A Tale of Two Tables (Pt. 2)

I love little projects because they make my heart tingle.  Little tables like the one I showed you HERE and the one I am going to show you today don't take a whole lot of time or money but it makes me feel like I got something accomplished off my list.  This table is more like a plant stand, but it can be used as a small side table on the back patio as well.  When I found this table (yes, found....you can read more about finding treasures here) it looked like this:

It had seen better days.  The top was a weathered cardboard type of material.  It was glued down to the base so I banged it out with my trusty hammer and scraped out all of the glue off of the stand.  It was time for fresh paint so I went with a simple black.  Clean and classic.

As for the top, I also wanted it to be clean a classic.  We recently remodeled our master bathroom (which you can see the progress HERE or HERE) so we had a pile in the garage that looked like this

It's all of our scrap pieces of travertine tile.  PERFECT!  We had everything that I needed to tile the top of the table.  The tile would not weather like the previous top and the travertine against the new black base would be perfect.  In order to get a perfect fit I simply traced the old top onto a spare piece of cement board that was left over.  Now that I had my measurements I dug through the pile of tile to pick out the pieces I liked and cut them to size and into the pattern that I liked.  I could have used a solid tile but I liked the medley look of smaller pieces put together. 

Now it was time for the thinset.  I found a disposable container so that when I was done I could just throw it away...no clean up around here...YES!  First pour a little thinset into your container...a little goes a long way...then slowly add water and mix.  You are looking for a peanut butter type consistency.  You don't want a smooth application, kind of rough it up a bit, it gives the tile something to grip to.

Then just stick your tile down and kind of smush it in so it sticks.  I already had everything measured, cut, and the pattern laid out so this step was easy peasy.  I let it dry overnight so that the thinset had plenty of time to dry.  Then I stuck it back into my frame and snuck some grout out of the bucket while the guys were grouting my shower and forced into the cracks between the tiles....wiped with a damp sponge...and done!

Since the table was free, the tile was destined for the trash, and I had the spray paint, thinset, grout and cement board all on hand.....this project was FREE!!  I love me some free!  My mom has two tables exactly like this and I tried to convince her to give me one but no luck.  I saved a small pile of tile so that if I come across another one I will have enough tile to make a mate.  I love the black with the travertine.  It's classic and will never go out of style.