Project: Forgotten and Found...Episode 1

Well here goes nothing :)

This first project is a table I refinished with my friend Kris, 

over at All Things New. 

The forgotten piece that we started with was this old kitchen table.  I have a coffee table at home that I absolutely adore that was cut down from an old kitchen table.  It's a beaut.  I've been dying to try this redo myself, but hadn't found the perfect piece.  Enter exhibit A:

This isn't the best "before" picture, but we were so excited that it wasn't till we were elbow deep in the sanding process that we remembered to stop and snap a pic.  So, here's the low down:

1) Sand, sand, sand.  Then repair.  This table had a thick coat of black paint and what seemed to be a polyurethane finish.  We sanded this sucker like nobody's business.  The reason you want to sand is to make sure that you get a gritty, porous surface for your paint to really adhere to.  Though we wanted the distressed look, this table had a few big nicks and holes that needed filled before we primed.  Do this after you sand because sometimes you will discover more in the sanding process.

2) We then cut off the legs and removed the hardware.  We got lucky and ended up picking a good height, but I would suggest measuring another coffee table that you like the height of before you go hacking off the legs.  Just a thought. :)

3) Prime.  I love Bullseye 321 primer and sealer.  It covers anything.  Most of the time with one coat.  Covers stains, and sticks well even to the junk that won't sand down well.  My only advice here is to really be careful with drips.  It's easy to get a little sloppy with primer because it's the first coat and you think you won't see it.  However, it's actually the most important layer because it covers your surface and preps it for all the other layers.  

4) Paint and distress.  Hmmm...I wish that I could remember all I did to this piece.  I'm sure Kris thought I was certifiably crazy for the amount of layers of paint/glaze I used on this piece.  But I'll try and cover the basics:

We wanted the end to be a distressed, layered smokey blue.  We started off with 2 coats of our base color.  

Let it dry.  I'm very (veeerrryyy) impatient when it comes to paint.  I hate leaving a piece to dry overnight.  But it must be done.  So after letting this dry a few hours (told you...) we threw on some antiquing glaze.  We have tried a few different glazes and this one is our favorite.  Good color, good workability.  Maybe sometime I'll do a post on applying glaze, but if I get all nitty gritty now this could take forever.  A couple coats of antiquing glaze and crackle glaze later...we were left with something that looked like this:

Wasn't quite as distressed as I was hoping and starting to look more periwinkle than the dusky blue I had imagined.  Enter my special weapon.  Spray paint.  That's right.  Metallic spray paint.  Again, I can go into detail at a later time, but you can see on this leg the darker markings are all brushed metallic spray paint.  Spray paint is not forgiving so go easy.  Spray from a distance and wipe fast.  Love it. 

Then I might have added another layer of crackle glaze and then another very watered down layer of paint just because it felt right.  Or maybe not.  Who knows? ;)  

Oh, and I added "distress" to this step as well because it's important to sand down your "rough spots" as you go.  Between layers I was sanding.  While paint was wet and while paint was dry, I was sanding down edges.  I would sand and then glaze little spots at a time.  I wish I had more of a calculated prescription for this, but I just do as I feel.  You can't really mess it up, so just have fun with it. 

5) Finish and Seal.  We use a light finishing sanding block just to smooth the surface and then coat it with 2 layers of clear non-yellowing sealant.  This is just as important as primer.  If you don't start and finish well, you will lose all your hard work in the middle.  Because this was going to be a coffee table and we knew it would get a lot of use, we did 2 coats of a heavy sealant.  We chose a gloss finish for the look and to make it easy to clean, but use different finishes for different pieces.  

Add your hardware and viola...

And that's how this piece went from forgotten:

 to found:

CVS: June 12-18

Another great week at CVS.  I feel like I'm starting to get in the "groove".  With shopping at CVS you have to do at least 2-3 weeks consistently to roll over your ECB* before you really start getting the hang of it and getting the best deals.

*extra care bucks (coupons that print off with your receipt to be used as money off your next purchase)

So, here's what I got today:

(and note, these are current deals, so you can go get them now!)

1)  Schick Hydro Razor.  

