A bit of this and that

Everything seems to be flowing smoothly this week. The bridal showers are over and we are now waiting on the weddings this summer.

How many of you have a wedding filled summer? I keep thinking that my generation is now passing on the torch to the next generation and new life will begin again in the next few years. I'm anticipating a lot of weddings over the next few years as my children start to settle down and marry and create families of their own. But more than just my children, my nephews and nieces will all be doing the same thing. At last count I have close to 40 of them :)

And before you ask, no I'm not feeling old. ;)

I'm feeling blessed and very lucky to be watching this from the outside now. (Till my daughter gets married that is...the story may change at that point)

My son showed up at the end of the last shower and my sister was kind enough to snap pictures all day long. This is my son and his beautiful bride to be. 

Then we had some fun and the brides mom and I sat and invited our "babies" to sit on our laps. Remember showing off your kids on your lap? I do...

Sooo we recreated that moment.

Ok...ok....so the effect isn't quite the same, but it was fun and we had a lot of laughs doing it. :) 

Soo eventually people started clearing out and I was able to get out of my "good clothes" and headed back to my workshop to snap some before pics. 

 I've worked on and finished other pieces since the Striped table...and I will share those in another post. But for now I want to share this wonderful dresser I picked up off of kijiji.

 Isn't he purdy? Yes, it feels like a "he". I don't know why, but I just accept these sorts of feelings.

 Three drawers fit inside the top behind the doors. I have so many plans.

 Loving the detail...ohhh I can't wait to get to work on this one :)

And of course the legs...I love love love these. 

But for now, I'm relaxing with my husband at the cottage for our long Canada day weekend. 

Wishing all my Canadian friends a wonderful Canada Day. 

And for all my American friends, enjoy your Independence Day! 

My stuggles and triumphs...I hope

I've been struggling with finding time to blog, take pics and upload pics. There just doesn't seem to be enough hours in a day to do everything that need to be done. But I'm back and I hope you like this latest project. 

I was brought a few items to redo. There is a sideboard, a hutch and this table and chairs. All a matching set. 

My before pics

 The chairs were just nasty and totally dated. But the bones were good and I knew I could work with them.

 I did like the shape

 The table top was going to give me more than one headache before the process was over...trust me on this one.

 But look at how pretty it is..yes you have to see past all the chips and nicks of being well loved.

 Now here is where the problems began. see that wood filled spot in the lower left corner? NASTY NASTY spot. I thought it was small enough I could just fill the spot where the veneer was missing. I didn't want to strip all that veneer off...I really didn't. :(

But...........I DID. 

See I wasn't happy with it. I didn't like it, and I didn't feel good about selling something that wasn't up to my normal standards (yes I'm terribly hard on myself). 

Soooo the process began. Out came the pail of water with the iron and I set to work. 

For those of you who don't know. Veneer of old was laid down in two layers. The first layer came off with great ease. The bottom layer? Not so much :( I finally gave up using the iron and went to work the old way. 

Sanded it all down and realized the two side of the table were different woods. One side is cherry and the other a white Maple. hmmmmmm what to do. 

I tried staining it with two stains that would bring the colours of the wood a bit closer together...that didn't work. I was frustrated...very frustrated. I didn't want to head into my stash of veneer to redo it all. I absolutely HATE covering solid wood. 

Yes, sometimes it simply can't be avoided...so I thought, and I thought, and I thought some more. How could I work WITH this instead of against it. 

Then the solution came to mind. 

If you look really closely you can see the two different kinds of wood. I used my trusty tape and taped it off..and used a really dark and a really light stain to contrast and combine the woods. 

I didn't take a pic of but will tell you that it does have a hide away leaf...which is also done in the same design :) 

 Isn't she beautiful now? Seriously. My husband and son saw what I did and both fell in love with it :)

 I painted and recovered the chairs in this leave design. I think it brings the chair and the table together.

 This is certainly going to be a talking piece when it finds it's new home.

 I can't wait to do this or another contrasting design on another piece of furniture.

 Didn't the base turn out just lovely? :)

It just looks so inviting..like it's saying to come sit and share a glass of wine with me...or coffee or whatever you choose. 

Off to work on more things. 

:) 

Sharing here:

I should be Mopping the floor 
Adventures of a DIY mom 
Domestically Speaking 
Decorating Insanity 
The Shabby Creek Cottage 
Savvy Southern Style 
36th Avenue 
Embracing Change 
The Vintage Farmhouse 
Not Just a Housewife 
Thrifty Decorating 
Adorned from Above 
Decorating Insanity 
Miss Mustard Seed 

Waterfall dresser

On Monday I was blessed to have had the opportunity to have a relaxing pedicure with a good friend of mine. No no no, I'm not going to show pictures of my toes, although they are spectacular ;) 

After the Pedi, we decided to hit the re store in her city. Yes I traveled to a different city to have my ugly feet worked on, ohhh and it was a great excuse to hit up stores I don't normally hit up. I will definitely do that again. 

This is what I found

This is the most unique waterfall I've seen, I just didn't have the heart to leave it there. I had to take her home and fix her up. 

I had a few issues with staining through the paint..I primed and tried again. Eventually I gave up on the off white I wanted to use and mixed my own darker paint. Not to dark..but dark enough. 

This is what I came up with. 

 I love how it came out. I love that top piece.

 Some very cute detailing on the bottom.

The handles are original to this piece and I wanted to keep them. So out came the vinegar and they came out great. Up close they look brand new :) 

Hope you had a wonderful day as well. I can go to bed happy :) 

Sharing here:
Miss Mustard Seed 
Pandora's craft Box  

High boy dresser

It's almost summer! 

I love this time of year for so many reasons. First it's not cold! lol Seriously I have issues with freezing my behind off, ok ok, freezing every inch of me off ! 

Second..people have yard sales. :) (huge grin) 

Two weeks ago I was out and came across this old dresser. I apparently have no "before" pics. My husband was ripping at it almost as soon as I pulled it off the truck. The veneer on top was sooooooo bad he was just having fun taking that off. 

I kind of understand why they used veneer. KINDA. 

But with such lovely wood underneath, why redo the veneer? I ended up sanding it and staining it and I think it turned out wonderfully! 

The veneer came off the sides but I left it on the drawers, filled where it had chipped away and used my own home made calk paint. 

Then distressed it. 

 I re used the original pulls as they were in GREAT shape and were just so suited to this piece. I don't think I could have found anything even close to them that would have made this piece any more lovely than it already is.

 The details were not over the top...they were just perfect. I wish I could find more just like this one.

All that hard work did pay off. I took it into my booth on Sunday afternoon and it sold in an hour and a half. :) 

Yeah. 

Now to get more things done...back to work :) 

Sharing here:
The Vintage Farmhouse 
Miss Mustard Seed