Giving the Dining Room Table a Much Needed Makeover

So here is a lovely before photo of our dining room table. Usually our table is set with a centerpiece and dishes but I took this right before starting work on the table so you can get a chance to see what I was working with. This table came from a local Salvation Army with some solid wood ladder type chairs that didn't go with the table. My mom scored for a great price for the set, but in reality she only wanted the chairs because they looked similar to some Pottery Barns chairs she had coveted for ages. At the time we had a small dining table and I was looking for something larger to accommodate more than four people and spare others from sitting on the floors... just kidding! But really, we needed more table space! So I made a trade for my french provincial like chair that I never got around to re doing and has been sitting in my garage since we moved in to our home for this table, which also included a leaf! Score!!

 This table was a BEAST to carry in to the house! I'm pretty sure it weighed more then ten elephants!! I wasn't super thrilled with the dark wood finish on the table, as I have been trying to escape all the dark wood that haunts me from earlier in our marriage. I LOVEEEDDD the details around the table and the brass appliques on each of the legs. I knew I could make this piece the star of the dining room with some TLC & DIY loving! It was added to a mental list of to-do and re-do and has been on the back burner ever since it entered our home. Except for when I randomly decided to paint part of the detail that goes around the table grey (it looked green for some reason) and immediately hated it but couldn't remove it because it was too ridged to sand out. There are many items in my home that I stare at... loathing and think to myself, I need to re-do you!  I need to paint you! I need to cover you with fabric! or, I need to burn you at the stake, there is no hope for you. Well, the time finally came when I could not bear to see the dark table anymore so I did some online research on whether or not I could go from a dark stain to light stain on a table like I had. I didn't find much information online as far as actual tutorials or DIYers who had accomplished this feat. I figured that if I screwed it up I could always paint over it!!

 Here is what you need to go from dark to light stain on your tabletop:

-Electric Sander

-60 Grit & 220 Grit Sand Paper 

-Tack Cloth

-Classic Grey Minwax Stain

-Old Rag

-Foam Brush

-Wood Conditioner

First things first, if you have a veneered or laminate wood piece this WILL NOT work for you.  Grab a sand paper round and go to a inconspicuous area of the table and light start sanding the finish off to see what lies beneath if you aren't sure if the table is SOLID wood. A option to get a lighter finish and look for your table would be to paint over the entire piece. With a great primer and paint that is very do able and if you seal it correctly you will have a beautiful table for years to come! Back to this project though. I was pretty certain my table top was wood so I just started sanding away with the electric sander with 60 grit sandpaper (the lower the number the rougher the sandpaper) and sure enough it exposed some raw wood underneath! Don't go too crazy like I did and start sanding through that layer unless you are 100% sure your table is SOLID wood.  I assumed that the table was solid wood due to the sheer weight of bringing it in to the house when we first got it, well I was wrong!! Bah!!! It looks like there is a layer of wood attached to particle board that makes up the table top! Lame! I found this out by accidentally sanding down too far and exposing particle board spots on the table...opps! Nothing a nice table setting and runner (that i have yet to make) cant cover though! I sanded enough to get all of the old dark stain and finish removed completely without sanding through the wood layer. Because I did this while the hubby was at work and on a random whim I didn't get a chance to drag the table to the garage or outside. Big mistake! This was one of the messiest projects I have tackled! It coated most of my downstairs in a fine layer of dust and my boys probably could have created some wood angels on the floor if they so desired. I did, however, banish my boys upstairs and or backyard to save them from inhaling flying dust and opened up all the windows and front door of the house to keep it aired out during this process which helped. Here are some photos from after I sanded off the pre existing dark finish! There was still a layer of fine dust on the table in these photos.

After vacuuming and dusting off everything with some tack cloth and giving it s light wipe down with a damp towel to ensure all the dust was gone I was ready to stain. Now I have had experience staining and I have incurred a couple bumps in the road, like splotchy and un-even stain taking to the piece. So I bought some Minwax wood conditioner to see if it  wold help and make a difference this time around. I would say if the wood appears to be very dry, as mine did, I would spend the money to get the wood conditioner to ensure a nice even finish. The wood conditioner cost around $11 and I used hardly any so it will last for many projects to come.
*Always read instructions before use.
Here is an excerpt from the Minwax website:

Minwax^® Pre-Stain Wood Conditioner penetrates the grain of the wood to promote uniform acceptance of wood stain. Minwax^®Pre-Stain Wood Conditioner helps prevent streaking and blotching to help ensure a beautiful, even stain. It is specifically designed to condition wood before staining new, bare softwood or porous surfaces.