Original price: $9.99

Sale Price: $8.00

Schick Printable Coupon: $3/1

ECB: $4.00

2) (2) Motrin PM

Original Price: $11.98 ($5.99 each)

Sale Price: $8.00 ($4.00 each)

Motrin PM Printable Coupon: $1/1

ECB: $6.00 ($3.00 each)

3) (3) Mitchum Power Gel Deodorant

Original Price: $11.97 ($3.99 each)

Sale Price: $5.97 ($1.99 each)

4) 12-pack Diet Pepsi

Original Price: $4.99

Sale Price: $3.34

Pepsi Coupon printed out of the CVS EBC machine:  12-pack for .99!

Total: $38.93

After Sale Price: $25.31

After Manufacturers Coupons: $17.96

Last week's ECB: -$15.00

Total: $2.96 + tax

Grand Total of $4.00 OOP (out-of-pocket)

And I got back $10.00 ECB for my next trip!

Most of the sites I read (and agree with) will tell you that you should buy things that get you as many or more ECB's back as you spend.  As much as I agree with that, the Mitchum deal was too good not to stock up on.  At $3.99 a pop, I would have paid more on 1 stick of deodorant for the hubs than I did on this entire trip.  Score.  And the Pepsi didn't get any ECB's, but come on, who wouldn't spend .99 on a 12-pack of soda?  

One thing you need to be ready for when shopping CVS deals is to be flexible.  Because they have such good deals, they sell out of the sale items pretty quickly.  I didn't go until 6pm this evening, and these sales have been out since Sunday.  I knew that somethings might not be available.  CVS is great with rain checks, but it still messes up your "plan".  I was going to snag a great deal on Zyrtec ($5.99 with a $3.00 off coupon and then $5.99 ECB back!)  This was going to get me $2 more ECB's and I would have only spent $2 oop in the end plus gotten more product, crazy huh?  But no such luck.  All gone.  Luckily, I will get the deal and the ECB next time they are stocked, so I will still get the savings eventually.  Just not today, bummer.

And I will leave you with  one of many outtakes.  Apparently Stanley really wanted to be in this photo shoot.  Wish granted, my puppy friend. 

Not Good

Clothes shopping and me don't mix.  Well here's the deal.  I love shopping.  I love the act of shopping more than I love the clothes.  I do love when clothes fit.  But this doesn't happen much.  In fact, it's a darn near miracle when it does.   

I was blessed with the body of a 12 year old.  Don't even get me started with the "oh but you're so tiny,  I would love to be your size, blah blah."  When you have to buy your jeans in the little girls department and have to do all you can not to freak out that everything has butterflies bedazzled on the butt, then you won't think you're so lucky.  Sorry soap box.  No hate here.  We all have our drama :)

 While trying on a few things in at Old Navy yesterday I couldn't help from snapping 

a few pictures to prove the ridiculousness.

No I did not willingly choose parachute high water pants.  

I picked out the cute dark blue khaki capris in my size. 

But apparently that's not what they were.  I didn't get the memo.

Oh and that shirt.  For the love.  Not even worth a full picture.  Let's just say it was one where you aren't even sure you are wearing it right because it's just that bad. 

Note the 45 items in the room with me.  I came home with 3.  And I'm returning at least one.  Oh and the other 2 were flip flops and sun glasses.  Not Good.

Project: Forgotten and Found

I'm no professional.  Well, actually, I don't think there is an association or anything, so technically I could claim to be a professional and no one can tell me I'm not.  But, I don't claim to be.  Ahem. Back to where I was. 

I just find joy in what I do.  Decorating.  Redecorating.  

Refinishing.  Repurposing.  Living.  Loving.  

Learning.  And sharing.  

Sharing is part of the reason I write on this blog.  Of course it's nice to look back at posts even a year ago and see where I was in life, but I'm not going to sit here and say that if no one read this that I would keep writing.  It's nice to be heard.  It's nice to get out my thoughts.  But most of all I love sharing my ideas.

And that brings us to my newest "idea".  I wanted a way for you to be able to follow some of the tutorials I put on here.  So I created a project.  Project: Forgotten and Found.  And because I'm a self proclaimed graphic designer, I of course had to make myself a logo.  Did anyone really not see that one coming? :)

Okay, mental picture taken?  Good.  

Before and After is sooo 1999, so I fancied it up a bit.  I take things that other people (or myself) have forgotten and find a new use for them.  

Find new life in them. 

