Table Easel

I am particularly proud of this one, though it wasn't even my idea.

Here is the old laundry basket that we bought in 2005, it served us well and survived a move but late last year the wood developed some cracks, stiffness and very loose screws lead to it leaning so bad that it had to be propped up against something.

(there is a top piece not shown here that is currently being used as a "duckboard" to keep the basket of toiletries off the floor in the bathroom)

It was dismantled at the start of December 2010 and the pieces were sitting around doing nought til yesterday.

I had a notion of making some sort of tablet weaving jig and was discussing this with Ais yesterday she pointed out that it would not be very practical as it wouldn't be at an easy height without being on a table.

Then she had the brainwave to make a table easel, stroke of genius there Ais!

I had an easel on my Christmas list last year and I've been on the lookout for one in charity shops and such for a long while so this was definitely a wanted item.

So firstly we looked through the pieces to find the best crossbar type thingy on which the canvas would be resting.

Then the three pieces were thoroughly cleaned and the bottom of the legs were treated with an anti mould spray (as this had been in my bathroom for a year and next to my washing machine in the old place for four years previous)

Then the crossbar was glued onto one side using multi purpose diy glue that I've had for so long I've completely forgotten why I bought it in the first place.

Ais wiped away the excess that oozed out so it dried without any glue sticking out.

While this was left to dry I strung up some wool through the pre drilled holes in the second part and fingerbraided this wool to make a strong tie.

Lastly the two sides were tied together on a flat surface.

Here's the finished product and I totally love it!

The painting is of Cork City FC then captain Dan lifting the League Trophy in 2005 by a local artist Elaine O Connor and takes pride of place in our living room.

A few improvements may be made to this depending on how sturdy it is during use including some back supports across the void so it can hold smaller pieces and perhaps something up top that will add to the overall sturdiness of it.

So two final things...

I still have a good bit of the laundry basket left to do something with (not a clue what though so any suggestions are welcome) including the canvas type bags.

Cost of finished item: €0.00