Trash (and Dirt) to Treasure

So when we moved to Corvallis we had not a stick of furniture. In our last place we picked up some cheap stuff at WabiSabi, but we decided from the get go here that anything we could build we were going to try a hand at it. Of course that went out the window once we realized it would mean we had to sit and sleep on the floor for a looooong time. Not to mention that the last place we were in was maybe 400 square feet. Now our place is 1100 - so big that to this day we have not even started to use one of the bedrooms.

So after a project where we made a bookcase by building a series of differently-sized boxes and stacking them, we decided to take on what Jason thought to be a nice, simple endeavor. Making a coffee table.

Yeah - not so easy!

The materials were mostly reclaimed. The top an old cupboard door, and legs old newel posts from The ReBuilding Center. Some of the other pieces were bought new. The plan was to build the table, and then put a cob mosaic in the top where the cupboard door is recessed.

Jason definitely struggled with putting it all together. A novice carpenter with poor tools, he came pretty close on a couple of occasions to pitching one part or another into the street. In a Facebook posting of the final product he stated "I am pretty proud of the final product. It came out quite well. I must say thanks again to Clare from preventing me from setting fire to the early process and they guy at Home Depot for the pointers."

The design is pretty basic, and he would be happy to send it to you if you were interested. Here's a pic of what it looked like after sanding, cutting, and assembling.

The next step was staining the wood. The making of the stains is in another blog posting. One thing I was surprised by was how pale the stain became once it dried.

The cob mosaic was the next step. We played with a bunch of ideas initially including broken pottery and recycled tiles, but eventually decided on river rock. Jason got the rocks while on a hike, and we set them on the table loose for day playing with design ideas until Jason came up with this one.


The cob was simple though we had to purchase the sand to make it. For those of you who don't know, cob is a mixture of clay, sand, and straw. The straw provides tensile strength, sand is used for an aggregate, and clay serves to bind it all together. It has been used to build homes and other structures for centuries. When Jason does natural building, he is most often using cob. Though the cob is poured around the stones, I will say that they were first glued down with wood glue.


Finally, I completed the project (Jason headed off to his new internship) by painting the whole thing with linseed oil to seal it. I did one coat on the wood, and two on the cob. The linseed oil strengthens and seals the cob. It also brought out the color of the stain again!

All in all it is a beautiful project!!!

Sustainable Sunday: WabiSabi

Ok...I have a confession.

I stole the CD fish idea.

Not so much stole, as used the idea since it was taught to me. I learned it this past summer along with a bunch of other recycling-themed craft projects while working for the business we are profiling today - WabiSabi.

I spent my last summer working at WabiSabi, or Wabi for short - a nonprofit devoted to sustainability and community empowerment in Moab, UT. Wabi offers two thrift stores - the Warehouse and Thriftique - aimed at reducing the flow of goods into landfills as well as providing low-cost goods to people in a community rampant with rural poverty. The monies earned from the stores is given out to other nonprofits in the area, thus supporting their efforts throughout the county.

It's an amazing system - one I would love to see replicated across the country.

WabiSabi also puts on a series of community events, workshops, and other services. They offer the Make a Difference Grant, a twice-annual offering of money to community members who want to put on an event, workshop or project that improves life in Moab. In the summer the WabiSabi Kid's Art Tent travels to local festivals to provide recycled-themed arts and crafts projects for children (hence the CD fish). Over the holidays Wabi puts on Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners, and throughout the slow (tourist town) season, they offer a series of free Sunday brunches.

This weekend WabiSabi put on its largest annual event - the WabiSabi Fashion Show. It started nine years ago as a fundraiser promoting local artists and recycling held in a small, local, business. It has grown into a massive affair in the Spanish Trail Arena, showcasing fashion made by local artists and providing an opportunity for the community to kick back for an evening. This year's Fashion Show, themed Intergalactic, was held last night and was a wild success.


All in all, WabiSabi is an incredible example of how a business can promote sustainability and bolster its community. Next time you are traveling through Southern Utah be sure to stop in for some awesome new-to-you items!