Upcycled Yardstick Table

I’m determined to complete a least a couple of UFO’s this summer. That’s Unfinished Objects, for those of you who don’t have this common crafting syndrome. Way back last fall, the hubs found an end table at the post thrift shop for $3. It wasn’t fabulous wood, or in fabulous shape, but for $3 he bought it and brought it home. He’s an extravagant, romantic fool!  I set it in my craft room, next to the overstuffed chair where I have dreams of spending an afternoon reading and drinking hot tea, and it quickly overflowed with other UFOs.  Well, I’ve worked my way through the stack on it this summer, so it was finally time to finish the table! And I love it!

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I bought 10 yardsticks and a half-pint of paint, for a little under $15.  Yardsticks are ridiculously expensive!  But $18 total for the table really isn’t too bad. I had a little Golden Oak stain on hand already, which I wiped on the yardsticks.

Here’s the table before I started working on it. I used a palm sander with with stripping sandpaper to knock off a bit of the finish, so the paint would stick. It took about 5 minutes. It took longer than that to find the sander and paper.  Then I painted everything but the top with the blue paint.  And forgot to take a photo of that step.

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When the paint was thoroughly dry (the next day, because the humidity here was about 423%), my favorite handyman helped me figure out the yardsticks for the top. Basically, you need to measure the yardstick with a tape measure to piece together the top, because when you cut with the compound miter saw, the blade width wreaks havoc with your straight sides.  So we measured and cut until the top was all covered.  I made sure to stagger the seams, so it didn’t look odd. This took about thirty minutes.Table-Measured-ChaosServedD

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We used Liquid Nails for the adhesive, and made sure to get the first piece on perfectly, then clamped it to dry.  Once it was clamped, it was easy to continue by picking up and gluing one piece at a time, pressing it against the previous one to keep the yardsticks straight. That took about ten minutes. Then I let it dry overnight.

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After the glue dried, the edges were a little uneven, so I used the sander again to even them out.

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I also ran the sander along random spots on the painted base to distress it a bit. You could do this by hand, but why bother when you can use a power tool?

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And what were my minions doing during all this craftiness?  Marathon chess games…on a cardtable over the firepit in the backyard. Silly kids!

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So in all, I (and my hubs) spent about an hour of actual work time, $18, and got to use a compound miter saw and palm sander. Oh, and the caulking gun with Liquid Nails. Fun quality time!  Anyway, there’s another UFO finished, and it’s perfect on my front porch for the start of school.  Now on to the next project!

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About Megan

My various hats: mom to three crazy teens and one quirky dog, wife of 27 years to my retired GI Joe, and high school math teacher. After my husband's retirement from the Army, we've settled in the Pacific Northwest. Crafting, cooking, photography, and reading keep me sane (that's a relative term!) and I hope you'll enjoy following along as I navigate the chaos of life!
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4 Responses to Upcycled Yardstick Table

  1. Natalie says:

    This is so cool! I like this actually seems possible unlike so much of the DIY furniture stuff out there.

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