Say Hello To My Little Friend

Meet Sanderson. He is a hand-held sander that has helped me make many a creation. Unfortunately he is not mine, he is my mother-in-laws and I think I am the only one that has named him because I tend to name everything... i.e. my first stretch mark when pregnant with Zoe was Norman. I digress. Here are my creations from this weekend as the in-laws were in Seattle celebrating their 28th wedding anniversary (Congrats you guys, you really are an inspiration.) So Sanderson came to stay at my house.

I got these side tables and a coffee table from my Aunt and Uncle a few years ago when Jeremy just got married and were setting up house. The coffee table was given to my sister-in-law after she got married because I didn't need it anymore. So I had painted one table a few years ago and sanded it but I learn a very valuable lesson that I will pass on to you:

Always wait until the paint dries before you sand or place things on top, it will cause rings or funny shapes and you will have to fix it later!

Here is its sister that has been sitting under copious amounts of totes in the garage.

I sanded the POO out of it (yes, that is a technical term and considering the fact that there was 37 layers of lacquer on it, I was saying lots of bad words at it.) I washed it off and then started painting it. Now this is one of those, "Do as I say, not as I do" moments. Always use a primer! Otherwise your paint will come up and you will have to re-do it in a few short years. For me, I was doing this project on the SUPER cheap (already had the paint from the other table) and didn't want to go out and buy a primer. But considering how often I change my decor, I will probably change the color of these tables soon anyways! I know, I'm weird.

After about 3 coats of paint and a sunburn, I let it sit almost all day in the sun to really dry this puppy! I wanted to make sure that I didn't run into the same problems as last time, but all was well with this one!

Here it is after I yet again sanded the POO out of it. If you are having a bad day and need to get out some aggression, Shabby Chic is the way to go! My neighbors, who had been watching me all weekend sand and paint this thing, both asked me why I would spend all that time sanding it and then painting it to just turn around and sand off what I had just painted, in which I replied, "Because its pretty." They are both men... enough said!

Here it is in its new home, nothing on it yet, haven't gotten that far.

And here is its sister, with picture frames on it (that will be totally redone as I don't like how it looks at all, just haven't get the plan yet.)

I love doing things like this. Tomorrow I am painting one of the window frames, if I can get it done and I am getting all my ducks in a row so I can start painting my kitchen cabinets in the next few weeks! Tiann, don't let your dad see this post, he might not help me if he sees how I change wooden items.