Table Upgrade

Today was Spraypaint Saturday 2012.  (You didn't know it was Spraypaint Saturday?  Oh, don't worry: neither did I until the whim struck mid-afternoon!)  I had 4 projects on the go.  Take a look at project number one.

The biggest project of the day was an IKEA table upgrade.  A before shot would have been a good idea, but I guess I missed that step.  This came from Dan's bachelor pad: can you guess why it had been relegated to the basement storage room?

No, he's not a hobbyist butcher or anything.  It's a combination of tea and black cherry juice stains.  Pretty gross.

Step One was to sand the table top.  The stains were significantly reduced with some 100-grit sandpaper (leftover from my ongoing dresser redo) and then I wiped down the table with a damp, dish-soapy rag.

Step Two was to give the table a skirt, made of newspaper and painter's tape.  I had fun reading the sale flyers while I made the skirt (they only arrived this morning; there are some good deals at Shoppers Drug Mart this week, by the way).

I got smart this time and saved what's left of our sunburned lawn with plastic drop sheet.

Step Three was to prime the table top.  This was my first time using a spray-on primer.  It is surprisingly messy stuff!

Now, the original plan was to paint the tabletop with the leftover Peacock Blue cabinet paint, but when I read the labels on the spray cans and realized that I could spray over top of the primer after only 20 minutes, well...I grabbed some leftover black paint and made quick work of it.

Ta da!  My sophisticated, stain-free table is complete.  This is the start of the craft corner set-up in our rec room.

What is that black thing on the left?  It's Project Number Two, which should be dry enough to hang and share tomorrow.

Project Cost:

$0.00 for a table from the furnace room

$5.00 for a can of primer

$4.00 for 2/3 can of black spray paint

$2.00 for the drop cloth

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$11.00 craft table!  Hooray!

Painting Week Begins

On Saturday, the plan for the coming week was to finally get to painting our bedroom.  On Sunday, we found this cabinet at a vintage furniture store, and the plan changed a bit.  (Summer days are long, so a short attention span is okay, okay?) 

The cabinet was in definite need of a makeover, but it had definite potential: all of the drawers slid smoothly and had stoppers to hold them in place.  The door hinges and latch worked well...and it had a complete set of hardware.  Also, it fit into the back of our 2-door hatchback, which I took as a sign that it was meant to come home with us.

Yesterday was Part One of the makeover process.  I removed all the hardware, scrubbed everything down with dish soap and water, sanded, applied wood filler, sanded again, and washed the whole thing down with TSP to prep the surface for painting.  The prep work is the hardest part: I took about 3 hours to get the furniture ready to paint, but hopefully that time was worth it!

I bought my first can of Benjamin Moore paint for this project.  It wasn't exactly inexpensive but it's a specially formulated product that can be applied over oil or latex, and it doesn't require a primer (and less expensive primer plus less expensive paint starts to equal more expensive paint, anyway).  Also, the colour (Peacock Blue) is gorgeous.

The dry time between coats is 16 hours.  I'm painting it in the living/dining room so that I can have the TV on while I work.  Add to that the fact that we currently have two full sets of dining furniture in there (more on that later) and it's cramped quarters in our cozy cottage.  That's a definite motivation to get this project finished!  

In the meantime, Paint Week continues.  While I'm waiting on this project, I can start the next one.  Project number two is to paint the bedroom.  I'm picking up the paint today and keeping the paint roller rolling!

Busted: First Attempts At Jewelry

I've decided I'd like to start making jewelry this summer.  One of my first attempts involved diving into a big bag of buttons I've had in my desk drawer all year.  The goal was to make a necklace.  Black and white seemed like a good place to start, since it goes with everything.  I found a Youtube tutorial that made it look so simple, and I started by laying out the buttons how I wanted them.

Things started off okay.  I used 24-gauge wire and pliers, just as the crafter in the video recommended.  But about 1/3 of the way through, it broke!

I wasn't in the mood to start over, so i turned into a pendant.  Now I just have to figure out what I want to string it on to.

Not a 100% successful first attempt, but a good start!