Bottlecap Concrete Trivet + Home Depot Giveaway!

Well, my mirror for my One Room Challenge master bedroom update came in this weekend and looks GREAT!  I also exchanged the 6’x9′ jute rug I initially ordered for the 8’x10′ version and that also came in this weekend.  The mirror is up but the rug is going to be a bit of a beast to put down, involving bed and mattress moving, but as soon as they’re down I can’t wait to show them both to you!

Today is another Home Depot Gift Challenge and we have a special treat in store for y’all with this one!!!  $100 buckaroos to Home Depot for a lucky reader!  Oh yeah! Make sure you enter via the Rafflecopter at the end of the post!

This month’s challenge forced me, and alot of the other girls, to work with something we hadn’t yet…concrete!  We were tasked to make something for a father with it, since it’s Father’s Day this month.  I LOVE the look of concrete and have always wanted to dabble in it, but figured it’d be best to take baby steps in the beginning and do something small and simple.  If you’ve been around here, you may know I am a weirdo and collect bottlecaps, so why not put some of them to use?  I decided to make a sort of trivet for my father-in-law and all his fish-frying and shrimp-boiling activities on their porch.

**This challenge is not sponsored in any way by Home Depot, we just love them and pretty much live there so we’d thought this would be fun**
**affiliate links included for your convenience, click here to see my full disclosure policy

There are only five supplies I used:
– 1 bag of concrete (I used Quickrete fast-setting)
– small bucket or two
– water
– paint stirrer
– assorted bottlecaps – I used different colored caps from our beloved Shiner Brewing Co.
– sealant (we’ll discuss this below)

I put about 2″ of concrete in my bucket, then poured water in  gradually while stirring until it was just slightly soupy.   I wanted mine a little less thin but I added too much water at first so I had to add more concrete.  So start with the smallest amount you need, knowing you may need to adjust with more.

It makes a ton of bubbles with all that mixing so tap the bucket down on the ground until no more bubbles come up.

I grabbed two of these buckets, so before I started, I arranged the caps on the bottom of one so I knew where they needed to go and how many I needed.  So when my concrete was ready, I knew where they needed to go already.  The concrete started to get thicker after about five minutes or so, so make sure they’re where they need to be before then.  To make sure they were level, I put my second bucket on top of them and pressed lightly for just a few seconds.

After about 30 minutes or so, the top had hardened enough so that I could wipe off the tops of the caps.  I wasn’t sure if the concrete/water/haze would come off after it dried so I went ahead and wiped them (it does wipe off after it’s dried, fyi).  After about 24 hours, my concrete was completely dry and the trivet popped right out of the bucket.

Like I mentioned, my trivet came out a bit thicker than I wanted it to (~2″) so I figured maybe they can use it as a little plant stand too if it’s too cumbersome during cookouts.

Now, I knew that without being sealed, these caps would rust in like a week down here, so I put the trivet back in the bucket, and poured some lacquer over the top, thinking it’d dry in a nice even layer and I’d be done.  Aaaaaand then it partially soaked in and around it, took the paint off the caps, then didn’t dry at all.   After a whole week, still wet and blue and red ink smeared all over.  Ruined.  So yeah, I should have taken the time to research what would actually work, and then just brush it on.  But you win some and you lose some, right?  But now I get to make some more, plus one or two for myself too now!

I’m excited to keep playing around with concrete projects, and also use a proper sealer on them ;)

Now, Make sure you visit the other TEN amazing concrete projects from this month!

And Enter to win a $100 Home Depot Gift Card!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Check out my projects from the other Home Depot Gift Challenges here!

Copper and Wood Magazine Holder

Hanging Book Holder

Seashell Bird Feeder

GIVEAWAY RULES: The giveaway has been sponsored by the blogs listed. No purchase necessary. Giveaway ends at 05:00 AM CST on June 22, 2015. All entrants must provide a valid e-mail address and be 18 years old. The giveaway is open to residents of the United States and Canada. One lucky winner will be randomly chosen from among the entrants within 48 hours and notified via e-mail. The winner has 48 hours to respond via e-mail to claim the prize or another winner will be selected. The gift card will be ordered within 48 hours after verification. Family members of participating blogs are not eligible to win. Odds of winning depend on the number of entrants. Please read the complete terms and conditions on the Rafflecopter form. If you have any questions, please contact me at tableandhearthblog (at) gmail (dot) com before entering the giveaway. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.