Just call me SUPERWOMAN..

Done, the chairs are DONE! Can you believe it?? Just this morning I was sure this little project might take months, now... it's DONE!

The secret was in the sanding. I need to do A LOT less of it. I ended up just sanding by hand, scratching the surface & using really some awesome spray paint. I would be a spokes person for Krylon Fusion if they would hire me. It is the master at being spray paint. No runs, no drips, no streaks, no problems...

if at first you don't succeed...

Isn't it BEAUTIFUL? Eight hours & 10 cans of paint later...

I look like I worked in a coal mine all day. Scary, huh? My face was even blacker than it looks in the picture.

Not only did I get the chairs done but I got flowers planted on the back patio.

I had to make a run to town for more paint so I bought flowers too. The big pot is creeping Jasmine and it smells fabulous. The rest are a mix of Petunias, Marigolds, Gerbera Dasies & the spikey thingies. I planted some Ruby Slipper Daisies & some Yellow Esperanza in the front. So far all of my perinials from last year are coming back.

I would have taken pictures but I was tired of having paint stuck in my nose & I really wanted to play with my new iPhone! :o)

Spring Break Project

It wouldn't a break from school if I didn't take on a big project... I guess I just can't relax.


Last August, just a few weeks before school started, my Granny came down & we did some shopping at the antique shops in Forney. We found a store that was going out of business & they had marked everything way down. They had a dining room table with 6 chairs for $100. It wasn't really our style, but it was a HUNDRED DOLLARS! for all 7 pieces & we had a EMPTY dining room. A $100 is nothing now that I'm a grown up & I wouldn't be my mother's daughter if I didn't think I could make it perfect with some sanding & a couple cans of black spray paint. SOLD!
I knew that this wasn't going to be a weekend job & our weekends are usually pack with the stuff that we didn't get to during the week. So, fast forward 7 months & I finally getting to making it perfect.


Here are the chairs. Do you see the ninety bajillion spindle thingies? I think I had nightmares about ninety bajillion spindle thingies last night. The chair on the right hasn't had the years of gunk removed from it with a scrubby sponge, the one on the left has... Can you tell the difference?

That would be the close up of the years of gunk & the no more years of gunk...now that's just nasty.

I still have a positive attitude about my project at this point, I feel productive, useful... & I have a POWER SANDER! (insert Tim the Tool Man grunts here) Thanks MOM!

Three hours later... I'm a hunch back, with arthritis in my hands & my attitude has change dramatically. And Montana has been NO help, geeze man, help your mother out... What the crap was I thinking? I'm never even going to get to black spray paint fixes everything phase on one chair, let alone SIX & a table. I'm no longer speaking to my friend the power sander.
See his flat, square surface? Flat, square surfaces don't really do the job on ninety bajillion spindle thingies. So I go to my trusty friend Google & search for detail sanders, because there is NO WAY on this earth that I am doing ninety bajillion spindle thingies by hand.

I found a few good candidates & I call the troops (Brock @ work) who just happen to be going to Lowe's on the way home anyway. SWEET! Bring me a !*#* detail sander!

He comes home with...

The choirs sing Hallelujah in my head. This is the BEAST of all things sander. It is called the "Octo-Multi Sanding Beast" (maybe I added the beast part) It has EIGHT different attachments perfect for sanding ninety bajillion spindle thingies, there was even a picture on the packaging of a dude sanding a chair. It was meant to be. I have renewed hope in my project. I skipped outside...I'll show you stupid spindle thingies.

It took me another hour & a half to get to this point. I think I have one chair ready for paint (and hunch back syndrome coupled with old lady hands) That means there are FIVE more to go. I'm not sure what I've gotten my self into. My whole body just aches this morning. This project may take more than a week. My goal is to get the chairs done. The table (which you can see in the background) is covered by a really cool $12 table cloth from TJ MAXX right now. I can hide the table, the chairs not so much & I know that I won't have time to get back to the chairs until school gets out. Wish me luck...