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.

Leather and Tacks

Henry's room is coming along slowly.  My blogging time has been limited as of late.  I'm coaching two volleyball teams and my oldest daughter just finished State Cup Soccer. 

I've been out of town the last couple weekends and it seems as if the rest of the week is spent catching up. 

Here is a little project I finished.

I think every Man Cave needs a little leather.

This project is an inexpensive way to add leather to your decor without breaking the bank.

I didn't take any before pictures, but the desk looked similar to this one only NOT as pretty as this cute little thing.  I picked mine up at a thrift store for $20.  Compared to what I see on other blogs, San Diego thrift stores are more expensive than the rest of the country.  My thrift store desk is not even that good of quality.  It had a Bombay furniture sticker on the bottom.  It was originally stained brown, but somone had given it the WORST paint job I have ever seen.  Sloppy paint drips all down the legs with a yellowish, goopy sealer over the white slop.  The legs were wobbly and needed to be re glued.  The only good thing about this desk was the size. 

It was perfect for the corner I planned on using it for and I had been looking for quite awhile for something this size at a price I was willing to pay.

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I didn't take any pictures of the redo. 

I fit this project into the little time I have and I neglected the picture taking part.

I'll quit whining now about how busy I am, I know you are just as busy.

After a lot of sanding off drips and glops and re gluing the legs, I spray painted the whole thing black.  Then I sprayed the edges blue.  After more sanding, the desk was ready for a leather top and some studs.  I bought the leather scraps at We Are Fabrics in Solana Beach.  The leather pieces cost $8 a pound and I probably used less than a pound for the top.  I tacked down the leather with a spray adhesive and finished off the edge of the desk and the tops of the legs with left over upholstery tacks from a chair project.

To see other tack projects I've done go HERE

I'm moving the computer to this small desk.

  The leather top not only looks good, it's practical too because now I don't need to use a mouse pad.

The leather will just get better with age.

The border on the concrete floor you see has been painted over because it's too girly for a Man Cave.

Come back and see what other uses I found for the leather scraps and upholstery tacks.

Thanks for checking it out.