Table Top Revived!

I love wood!!  

(That's what she said) 

*giggle* 

Seriously though, after digging out of the festive rubble that was my Christmas decor,  I rearranged a couple of pieces in the living room.  I had this piece here and this one here.

After moving them around I decided to improve their looks as well.  I finished one of them today and while it is a small change I think it is a nice improvement.

Here's a close up of the problem...

These black marks didn't bother me when I first brought it home.  It was kinda tucked in a corner but after moving it I had to get rid of them.

 I used 50 then 120 then 220 grit. Now it's all smoooth! Sanding it also brought out all the beauty of the wood and it's variations of color that those nasty black marks were hiding.

And here's the after....
 

 I used my favorite wax, Walnut Minwax.  

It adds color, a satin lustre and it protects the surface..great combo!

I think it looks much nicer now!

The cabinet I mentioned at the top of this post is in the middle of my living room ready for glaze. I'm going to catch up on my TiVo'd shows and finish it!

One more picture to show you...

Bedtime at my house....

(a rare moment when one of them isn't tearing something up)

I'm joining Miss Mustard Seed's FFF - c'mon over!

Take care -

A Feature, a Button & a Wish

Before anything else, I want to thank Kristi at Pink and Polka Dot  for showing my dining room chair slipcover on:

I am really tickled and very appreciative!  I love her blog and find so much inspiration following along! In fact, I'm bleaching drop cloths now for my living room sofa.  It's a big old green girl desperate for a new look.  My kitty 'grooms' the cushions and has made slobber marks on them...blech!  So, I think I'll start with a drop cloth and hopefully get the hang of it, then maybe try another fabric later on.  I figure if it all goes south I'll only be out a couple of $20 packs of cloth from Home Depot.


Now if you will please check out my sidebar on the right, you will see that I finally made a 'grab my button' button..what a pain in the tuchus!!!  Designing the button was fun but figuring out the code for the scroll box was ag-gra-vating.  I was saved from my torment when I found help HERE. So, if you are so inclined to grab my button, then let me know and I will gladly do the same. 

One more thing before I go, in the excitement of my Ikea purchase I totally forgot to wish you a....

**Sorry it's late**

 Thanks for reading and leave a comment so I can get to know you!

Sick of Ikea yet?? A little tip for you...

We made the trek to Ikea last weekend.  I read a post the other day about loving/hating Ikea..that's definitely where I am with that store.  Brian and I were talking about how you have to know how to 'work' the system and save yourself some grief (and in some cases, your marriage!)  We drove down last Friday to pick up this TV console:

It's part of the entertainment system that we're buying for our den remodel.  

We drove to Ikea on Friday.  We poked around the store for a while, had lunch and headed downstairs to pick up the console and check out.  Well, of course, they were sold out of the one we wanted.  They had plenty of consoles up high on the shelves but none on the floor and they won't pull them off the shelf during store hours...did NOT know this!  So we had to go back Saturday morning (New Year's day) to pick it up.

This cruel venture back and forth to Ikea has taught me a valuable lesson.  And here it is...if you are going to Ikea for a specific item and it's a major ordeal to get there (like it is for me), then call ahead that morning and make sure they have what you want on the floor (have the product number - you can get it off the website) and ask them to set one aside with your name on it.  Another useful bit of info, we were told by a guy in customer service that you can't count on the website's inventory information..it's wrong.

All that aside, we're super happy with our console. It's solid wood (the frame & main support) and the hardware rocks PLUS all the controllers, chargers and whatever else is all tucked away and organized!


All the best for your day!

Mirror makeover & the mixer!

Anyone who knows me well, knows that I don't really enjoy cooking. There are a few things that I whip up that are pretty good but for the most part, I only cook so we don't starve not because I like it. So, it took Christmas baking to get me to finally use this beauty:

A KitchenAid mixer that was given to me by my very sweet mother-in-law a couple of years ago.  Let me just say this - making cookies with this mixer was AWESOME! One bowl, no mess..that's my kind of baking.  I can't believe I waited so long to use it!