 In a nutshell, I just used my sponge brush to apply a even amount of wood conditioner and waited the minimum amount of time before you can start applying stain. I believe it was 5 minutes. There is a window of time that you NEED to apply stain to your piece by, so make sure you are able to complete your staining in that time window when you set out for your project. I applied a generous coat of Minwax Classic Grey and allowed it to sit for a good 15 minutes. Then I used a old rag to wipe of f the excess and check out the results. I allowed it to dry and buffed on a couple of coats of clear wax to protect the top. I am likely going to do a wipe on polycrylic to make sure this sucker is sealed for realsy and can tolerate everyday use. So far so good with just the wax. I used some left over Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Paris Grey mixed with some random white satin paint I had in the garage to paint the legs and base of the table. Because it had chalk paint in it and I was too lazy to prime I put on two coats to get a perfect finish! 

 Here is a close up of the finish. It is warm with hints of grey! *Swoon*

 Here is a after shot of the table after I finished the second coat or paint on the base and legs!

DIY Pottery Barn Knock-Off Easter Eggs

Pottery Barn Ad

When it comes to any holiday decorating I do what most women do...spend countless hours on Pinterest and the Internet scouring for great ideas I can do myself for a fraction of the cost!*Insert one cheesy grin* Often I look to Pottery Barn for some timeless and classic decor ideas and they have yet to disappoint with countless sparks of creativity or ideas for blatant copying! This photo in particular stuck out to me as inspiration for a Spring/Easter themed centerpiece for our dining room table. I love the faux cherry blossom branches with the hanging eggs spelling out "Happy Easter" in particular.  Our dining room is the first room you set foot in our home and our dining table is one of the first things you see when you walk in so I like to spruce it up according to whatever season or holiday may be around at the time. In my ideal world I would be moderately wealthy and able to purchase anything at Pottery Barn to decorate my home to my hearts desire each holiday and season...Things would be set out and lovingly gazed upon without grubby chocolate covered fingers and the potential of being knocked down and destroyed by our sons. Actually, they are pretty good about not touching things or playing with my decor in our home but they are rambunctious and mistakenly bump into tables while running around racing cars or the like. 

 .49 Eggs @ Hobby Lobby

Back to reality... the set is no longer available through PotteryBarn.com but I believe the retailed somewhere in the range of $15-$20 for the set. They are oh so adorable, but I can use $20 to buy a couple days of groceries or some new bow-ties for the hubby, haha. I just cant justify paying that much for fake eggs. So I went in to thinking mode and remembered the paper mache eggs that Hobby Lobby sells! Light turns on in my brain, I can make these for a fraction of the cost! They are a "true egg" size at 2 1/2 inches tall. Is "true egg" even a real description? *shrugs* They also have larger sizes available for more Easter craft fun! My local Hobby Lobby sells the 2 1/2 inch eggs for .49 a egg and if you go at a time when paper mache items are 30% they are a steal! 

Here is what you will need:

-11, 2 1/2 inch paper mache eggs

-White Spray Paint or Craft Paint

-Spray Primer

-Pearl Straight Pins

-Glue Gun 

-White Ribbon

-One Nail

-Print out of " HAPPY EASTER"

-Scissors

You need 11 paper mache eggs to spell out "HAPPY EASTER". Start by using either craft or spray paint to get a white base on the eggs. I experimented with Krylon's Satin finish in Ivory and thought the eggs were coming out too yellow. So, I re-sprayed all the eggs with a gloss white I had on hand. To do this I just threw them all in a shallow cardboard box and sprayed, let them dry turned them over and sprayed again. It probably took a good 2 coats on each side to get them covered well. I would suggest using a primer if you are going the spray paint route it will save you some time and paint! I would also like to take this time to talk about the awful stickers they attach to these babies and the PAIN IN THE BUTT they are to remove!! I tried many ways to remove them, knives, scissors, razorblades, dynamite, and there was no better way than to scrape them off with my finger nails! *Note knives, scissors and razor blades started to cut in to the paper and dynamite, well bon voyage egg!! It was a time consuming and annoying process but there was honestly  no around removing them with my fingernail... Insert one amazing, patient, and loving hubby who is willing to do this for you, such as my own did for me, and you can avoid doing it all together! Thanks hubby ;) 

