DIY Tiled Table Top Tutorial

This is a project we completed a few months ago and I thought I'd show it off.
This used to be the night stand that goes with our bed set. Seeing as our bedroom is tiny and it doesn't fit in there, it now serves as a hallway stand and is the main dumping ground for EVERYTHING as we walk in the door. We originally just painted it white, but with such high traffic, the top was getting very scratched.

At Home Depot, we grabbed two 'square foot' sheets of glass tiles for about $15 each. We figured out the layout, cut to size and then transferred our "design" to the floor.

We also bought pre mixed Adhesive & Grout (about $9) and a notched trowel (about $4). We have lots of grout left over which we'll be using when we tile our kitchen back splash.
We also bought a log plastic rail/ edge that is meant to give the whole project a clean edge, but we ditched it because we thought it looked funny.

First, we slapped on the grout, then spread it out evenly.

Then we placed the tiles on top. We had already cut, measured and figured out the placement of the tiles, so we just transferred our design from the floor to the table top.

More grout, more tiles...

Then we pressed down on the tiles firmly so they would take hold on the grout.

We then let it sit for a week because we were busy working. We only needed to let it sit for 24 hours though...

The following weekend, hubby went back and covered all the tiles in grout, making sure to fill in the gaps between each tile.

We then let it sit for a few hours then grabbed a wet sponge and rubbed the grout off the top of the tiles.

The tiles then appeared through, nice and shiny.

And here is our (almost) finished masterpiece (we went back and fixed up a few of the imperfections you can see here - gaps in the edges etc.). I am no longer afraid that I am going to scratch the top of the furniture; these tiles are taking a beating and they are holding up very well. I think it also adds a bit of pizazz to the front entrance and makes the piece look a little bit less like a nightstand.

For a first attempt at tiling, I am pretty proud of our efforts and *think* we might be able to tackle the back splash ourselves when we renovate our kitchen.

Decorating Cans with Scrapbooking Embellishments

I recently made a few updates to my craft supply containers and thought I'd share, as a follow up to my Decorating Mason Jars post.

I had saved some leftover cans with pull-top lids from the recycling. I love these types of cans because I don't have to use a can opener and (best of all) it means I can REUSE them and not worry about jagged edges around the top lip. I

We also finished a tin of cocoa and although the "tins" are cardboard, they also have clean edges and they wash out well enough to be reused for craft storage purposes.

Now, I am not into scrap booking - I don't have the money, space or patience for that kind of hobby. But I do love paper crafts and some of the cute things made for scrap booking... such as this adhesive turquoise scrap booking edging found on a trip to the dollar store.

I spray painted the cans white and used some leftover wall paint for the cocoa tin (Benjamin Moore's Waterfall).
The scrap booking edging was very easy to apply to the two small cans. Then I used the white non-stick backing from it to decorate the cocoa tin, which was a tad trickier; I stuck it down with Mod Podge.

While I had the paintbrush out to paint the cocoa tin, I also grabbed a few glass items I had lying around. I did a coat on the inside, then a coat of Mod Podge to seal it.

I also recently bought a big paper cutter which I used to make some craft supply labels. Note particularly fancy, but I love it.

So those are my recent, though meager, craft attempts. Lately we have been spending a LOT of time planning our kitchen renovations, which hasn't left much time for anything else!

Happy crafting!