Food-spiring Bar Stools

The couple that lived in my apartment before I moved in left a lot of unwanted items.  Which, included a brown field mouse living under the refrigerator that snuck out at night to eat my cat’s food unbeknownst to me, but, I digress.  (The mouse has since been evicted for those curious folks).  Even though it was a pain sorting through these left-behind items, they did leave a few crafting gems, one of which was three IKEA nail-together yourself bar stools.  Although the craftsmanship of the nailing was sub-par, they still seem to support the weight of myself and my male friends who hopefully weigh a bit more than I do! 

Here’s a before picture of these bad boys:

  

I recently went on my first trip out of the country to France and Italy.  I went solo for the first first half of the journey, and everyone commented on the trip being my “Eat, Pray, Love” moment.  It totally was an independent woman, you go girl kind of experience and I think every woman should do it.  Seriously, do it.  Plus, the service for a solo woman out on the town is fantastic.  So yes, an “Eat, Pray, Love” moment.  And that’s how I got this vision for these three barstools.  I wanted to have words written on the top for a kitschy homey welcome-y feel.  I didn’t want “Eat, Pray, Love” since it’s too reminiscent of the movie.  I love to eat and I love to drink so I decided on the words “Eat, Love, Drink.”  I toyed with “Shots Shots Shots,” but decided against that one based on the fact that I’m getting old, go to bed before 10pm, and haven’t been able to take a full shot properly since college (vlady shots anyone!? They’ve ruined me).  But for you young college kids might be more appropriate.

Once the idea was in place, the rest was simple.  I went to my local ACE Hardware store and picked up a can of black and a can of red Clark and Kensington Paint+Primer in one, a paintbrush, and blue painters tape.  Does anyone else love ACE?  Hardware stores are limited in the city of Baltimore, and this one is in a nice area and the people that work there are fantastic and knowledgeable. 

Step One:

Wipe off the stools with soap and water.  Since these were already bare wood no sanding was necessary.  Put down newspaper or a plastic sheet.  My cheap and easy solution is to cut oversized plastic trash bags. 

Step Two:

Turn the bar stools upside down and tape the lip of the top. 

Step Three:

Paint two coats on the belly and legs and let dry.  I had a few spots to touch up but this paint coats really well so for more careful and patient painters, you may only need one. 

Step Four:   

Once the paint is completely dry, remove the painters tape.  Now, you’ll need to apply the painters tape on the painted portion, touching the lip of the stool.  Paint your contrasting color on the lip first, before flipping to paint the top of the stool.

Step Five:

Flip right side up and paint the top of the stool. 

 Yes, that’s my cats’ cat tree over in the left corner.  They’re two spoiled girls with a zest for style.

Step Six:

Wait for the top to completely dry.  I then used the same black paint, and one of my small watercolor paint brushes to freehand the “love, drink, eat” words.  You could do stencils, but I liked the personal touch of using my own handwriting.  I went over the words twice.  Totally welcoming right?

 

Last but not least, the finished product under their little kitchen nook.

Such an easy, fun, and cheap craft project to add a little personal touch to your kitchen.  Drink!  Love!  Eat!