The “Do Over” Table

If you have ever watched cooking shows on television, you know how the miracle happens—you know, how the cook just finishes mixing up a cake, and seconds later pulls out a perfectly baked cake from the oven (sometimes with the frosting already on it??).

I think furniture-refinishing blogs use some of the same magic.  I mean, I can show you a “before” table like this one (yes the legs were originally white, but a little dinged up):

And end up with a picture like this:

…with no description of the blood, sweat, tears, and bad decisions that went in to it!

Today I will attempt to alter that misconception. 

I’m sure you’ve seen these pine tables everywhere.  I think they sell them at all the big box stores!  The top was originally in a natural wood finish, and what these tables have going for them is about 193 layers of polyurethane (they wear like iron).  I thought that I could just sand it down and be done with it.

Did I mention there are 193 layers of polyurethane?

Well, I thought I had it all off, and so I applied a layer of stain.  After letting it sit for a few minutes, I wiped off the excess—only to find it came completely off the table wherever I “missed a spot”…or twelve.

I sanded my now-slightly-gooey table again (which is kind of hard on sandpaper).  Stained again.  Wiped again.  Ahh, only 9 missed spots.

This was not going well.

Having worked on these tables before, I should have been smarter to begin with (obviously I wasn’t).  I finally did what I should have done to begin with—and that was to apply a healthy layer of stripper to remove the last vestiges of the original finish.

Sanded again.  Stained again.  Wiped again.

Ahhh….

So that’s my “do over” table.  No miracles, just a lot of work!

Wishing I had done it right the first time, and saved myself a whole lot of time and aspirin!

And wishing that all YOUR “do over” moments…are few!

***********************

From Frigidaire:

The Frigidaire Gallery™Dishwasher gets dishes fully cleaned the first time, so there are no dish do-overs. Nearly half of adults admit to re-washing and/or re-drying dishes after the dishwasher cycle has been completed. To prevent dishwasher do-overs, Frigidaire® is stepping in with its new Gallery® Dishwasher featuring the OrbitCleanTM Wash Arm, ensuring dishes are cleaned right the first time.

******************************

I was compensated for this post as a member of Clever Girls Collective. All the opinions expressed here are my own.

Linking up here:

Domestically Speaking	Elizabeth & Co.
Sisters of the Wild West	The CSI Project
Friday Remodelaholic	2805
My Simple Home Life’s Simple Creations Friday	Thrifty Décor Chick
Funky Junk’s Saturday Night Special	The DIY Show Off
Beyond the Picket Fence	Someday Crafts
Knick of Time	My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Perfectly Imperfect	{Primp}
Simply Klassic Sundays	My Repurposed Life
From My Front Porch to Yours
Cowgirl Up!	{aka} design

Updates!

I haven’t been around much this week, but I just wanted to let you know…

Of course, some of my children don’t think this sounds very appealing…maybe they’d prefer something along the lines of:

I love you like peanut butter and honey.

Hmm…I kind of like it!

I have a couple of fun updates to share…

First, the Red Hen Home Etsy shop is open! 

I’ve had an empty storefront for ages now; it was about time I put something in it!  I anticipate that it will improve, but at least it’s out there.

Second, the reason I have been swamped is that WE ARE BUILDING A WORK SHOP!  Please excuse me for shouting.

When we decided NOT to move last February, we decided to spend a little time and money to make our home work better for us.  One of our major goals was to park in the garage again (radical thinking, I know), which necessitated a two-phase plan of attack. 

Step 1:  Move the refrigerator and freezer out of the garage (more on that later—it’s done  ;-)).

Step 2:  Get all my STUFF out of the garage and into a work shop!

So if I am a little MIA over the next couple of weeks, you’ll understand why.  Wish me luck on this exciting new project!

“Grain Sack” Office Chair

OK, here’s a bad-blogger moment.  I don’t have any before or even middle pictures of this chair—just the afters.

A friend of mine gave the chair to me, knowing that I was hoping to convince my husband to use it with the pretty new office desk (no such luck).  It has a nice wood frame, but it was chipped and worn.  Since it was already a dark, faux-wood-grain finish, I decided to spare myself some grief (and work) and keep it dark—it got a coat of black paint.

