Oh Gnomeo, Gnomeo!

Gnomes! Who doesn't love gnomes? My cousin loves gnomes so much they are literally her home decor. For those of us who put our gnomes in a yard, weather will eventually take it's toll. The sun will fade the paint and then you have a sad gnome.

Fear not my friends for sun faded gnomes are just another reason to be crafty! Replacing gnomes can be expensive but you know what isn't? Paint! Especially if you get lucky like I did and buy close to 100 bottles of acrylic craft paint at a garage sale for just a few bucks. Nothing beats cheap craft supplies.

So all you need to do is give the gnome a good bath with soap and water. Once it is dry you simply paint it. You can match the previous colors or you can go a totally different direction. The sun has given you a blank canvas! Tip: Have paint brushes of various sizes handy. You can buy a bag of mixed sized brushes from your craft store for a couple of bucks. I always buy 2 bags at a time.

The most important step is the clear coat. Find one with UV protection so your hard work lasts longer!

Here are a few pictures of my gnome family.

Cable Reel into Coffee Table

I recently acquired a large cable spool. I love making things from these spools because there are so many options. If you search pinterest you will find hundreds of other craft people who made some amazing things from them.

So I took one end of the spool and made a coffee table out of it.

There was a clear coat on the spool which I had to strip and then sand off. That really was the hardest part of the process. Then I used my orbital sander on the top - 80-120-220 - the usual process. I used the mouse sander for the sides. I also used my dremel to sand any little notches in the wood and inside the holes to make sure little fingers are safe.

After that I just had fun with paint. I used acrylic craft paint that I picked up from a garage sale. Just a side note, if you see craft paint at a yard sale - buy them. You can get an amazing deal. I ended up getting 75 little bottles of acrylic paint inside a nice tote for $8. The tote alone would cost $8+ new so winner winner chicken dinner.

Anyways, back to the paint. I diluted the painted with some water so it spread a little easier. Once it was fully dry I slapped two coats of polycrylic on top.

For the legs I used black conduit pipe and attached with flanges. I gave them a coat of copper spray paint. Since the conduit was black it made a nice dark copper.

Now I have a beautiful, unique coffee table for less than $30. Actually, free because I sold the other side of the spool $30.