 EXACT ribbon I used available
 in the fabric section of Hobby Lobby

I bought some 1/4" white satin ribbon at Hobby Lobby and cut 5" pieces for each egg. I thought I would easily poke a hole into the egg with my straight pin and be on my merry way to creating some Easter bliss but it took something a little stronger than a straight pin to cut through those puppies! I ended up using a extra nail I had laying around to puncture a hole in to the top of each egg so I could easily slide the pin in...is it weird I have nails and screws and random tool like items in a drawer in my kitchen for emergencies? Haha. Fold your ribbon in half lining up the ends as best as possible and slide the pin through near the edge and add a bead of hot glue over the hole you created at the top of your egg. Slide the pin through and hold down to make sure there is contact between the bottom ribbon and the glue to ensure a good grip! You could go the route of writing each letter on the egg with sharpie, but I wanted a uniform and more professional look that I know my shaky hand could not provide by handwriting each letter. You could modge podge each letter or use sticker letters from your local craft store, but I like to do things in the fastest, easiest way so I just printed out the words "HAPPY EASTER" in a 96pt size font. I picked a fairly chunky and bold font so the words were easy to cut out and wouldn't be prone to ripping apart before I even applied them. I just used my handy dandy glue gun to glue each letter to the eggs. *Once you lay the paper word on you CANNOT move it or you will rip the paper off the egg, trust me on this. Because of the roundness of the egg the letters aren't perfectly flush to the eggs surface but I am okay with that. The project cost me around $7 to make and I am thrilled with the results! I picked up two cherry blossom like branches at my local Michael's and hung the letters off to create a Pottery Barn-like centerpiece!

FInal Product <3

                                             {QoK}

How to Paint Your Oak Kitchen Cabinets, and Survive to Tell About it!

Were painting the cabinets white! Were painting the cabinets white!! 

What started as a great idea, ended up being a great idea and also ended up taking over my sanity for three plus weeks...what was this you ask? Why it was the painting of our builder oak kitchen cabinets! Here is literally the only photo I could find of a before for the kitchen. That is our good friend, Adam, and our son playing on the floor as we toured the house (AGAIN) before putting in our offer! Anyhow, before we even moved in I knew I would one day tackle those UGLY oak cabinets and paint them a beautiful shade of classic white!  I know to some people painting over wood cabinets is considered a sin, but I just can not justify having blairingly orangey toned cabinets screaming at me when they can oh so easily be remedied! Easy, but VERY time consuming. I would say it was a good three weeks from start to finish...and by finish I mean re hang the cabinets and install most of the new hardware. We still have yet to purchase the rest of our knobs and install them. One word, LAZY! So here is how we, as in I, did it! There are many a detailed picture that I do not have, because I was trying to accomplish this ginormous task as quickly as possible so I apologize. 

Here is what I used:

-Krud Kutter

-Drill

-Electric Sander with 60 & 220 grit sand paper

-Tack Cloth

-Caulk

-Wood Filler

-Zinsser Primer

-Foam Rollers 

-2" Angled Purdy Paint Brush

-Drop Cloths

-1 Gallon Benjamin Moore Advanced Paint Simply White in a Satin Finish

 





Now our kitchen cabinets had exposed hinges and we opted to take the time and money to switch over to concealed hinges, to give the kitchen a more high end look...but that will be for another posting. We also took down a set of cabinets and installed some open shelving in its place which I will post about at a later time as well.  I'm keeping it real here, so here are photos of our kitchen and some of the top cabinet doors removed. My husband used his drill to remove all the cabinets, I would not recommend attempting to do this with a screwdriver by hand... talk about intense labor! Now at this point you can choose to remove EVERYTHING from your cabinets and store them in a location in your home that your children will not get in to and destroy... but because no such a place exists in my home I opted to be lazy and keep everything in the cabinets and hope for the best. It worked out fine except for when I sanded all the bases and then I had to clean all the dust from the cabinets out...but it was still less work than removing everything and storing it for weeks somewhere else. Moving on, I used my Krud Kutter to de-gloss and clean off the grime and grease that has been accumulating over the years off of all the cabinets, drawers, and bases. I then used my wood filler to fill all the holes that were left from the exposed hinges being removed. Concealed hinges have a completely different set up so we had to fill and sand down all the holes, one of the biggest, time consuming parts of the project. Then I used my electric sander with 60 grit sand paper to sand down all of the cabinets, drawers and bases. This wasn't as labor intensive as it seems. I knew that there was no way I would be able to sand down the cabinets enough to get rid of the oak graining, because they are solid oak, but I wanted to rough them up and get rid of all of the glossy finish in order to make sure the primer and paint sticks for life!! I do not wish to make it a habit of having to do this process again, so prep is everything for beautiful, and lasting finish! After sanding I wiped down the cabinets with tack cloth and did another pass with the Krud Kutter.

