Game Table Transformation

I've had this old oak table for years now. Got it on Craigslist for $40, maybe 6 years ago. It sat in my living room in all it's dark ugliness all that time, while we used it to play games and do puzzles. I loved/love it's functionality, just not it's look. It has flaps that go down on both sides, making it really useful in a lot of ways. I use it at Xmas for my village. Despite all that usefulness, I really didn't think much of the piece or particularly like it. I'd always say "someday I'll make it prettier".

Well, someday has come! This year is my year to take charge of my home and the things in it. I really want to make a home atmosphere instead of just a cluttered mess.

Here are my supplies;

Waterfall & Blue Bonnet paint from Ben Moore and all the painting "stuff" you need.

Here it is in it's "before" state;

I started out by sanding everything down. There were lots of "sticky" spots where old varnish seemed to be wearing down. Those spots required more sanding.Then I moved to the legs. Let me tell you what....between the coffee tables I did a couple weeks ago, and now this table I have to say I SERIOUSLY DISLIKE sanding legs. Can't say I hate it cuz that word is not allowed in my house anymore. Gotta be a good example for the kiddos. Anyway, sanding legs is a serious pain.

A quick wipe with a tacky cloth to remove all the dust from sanding;

Next I took everything apart. I figured it would be easier, and more thorough to paint everything separately.

Here's the first coat of Waterfall for the top of the table. Isn't it gorgeous??? Picture isn't the best lighting (of course, cuz I kinda suck at photography) but the color just pops right at you!

And here's the first coat of Blue Bonnet for the legs. It's such a light turquoise/blue that it looks white, but it's not at all.

After two coats of each color, I did some light sanding to distress. I did more on the legs because over the years they would have been kicked a lot, and distressed a lot. I used Minwax Paste Wax for dark colors to "dirty" it up some more and to seal and protect.

Here's the top(minus the flaps) after 2 coats of Waterfall, sanding, distressing, and waxing. The color makes me drool!!!

Okay, so you know how EASY it is to take things apart? Especially when you're an eager amateur who just wants to get to the fun part? Yeah, so that was me. Meaning I had no idea how to put it back together. Most of it was really self explanatory, honest! I'm not a complete dingbat, really. But the mechanisms for the flaps on the table were a little less simple. My hubby helped me, and we put them on backwards. We figured it out AFTER we put everything back together and tried to put the flaps down. Silly us lol! So we fixed the mechanisms and all was right with my world.

Look at this beauty all completed....

So beautiful. And so done by me!! I was/am ridiculously proud of myself for doing this. And it has definitely given me a taste for more, more, more! I want to refinish everything! LOL! Up next is my dining room hutch, but that will be a while to come. It is large, heavy and a very very dark stained pine. I have other things to do first, like lots of de-cluttering/cleaning/organizing. And I hate all of those.
For now I'm basking in the afterglow of my lovely table.

Linking to Between Naps on the Porch
Linking to Brassy Apple
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Hope you all enjoyed!!

Savings Nation Seminar with Crystal Collins of The Thrifty Mama!!!

Last Thursday I went to the first ever SavingsNation.com Seminars. Savings Nations has paired with The Thrifty Mama (Crystal Collins), $5 Dinners (Erin Chase), The Happy Housewife (Toni) and Savings Lifestyle (Andrea Deckard) to help us save money on groceries. I was so excited to go to this seminar, looking forward to it for weeks. And it TOTALLY lived up to my expectations! Every bit! I'm not going to discuss most of the seminar details with you, you'll need to find a seminar and go yourself, it's so worth it (go to EventBrite.com to see where the next seminars are). The ladies touched on topics like;

• Printable coupons
• Coupon organization
• Shopping smarter
• Saving on organics
• Stockpiling
• Menu planning
• and much more!

As much as I loved all of the information, I loved meeting Crystal Collins jut as much!! I was like a little girl at an NKOTB concert (if you don't know who they are, please find out, you'll be happy you did. Although it makes me feel old that you don't know lol). I've read Crystal's blog, The Thrifty Mama for quite some time now and love everything about it and her. She was fabulously real in person, warm and friendly, and was more than happy to take a picture with me.
Here we are at the end of the seminar (Crystal on the left, me on the right);

She even friended me on Facebook!! Squeeeeee!

While meeting one of my blogging idols (Yes, Crystal, it's true! LOL) was fantastic, the seminar itself was truly excellent. Well developed, well planned, well delivered. Pertinent, timely information that really will help me in my day to day life. Who could ask for more for $10???