I’ve never understood how someone can just throw away a piece of history, like this cast iron pot belly stove that we found when we were on holiday recently. There were bits missing and it had been painted a vibrant green. I don’t know, maybe the color wasn’t right or someone was just didn’t know how special these old cast iron stoves are. Maybe the previous owners threw the old wood stove out when they upgraded to gas? Either way, I fell in love with the color, the rust and those cute little legs and round belly, so she came home with us. Unfortunately we stay in a thatch roof house so restoring her to her former wood burning glory wasn’t really an option, but that didn’t mean we couldn’t use her for something else.

Our little rescued pot bellied stove

Isn’t she just too cute? The cooking area on top was missing and the hinged door had been welded closed, but the little vent in front still worked.

So dashing

Our first thoughts were, let’s just put her on display so everyone can admire her while talking about the good old days. Then we had a light bulb moment, well actually we had a few beers and then the light bulb moment. She would make an awesome side table for our boho-gypsy lounge. We just had to figure out what to use for the table top. A few more beers later and……………………….. Bingo!!! An old roasting pan, some Dragon’s Belly Unicorn SPiT and sandpaper 😎

A roasting pan, Unicorn SPiT and sandpaper

We started off by applying the Unicorn SPiT directly onto the roasting pan and sanded the edges using 100 grit sand paper.

Sand and paint the roasting pan

It was a good start but I really wanted to try get that pitted rusty effect. So out came the spices. We added a coat of Mod Podge then we just sprinkled different spices randomly on the still wet Mod Podge.

Every spice in the cupboard

Once it had dried we brushed off any lose bits and added another layer of SPiT.

A herb encrusted roasting pan

To attach the table top we simply drilled a hole through the one side of the roasting pan and into the stove pipe and screwed them together.

Drill a hole and attach the roasting pan

Time for a little happy dance around our new herb encrusted, pot bellied, cast iron side table 😉

A cast iron stove and an old roasting pan

And there’s enough space to hold all kinds of little side table things.

The perfect resting place

I’d love to know what you think? Was she worth saving? Would you have done something different with the cast iron pot bellied stove?