Fun Times with Gorilla Glue

I chose the title of this post because the project I'm about to describe uses a product called "Gorilla Super Glue", which I think sounds fabulous. Also, although the actual project has nothing to do with gorillas (sad), it has everything to do with glue (even sadder).

Months and months ago, I'd read about some woman who made a jewelry stand using old plates and candlesticks. The stands she created were adorable, and I longed to have one of my own. I found a few similar items on Esty, but they costs more than I wanted to pay. So, I went the DIY route. I made a little trip to a nearby Salvation Army, and bought three plates, each for exactly $1.00.

Counter-clockwise: Small, medium, large.

For many, many weeks, they have sat on the dresser in my bedroom, the two smaller plates stacked on top of one another, holding whatever jewelry (mostly earrings and bracelets) that gets thrown upon them at the end of the day.

My initial plan has always been to stack the three plates on top of one another to create a three-tiered stand. However, I had great trouble finding an item that would serve as a connecting piece. Most bloggers had used candlesticks, but after several searches, I had yet to spot any candle holders that I thought were small enough or attractive...that is...until...yesterday.

Yesterday, I made one of my infamous trips to Target or should I say...Tar-jhey. I have a slight problem because I can't seem to walk out of Target without buying about 10 more items than I originally planned on buying. It's really a problem. Nonetheless, while perusing the aisles of the store, I found this little cutie and knew my jewelry stand dreams were about to come true.

It's a very little, glass candlestick!

I fell in love with it immediately. The picture doesn't do it justice, but it is small, shapely and unassuming. It definitely wouldn't distract from the beauty of the plates and the small circumference of the top would eat up very little jewelry space on the plates.

Before using the Gorilla Glue to affix the candlestick to the plates, I used a damp cloth to wipe down both the small and medium plates along with the candlestick. Then, I flipped the smallest plate so that it's bottom was facing up. I was very very lucky because the candlestick actually fit perfectly inside the rim on the underside of the plate. Ready for action, I uncapped the Gorilla Glue and got ready to work. 

I squeezed a thin line of glue around the larger end of the candlestick and then placed the candlestick atop the plate's bottom. Once that was done, I carefully placed a heavier object atop the other end of the candlestick for about a minute to ensure that the two materials bonded.

Who knew a bowl of cherry tomatoes would be so helpful?!

After a minute was up, I gently lifted the candlestick to see if it had taken to the plate. Waaaaah, waaaaah, waaaaah. It was a failure!

That's my,"Grrrr. I'm frustrated!" face.

I went back to the packaging instructions, thinking I must have missed something.

"Bonds Metal, Wood, Ceramics, Leather, Paper, most Plastics and More." -- That's not the problem. "Excess glue can cause delayed or failed bond." -- Hmmmm. Maybe I wasn't as sparing as I should have been!

Guessing this is where I'd gone wrong, I wiped off any glue that lingered on the surface of both the plate and the candlestick with a damp paper towel, and tried again. This time, I was careful to squeeze out as little glue as possible. I also replaced the bowl of tomatoes and applied pressure with my hands for over a minute. I won't leave you in suspense. Unfortunately, all of these precautions made no difference! Grrrrr. The bowl and candlestick still weren't connecting.

But I still wasn't giving up! Again, I cleaned any glue remaining on the two objects. On my third and final try, I did not apply glue to entire rim of the candlestick. Instead, I applied glue onto five tiny sections of the rim. I applied pressure for a minute, and then I let the candlestick sit for several more minutes, before checking for success/failure. Guess what?!?! This time, it still didn't work! Grrrrrr.

Obviously, I'd mis-stepped somewhere, and realized I'd have to go to the source of all knowledge on Gorilla Super Glue - the Gorilla Glue website. Using their convenient product chart, I checked out the specs of my Gorilla Super Glue. Guess what?!? Gorilla Super Glue does NOT work on glass. Who feels dumb now? Me!! I obviously needed to be more thorough in the future. Grrrrr.

