Last weekend The Husband and I were having our coffee-time and somehow we ended up talking about rebar and wood slices. I suspect that topic of conversation isn’t the norm, but give The Husband and I a pot of coffee and an hour of before-sunrise time on the porch and you wouldn’t believe all the mischief we can come up with!
By the time we’d finished our third cuppa we’d come up with a plan for these rustic wood pedestals!
I’m in pre-planning mode for our big Family-Fall-Party and I’ve been thinking about rustic risers, or pedestals for the table…
This couldn’t be simpler. All ya need is a slice of wood from a tree stump. (We got our stump at a lumber store Peachstate Lumber (a great Distribution Yard of Furniture Grade Hardwoods, Softwoods and plywood), but you could easily get a tree stump from a firewood or tree service.)
Here’s the 411!
DIY Rustic Wood Pedestal
For the medium pedestal(*the stump we were working with is 9″ in diameter) you need 4 pieces of 1/2″ rebar, 7″ long. I got mine at The Home Depot in the cement aisle, it was cut in 2 foot pieces which is manageable 🙂
(Cut the rebar with a jigsaw using a metal cutting blade or a hack saw)
Our tree stump is 9 inches around. Make 4 marks equally spaced- about 1 & 1/2 inches from the edge.
With a 1/2″ drill bit, drill holes at a 45% angle in the direction of the arrows..
We inserted the rebar to make sue it fit without hammering it all the way in, while it was temporarily in, The Husband used a grinder to round off the sharp edges. You can use a metal file if you don’t have a grinder!
After we filed down the ends of the rebar and removed it from the wood, I sanded the slab, rounding the edges and smoothing out the top and bottom. Then I treated the wood with food safe mineral oil, like you’d use on cutting boards…
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For the legs you could leave the rebar just as it is and have a wonderful industrial-chic look, but I love combining something shiny with something rustic. Using opposites in decorating and design gives a bit of a wow-factor.
I used a Krylon Gold Foil Metallic spray paint to paint over the rebar and it worked wonders!
When the paint dried we reinserted the rebar and used a dab of wood glue in the holes, hammering the individual legs to get the pedestal level.
A little of the paint came off while we were putting the legs in the holes, I just sprayed some paint on a cloth and touched up those places…
We made three pedestals with different size legs, so I’d be able to use them together,because you know; three is a magic number when you’re decorating most anything.
The rebar has such a wonderful texture and the gold against rustic wood is kinda wonderful I think…
We used walnut and it’s so beautiful…
I love the rustic color and character of this wood…
I’ll use these rustic pedestals for parties…
And for decorating…
I’m tickled with the way they turned out!
~Sending you love today my sweet friends~
xo
*We’re looking for some clear tiny rubber feet for the legs…anybody know where we could find them!?
Linking with DIY Showoff!
I LOVE these so much! What a wonderful idea and they look just fantastic! Thank you so much for sharing this great project – pinning! Have a happy Monday and a great week!
Cindy, thank you sweetie! You’re always such an encouragement, I appreciate it! 🙂 Happy Monday to you too my friend xo
You need to coat the legs with some clear mat laquer–the kind that doesn’t yelllow. No more paint will come off, unless you want it too..:)
Spence, GREAT idea! No, I really want this paint to stay on!!! Love the idea & I have some spray on top coat that would be perfect! xo
So cool! I think they are one of my favorite projects of yours now! I wish my hubby would sit with me and think about projects that we could do, but that is so not going to happen EVER! 😉
Julia, well thank you HOney!!! I love your eye for design so it means a lot that you like this project! (and never say never… 🙂 ) xoxo
Great idea! A perfect solution. I’m going to have to try that paint!
Karen, that paint is amazing, NO kidding! I’m already using it for another project! Let me know when you give it a try, I’d love to see what you do! xo
I saw this pin first thing this morning on Pinterest and had to see the DIY. I’m going to follow you on Pinterest so I can get all the latest beauties from your home. 😉 I LOVE this idea. I’m not quite as handy but have great aspirations and *think* I can do it. After all, believing in yourself is half the battle, right? LOL I’m pinning this to my “wood” board where I have lots of scrap and wood stump ideas and into my “craft/diy” board. I really want one (or two or three!!). 🙂
Leslie, I’m so happy to meet you! Thank you for your encouraging words… and yes! I think believing you can do something is def. half the battle 🙂 sending love my new friend xo
How beautiful and creative!…Such a unique and clever design! Love it!
I absolutely love these! Perfect for outside parties and for fall decorating! You are so talented (and hubby too)!!~~Angela
Thank you Ang! xo
Those are darling! Great ideas come from two heads put together and a pot of coffee……:-)
Chris, isn’t it amazing what a little caffeine can do!!!? xo
Oh Robin, I love, LOVE them!!!! I am always looking for some kind of pedestals. I am going to show Joe and maybe he can make some for me. Thanks for the 411. I know you will have tons of uses for them!!! XO
You never cease to amaze me! Tiny perfection- each one of them- rustic and yet so classic looking- timeless in a way. Love them!
thank you my sweet friend Vicky xo
These are just really cute, what a great idea! These would also be great for a rustic wedding!
Here is a link to some clear adhesive rubber feet that may work. They are 1/3 of an inch, so I think they would fit. (The link is from my a-store, just so ya know) http://astore.amazon.com/flyccre-20/detail/B001JASGH4. Love Amazon!
Cory, you are so sweet to give me a link for those little feet!!! Thank you xo (and these would be beautiful on a table at a rustic wedding!)
SO adorable! I love them!
Those are so adorable! They would be amazing in a large version for end tables too!
I adore these little guys- that Walnut is beautiful!! Great job!
xo Becca
Don’t know how I missed this post! The mystery of rebar. I don’t think I’ve ever used that word in a sentence until now.
Can not wait to show this to Ricky. I believe we have a grinder and a file, but I’ll double-check.
Just precious. Absolutely precious.
I love them as cake stands. I hope I can manage to get someone handy to make me some. Thanks for sharing how.
Theresa, I’m so glad you like them!!! xo
You could dip the legs into that Plasti Dip stuff. (liquid that dries into nice rubber coating)
Jen, I’ll look into that! Great idea! xo
You are simply amazing my friend! I’m sitting here in awe and slapping my forehead…like…duh!!!! These pedestals are gorgeous! I’ll be pinning them to the Better Homes & Gardens Boards that I belong to. Bravo!!! Can’t wait to try!
Kim, thank you so much! I really appreciate you pinning to that great big board sweet friend xo
Wow! These are gorgeous. I will definitely have to give this a try if I can find some good wood rounds. Thank you so much for sharing.
Debra, I’m so glad you like them! Let me know if you give them a try! xo
I found this post just in the nick of time!! Today we are pulling rebar out of our yard from a fence project and my husband was planning on throwing it all away unless I came up with a good reason to reuse rebar. I’ll be sure to show him the cutting/display boards. Pinned it too. I thank you but not so sure about my husband!
Rita
Rita, I love it!!! Perfect use for some of that rebar!!! xo
You should be tickled; they are adorable. You and hubby did a good job. Just clever!!!
Eileen, thank you friend xo
Hello,
I really like the design of your wood platters.
I have tried to make a similar design but the wood always ends up cracking after a week or so after cutting it.
What do you do to prevent the cracking?
Thanks,
Jordan
Jordan, it might crack because the wood isn’t completely dry. Or perhaps there is a drastic change in temperature. Good luck with your projects Jordan~