Latest and Greatest...maybe

Oh how I wish we had time for a before picture of this one! But here is the after. We found this sweet gem being sold by a guy who cleans out houses after he buys them. Apparently the owners had left a bunch of stuff in there. This one had great bones, but was messed up just about everywhere, and the drawers were a nightmare to open. It was a typical piece, typical stain, typical use marks by someone who did not care about it, and rather boring.

So D sanded the top for me, and didn't it turn out pretty! We had thought is was a veneer, but got surprised by a beautiful wood top underneath all the grime and stain.

I primed and fixed all the drawers after removing the hardware.

Then I opted to go a very different route than usual for me. I had seen an idea, and wanted to try it! I enjoy the juxtaposition of paint and wood together, and this piece was the perfect guinea pig. Why? Because honestly, I did not think the drawers would ever be righted, so I saw this as a practice piece. Yes, even those of us that do this often sometimes run into pieces that drag us down! I drew a design in pencil on the top.

And then went with multiple layers of stain to create this! I love hoe it turned out. And so, it made me work even harder on the drawers. They were not going to beat me! It was such a lovely shell, that the inside had to match in my opinion.

And so after finishing the top and sealing it, I painted the bottom white to contrast the dark top and really show it off.

After much frustration, the drawers now glide like a hawk in the sky. It will make a wonderful entertainment center, buffet, dresser or changing table. One person that saw it is even considering it for a bathroom double sink vanity. That could be cool!

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Labor of Love (Part 1 of 3)

I love lace. I love the delicacy with which it presents itself to the world. That being said, I dont really use it very much. I do have some family doilies, and my wedding dress has some lace, but I dont go too crazy. I like to be able to clean things, and not have dust mites clinging to every available piece of cloth (they cling to everything else anyway.) So, I decided to try a painting technique. Why not paint the lace on the object? Easy to clean, lovely design, what could be better? We got this child's vanity in an old attic pick. Yes, we went into someone's hot and muggy attic for several hours. Yes, they let us jsut dig through things (can you believe it?!?!) unsupervised. Yes, we had to take our own flashlights. And yes, there was mouse droppings and dead birds up there. It was gross, but worth it. My boy LOVED it! American Pickers is his favorite tv show. So this school bus yellow vanity sat there looking at us. Begging for new life! I knew if we left ...

Blind Man Stood on the Road and he

First, I need to say that every time I think of this song, I think of one man: Don Strunk. He shaped my middle school years and beyond by singing this song....alot :-) On my way to work yesterday I passed by the subway stop. Usually there is a man with a mohawk at this corner passing out free newspapers. I realized as I was crossing the street that it was a different man (also signaling that it was a different free paper). I also noticed the man had a cane, a cane like blind people normally walk with. As I got onto the sidewalk I was going to continue down the avenue (as opposed to into the train like most people would be doing) and the man asked me if I'd like a newspaper. I was pretty amazed that he heard me walking by in tennis shoes while big trucks zoomed past us. I'm lucky if I can hear the conversation that's meant for me to hear it in these situations.

Me and my shadow!

Please feel free to listen (or watch!) this song while reading this post. :-) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyEf1Lp7Byk I have always thought silhouettes were such lovely and understated works of art. I would be fascinated by the people who did it at Disney World, Kings Island, or Central Park. They could cut your silhouette out in minutes! I decided I thought it would be fun art to hang in our humble bedroom. Our bedroom is a work in progress. These silhouettes are only the second thing I have hung on the wall, so I am taking my time with it. We did get around to painting in over the summer. It went from drab and boring, to vibrant and living. It was amazing to me how the paint actually made the room look much bigger! In a house cursed with small rooms, that is indeed a blessing. I started out with some frames and material. The frames were fine as they were, but several accent things in our bedroom are white, so I opted to paint them. The material...well, I want to use it behin...

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