Jem Moment: A Table For My Treasures

So, ever since I began collecting shells (which I can’t even remember when that was, because I think I always have 😜) I’ve always wondered what exactly I should do with the little, magical treasures washed in from their watery homes?!

Well, a couple of years ago Mother found a display shelf that she bought because it was full of adorable, little bottles and she’d said I could use the shelf for stuff if I wanted… but I was getting ready to move to Europe, so it was put in storage.

Many a trip and very full shell bag later, I was still wondering, what in the world do I do with these abandoned snail/sea creature homes?!

Then, during Mom’s last trip to Holland to come visit us before the move, an old letterpress drawer was found and ‘ding ding ding’!
The lightbulb was lit and I thought hey, I could make this into a coffee table/shell display!

Luckily it JUST fit into our moving crates but upon further inspection here in Canada, I decided to use Mom’s display anyways, because it had larger sections, better for displaying my treasures.

(Now I have to decide what to do with the little drawer 😉😁🤔)

So on Saturday, after a little brain storming the days before and some consultation from the Mom about what she thought the wisest plan of action would be, Michiel and I began the revamp 😁

I wanted to be a part of the building process, not just stand on the side and say what I wanted done (though on occasion yes, I do prefer that position 😋) so Mike took the time to teach me what he was doing and why and after a couple of hours, what looked like a coffee table truly appeared!

The weather was lovely so it was a good day to work outside and Rolo even stopped by to oversee the progress now and again 😉🌤🐱

The legs were made using some antique looking bed posts that Mom had in the garage.
She says they were hers, but I remember picking them for my room when we redid it a long time ago but Mom doesn’t recall that, so SOMEBODY’S posts were used and cut up 😜

You already know about the drawer…

And Mike got to pull out his birthday tool set 😉👌🏻🛠

I was instructed on measuring and stabilizing and opted out of the skill saw lesson, because those freak me out 😜

Mom, ever to the rescue (😉) had some wood stain to use on the inside of the dividers.

Big bro added in his two cents about how he’d deal with getting the glass cut for the top and his suggestion did make sense 😏
Taking off the top frame and allowing the glass place to measure, cut and install it, rather than us hoping we sent them the utmost correct measurements.

It was moved inside where I began the painting process, using ‘Fat Paint’, which Mom purchased from Graphite Glitter.

Two coats later (applied while watching good old Iron Man😉😋) I was able to sand the edges a little to give it more of that beachy vibe and then gave it a quick wipe down before I began filling it with my goodies 😁

Because that was the part I’d been waiting for the entire day obviously 🙈😁😋👌🏻🐚💕

The glass will have to be cut but besides that it was finished in less than a whole day and I absolutely love how it turned out.
Well worth the wait 😉

Thank you to all who assisted in the project, without you and most of all your tools/wood/advice/paint/screws/hammers/wood glue etc. this project wouldn’t have been possible.
For real 😜