DIY Bar Cart! From Mid-Century Modern table to Mad Men-tastic bar cart

I love the look of those two tier mid-century side tables, however they are too low to function with modern furniture. So, I choose to remake one into a bar cart because I love the idea of the two levels, one for storage of bar items and one for glasses and mixing. And since you know how much I was in love with the Russian Figure ladies skater's costume as evident of my post on inspiring images in that color palette, I choose to use dark grey and bronze.


The key to the table is getting the right height and scale. The mixing surface was moved up to 26 inch high and the storage is about 34 inches high. This cart is styled for mixing alcoholic drinks, but would be super cute as a coffee bar, tea cart, or even as a small desk! I plan to use it for coffee.


This is a simple project of cutting off the legs, adding a little lumber, and a nice paint job. The nice paint job includes using a pattern. I have included the pattern at the bottom. You can enlarge it to the size you need! The instructions can be printed with the title of the project at the top.










SUPPLIES:
For this project you will need the following supplies to complete a table similar this one.

BASICS:
A table to alter- if using a table like this pick your cutting zone carefully and with consideration to the size of your lumber! I chose a spot that was not tapered to make adding the legs back easier.
lumber- I used 2"x 2" which is nominal measurement of 1.5" x 1.5". This scale worked for my project.
8 dowel screws
wood putty
paint
liquid sanding/ deglosser- I clean the table with this type product for better paint adhesion
Hack saw
drill and drill bits
locking pliers- plain pliers might work, but locking pliers make the work easier
pencil
ruler
straight-edge

EXTRAS:
tracing paper
gold paint
circular saw
painters tape

Leaf pattern for the top of the table.

Winning at Home Goods- organic Earl Grey green tea

I love tea... I have posted about tea before. Recently, I was at Home Goods and cruzin' the food items, because you can find some crazy interesting things there in often great packaging, when I found this...

Green tea + Earl Grey + loose tea + organic = 35.27 ounces of delish!
And, I cannot believe I got it for under $12!!!!

I'm just sorry I didn't get the black tea variety. I like that as busy as I am, tea makes me slow down, wait, and do one thing at a time- for a moment at least. And, it always reminds me of Precious Ramotswa at The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency (a book series by Alexander McCall Smith), when Mma. Ramotswa needs to think, she asks Mma. Makutsi to make tea. Then there is all the tea drinking in Harry Potter... though I think I will have mine without Ogden's Old Fire Whisky.

a week-ness of tea

custom travel tumblers from yevgenia

This week I have vowed to drink more tea. Green, white, black, if it's tea, I'm drinking it.
So, in honor of a week of tea and weakness for tea, I am sharing my fave tea accessories- some I have, some I want. All you need!

Hand painted ceramic travel mug by Yevgenia

The above mug is my mug that my thoughtful sister had custom made for me because I love lavender. She requested the custom design and Yevgenia obliged and added the design to the collection. Yevgenia doesn't currently have this in her line, but she has many lovely designs. The cup is double walled ceramics, glazed on the inside and matte on the outside. Lovely, lovely work... and keeps your tea warm. I used a desk image so you could see the back design reflected in a planter on my desk.

Tea cozy from Flock of Tea Cosy

I am more than a little obsessed with these tea cozies. I love the thick wool felt, the simple elegant design and that they look like a biretta hat.

Tea infuser from Dunkfish 

These tea infusers for loose teas are fantastic and definitely should be on your Christmas list. I love that they were design in the US and funded by crowd sourcing. Such great ideas coming out of this company, including a honey wand that would be a nice accompaniment to a Dunkfish. I love honey in tea!

When I worked in publishing, a friend brought me a shortbread cookie... an lavender shortbread cookie to be exact... from taste testing. I was fantastic, but doesn't seem to have been published. So, instead proving that recipe, I will link you to a slide show of tested recipes for shortbread cookies from my friends at Southern Progress.

lovely shortbread cookies

With or without a shortbread cookie, cheese straw, or tiny sandwich, hot tea is a treat and you should treat yourself daily!