Repurposed Crib Bench

For those of you waiting on the completion of the green beast sexy beast, join the club.  I can't wait to finish her.  In the mean time I had this unfinished project lying around in the garage and when I had company and explained to them what the plans were for it I suddenly found myself with a contract to finish it for them =)  This person obviously saw what I saw before it was even started.  This has by far been my most favorite project. 

Remember this free find?  I originally wanted to make a chalk board easel out of it until I realized the foot board was curved.

 

First we had to saw off the pretty little feet since the entire leg was lathed in one piece.  There were wheels on it that I removed, and to get an idea of the age of this crib... the wheels were made of wood!

Did I mention I had dh work with me on this one?  I had my plan all ready in my head on how to tackle this project but being fairly inexperienced I was glad he was there to give me pointers.

This part made me cringe.  We cut the foot board down the middle to create the arms of the bench.  I was so afraid of messing something up and having to scrap the entire thing!  Such a chicken I tell you ha!

Assembly started =)  Thus far I had measured and made all the cuts.  This is where dh's help came in handy.  I had to level and keep it square.  Then he started throwing out numbers and measurements and I got kinda woozy.

Break time.  I learned how to sharpen some tools.  Cool huh?  Just make sure there is nothing flammable nearby.

Then we had a little mishap.  This is where I'll tell you the most important piece of advice you'll ever get on my blog.  Don't by BLACK AND DECKER.  Our orbital sander was running full speed when it came unhinged from the screw plate and exploded into about ten pieces flying throughout the garage at high speed.  It hit my husband and my 9yr old son.  They were okay but it stung and could definitely have been worse.  This picture is of our new Rigid palm sander.  It's the Home Depot brand and the only one with a lifetime warranty =)  I'll take that over an over priced Dewalt any day.

Seat framed.  I was really getting excited now!

Construction complete!  Can I just say wow? 

Are you getting the feel for the end result yet?

Once it was painted it was beautiful but just not complete.  There were some fine engravings in the wood of the crib that we wanted to highlight since they got lost in all the black paint.  Well go figure I couldn't find a brush small enough to get in there!

So we re-invented the wheel with what I like to call needle point needle paint!  Yes... We ended up using a 5ml syringe filled with paint and a long 18 gauge needle to squirt the paint into the channel.  Talk about a steady hand!

And now I introduce you to....  "Her Majesty"

My client saw her today while the polly was drying and fell madly in love.  I'm so pleased that my client is also my mother in this case because now I can visit her majesty anytime I want =)  Being my first re purposed furniture piece I feel some sentimental attachment.