dining room table details

earlier this month i refinished my dining room table.

i did just the top & left the "skirt", legs & chairs the original stain. the top is black (to match the kitchen cupboards) with a touch of turquoise.

before:

during (no turning back now!!!):

after sanding i painted it with my "widow's oil black paint"!!

then i painted on a layer of turquoise -- this was a waste of paint!!!! based on the areas that i sanded for the turquoise to show through, i painted way too much area & it got covered up with black & didn't get sanded in all the areas that were painted, so it was a waste! i should have just painted it where i knew it was going to be sanded. oh well, it was fun anyhow!!!

then another coat of black & some strategic sanding & then i did some dry brushing of turquoise to make it show up better:

then some more sanding & poly'ing & sanding & poly'ing to get the right finish.

i'm really pleased with how it turned out! and the new placemats & napkins i made coordinate with my summery dishes!

now what can i paint next??????!!!!!!!!!!

july's been a busy month!!!!!

it's gonna take a while to tell you all about it, but for now here's what i did yesterday:

picked up my NEW GLASSES from the eye doctor!!!!!

i haven't had plastic frames since 6th grade! i started wearing glasses in 4th grade. in 7th grade i got metal frames & in 11th grade started wearing contacts. i wore contacts until just a few years ago -- when i got old!!!!! it was much easier to take a nap anywhere without having to mess with contacts!!!!!!!!! ha ha!!!!

when i was on vacation my sister & i went to an eyeglasses store so i could get her opinion on new frames since i had a dr. appt. scheduled for when i got back home. i found a pair i really liked that had a star on each side but it had rhinestones circling the star & just looked a little too "hokey"! then the optician told me the frames wouldn't work with my prescription because of how the lenses were in the frame -- sort of "frameless" on the sides. i'm practically BLIND so the edges are pretty thick! all the others i tried on were metal - the plastic ones just didn't look that great.

when i went to my dr., i pulled about 12 frames - all metal except for 2 pair of plastic ones. the one pair didn't look good at all. i narrowed it down to about 3 frames and the 1 plastic pair. i kept coming back to the plastic one!!!!! there was just SOMETHING about it!!! i don't know if it was the turquoise bows or what!!! (i'm in a turquoise sort of mood lately!!!! i painted turquoise on my dining room table, there's turq. in the pillows on my couch, i made a new set of placemats & napkins that have turq. in them, i got a turq. dish drainer mat for the kitchen......i'm thinking of painting my tv cabinet in the living room turquoise!!!!!!!!!)

so finally, after going back & forth & back & forth, i said, "OH HECK! i'm just going to have a mid-life crisis & choose the turquoise plastic ones!!!!" the optician said, "Good for you!!!!! i like them on you!"

so it was done! for 2 weeks i prayed that when they came in (no 1-hour jobby for MY prescription!!!!!), i'd like them because i'm gonna have to wear them for the next 1 to 2 years!!!!!

well, they were ready yesterday after work and i LOVE THEM!!!!!

here's the old ones:

and again the new:

today on facebook my sister said i looked smarter --- i'd say smarter and younger!!!!!

so happy i had a mid-life crisis!!!!!!!!!!!!

how i spent my 4th of july weekend

remember when we had to write those papers in elementary school?! my papers were never very good because we never did anything. i sure have made up for that since then!!!!!!

here's what i did this past 3 day weekend:

went grocery shopping
stained a pallet to look like an american flag.

mowed the grass
had laurie & her family over for dinner & to watch the fireworks one last time before they move. (they sold their house after just 1 day on the market!!!! had multiple offers too! (must have been that great paint job i did!!!!!!)
ran some errands
refinished my dining room table

went to church
sewed 8 placemats & 8 napkins

watched a bunch of movies on netflix

i'll have details & more pictures of the table & placemats in future posts!

what did you do?

happy 4th of july

my latest pallet project!

and my next project has to do with that table!!!!! stay tuned! happy 4th of july weekend!

is my brother "chef robert irvine"? or is chef robert irvine my brother?

i have a hot brother. he happens to be married with 3 kids, 1 little angel in heaven, AND he's my BROTHER, BUT HE'S STILL HOT!!!!

he reminds me of "chef robert irvine" -- the guy on the food network show "restaurant impossible"

chef:

brother:

chef:

brother:

chef:

brother:

WELL, I think they look alike!!!!!

love ya ed!!!!!!