My first piece of painted furniture - on the cheap!!

A while back - like several months ago - I obtained this end table.  (When I got it, it was put together, I promise!)  It came complete with a very tacky, very bright brass pull.  In case you haven't guessed, I really DO NOT LIKE brass.  Especially shiny brass.  It reminds me of the worst parts of the 80s.  

But I digress...I decided to paint it with a shabby chic kind of finish, so I set out on what I thought was a good plan to get ride of the shiny stain/paint/varnish/whatever monstrosity that was.  As you can tell, the legs of the table (which started out the same cherry color as the top gave me NO problem whatsoever.  However, after about 10 minutes (I told you I'm an instant gratification type of girl, right?) of sanding that tabletop just to wind up with a few scratches, I thought, "Good Lord, I'm never going to get this shiny stuff off!"

So, I went and bought a deglosser AND a stripper.  I couldn't tell that the deglosser did much of anything, so I put the stripper on and let it sit for 3+ hours while I went to some friends for some yummy tacos and peach cobbler. :-)

The stripper worked on the SIDES of the table but not the top.  I wish I had pics to show you, but to be honest, I was so frustrated by this point I was near tears and wasn't really sure this blog post would ever see the light of day.

That's when I said, "Well, phooey on that! I'll just prime the mess out of it."  So that's what I did.  Here's the thing, though.  I am VERY MUCH on a budget for the next few months, so I couldn't afford to just order in the chalk paint or milk paint that furniture painters everywhere tout (I WILL one day, though!!).  So I had a can of spray Kilz primer, a can of dark brown spray paint and a can of ivory spray paint.  And that's what I worked with.   In that order.

I tried to get pretty even coverage with the primer and dark paint, but when it came to the ivory paint, I knew I'd just be sanding and distressing most of that off, so I didn't worry too much about "even" coverage then.

Here we are with one leg sanded and the table top mostly sanded.

Sanding the legs was pretty simple (thanks to a friend loaning me his palm sander.  Thank God for power tools!).  I was afraid to use the sander on the table top, since that's what will be seen most, so I sanded that BY HAND.  Better workout than Jillian could give me, I'm telling you.  Especially doing this outside in the Savannah summer...

So here's the finished product.  You'll notice I also painted the hardware darker and sanded it a bit so you don't see the stinking bright brass.  LOL Also, I used some lacquer to seal it when all was said and done. (three coats on the table top since that would get more wear & tear)

So, here's what I've taken from this:

1.  I tend to over-think things.  I should have just gone with my gut and primed and painted.

2.  I LOVE the way the table top turned out - almost like brush strokes.  

3.  I will definitely be more careful with the legs next time - I think I would have liked more ivory than brown showing.

4.  I REALLY want to try Annie Sloan's Chalk Paint on my next piece.  I'm saving my pennies now...

So, I hope you guys are having a GRAND Monday.  Here's to an awesome week!!

Pics from the anniversary celebration

Here are some more pics of the anniversary celebration we threw the parents on June 1st.  :-)

old door we used to display 8x10's of mom and dad's wedding from 1972

One of the couples competing against Mom & Dad in the "Newlywed Game" -- it was rigged so mom and dad would win. ;-) (this couple did just as much - if not more - work than me and my sister did to pull this party off!!)

burlap wrapped mason jar with tiles we used for decor & favors

my husband with two of our friends who traveled  all the way from Savannah to play the song we wrote for the parents

I like this pic of mom and Dad - they look so mischievous!

My mom with one of my favorite uncles (by the way, I have 8 uncles total!!!)

the vanity my cousin refinished - we used at the entrance to display more pics of Mom and Dad

Thanks to the Pine Valley Fire Department for allowing us use of their facility!

The family

Surprise - Country Themed Wedding/Anniversary Party!!

We were finally able to (almost) surprise my parents with their 40th anniversary party this weekend.  Now, my family is not one of those families where everyone is happy all the time, so of course there was some drama, but I can honestly say that we all enjoyed revisiting old memories and even made some new ones! :-)  My cousin Sara was sweet enough to take pics, so as soon as she edits and uploads them I can post more for you.  In the mean time, I will share some of the preparations with you!

We chose a country theme (not country-western...just country!  There IS a difference, as I learned from my little sister!).  And these are the invitations we sent out:

The verse above the bow says: SHHHHH!!!!  It's a Surprise Party, so don't tell a soul!  Tommy and Cheryll have made it to ruby, now they're headed to gold!

