Why didn't I think of that??

On the same trip to Goodwill that I've been  posting about recently, I found another object that I normally would have passed by without a second glance. Before being introduced to the wonderful world of DIY blogs, I would not have been able to see the potential in pieces that had been tossed aside by their owners.

So let me try to describe the piece. It's a square thick piece of black wood, with 9 evenly placed holes in the top. Got a mental picture of it? Let's see how well you did.

As you can see, it doesn't look like much. It's exactly how I described. A piece of wood with holes in it. But I snatched that thing up as if i had found a $20 bill on the shelf...lol. In my mind I saw it being a candle holder. And possibly even spray painted with my favorite green spray paint. (Yes that would be the 2nd thing I picked up that day with the intentions of painting green. Do you have a problem with that?...lol)

On my way home, I stopped at my local Dollar Tree store to find a picture frame that I needed for this project. Of course, I can never walk out of that store without picking up more than what I went there for. But in this case, the extra item would soon be united with my piece of wood. By accident of course.

I don't have a picture of the first time I tried them together. The package only contained 6. So there were 3 holes left open. I pictured filling the 3 leftover holes with candles. I just hadn't gotten around to finding the perfect ones just yet.

That's when we had some friends over.  They are an artistic family that seem to enjoy seeing all my recent projects. At least that's what I've told myself...it's my excuse to show off my stuff and have people tell me they like it. :) So while explaining all the above to them, my friend Nick came up with an ingenious idea.

Go buy 3 more.

Check!
Spray paint 5 of them green.
Check!
Now play Tic tac toe!! OMG....really? Did he really just say that? How freakin' cool!

And this is how it will look while not being played with. LOVE it! Pretty and functional as a game. How could it be any better? Oh I know....it would've been better if I could have thought of it. But I guess I'll just have to live with giving him the credit.