One (or Two) Projects Closer!

Remember earlier this week when I posted a few teaser pics showing a few projects I had in the works? I actually got one of them finished today! And on top of that, I went ahead and started on another one I’ve been meaning to do for quite a while.

Here’s the little teaser photo from earlier this week:

When cleaning out my mom’s house, I found some great old unfinished wood frames so I took four of them and painted them out black. I might distress them later but for now, they will be solid black. On Monday, I went to Hobby Lobby for white mats and glass. I got these cheap little mats for $1.99 each and when I found out the glass was going to run me $7.00 per pane, I again found a more cost-friendly alternative and picked up four of these:

$1.99 for these too! It has a cardboard back and you can’t tell the glazing is not glass. So for around $16.00 I had 4 mats and 4 pieces of “glass” for my free frames!

Here’s my new black and white gallery I hung in the kitchen so everyone can enjoy seeing them all the time.

(I don’t know why these first few pictures look so washed out….the last two show the true color of the walls in the kitchen)

I’ve had this old butcher block table I bought many years ago at a little flea market for $25. It’s rickety and the base is not real wood but cheap looking veneer. When I was single, I used it as an island of sorts in my kitchen but now that THE MAN lives here, it would not work for him so I moved it. I keep dishtowels in the drawer. I’ve wanted to do a paint treatment on the veneer, maybe a distressed creamy white and on the top (which is real wood) stain it dark to match my table. So I went ahead and did the staining and will tackle the painting another day. If anyone can give me some hints on how to paint that veneer, I would be forever in your debt!

Here it is after I taped off the top. I know some of you would have used some kind of stain blocker or sanded down those water rings, but patience is not one of my virtues, and I like immediate results, so the stains stayed. I think it gives it character, don’t you?

I slathered on about 3 coats of Min Wax Dark Walnut stain, let it seep in for a little bit, then wiped it down. The wood really took that stain – just like I wanted!

More washed out pics….it must be the light, sure can’t be anything I did, right?

I’m still working on the table (below). When I took the tape off this morning, some of the stain had seeped below to the painted part so I will have to fix that before I show it to you.

Don’t forget to re-set your clocks back one hour Saturday night (fall back).

EDITED TO ADD:

(I PREVIOUSLY SAID "SO YOU'RE NOT LATE FOR CHURCH" BUT A VERY ASTUTE READER POINTED OUT YOU'D BE EARLY! THANKS TERRY!)