So, keep an eye out for this new logo.  Sometimes I will post just the "forgotten" and make you wait with giddy anticipation until I get around to finishing the project.  Other times you will get lucky and I will post the "forgotten" and then the "found" aka - end result together.   But I will always post the how and the why.  Why did I choose that piece of furniture, why did I use the latex and not the oil based paint, how did I get those lines so straight, why on earth did I make my own bed?  And because I'm no professional (tying it all together...), my ways are not going to be perfect.  Sometimes you may not like my ideas.  Sometimes there will be a better way than the way I'm going to do it.  

But hey, my blog, that's just the way I roll.

I'll leave it at that.  You'll catch on.  I believe in you.  

Oh and because they are both "f" words (not that f-word people!) I might, just might be convinced to do something crazy like "Forgotten and Found Fridays".  

But that's too much pressure for me right now.  Baby Steps.

Steals of the week!

If you know anything about me, you know that I love a good deal. A really good deal. If it's not on super sale, I typically don't buy it. I've been known to spend hours at the mall and come home with 1 item at best. I just can't pull the trigger until I know it's the best I can do. But, persistence pays off. And even better than persistence, is thrifting. And that's where I jump in: "Hi, I'm Kendahl, and yes I will buy your left over junk that you overpaid for, for next to nothing. Nice to meet you." :)

And that's exactly what I did this week...I scored 3 amazing deals 

for a grand total of $10!

1) A turquoise blue copper lantern.  $5

 Not the cheapest deal of the week, but probably the coolest thing I bought. This will go perfect next to my old window frame (that has still yet to be hung by my husband despite the daily nagging  polite asking) in our bedroom.  They only had one, but I asked the guy to keep an eye out for another in a similar style for me.

Needs to be cleaned up a bit, but once it's shined I'm sure the color 

will pop even more!  Love the details!

2) A "someone-cut-off-the-tag-but-I-swear-its-straight-from-Anthropologie-comforter"  $4

No joke.  Check out this beaut.  Please tell me that you wouldn't drool over this if you walked into Anthro?  Just because it was in a Salvation Army doesn't mean that it didn't start it's life hanging in my favorite store.  I searched online to verify my inkling and couldn't find any exact replicas, but I would put money on it.  After 3 washes in the washing machine with a lot of soap and very hot water, it's now made its new home on my guest bed.  

3) My best snag of the week: an antique wooden fold out table.  $1

That's right, one dollar! holla.  I don't have anywhere to put this now...well I'm sure I could find a place if I had to...but since this isn't a long term home for us I don't wanna go mounting big ole' furniture to the walls and/or risk ruining it for our next home.  I've always drooled over these at Ikea, but hated the "cheapness" of them being plastic/metal.  I have many, many ideas of what to do with it, but for now I will probably tuck it away until that perfect day comes.

My ghetto set-up so that you can see just how stinking cool this is!

Look at those legs!! Can't you imagine it painted and glazed the perfect earthy green color.  Chipped paint look and all...I'm melting...

And my favorite thing about finding great deals is trying to imagine how it's been used in the past.  I can see Pa telling little Laura and Mary to go do their homework at this little table.  Straight up Little House on the Prairie.  Love it. 

another successful CVS trip

No pictures this time, but I had a pretty good trip to CVS this week. Here's how it went down:

What I purchased:

1. (2) tubes of Colgate MaxClean toothpaste

2. A 2-pack of Colgate Total toothpaste

3. A 2-pack of Colgate 360 toothbrushes

4. 12-pack of Charmin Ultra Toilet Paper

5. 9-pack of Bounty Paper Towels

6. (3) 20 packs of Cascade dishwasher packs

7. (4) Bottles of Dawn Dishsoap

My total before coupons was: $52

After coupons my total went down to $36

When I checked out, I received $10.00 in ECB*s for next time I shop. Now, that's not the best I've ever done, but to get all that for $26 is pretty great!

(*ECB = Easy Care Bucks = literally like CVS cash...5 ECB equals $5 off of my next purchase)

But wait... the best part came when I got home. I received an email to do an online survey for CVS. After the quick survey, I received 2 coupons in my email. One was a $5 ECB and the other was a $5 off of $20 coupon!

So my grand total is: $36 for all of those things plus $15 ECB and $5 off of $20. I can combine these which essentially means next time I go to CVS I can get $20 worth of products and pay NOTHING!

Not too shabby, huh?