollar store--$1 for all four cute black kitties.  But I discovered when I got home that they weren't quite what I wanted.  There was a fat but not-very-effective magnet on the back of each.  The magnets had to go!



I decided to change the clips and change my plan at the same time because I imagined a useful and silly little reno for the shelf over the freezer--it's a bare space that could sure use a little cute! 



Time to get out the power drill and some bits.....If you're drilling into hard plastic, go slow and take it easy on the pressure.  Hard plastic can crack and shatter easily.  Start with a very small bit and work up until you reach the size hole you want to drill.

 
 
All set!  Cute kitty clips for holding recipe pages (or leaving the grocery list where I won't forget it!) right where I can see them. 
 

No, your eyes are not deceiving you:  that IS a recipe for pickle juice bread.  It sounds so horrid that I've absolutely got to try it!  That's one of the next adventures I'm planning. 

And I'm looking forward to more small happy projects at the work table.  Never know what ideas will pop up next!

Life is good.

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