More Furnitures

I have decided that I am a fan of refinishing ugly furniture. I've been stalking Pinterest and crafty blogs for quite awhile now and a few weeks ago I was at Goodwill and found this super ugly coffee table and I said to myself, "Self, I bet I could make that awesome!" So home with me it went.

After I got it home it sat in the backroom collecting some extra dust for awhile until I got the courage to actually test myself on it. I didnt get a picture of it before I worked on it and I could just kick myself for that now. Best I can do at this point is describe it. It was one solid very dark and dirty color with a veneer top that was peeling up in places. 

First step, haul it outside and sand it down. Randy let me use his electric sander and I was finished in no time. After the sanding I added a coat of stain to the top of the table. After it had completely dried I sanded it again and added a second coat and waited for it to dry as well. After the stain had completely dried I taped off the top and pained the bottom an heirloom white. Once the paint had dried I applied a coat of wax, let it dry 15 min and then buffed it up really pretty. I want to touch up the brass handle but that will have to come later. For now I reattached it and snapped up a pic.

 

I liked how this turned out so well that today I went and bought project number two! Its a little more ambitious and I DID get some before pictures...

These beasts are ugly! The wood is damaged, the seats are torn and broken, the back rest on one of them is broken, the joints are loose... Despite all they I think the chairs have a great base design and  I have a vision. Hopefully when I am done that vision shines and they will be really beautiful. I have no idea how long this is going to take me but stay tuned for the reveal.

Best Find Evah!!!

So today I decided to take a trip to a salvage and resale shop near my house and I am oh so happy that I did. The shop itself is this crazy building with room after room attached to it to make it bigger. The front of the shop is all the good antique type stuff. Nice looking furniture, stained glass windows, china and such, then you go back a room and there is old glass bottles, appliances, linens, dishes and knick knacks. Go back another room and you have a weird hall thing that has picture frames, suitcases and vacuums. Back further still is the lamp room. Then at the very back are 3 rooms full of furniture and mattresses and that is where I found the awesomeness that I found...

I'm always on the lookout for cute furniture I can redo so my eyes are always open in these areas. They have lots of ugly mismatched chairs, which lets face it, are kind of cool. So I'm looking through the chairs and see some that I think would go well with my current dining set. I pull it out and OMG! It actually does go to my dining set! They had two chairs in almost perfect condition, $60 for the pair. Those chairs were $90 apiece when we bought our dining set 6 years ago so we never bought the extras. At Christmas time when our leaf goes in the table we have always used folding chairs. Now I have the perfect match. I called Randy up and he said to get them. I think he is a little excited about them too.

Here is a picture of a new and old chair...


Chair on the left is my old chair, nice and dirty and ugly since its one of the chairs the boys use when they eat and those kids cannot keep the food on their plates or in their mouths. The chair on the right is one from the salvage shop. So perfect!

Challenge Thr33!

Yeah I've been slacking a little bit but stress is getting to me. I've got a fun little issue causing my fingers to be numb... constantly. I think its called Ulnar Tunnel Syndrome but it hasn't been officially diagnosed yet. I have to go in and have the nerve in my arm prodded with a needle to find the issue (YAY!) *shudder*.

Testing for Taekwondo is tomorrow and I am not ready for it. I really hate testing. I get all nervous and light headed. I'm just not good when I'm put on the spot like that. I'm going for blue belt. The only good thing is that purple belt is after that and I love purple. I told Mr. Skinner that once I get to purple I'm stopping, he didn't like that idea.

Caitlin has her ISTEP tests coming up and she is slacking on her schoolwork again. Her teacher is worried that she isn't going to pass and will need to be held back again. I obviously haven't been getting through to her on how important schoolwork is and holding her back once wasn't enough to get her to try harder. Its all very frustrating!!!

OK, enough on that crap... on to "The Challenge!" The next one is: short term goals for this month and why.

This is a tough one I think. I'm not really much of a goal setter but I'll try and then let you know how I did at the end of the month... unless I forget. HA!