 Now we were ready for some priming action! I used a 2" angled Purdy paint brush to get in all the corners, mouldings, and nooks along with some foam rollers. I picked them both up from Home Depot. The paint brush may seem a bit pricey, around $14, but it is worth it to use the best quality you can afford. Same said for buying quality paint! After priming, pull out you caulk gun and prepare to caulk any and every crevice that is exposed in your cabinet doors and bases. Paint WILL NOT cover or fill in those spaces! If you want a professional finish please take the time to do this! It can be time consuming but it is worth it.  I probably applied 2 coats of primer on to EVERYTHING and then I gave it a light sanding with my 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out any drips or inconsistencies and get it ready to paint

I did A TON of research and blog stalking before tackling this project. I mean TONS...for the past year and a half we have been in our home I have spent googling different methods on painting oak cabinets. All in all I would say the processes are about the same, and the quality of products is SO important. Don't skimp!!!! As these cabinets and drawers will be used day in and day out! Speaking of paint, after so much research I came to the conclusion that I DID NOT want a oil based paint, for clean up reasons and future possible yellowing reasons. Regular latex didn't exactly appeal either, what to do? What to do? Then I found the holy grail of paints! Benjamin Moore Advanced paint!! Here is a shot of some of the "white" paint chips my hubby lovingly drove an hour to get for me...TRUE LOVE!! The nearest store that sold this paint in the satin finish was an hour away!! I would suggest taping up all your white options so you can see them in your kitchen with your lighting.  We ended up deciding on Snowfall White by Benjamin Moore.

Here is an expert form their website:

ADVANCE offers the application and performance of traditional oil paint in a waterborne formula that cleans up with soap and water. It is a 100% alkyd formula water-dispersible alkyd developed with proprietary new resins that keep VOCs low even after tinting. It flows and levels like a traditional alkyd with the extended open-time required to achieve high-end finishes. ADVANCE is available in unlimited colors, giving you more ways than ever to achieve the perfect look on every job.

 The painting process is what really took the longest for this project! I started with the backs of the cabinets that way when I worked on the front of the cabinets any damage that may possibly occur would happen to the backs. Read any and I used my angled brush to "cut in" the door fronts and I went over it with a foam roller. After rolling the first bit of paint on I panicked as I saw millions of tiny bubbles all over the surface of my door fronts...luckily the paint is self settling and it ended up evening itself out. I probably did 4 thin coats of paint in order to get what I saw as "perfect" even finish. I allowed the paint to cure for 5 days out on the dining room table before we, as in my hubby, started the process of drilling out holes for the new concealed hinges and installing the doors back in the kitchen. I searched every home improvement store in the area in order to find the perfect pulls for the cabinets and I finally settled on some from Home Depot by Martha Stewart. They are classic and shiny and add the perfect amount of class and bling to the kitchen! If you have any questions let me know, and I will answer them best I can!


Here are a couple shots of the finish:

BEFORE

AFTER

                                                                          {QoK}

New Crate turned Vintage Easter "Basket"

Every time I set foot in a store I am bombarded with a multitude of pastel reminders that Easter will be upon us quickly!!  Our two boys are the first grand kids on my side of the family, and with my brother and sister-in-law being stationed on the east coast we have yet to have an Easter egg hunt around here! In fact, our boys have no clue who the Easter bunny is and he supposed role in Easter. In all honesty we will probably never share that with them. Because it's not about the bunny!! We want all our holidays with our boys to be focused on Christ and the reasons that we as born again Christians celebrate them! Granted we aren't grinches and do intend to let them have divulge in some fun...just minus stories of false gigantic bunnies running around planting random eggs in our yard and leaving pastel baskets filled with far too much candy than humanly possible to consume, in the mornings.


