Linky Parties...

Yeah, prepare yourself for some scary horrible pictures. I'll just apologize right up front for my lack of skills wielding a Kodak...and while I'm on it, why the heck do the teensy tiny digitals these days not have a peep hole? Holding bulky cameras to my bulky nose is what used to keep my cameras still and the resulting pictures were less blurry. Not great, mind you, just less blurry...ok, onward.

Here is a fine speciman amid the other crap, er junk, in my garage. That's the trestle part to an antique table I got on craigslist. The top is on its side to the right....yeah, right down thar.


Here are the magic tools used to transform the lowly trestle table. Can I just say I love wipe on poly????? Ok, I LOVE WIPE ON POLY. Here's what I did. I sanded 'er down with 60 grit paper around that block. Used the wipes to remove the dust. Used the foam brush to LIGHTLY brush on the paint with the grain. I treated it like stain, brushing over and over back and forth so that the woodgrain was still visible thru the paint. Let it dry, then put 3 coats of poly, sanding with a 'between coats' sanding block between each.Here's how it looked....which I know is hard to see. It turned the loveliest deep brownish. Doesn't it compliment the crap in the background? It has two 12 in leaves that fit in those cracks.
Here's the leaves. I like them. They're nice.
And the trestle itself. It was harder to get the paint on perfectly with the grain around all those curves....but you gotta love curves. I think it adds to the quaintness and antique-ness of the piece. And we all know what Nester says....say it with me now:

It doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful.

It's all put together now in my dining nook. I need to find chairs now. Chairs are good, generally speaking, when placed around a table.
The color looks awesome. Take my word for it. Freaking awesome. Dude.

Can you see the big gulch? Character, I tell ya, character.
And notice how the short end leaves don't perfectly line up with the mother ship? Talking points for my myraid of dinner guests. Otherwise known as my kids. Who prolly won't notice, come to think of it.



But the gals over at the linky party at A Soft Place to Land and The Shabby Chic Cottage *will* notice. And compliment. Profusely. I hope.