Upcycling Old Electric Spools -- FAMILY RULES

Last Fall, Lyndee and I traveled to an area electric supply store graveyard and came away with a bunch of electric spools to refurbish.  For Christmas this year, I upcycled two of them for gifts for my parents.

First, I made mom one for her kitchen for extra storage and to clear up some counter space for her.  It works well in the corner of her kitchen.  

I had a big banner that had a list of general FAMILY RULES identified on it. 

I cut it all up and planned to affix those messages onto the table.  I also printed off some family pictures to include as well.  

First, I had a can of Polyurethane that I coated the spool table with first.  Polyurethane is very similar to epoxy or a varnish, and creates a nice protective seal.  

When the first coat of polyurethane was brushed on, and still sticky, I attached each of the cut up "Family Rules" along with the two photos I had printed.  Once it had dried, I placed another thick coat of Polyurethane on top of it all to seal it up nicely.  **TT123 Tip -- A good way to tell when Polyurethane is dry/set is when the strong smell is no longer present -- so a simple sniff test will tell you when it's properly dried.**  And, in the end, my mom was very happy with the finished product...

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