I found this nice embroidered linen-look fabric at Hobby Lobby, and it reminded me of a grain sack.  But when I first recovered the seat, I was seriously under-whelmed.  It seemed too bleahh next to the dark chair.

What to do…what to do…

I decided to “highlight” the grain-sack look by stenciling on a number.  It’s amazing how such a simple change made me like the chair a whole lot more.  The black number seemed to tie the seat cover in with the frame—and it’s just more fun to look at that way!

This table will be available at the Whitaker Flea Market on June 16! Hope to see you there!

******************************************

Linking up here:

Domestically Speaking	Elizabeth & Co.
Primitive & Proper	The CSI Project
Friday Remodelaholic	2805
My Simple Home Life’s Simple Creations Friday	Miss Mustard Seed’s Furniture Feature Friday
Funky Junk’s Saturday Night Special	The DIY Show Off
Beyond the Picket Fence	Someday Crafts
Knick of Time	My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Perfectly Imperfect	{Primp}
Simply Klassic Sundays	My Repurposed Life
From My Front Porch to Yours	It’s So Very Cheri
Cowgirl Up!	{aka} design

Patisserie Coffee Table

I have been working like crazy to finish projects for the Whitaker Flea Market this Saturday—I haven’t even had time to read my favorite blogs (now that’s busy)!

But I thought I’d pop in and show you one of the projects that will be going with me.  A neighbor of mine was cleaning out her garage, and would you believe she was going to take this table to Deseret Industries (that’s Utah’s Goodwill)??

OK, so I forgot to take a real “before” picture…but here’s the top, being sanded my my handy-dandy-helper-who-wants-to-earn-money-for-a-new-game…

…and here’s the base (which is actually a dark green color).

I decided to make another coffee table along the lines of the French chocolate coffee table, so I chose a graphic and pulled out my overhead projector:

…working on it…

…done!

The next day I distressed the lettering and gave the table top a coat of antique walnut stain.  I sanded back the stain in places, since I didn’t want it to look too perfect—it’s supposed to look like an old crate, after all!

I painted the base in a creamy white, and glazed it with antique walnut stain.  This table has LOTS of distressing, and the glaze makes it look “on purpose” rather than “beat up.”

This coffee table is HUGE:  40” x 50”.  Perfect for games, puzzles, or pizza!

I really enjoyed doing another graphic project like this…it has been too long!

This table has been featured at aka design.

******************************************

Linking up here:

Domestically Speaking	Elizabeth & Co.
Sisters of the Wild West	The CSI Project
Friday Remodelaholic	2805
My Simple Home Life’s Simple Creations Friday	Miss Mustard Seed’s Furniture Feature Friday
Funky Junk’s Saturday Night Special	The DIY Show Off
Beyond the Picket Fence	Primitive & Proper
Knick of Time	My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Perfectly Imperfect	Thrifty Décor Chick
Simply Klassic Sundays	My Repurposed Life
From My Front Porch to Yours	It’s So Very Cheri
Cowgirl Up!	{aka} design

Where Liberty Dwells

And now…for the REST of the story!

If you’ve stuck with me this long, you now know how one wrecked beadboard flag has been turned into multiple smaller projects!

First there was the patriotic bunting, then the large Old Glory sign.

The next sign is probably my favorite!  I took a five-stripe section out of the middle of the flag and painted a Benjamin Franklin quote on it that I came across on Pinterest (where else?):

Where Liberty dwells, there is my country.

The lettering is all in navy blue, outlined in white.  For the word “Liberty,” I painted over the letters in clear glitter to give it some sparkle!

At the moment I am enjoying it on my buffet, but it will go with me to the Whitaker Museum Flea Market on June 16th.

In the picture below, you can see a small “Glory” sign that was made out of the final scraps of the flag.  Actually—it is the reason the whole flag couldn’t be re-painted?  Let this be a lesson to you…NEVER cut off 6 inches of your flag until you’re sure you have the measurements right!

I’m curious…which version of my buffet do you like better?

