DIY Coffee Bar/Station: A Pinterest Inspired Project!

Hi guys! Have you been on Pinterest lately! Wow... apparently I am behind... I blame school getting in the way of all my free time LOL! Recently though I have seen these awesome pins about making a DIY Coffee Bar/Station for your home. I don't particularly drink a lot of coffee, but my husband is a completely different story. I also had this huge empty space in my dining room that really needed a bit of *something* and when I saw a few of these pins, I thought how cool would this be for my space!

A few weeks ago, I went on Craigslist and procured an old TV cabinet for free! YAY! Because we all love free right?!? And at the time I wanted to turn it into an extra book shelf for my library but... turns out it makes a great cabinet for my coffee bar/station instead! Once I gutted out all the shelves, wires, re-do the backing and put the doors back on it was ready to transform into barista heaven!

Between Kirklands and would you believe... Big Lots! I furnished the whole project with all kinds of cute coffee nick-nacks and signage! Our Big Lots and Kirklands both recently had a green sale and all their coffee decor at 70% off, and well lets just say I took full advantage of it LOL!

So... TA-DA! What you do guys think?!?

All Finished and soooo happy with how it turned out!

 

I just LOVE these cute little signs from Big Lots!

The tray, the ceramic coffee container, the coffee bean pillar candle and the coffee sign are all from Big Lots and cost me less than 10 dollars! You just can't beat that for cuteness!

DIY Gumball Machine Craft

A few days ago, the kiddo and I had been just browsing around in stores, when she happened to stumble upon a plastic toy gumball machine. I also though how cute!... I remember my grandpa having one of these things at his house when I was little, although his was the real deal. Then I looked at the price of said "toy gumball machine"... $29.99!!!! It was no bigger than 9 inches high and about 4inches in diameter, and to me that just spelled "RIP OFF" and "Don't worry, spend money on me and I'll break in a record breaking 3 days!" Sooo... I made a deal with the kiddo. I told her that mommy would make her one! Then we went home and I Pinterested the CRAP outta of DIY gumball machine tutorials. There are sooooo many on pinterest is is quite ridiculous LOL! I kinda wish I took some pictures of my steps and process but honestly, it's not that difficult. All you need is: a terracotta plant pot and saucer. ($1.99 each at my Michales craft store). I bought a smaller saucer than the size that matched the pot also. One glass bowl, similar that to a gold fish bowl. ($2.99 at my Michaels). One round wooden knob (.75 cents at my Michaels). One letter wooden letter U (.99 cents at my Michaels). One flat round wooden disc, looks like a wooden quarter (.75 cents at my Michaels). First I spray painted both the terracotta plant pot and the saucer with purple spray paint. I then hot glued (because I ran out of my favorite epoxy, but hot glue does the trick too) the bottom of the terracotta plant pot to the bottom of the glass bowl. Then I painted both the wooden knob and flat wooden disc white and glued the knob to the bottom of the terracotta saucer and the disc to the terracotta plant pot. I used a sharpie to write the 25 cents price on the flat wooden disc to make it look just like the old fashioned machines. I drew a line with some white paint to represent the spot where you put your "quarter" in. I then glued the U upside down towards the base of the terracotta pot and then painted it white along with the area inside the U. That represents the shoot where the gumball comes out. I then used clear glitter paint and slathered the whole thing with it. Tied a bow with some cool candy ribbon and hot glued that baby on there! And waaaaahala!!! Instant gumball machine!!! And for around $10.00!!! A small fraction of the price of what the store wanted me to buy one for! I can't tell you how much the kiddo loved it and loved helping me make it. I let her choose the colors and the ribbon and then we went to the store to buy some gumballs! Easy Peasy right?!? :)