Onto the before & after...I found this mirror at a local haunt. It was in the window for a couple of weeks and I finally stopped in to see it up close & personal.  I've been looking for a mirror for my Mom's guest room and love the shape of this one.  It is very old and had a few cracks in the wood, so I knew I'd have to paint it.

I repaired the cracks (on the four corners) & lightly sanded the whole thing.

Here it is after being painted with Dover White by Behr & glazed with Valspar Mocha.  The spot on the mirror is from aging and actually one of the reasons I really like this piece.

Love the scrolling detail.

I'll snap a picture after she hangs it with the dresser that we painted - it's looking good in there.  Now, I'm off to wrap up this Christmas weekend!

I'm linky partying with Remodelaholic - check it out.

TTFN,

Merry Christmas from my family to yours!

Thank you for reading my blog & inspiring me with yours!

My house is covered up in a Christmas weather miracle!  The last time there was measurable snow here on Christmas day was more than a century ago, in 1882.

Sending wishes your way,

Curtains & more Christmas...

I finished curtains for the little boy's room.  I was going to remove the closet doors and use them there, but I changed my mind.  I like them on this window and more importantly, Andy likes them!

I like curtains to go from ceiling to floor because it draws your eye up & seems more dramatic.  I wanted to keep his room bright, so I used white denim & ticking.  I did have his artwork under this window but had to move it. (Those are Christmas lights wrapping around the lamp.)

I trimmed out the ticking with a grosgrain ribbon. I have to be careful not to go too froo-froo in his room.  I checked with Brian and he said it reminded him of barber shop stripes - that works!

I made a simple valance for the other window and put Darth up on the lockers with blue LED lights. 

Nana (my mom) gave Andy his own Christmas tree years ago.  This year she added a Nativity set.  It surprised me how much it meant to him.  He was really excited about it.  I think some of what we're instilling in him is sinking in - yay!!!!

Andy is getting a couple of presents for Christmas that will really help streamline his room & set it up to take him through his preteens, hopefully.  We'll see..he might come home one day and want to paint it all black...which will totally freak me out.  Don't borrow trouble, right?

I have to clean, shop, wrap, etc...have a good day!

TTFN, 

Christmas Tour!

It's definitely Christmas time!  And to help us get even more in the mood - it's FREEZING here in GA. The least bit of sleet or snow flurries shuts this place down!  The weather has definitely kept me indoors and  I've been doing what everyone else has been doing - getting ready for company.   I didn't think I had much for Christmas decor but Brian assures me that we have plenty.

This arrangement is by my front door.  Maybe a little more sparkle next year?? It's pretty with the lights on. The front porch looks a little yuckity. We've prepped it for painting in the spring.  I'm definitely going to blog that..it has been a process.  *Thank you former owners for not priming before you slapped gobs of paint all over the place!*

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree, You are crammed in the cor-ner!
Den isn't finished yet, so the tree was shoehorned into the living room.

My little red bird tree on the mantle.

Very sweet handmade ornament from my niece, Delaney.

This is another little tree on the fireplace.  I made the garland from sheet music and the ornaments are from the different countries I've visited or family brought back for me.

This little tree is in my Pink Room.

 I painted and "glittered" the pine cones. They are an easy filler for baskets like this.

This is a painted flower pot filled with garland and lights. I change up the decorations I put in it each year.

Santa collection.  My sister painted the Mrs. Claus picture in the back and gave it to me last year.  So cute!

I try not to go nuts with the Snow Village collections. I think it would be easy to do!

My little owl.

Always mindful of what Christmas is all about.  

My sweet, sweet grandmother gave this Nativity to me when I was 5 years old.  I absolutely cherish it.

I hope you all are enjoying this time of the year & thank you for taking the time to come by!

I'm linky partying with Thrifty Decor Chic and her Tree Party , Funky Junk's SNS and

TTFN,