Betty

A Cardinal Opener

Stained glass stepping stone with a St. Louis Cardinal bird on the bat . The St. Louis Arch is in the background. There is a ball field on the bottom of the stone.

Many years ago, I made a St. Louis Cardinals table for my mom. I made a stained glass stepping stone and bought the metal stand for it. The table had been on her little patio, but when we moved her one apartment over to the studio, the table also moved to a much more prominent location. It now sits between her door and a side door for the facility. Everyone who goes in and out sees this table.

I had planned on redoing this table for awhile, but once my mom moved, I moved this task up to number one on my project priority list. To me, seeing something in disrepair is a bit depressing. That’s no good. And, thanks to Rust-oleum spray paint and primer in one, it was a pretty quick and easy project.

All I did was sand off the rusty spots. I used a scraper, some sandpaper and an electric sander, too. I’m guessing there is a special sander, or at least special sandpaper, for metal, but I just used what I had. Removing the rust and flaking paint was the hardest part, and honestly, it wasn’t all that hard. It probably took a couple of hours at most. Then I spray painted one coat and came back later for the touch up.

The Cardinals table can now cheerfully greet folks as they come and go. Do you have any easy projects? You know, a project that doesn’t take all that much time or effort to get done, but once you complete it, you are quite happy! I hope this little St. Louis Cardinal table will brighten the day for those who pass by. Even if just a little bit.

But you know, my mom’s little table can only cheer people up so much. The rest depends on the St. Louis Cardinals! Here’s to a good 2021 baseball season for the Red Birds! Go Crazy Folks! Go Crazy!

Rusty metal stand for stepping stone.
Before
Do I even need to specify?
Repainted metal stand with stained glass stepping stone in it - i.e. a little patio table.
After

27 comments

  2. Love the table and great repair job! The table reminded me of mosaic patio tables my cousin once made. There are directions that can be googled. Instead of purchasing the mosaic glass pieces from a craft store, my cousin bought old China plates at garage sales and then broke them for her own unique tiles.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Thank you, Peggy. I’m also glad it is by 2 doors, as it could be useful as well as pretty. Sometimes people need to put something down while they open a door. Enjoy your day – we have beautiful weather here! Maybe you do, too.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  4. Very nice. However, when it comes to projects around our rig, I’ve learned a long time ago that when I say “This will only take five minutes” it usually ends up taking way longer and a lot more money than I first figured on! Therefore I now proceed with a good bit of caution in terms of projects. Have a great week.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • I made a number of them years ago. I used regular concrete and also quik-crete. I loved the quik-crete – more expensive but totally worth it. I also used a pattern in all but one time. I really enjoyed my stained glass hobby, but I haven’t done it for years. Maybe someday. Thanks for reading, and enjoy your day.

      Like

      Reply

  8. I would love to know how you designed or drew out the plans for the table and then continued to the finishing success. It is absolutely gorgeous. This small treasure makes a BIG statement!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • I wish I could say that I designed it, but it was a pattern that I bought. I cut out the pattern and then the pieces of glass. Then I laid the glass pieces face down in a mold and poured in the concrete. I used quik-crete which is fast setting concrete. I really like the quik-crete. It’s easy to use and has nice finish when done. I really enjoyed my stained glass hobby years ago. I do hope to get back to it someday. Thank you for reading and your kind words. Enjoy your day!

      Like

      Reply

  10. Hi Betty, I think you answered one of my comments, on Snapshots in cursive. 🙂
    That is one beautiful cardinal!! Where did you get the table that was the perfect shape??
    Great job restoring it!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Thank you! I used a pattern, a mold and quik-crete to make the stone. The metal stand I bought at a stained glass hobby store. The nice thing is the stone has held up perfectly through the years! I am not sure what you mean by “Snapshots in cursive.” Have a great evening!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.