How to make a cheap Lego table

The boys are crazy about Lego. I am also crazy about Lego, but not quite in the same way. I am, like every other parent, sick of picking them up, of moving them off the table, of stepping on them! I have been coveting all the fancy Lego tables I see on Pinterest and Amazon, but it's just not in our budget these days. (Plus, they're all so small!) I've been dreaming up all kinds of solutions, none of which work. I bought a washing machine pan recently, but the boys didn't like the height of the lip and it was too awkward for them to move on their own (you can see the corner of it under the table. It's about 30x30). I've been obsessively checking the local Facebook yard sale group and the thrift store for a cheap table and today we finally scored this beauty:



Ok, so it wasn't a lot to look at, but it's big (31x40) and it was only $.50. That's half a dollar. We stopped by our favorite hardware store and picked up some trim pieces and a can of blue spray paint. (I might add, we get a terrific discount at the hardware store, so this was also very cheap.) This is what the trim looks like. Mike tells me this is called "cove" and is used for inside corners and along the ceiling.



I used a hacksaw to cut it to size. It could be done much better with some kind of electric saw, but I was in a hurry. If you cared, you could make pretty mitered corners. I didn't care. Then the Pirate and I nailed it down on all four sides to make a lip to help contain the Lego.



Next we spray painted it a bright blue color. Ideally, we'd put two coats on, but it was very windy and we used the entire can on our first coat. I decided I didn't really care, since it'll be covered in Lego anyway.



Finally, we ended up with a table that looks like this. The washing machine pan slides neatly underneath. We have two of the big base plates, but the table has room for 9 of them, so I'll be watching for a good deal on Ebay. I won't attach the ones we have until I can do all 9. I don't expect that this will actually completely contain the Lego, but I have hopes that it will at least help.



Our total cost? About $9 and we have most of a box of nails left over. Without the nails, about $5. Your cost would be slightly more, without the crazy hardware store discount, but still way less expensive than a real Lego table.

Soccer, Summer, Lego, Buffy

• I think that maybe it's finally going to be summer. It feels like today is finally warm enough with everyone healthy to consider it summer vacation.
• Have you tried Sobe Lifewater Pacific Coconut? I'm obsessed. Best drink on earth.
• There is a rumor that we are going to see Snow White and the Huntsman tonight. I don't want to jinx that tho.
• The Pirate is obsessed with Lego videos. It seems the most boring thing on earth to me, but there are people who build giant Lego kits and then make surprisingly long and detailed videos of said creations. The Pirate has started making his own videos and I'm putting them on YouTube for him. I can't bring myself to watch them, but maybe you'd enjoy it. (Also, please let me not be yelling in the background or anything awful.) (His are maybe even more boring than his inspiration.)
• In other internet news, Gayle Forman, author of If I Stay, wrote this terrific post about how Buffy saved her life, my friend Amy (not My Friend Amy) did a stitchbomb on a fence in San Francisco, how cool is this?, annnnnd, that's all the links I saved.

In Bookish News:

• 
  
  The Stand... Along starts today. You can still join!
• I read The First Husband: A Novel by Laura Dave for BlogHer Book Club, and really enjoyed it.
• I'm reading Key of Light by Nora Roberts. This is a reread for me, but I only vaguely remember it, so it feels new.