Back to the drawing board...

P.S. Information on the headboard project will be forthcoming. I have not forgotten!

What's next?!

Since beginning this blog, I have determined that my father is my most devoted reader. He frequently comments on my posts and also sends me emails to let me know what particular piece of information he's enjoyed that day. So, I have to tell him publicly, "Dad, thank you. It makes me feel great to know you appreciate what I'm doing."

Given his earnest interest, it is no surprise that when challenged with the task of guessing my next project, one of Dad's two guesses was correct! He thought it either had to be a headboard or a picture frame. I'm here to tell you...it's number one folks! A headboard!

The space between our bed and the painting was growing more vast each day. Something had to be done, and this past weekend, I started doing it! Nothing's actually been built yet, but there were a few steps to be taken beforehand.

As much as I'd envisioned having a headboard, Tyler and I needed to figure out how large it would actually be. In came painter's tape - a girls' best friend. Painter's tape is super easy to use and as it's name would suggest, it doesn't ruin the paint on your wall! I whipped out our dwindling roll and got to work on the bedroom wall. Here is the final result:

Sorry for the poor quality. I had to use my computer's camera.

Hopefully, this gives you some sense of where the headboard will go. I realize the tape is a little off-center, but that's okay. It comes off easily! The best moment of all, however, was Tyler's comment afterwards. He said, "You know Jess, we could just paint inside the tape and it would probably still look really good." Mwahahaha. He's beginning to think like a DIYer!

Did We Really Just Do That?!?!?!

Several week ago, Tyler and I did something that I still can't quite wrap my head around.

It all started when Tyler and I got a new mattress last spring. We, in fact, didn't purchase the mattress, but received it as a gift from Tyler's parents. The gift of a new mattress was awesome enough, so we didn't expect anything else to come from our trip to Jordan's (the store). However, Jordan's Furniture was running a promotion that went as follows:

If the Red Sox baseball team hit the Jordan's Furniture sign over the course of their season, the mattress would be FREE. If they didn't, we would receive 20% of the purchase price back in Jordan's dollars. 

Turns out, the Sox didn't have a great season, which meant that they did not hit the Jordan's sign in Fenway Park. Thus, in October, we found ourselves with about $300 to use at Jordan's Furniture. Tyler and I were excited about the shopping trip because our place was in desperate need of more lighting fixtures. Eighteen foot ceilings require LOTS of light.

When we got to Jordan's, we were disappointed. A few items caught Tyler's eye, but I wasn't satisfied with the merchandise. I reasoned that we could come back a few weeks later when (hopefully) new merchandise had arrived. So, about a month later, we returned.

This time, I had promised Tyler that we wouldn't walk out of the store empty-handed. Determined to complete our mission, we perused the multitude of rooms that comprise Jordan's Furniture store. Unfortunately, the one light that we really liked on our previous journey was no longer available. Again, we found a couple of pieces that we kind-of liked. Unfortunately, we couldn't bring ourselves to spend money - even free money - on items we both felt were either low quality or could be bought elsewhere for cheaper.

As we wound our way through Jordan's twisty paths, resigning ourselves to defeat, Tyler made a sudden stop. He threw up his arms, dragged me across the floor, and pointed, "What about this?! We should spend the money somehow. Why not this?!" I looked, laughed, and replied, "Really? You've got to be kidding me." "Come on. It'll be funny," he said. "What else are we going to do?" Looking back, I must have had some sort of equally psychotic moment because I said, "Ok. Let's do it!"

So, that afternoon, we walked out of Jordan's with this...

The picture!

We even paid $30 dollars of our own money to get it! As crazy as it still seems - using our $300 free dollars for a canvas painting that I still think I probably could make myself - the purchase has actually worked out well. The picture brought some much needed color into our bedroom, and filled up some of the large space between our bed and the ginormo ceilings. It has also made it very clear what my next project should be. Look at the picture. Can you guess?!