I used burlap (which I bought online by the bolt so we could have plenty for decor and such) and ivory-colored cardstock, with jute twine tied around the cardstock.  To adhere the cardstock to the burlap, I just used double-sided tape and to adhere the bow and string of twine around the cardstock, I used Tacky Glue.  Because of the bow, the USPS couldn't send the invitations through their machines, so we had to pay extra postage for each of the invitations (still only $0.65, though).  The envelopes were just catalog-style 6x9 envelopes from office depot that I used an inkpad in "weathered burlap" (I think is the name of the color) to make it look like wood slats.  I actually came upon that technique/look by accident, but hey, it worked!! ;-)

For favors, we decided to make coasters!  Our cousin (another one - I have about 3 million cousins...) Amanda (btw, Amanda also did a CRAZY amount of work for the party, too!! We SOOOO could not have done this without her!!) donated about 130 tiles for me to customize.  My sister and I chose to put a "love" themed quote on each coaster.  Originally, I was going to design them on the computer with some country-themed artwork, but I stumbled across a burnt paper quote somewhere...probably pinterest...and fell in LOVE (pun intended) with just using a very simple primitive country font to make each quote the focal point.  Here are some pics of our work:

This is after printing, trimming and burning the quotes .  It took a while, but I love the primitive look it contributes to the tiles!  To burn paper like this just youtube "burn paper tutorial".  There's plenty of great tips out there!

My first three.    I used Mod Podge as the main adhesive/sealant and did one coat all over (brushing L-R), then placed the quote, then after the first coat dried, I did a second coat L-R, then a THIRD coating I did up and down to create a cross-hatch, fabric effect.  VERY cool, but my iPhone didn't catch that detail. ;-) THEN, because I read somewhere that the Mod Podge doesn't make it waterproof, we used a clear acrylic spray to seal it.   (Just noticing that there is a lot of blurry images below - my apologies!!  If it was too hard to read, I tried to include the quote in the caption beneath the pic)

Sorry for the blur - this is the chorus of "When You Say Nothing At All".  Notice the soot on the left.  I had to keep reminding myself that the beauty of hand-made is that not all of the items will be perfect....I still had my favorites, though!

From an Alan Jackson song -- that man writes some great love songs for married people!! LOL

One of my sister;s quotes that wound up being one of my favorites.

"A happy marriage is the union of two good forgivers."  -- a quote by Ruth Bell Graham, wife of  Billy Graham.

"A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person" - Mignon McLaughlin 

1 Cor 13:13

1 Cor 13

A quote I found YEARS ago...I want to make me and my hubby a plaque with this on it but haven't gotten around to it yet...

Marriage is our last, best chance to grow up. - Joseph Barth

We don't have much...but we have love.  And that's enough. - me!  --Taken from the song I wrote for the parents.

Don't know where I found this, but I LOVE it!! 

"Sometimes two people have to fall apart to realize how much they need to fall back together" - source unknown 

from my FAVORITE Alan Jackson song Like Red on a Rose: "I love you like all little children love pennies.  And I love you 'cause I know that I can't do anything wrong.  You're where I belong - like red on a rose"

And this is the rows and rows of coasters by husband and friends Darin and Judy helped us to make!!

To finish the coaster, we Tacky Glued felt to the back of the tile to protect furniture surfaces.  Of course you can use these tiles for accent artwork or anything, but we kept calling them coasters, so that's what they became. ;-)

We also used mason jars as center pieces and did burlap wraps and things for them, but I will make that a post later.  Right now, I must find my bed!  It's been a CRAZY weekend and my hubby is going to be gone this next week to the South GA Church of God Campmeeting (he's leading worship Wednesday morning!!  Follow the link to watch live!!) so I will be single-parenting-it this week since my son's school doesn't celebrate their last day of school until FRIDAY!  Sheez...I don't know of any other school district in session this late...

Hope you have a GREAT week!!!

Blessed Art

I'm getting into craftwork again! I'd forgotten how much I enjoy it and how therapeutic it can be! ;) This is a gift I made for my bff's birthday, whichbis today. I got the inspiration for it on the way home from church this morning (what? You think I procrastinate!?!?!) and this verse is super special for us because my sweet BFF is pregnant with her first child! Hope you like it! I know she did! I had to "bling" it up a little bit cause she loves her some bling! ;)

It's kinda hard to tell in this pic, but the plaque is not black-- the color is actually "oiled bronze" which goes so well with the burnt paper the verse is printed on. I also used Mod Podge, hot glue, jute twine, sandpaper to distress the wood after painting, a clear acrylic sealer spray and of course a bling-y pearl, lace, and feather rose. :)