IKEA Cart Mini Island

I don't know what other people do when they can't sleep and wake up at 5:00 am but here's what I did Saturday morning...

My plain IKEA cart never looked as good as it does right now! I've had mine for years and it looked like this...

Nice green color but hey, I have nothing else to do this early, I've already had 2 cups of coffee, so how about painting it white?

 Wow! Better already!

Now how about the top? 

First I sanded the top to bring it back to the original color.

Then I began beating it with a hammer to distress it...

(I wasn't making too much noise!) 

I wanted to duplicate the look of an old antique bread board I have, it has nail holes on the sides that look very rustic.

I can do that!

I began by banging in some black tacks all the way around.

Then I mixed black and brown paint with an antiquing glaze.

I stained the top and rubbed off the excess.

 Then I banged some more nails into the top.

Again a little noisy!

The black paint filled in the hammer marks very nicely!

Next came my inspiration piece... a stamp from the 

Graphics Fairy.

I wanted to only use the black cancellation stamp.

I traced a circle, then used Stayzon stamp pad and stamps

and the top was finished!

Back to the base, I distressed the white edges with a sander,

and hung some rusty hooks and pretties on the sides. 

I painted an inexpensive towel bar with metallic spray paint and added it to the side.

Gorgeous, gorgeous! I love it!

Who knew so much creativity could take place at 5 am?

I really need to wake up early more often.

Need some supplies to customize a cart of your own? 
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