******************************************

Linking up here:

Domestically Speaking	Elizabeth & Co.
Sisters of the Wild West	The CSI Project
Friday Remodelaholic	2805
My Simple Home Life’s Simple Creations Friday	Miss Mustard Seed’s Furniture Feature Friday
Funky Junk’s Saturday Night Special	The DIY Show Off
Beyond the Picket Fence	Someday Crafts
Knick of Time	My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Perfectly Imperfect	{Primp}
Simply Klassic Sundays	My Repurposed Life
From My Front Porch to Yours	It’s So Very Cheri
Cowgirl Up!	{aka} design

Whitaker Museum Flea Market

It takes a lot of work to build something that lasts!

It takes work AND money to restore something that has lasted to its former glory!

The historic Whitaker Home, located in Centerville, Utah, is undergoing extensive renovations so it can be turned in to a museum.  The home itself is being restored much to the way it would have appeared in the mid-1800’s, and when completed, it will display many rare and beautiful historic artifacts for public enjoyment.

Naturally, all of this takes MONEY!  We hope you will mark your calendar for the Whitaker Museum Flea Market Fundraiser on Saturday, June 16th!

Yep, I will be there!  I have been working like CRAZY to fill a booth with beadboard signs, flags, buntings, canvases, vintage-y treasures, furniture, and of course—a hand-painted coffee table!  I would love to meet any of you who spend time with me here at Red Hen Home.  Bring a friend!  Or three!

You can read more about the Whitaker Museum here.

Old Glory

Here’s “part 2” of the flag rehab projects (you can see part 1 here), and now you can see what the error was!  Although I had carefully looked up proper flag proportions (of course there’s a website for that!  You can find it here), when I got down to the actual painting, the information flew out of my mind!

The blue field of stars is *supposed* to be 7 stripes tall…mine was painted at five.  I thought it looked a little squishy, but what do I know??  Well, not enough, apparently!

Some of you may be asking, “Why didn’t you just repaint it?”  Well, another project will reveal that answer!

I hated to waste all my careful not-so-careful painting, so I used the top five rows of the flag for a beadboard sign:

And you can’t tell it in the picture, but all those white stars got dressed up with a little glitter 

So there you go…more lemonade from that lemon of a flag!

******************************************

Linking up here:

Domestically Speaking	Elizabeth & Co.
Sisters of the Wild West	The CSI Project
Friday Remodelaholic	2805
My Simple Home Life’s Simple Creations Friday	Miss Mustard Seed’s Furniture Feature Friday
Funky Junk’s Saturday Night Special	The DIY Show Off
Beyond the Picket Fence	Someday Crafts
Knick of Time	My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Perfectly Imperfect	{Primp}
Simply Klassic Sundays	My Repurposed Life
From My Front Porch to Yours	It’s So Very Cheri
Cowgirl Up!	{aka} design

Patriotic Beadboard Bunting

The lack of posts means that LOTS of projects are getting done…just no time to blog about them!

So here’s a peak at one of my recent projects.  You may have seen my beadboard flag, but what I *didn’t* tell you was that there were originally two…and I royally screwed one of them up!

Doing my best to make lemons out of lemonade lemonade out of lemons…

…I turned part of the ruined flag into a beadboard pennant banner.

Instructions for making my beadboard pennant banner can be found here.

And that’s not all I made (it was a big flag)!  More to come!

******************************************

Linking up here:

Domestically Speaking	Elizabeth & Co.
Sisters of the Wild West	The CSI Project
Friday Remodelaholic	2805
My Simple Home Life’s Simple Creations Friday	Miss Mustard Seed’s Furniture Feature Friday
Funky Junk’s Saturday Night Special	The DIY Show Off
Beyond the Picket Fence	Someday Crafts
Knick of Time	My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Perfectly Imperfect	{Primp}
Simply Klassic Sundays	My Repurposed Life
From My Front Porch to Yours	It’s So Very Cheri
Cowgirl Up!	{aka} design

Whitaker Museum Flea Market

Mark your calendars!  Red Hen Home will be making an appearance at the Whitaker Museum Fundraiser Flea Market on Saturday, June 16th.