This post however isn't about what we will and will not take part in, but rather I wanted to share with you a tutorial on a alternative to the plasticky, or wooden bright Easter baskets that are available in our stores. First off, they are expensive...$9.99+ for a basket? One that is so specifically colored that there is no way on earth I could incorporate that in to my home decor to give it more use. Secondly, they are as I just stated very specifically colored. Thirdly, have you ever tried to store these things? They are such a odd shape and I can never find a great place to store them without them getting damaged or buried underneath random items in our garage or closets. So this year I sat, trying to think of an alternative to the traditional Easter basket. Something that looked great and I could incorporate in to my home decor, if I decided to. Or, something that would be functional the boys could continue to use all year long. Thus the Easter crate idea was born!

Here are the supplies you will need:

-Small Wooden Unfinished Crate -Bought mine @Michaels with a 50% coupon for $3.77
-Wax Paper
-Ink Jet Printer
-Damp Towel
-Miniwax Stain
-Old rag
-Sharpie
-150+ grit sandpaper

-Craft Paint

-Sponge Brush 

First things first remove the label off of your crate. It does leave a sticky residue that WILL NOT stain properly so I used some Krud Kutter to remove the residue and gave it a light sanding with 220 grit paper to make sure it was a smooth as a baby's bottom!!

 

 Now on to the ink transfer! Having not liked the fonts available to me on my computer program, Pages, I searched the web and found a plethora of free font downloads! I was torn between doing a very classic stencil font or something a little more vintage looking without being overly girly for my two boys! I ran across this font, Hawaii Killer, I am not sure what's so killer about this font, but I loved its vintage appeal!

After a green light from the hubby that it was not too girly, I proceeded to print some trials to get the sizing right! The first letter of their names was printed at 175pt font and the rest of their name at 200pt. Otherwise the first letter would not fit on to the crate correctly. Trial and error! Of course any font will do, so find something you love!

 Make sure to MIRROR your image before printing also! My program has flip horizontally button at the print screen, which took care of that! Easy peasy, as my four year old says!

For the actual printing I experimented with wax paper transfer! It worked the first time like a charm for my oldest sons crate, but I did run in to a few snags the second time around! So in the end I was able to print both names in two different ways which I will share with you.The first way was to cut a piece of wax paper the same size as a sheet of paper and tape it down to a sheet so the printer accepted it as one piece.  You do need to find out the way your printer will print the image on the paper, in my case I had to lay the wax side down in the paper feed for it to print on the wax side. I had no problems the first time I did this. I tried again this method and this time my printer ate it up!! So instead of wasting tons more wax paper and jamming my printer I printed the image on a normal sheet of paper and cut a wax piece a little larger than that and taped it on to another black piece of paper in the spot it would print the image again. I fed it in upside down and it worked perfectly! 

I separated the wax paper off the paper carefully and being conscious not to touch the ink in any way as it is very wet and WILL smudge if touched! I dampened the wood with a wet rag, just enough to help take the ink on to the wood darker. You don't want the wood to be sopping wet but just lightly run the dampened rag over it and it should work! Then just eye balling it I looked for the center and then lightly layed the wax paper down. I have seen many tutorials saying to use a credit card to transfer the words, and I did do that the first time around and it caused a lot of ink bleeding that I later had to sand out with the first crate. So I just lightly used my fingers to lightly tap down on the letters and transfer the ink.

I used a sharpie to carefully add any ink that I felt didn't transfer well onto the wood and sanded off any bleeding or markings I didn't want on the crate. Now you are ready to stain! I wanted a lighter, weathered look, but you can use any stain you prefer! I took my hammer and used the back part, I have no clue what the techincal name for it is... and made a bunch of dents all over the crate to give it a older look! Then I took my Miiwax, Classic Grey stain and used a sponged brush to apply. Make sure your words or images are completely dry to the touch before proceeding to stain!

Be sure to cover ALL your crate, for a true vintage look! You don't want parts of unstained new wood peaking out from the crevices! I gave my crate about 10-15 mins to soak in the stain and then wiped off the excess with a old rag. To give it some warmth I also used some brown craft paint I had on hand, and just wiped it on with a rag! You could also use some darker stain, but I was too lazy to go to the garage to retrieve it. I love the warmth it gives to the piece, and I think the colors really compliment one another.

 Be sure to seal your crate, I personally like buffing a layer of wax for a perfect finish! I love that my boys can continue to use these crates all year long to store toys or books in! I may add some caster wheels to the bottom that was they can roll them around the house as well! Good luck making your crates! 

                                   

{QoK}