Libby Alexander is one half of the team behind The Vintage Bazaar, a vintage pop-up shop initiative in Chicago. (Not familiar with pop-up shops? They're like a roving flea market that "pops up" for a weekend in an empty storefront.) Not only do Libby and her TVB partner Katherine plan amazing shopping events, they also run a great blog featuring everything from DIYs to home tours and more. Lately, TVB has been better than ever, so don't miss it!
Libby's Favorite Find is so intriguing! She shares it below:
What is your favorite find and where did you find it?
My favorite find is a slab of carrara marble that I found at a dirty barn sale a couple of years ago. There was a pile of marble outside the barn in some muddy grass. I think it was leftover from a counter project based on the shapes of some of the other pieces in the pile.
What were your first thoughts when you saw it?
I called dibs on it thinking that I'd resell it on Craigslist. It was only $20 and I figured I could make a good chunk of change on a slab that big.
Did you know right away that you wanted to turn it into a table and was your boyfriend game for the project right away?
My boyfriend rolled his eyes when I came home with the slab, mostly because he had to haul it up the stairs to our apartment. Then it leaned up against the wall in his office forever while I tried to find a buyer/forgot about it for several months. I didn't know it was going to be a table until we were in Home Depot looking for wood for a bookshelves project my boyfriend had cooked up. Once he saw how expensive the wood was, we just wandered around the store trying to come up with a new project that was cheaper. We were in the concrete aisle when we decided we had to mix concrete! And then I came up with the idea to make table legs out of the concrete and use the slab as the tabletop.
How did you build the table?
We just made it up as we went along. But, basically, we mixed concrete per the instructions on the bag (we used Quikrete) and poured the mixture into these cylinder molds we cut to the height we wanted. We let them cure overnight and then plopped the slab on top. Working with the concrete was surprisingly easy!
See photos of the process here and read more about it here!
What do people say about your one-of-a-kind table?
People comment on the taxidermy iguana more than the table! But, seriously, most folks are curious about how we made it. It's a conversation piece for sure.
Why do you love vintage and repurposing?
I love vintage/repurposing because I like my home and my fashions to have a little personality. Plus, by shopping at estate sales, thrifts, etc. I can buy things for way less than retail.
Libby, thanks so much for sharing and keep up the amazing work over on The Vintage Bazaar!
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great looking table Libby!
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