1. Book my trip home for my sister's wedding. Its a super important event and I have to be there.
2. Plan a trip to go see Valarie. I miss her face.
3. Organize the front closet in my bedroom. I'm sick of the mess, I wish I could go on an Ikea organizational shopping spree.
4. Get with Alicia about getting some of the wedding photos she took. They were beautiful and I want them!
5. Go get my bloodwork done. I need to do it but hate needles so I keep putting it off... I was supposed to get it done mid-January.... ooops!

Challenge Two!

Ok, I know its been a few days but there is still time! Challenge two on the list is to explain the meaning of my blog name.

Well.... My BFF Valarie has developed a sudden obsession with blogging and she decided that I needed to make a blog too so that she could stalk me. Self explanatory right? I don't post as often as she would like I'm sure but I do try... sorta.


And for the required recent photo in each blog post, I choose to be a pain and show you only my eye. The rest of me is not in a photogenic mood.

CHALLENGE ONE!

Valarie and my sister are at it again. A new blog challenge from them. There are 10 challenges and I have 30 days to get them all done. I can do them in any order but I figure start at the beginning and work through them is good enough for me.

1- recent picture of you and 15 interesting facts about yourself

As of the posting of this blog this picture is 5 minutes old... it doesnt get much more recent than that. Enjoy the pimples and my beautiful blue eyed spawn.


I'm not sure I'm interesting enough to have 15 "interesting facts" but I'll give it my best shot...

1. I was in the army for 18 months.
2. I have 9 hour labors, like clockwork.
3. My current favorite candy is a KitKat and my favorite soda is Diet Dr. Pepper.
4. I'm a video game nerd.
5. I went to school for web design but I never do it.
6. I hate people who never throw anything away but I think I never throw anything away.
7. My favorite color is purple... can you tell?
8. I've been married twice. First time was major fail, second time, mega win lol.
9. I'm a stay at home type of person. I'd rather just be at home snuggled up in my PJs than anywhere else.
10. I'm a green belt in Taekwondo.
11. I'm not ticklish.
12. I'm night blind.
13. I'm the only one of my siblings NOT named after a family member.
14. I could live off of cereal....yum.
15. I would love to be pregnant with my sisters.

All about me from A to Z

Valarie found this for us to fill out so I'm joining the in-crowd yo!

A. Age: 31 and climbing
B. Bed size: Queen size
C. Chore that you hate: Folding laundry, I keep someone around so that I don't have to do it.
D. Dogs: I like them but I don't have/want one. Kids are enough mess for now.
E. Essential start to your day: Cereal, yum! Followed by a Diet Dr. Pepper.
F. Favorite color: Purple. I want to live in a purple world
G. Gold or Silver: Silver for sure
H. Height: 5'8 3/4" Yeah, I'm taller than you Christine!
I. Instruments you play: Base in Guitar Hero.
J. Job title: SAHM
K. Kids: Caitlin Renae, Austin Blayke, Ethan Thomas (C.R.A.B.E.T.)
L. Live: In a little 3 bedroom cape code style house on a cul'de'sac. Love the neighborhood but we have outgrown the house
M. Mother's name: Judy Marie P.
N. Nicknames: Jess, Lynnee, Lynee-boo, Boo-boo, Pestica
O. Overnight hospital stays: 3, for Spawning
P. Pet peeve: Not being able to hear the voices on the t.v. over the background noise and music the producers must think is SO important.
Q. Quote from a movie: Nobody puts Baby in a corner.
R. Right or left handed: Right
S. Siblings: There are four. Older sister, younger sister and two younger brothers.
T. Time you wake up: Around 7:30 every morning.
U. Underwear: Hipsters for the win.
V. Vegetable you hate: Brussels Sprouts, Asparagus, Eggplant, Mushrooms....
W. What makes you run late: Kids, can't wait until they are all self sufficient.
X. X-Rays you've had: Wrist, pinky, ankle, teeth...
Y. Yummy food that you make: My apple pie is the best ever. Yeah, I said it.
Z. Zoo animal: Polar Bears. They are cute!

Bask in my purple glory! I love Ikea!

Vaaaaaaalaaaaaaaaarieeeeeeeeee!

I found something for you. It will come in handy one day :)

http://emergency.cdc.gov/socialmedia/zombies_blog.asp

Yeah, its the CDC (Center for Disease Control) website LOL