Dining Table Overhaul

It's finally complete!  Five hours of manual labor and a little extra elbow grease from my hubby, and our table is done.  This project turned out even better than I imagined and the whole thing, including the table, only cost me $125!  My head is spinning with ideas for new projects.  Check out what I did......

before and after....

After sanding the entire tabletop surface down to bare wood:

The legs were prepared with a spray primer and the surface of the table was distressed and re-stained.

I brush painted the legs with two complementary colors of green and then spray painted the final ivory color over the top.  Before allowing to dry completely, I used sandpaper to rough up edges, and remove areas of paint to allow the green to show through.  I also used a hand sander to distress the edges of the tabletop and allow some of the natural wood color to show through.  As a final step, I coated the newly stained tabletop with a coat of Polycrylic.



The newly completed table!  The only thing left to do is re-upholster the chair seats.

Shabby Chic Dining

With just over a month until we host our annual Thanksgiving dinner, I decided today was the day to look for a new dining table.  Our current table is lovely but we have outgrown it.  I decided to keep the chairs which I will reupholster and paint.  I found the new table at a thrift store that uses all its profits to help orphaned children in Africa...bonus!  This table is awesome!  It's solid pine and with both leaves in, is almost 10 feet long.  My plan is to paint the legs and refinish the top in a darker stain.  Here goes nothing!


Here is the current table with the chairs that I will redo

This is the new table that I will redo

These are pics of my inspiration for this project

a new project

For a long time I have been interested in trying some mixed media art.  It seems like every time I have tried in the past, I was either unhappy with the result, or lost interest before finishing.  I've decided to give it another attempt.  Inspired by our recent wedding vows, I've decided to do a piece on love. 
.I promise for the rest of my life, until my last breath, I will be there for you.....
With my whole heart and everything I have to give.....I love you.

Tuesday Tiramisu Parfait

 The sun is shining and the air is warm in Michigan....in October!  It felt like a perfect day to make something fun and yummy in the kitchen.  Plus, I have the adorable little glass parfaits that we got as a wedding gift that are just begging to be used.


The porterhouse steaks are marinating, green tea soaking up the sun and here is the recipe for my Tuesday Tiramisu Parfait:

Tiramisu Parfaits Recipe

• 1/2 cup coffee/ coffee liqeuor
• 2 cups cold fat-free milk
• 2 packages (1 ounce each) sugar-free instant vanilla pudding mix
• 4 ounces fat-free cream cheese
• 1 package (3 ounces) ladyfingers(margherite cookies), split and cubed
• 2 cups fat-free whipped topping
• 1oz dark or milk chocolate

Directions

•  In a large bowl, whisk milk and pudding mixes for 2 minutes. Let stand for 2 minutes or until soft-set. In another large bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Gradually fold in pudding.
• Place ladyfinger cubes in a bowl; add coffee; toss to coat. Let stand for 5 minutes.
• Divide half of the ladyfinger cubes among 4-6 parfait glasses or serving dishes. Top with half of the pudding mixture, 1 cup whipped topping.  Repeat layers.
• Cover and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight. Just before serving, grate chocolate over parfaits. Yield: 6 servings.

A Brand New Day

The only way to go from here is up.  Oh how quickly life can take a turn.  So much can change in such a short amount of time.  I could insert a million profound quotes to try to express the emotions I'm feeling, but I know there are none that would do justice.  I also know that I am not the only one to ever feel this way, and I know this isn't the last time I will feel this way. 

I am truly and honestly grateful for the hard lessons in life.  During the hard times, its nearly impossible to see through the tears, pain and despair to something better and even harder yet to imagine the lesson in it all.  I've been spending many hours.....days, weeks trying to find the lesson in my failures.  My optimism has been tested and my heart is feeling more than a little bit broken.

I always seem to come away with a few prevailing thoughts.  One, that my gut instincts and my intuition are strong, and always right, and I should learn to listen to them.  Secondly,  I know that love is the most important thing to me.  Far beyond, careers, money, and objects, the one thing I actually need is love.  If absolutely everything in the world falls apart, I will be okay.  We are all okay.  We have each other and ourselves.

Where do I go from here?  All I know for certain right now is that through my failures, fears, sadness, anger and pain, the universe has just given me a brilliant gift.  A fresh start.  I have time, optimism and a brand new day filled with opportunity.  I cant possibly begin to imagine whats in store for my life, but I feel I'm finally on the upswing and I'm going to enjoy the hell out of it while it lasts.