My leather studded stump

We have all seen pictures of large hunks of wood cut into stumps and re purposed as tables and stools in blog land.  

I found these pictures on Pinterest. 

Not a new idea, but I still really like them.

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I love this trio of stumps painted white from Alicia over at Thrifty and Chic.



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Check out my friend Debbie's stump table over at Refresh Restyle.

I never showed you the one I made last year that I use outside, but here is a new one I just made.  

A friend of mine cut down some large pine trees in her yard that were blocking her view and she gave me a couple of the stumps.  They were VERY sappy and I had to let them sit outside for months until they were dry enough to debark.  The spiders loved them.

I used a hammer and a chisel to remove the bark.  Wear glasses to protect your eyes for this part of the project.  I had to re cut some of the branches closer to the main stump with a hand saw because my chain saw was at the shop.  Just kidding, I don't have a chainsaw, but it would have come in handy if I did.  (I'm jealous if you have one) 

It's hard work cutting these by hand.  I should have ditched my flip flops and put on some flannel and work boots, I felt like a lumber jack.   

Once the bark was all gone, I used a belt sander to get a smooth finish. 

I borrowed it from my dad he has all the best tools, but no chainsaw.
The spiders vacated the premises once the bark was gone.



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I added four swivel casters to the bottom of my stump for easy moving. 

You can see just the edge of one peaking out from the bottom.

I rubbed some oil on the wood to bring out the grain.

I used more of my leather scraps from my computer desk project and made a pattern out of a piece of newspaper.  I cut out a piece of leather for the top and secured it with left over upholstery tacks.

It's a plant stand, a drum, a coffee cup holder, a place to plant your beer or your butt (not at the same time), whatever.
  The stump was free. 
The leather cost about $8. 
I already had the tacks. 
The lumber jack workout was free too.

Leather, even when it's not padded, is more comfy on the booty than wood.

It ties in nicely to my new re vamped computer desk.

More importantly, I made it for my husband and he loves it.
Done any lumber jack worthy stump projects lately?
I would love to see them.

Thanks for checking it out.