You can read more about the Whitaker Museum here.

Farmers Market Canvas

Yesterday I showed off the Flea Market Canvas I created for my living room, based off this beautiful artwork by Mandy Lynne.

You didn’t think I could stop with just one, did you?

Well, I was happy enough with the Flea Market canvas, so I started sketching for the next one…

Ever drawn a bicycle?  Me neither.

My style is definitely not as “refined” as the original!  I wish the colors translated better to the computer screen…the border and the lettering are actually a brick red color, and the background is a pale green.  And again…flowers are not my strong suit!

So here’s the set…the original, gorgeous, Mandy Lynne’s:

And the debut artwork of the amateurish Red Hen:

Am I happy?  I think so!

(Photo courtesy of Chicklet #3)

Are you excited to see how they look in my house?  Coming soon!

**********************************

This project has been featured at Elizabeth & Co., DIY Showoff, and Knick of Time Interiors. 

**********************************

Linking up here:

Domestically Speaking	Elizabeth & Co.
Sisters of the Wild West	No Minimalist Here’s Open House Thursday
Friday Remodelaholic	2805
My Simple Home Life’s Simple Creations Friday	Miss Mustard Seed’s Furniture Feature Friday
Funky Junk’s Saturday Night Special	The DIY Show Off
Beyond the Picket Fence	Someday Crafts
Knick of Time	My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Perfectly Imperfect	{Primp}
Simply Klassic Sundays	My Repurposed Life
From My Front Porch to Yours	It’s So Very Cheri
Cowgirl Up!	{aka} design

Flea Market Canvas

I have been keeping a secret from you.

In addition to working on my front-room-to-office transformation (you can see the latest installment of that here), I have also been working on a major living room redecorating project!  I never know if I’m “supposed” to show it off in bits and pieces or with a major reveal…so forgive me if I’m not doing it right!

So while it may be a bit backward, I’m going to show off the most recent project for the living room first!

I fell in love with these vintage-y canvases from Mandy Lynne when I saw them at an upscale furniture store.

There are posters available through her Etsy shop for about $65/each (canvases are considerably more expensive), but that was both out of my price range and not the look I was really after.

So I spent a lot of time scheming how to “knock-off” her work.  I created a whole Silhouette design, but the thought of the layers of stenciling I would have to do to recreate the color scheme intimidated me more than a little.

Then I had the great idea of using the overhead projector, like I have on so many coffee tables, but on the night I wanted to do it—I found that I couldn’t get the image to be the right size for the canvas I had prepared.

So…I took a leap and just started sketching.  And to my great great great surprise…it wasn’t all that bad!  My layout differs slightly…it changed as I filled up spaces too quickly 

In fact, it was good enough that I took the next leap…painting!   I was able to choose colors that complemented my home better than the gray of the original.

Here’s how they look side-by-side!

I won’t lie to you…I’m super excited with how this turned out!  It’s my first EVER real painting!  (We’re not counting furniture!) 

I hung it on the living room wall today, and I’m not embarrassed to have it there…I think!

I’m proud at myself for attempting something so new and different.  I have a mother and a sister who are incredible artists, so trying anything remotely like painting or drawing has been very intimidating for me. 

But at least I can say now…I tried!

Updated to add:  Yes, I had to make the Farmers Market Canvas as well!  You can see it here.

**********************************

This project has been featured at Elizabeth & Co., DIY Showoff, and Knick of Time Interiors. 

*********************

Linking up here:

Funky Junk’s One Scary Thing Challenge

Domestically Speaking	Elizabeth & Co.
Sisters of the Wild West	No Minimalist Here’s Open House Thursday
Friday Remodelaholic	2805
My Simple Home Life’s Simple Creations Friday	Miss Mustard Seed’s Furniture Feature Friday
Funky Junk’s Saturday Night Special	The DIY Show Off
Beyond the Picket Fence	Someday Crafts
Daisy Cottage Designs	My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Perfectly Imperfect	{Primp}
Simply Klassic Sundays	My Repurposed Life
From My Front Porch to Yours	It’s So Very Cheri
Cowgirl Up!	{aka} design