Table and Chairs

This is the table that I found on craigslist.  I thought it had such potential, so I snatched it up.  I love to stain and paint tables and chairs and then sell them.

My husband sanded the top for me on a pretty Saturday afternoon. We have had a lot of pretty afternoons lately, which is good since I normally work on projects outside whenever possible.  We don't have a garage to sand or spray paint in so it has to be done outside.

I stained the top of the table with a dark walnut stain and then painted the legs with my oops paint.

As you can see the sides of the table had some detail work on it and so did the chairs so I added a brown paint to the details to bring it out more.  I really like the way it turned out.

Here is the finished project in my kitchen.  This is not were I planned on putting it.  I had planned on selling it but I just fell in love with it and I thought it fit our house.   

Dresser

It has been a long time since I posted.  It has been a very stressful month, my grandfather has been very sick and is now in a nursing home.  I caught up with the blogs that I love, so now I am trying to get caught up on my blog and my life.

Here is a dresser that I got at the goodwill a few months ago.  It is the blonde wood from back in the day.  (In this picture I had already primed the top of this dresser.)

I decided to paint this piece black and then I put paintable wallpaper on the top and it was not quite as smooth as I wanted it to be.

Here is an upclose picture of the top.

I love the paintable wallpaper!  This is the same wallpaper that my sister used in her dining room update that I will be sharing with you soon.

Family Traditions

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I love to bake, I just don't have enough time in the day to do it.  I know we all have that same problem don't we?  The world we live in now is so busy, it seems like people never stop.

I made a spice cake from Duncan Hines and it made my house smell like christmas.  It made me sit down and watch a Christmas movie or two.  I love watching the Christmas movies on Hallmark and Lifetime Movie Channel.  They both have some really great movies on this year.

My family has a crazy tradition, we get pizza, dessert and watch the National Lampoons "Christmas Vacation".  I am one of those people that once I watch a movie I really don't care to see it again, unless it is really good.  I also don't really like to sit down and watch movies, I always can think of something else that needs to be done.  BUT.....my girls love this tradition and I do it every year, they know I do it for them. Every year I get a good laugh watching Chevy Chase try to give his family the perfect Christmas and the perfect Christmas present.  All of us may not be as crazy as Chevy Chase and attempt his stunts for Christmas, but I am sure all of us want to get our friends and family the perfect gift for Christmas.

I would love to hear what type of family traditions that your family has during the Christmas season.  I also hope that you find the perfect gift for your family and friends.

Remember to check out Duncan Hines' website http://r1.fmpub.net/?r=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.duncanhines.com&k4=3003&k5={banner_id} to find some great recipes for your holiday get-together! I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective.

Gifts of Comfort and Joy

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Do you have a special memory from your childhood?  This time of year makes people stop and remember some of their best memories.  I think memories can be a comfort and a joy.  Memories can remind you of special people that may have passed away and of special talents that they had, that maybe you inherited from them.

I have some great memories and I was very lucky to have my grandparents on both sides of my family and still have my maternal grandparents.  Even luckier (some people when you tell them this they just look at me like I am crazy) I knew my great-great-grandmother and both my great grandmothers from my dads side.  My great-great grandmother I don't really remember a lot about her but both of my great-grandmothers passed away in their late ninety's.

One of my great-grandmothers loved to do ceramics and I have many pieces from her and I love them all.  My other great-grandmother loved to crotchet and to do crafts. I only have one afghan from her that was my parents.  It was given to them probably in the 70's.  The colors are orange and green so that is why I think it was probably the 70's. 

When I look at this afghan, I see all the love that went into this.  I know when I am working on a quilt, I put a lot of love into it.  I love to sew and do crafts and I hope that someday when someone looks at a quilt that I made they will see the love that went into it.

This time of year we are so busy running around, we sometimes forget to slow down and just relax.  What better way than to curl up in an afghan and read a good book or in my case my nook. Grab a nice cup of cocoa and just relax.  So turn on your Christmas tree lights, curl up and RELAX!  That is your gift of comfort and joy to yourself.
Comfort is the perfect gift for everyone on your holiday gift list, so be sure to take advantage of Tempur-Pedic's Buy 2, get 1 free pillow offer! I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective

Purple Dresser

I found this dresser at a school yard sale near our house.  I loved the curves of it, I wasn't loving the paint job.  It was a crackle finish and as you can see on the side it was painted white in a couple of spots.  I brought this beauty home and tried to decide what to do with it. 



We stripped the paint off and then I thought some more on the color..........

It needed a pretty girl color, so I had two colors of oops paint from Home Depot and mixed them to get the color that I ended up with.  Then I thought it needed "Girl" knobs so I went with the glass knobs.  So much better!  What do you think?????  

Re-do Dining Set

I purchased this table and chairs from a man on Craigslist.  I dragged my husband along to help put the table and chairs in the car and to make sure that I didn't run into the craigslist murderer.  I am a little nervous going to get furniture from someone that lists on craigslist that I do not know, and this set was at a storage unit.

The first thing that I did was to clean all the wood really good then sand any areas that needed it.  I then painted all the wood with primer. (I don't have a before of the table, I get so excited to start working I sometimes forget to take pictures.)  I knew this set was going to be gorgeous once I finished it.

For the table, I decided to stain the top and then I sealed it with Poly.  All the chairs and table legs are painted with my oops gallon paint.  It is a very light beige color that I love.  I then went to the fabric store and got some nice fabric to put on the chairs.  I had wanted to use drop cloths but the color was a little to close to the paint color and I wasn't loving it.  I did distress the chairs and then waxed them with Johnsons Paste Wax.  I am in love with this set! 

Vintage Luggage

I was at my grandparents the other day and my grandmother asked me to go downstairs to check her smoke alarm.  While I was down there I was just looking around in the basement, my grandparents are in their 80's and they have never thrown anything away.  (Well if they have I don't know about it.)  While down in the basement I found these two pieces of luggage.  WOW!   I have seen vintage luggage all over the internet, so when I went back upstairs I mentioned the luggage and she told me that she keeps her "covers for her plants" in them.  So in other words, sheets and plastic to put on plants when it is a chance of frost.  

As you can see by the picture I now have the two suitcases, (I know what you are thinking, what about her grandmothers plants when the frost hits!)  SORRY PLANTS!!!!

I am not sure what I am going to do with them, I have seen some people have turned them into tables, I am not sure I want to put holes in them.  I do love the tables that they make with them though.  

Hope everyone is having a good start to the week.  I can't believe it is almost Thanksgiving.