Before and After table re-do

Okay, you all know that I love to craft. And I humbly admit that I am addicted to crafting blogs (Don't believe me? Check out how many I have down the right side of my blog! My sisters made fun of me because I have more craft blogs on my link list than I do friends!) I love looking at those blogs and seeing the before and after shots and the how-to's that show you every step of the way. Most of my house is made up of DIY projects, DI and yard-sale fix-ups, and hand-me-down furniture! Last year for my birthday Dave really wanted to get me a nice desk (which in the end, he did--and I do love it), but I had a hard time letting him buy me a new piece of furniture when I could just find an old piece of furniture and re-do it. It's the transformation that I am in love with--seeing something go from old and drabby, to new and fabulous. :) Anyway, while I am not an expert on home-makeovers, I do enjoy trying.

So for once, I remembered to take before and after pictures. :) I can't say that I take credit for the idea because my cute friend Blayre actually had the same hand-me-down coffee table that she got from her in-laws too! (weird huh--exact same table from her in-laws) She actually had the vision to redo her table with Crackle-Medium, and she did hers in a mustard yellow... mmm, it turned out so cute! She has a matching end-table she did too. It's so cute; so shabby chic! I had been planning on redoing my table for quite some time now. We got this table from Dave's parents when we got married. They got it when they were first married I think and used it all these years and through their many moves. In the end, it became their TV stand and it's years was really showing by the time we got it. It had scrapes and dings and was chipped all over. The knob to the drawer was missing too. I always knew I wanted to red0-it, but didn't know how until I saw Blayre's table. So thank you Blayre for your inspiration and allowing me to be your copy-cat! :)

Here is the dreaded "Before" picture of my living room. I swear it looks cute if you look at it from a different angle where our decorations are, but from this view, it is.... BLAH! I can't put any cute decorations on the table either because Peyton will destroy them in under a minute, so I had to make it cute some other way besides decorations. I was also hating the lack of color I had going on in my house! Everything was so neutral and safe--boring! I HAD to bring some color in and this table was the biggest/easiest way to do it. :)

See what I mean about it being all beat-up. It is a good-quality table though. Solid wood and heavy! Something that lasts forever and you just don't get rid of. (until your kids steal it after their wedding! Thanks Linda!)

More before pictures.

Can I just tell you, if you ever want to redo a table, realize what you are getting yourself into before you start. It is NOT a one or two day process. Sanding down this puppy took forever, even with my new, nifty sander that I got from Lana from Christmas (seriously, you have to be a craft fanatic to ask for a finishing sander for Christmas!) This is the table after I sanded it. Those legs took FOREVER! It was hard to get it angled around all those curves and edges. But the detail on the furniture is what makes it extraordinary though.

This is after it was all primed. Because those legs were so hard to sand down and the little grooves were impossible to get into, I made sure I primed the legs EXTRA good. :)

Next, I painted the whole thing brown. It was my base color for the crackle. After it was completely dry, I applied the Crackle Medium. In case any of you ever want to do something like this, make sure you get the Crackle Medium that says to let it dry completely before adding the top coat of paint. I actually used both kinds The other kind says to put on the top coat of paint when the crackle medium has dried to a "tacky" state. It was a timing game that became tricky. Some parts it dried too much and didn't crackle, some weren't dry enough and I just blended the two paints and it looked crappy--needless to say, I did have to re-sand and do one end of the table over.... go figure, when it comes to crafts, I never do anything right the first try! Anyway, there is no picture of the step with the crackle-medium on it because it is a clear coat. It doesn't look any different than this brown picture.

Finally it was time for the top coat--my olive green :) I fell in love with this color as soon as I saw it. I just love green :) Notice my green sweater--that is actually because I knew I would smudge and get some on me at some point. Why I choose to do garage crafts in the middle of the cold winter, I don't know. I had to come in several times so my limbs would defrost!

And TAH-DA!!! There are actually two more steps that I forgot to take pictures of. After I painted the whole thing green and it crackled beeeeeutifully, I did a light glaze over the whole thing, emphasizing on the grooves in the legs and edging on the table. It really makes them pop out more and it gives it a more antiqued look. (Plus, I am obsessed with glaze--I love it!) Then after that, I added not one, not two, but THREE coats of polyurethane so that all the crackles were down tight. I have seen crackled projects in the past that weren't protected with polyurethane and they can actually chip off if people rub it or pick at it after a while (especially little toddler fingers like Peyton's!) It has so much finish on it, that I can clean it with windex!... maybe I went a little too far. :)

Detail of the drawer. I found the knob at good ol' Wal-Mart. It came as a set of two... one for the matching couch table that goes with this coffee table. I decided to save that project for summer though... when it is a little warmer. I learned my lesson.

Here is the corner and leg, showing the glaze. The lighting in this picture doesn't show the glaze in the grooves too well.

And finally, I have my table back so I can kick back in my bright yellow sweats and watch Peyton play with her toys. :)

So again, BEFORE........

And AFTER! I bought some material at Joann's to cover some $1 DI throw pillows. I love being thrifty--it's how I justify my crafting disorder. McCall also is letting me borrow her drapes since she doesn't need them in her new place (don't mind that they are crooked in the picture). Adding color with the table, pillows, and curtains makes a HUGE difference huh? It was all really cheap too! Success.

P.S. Don't let the relief society president see you doing things like this--she'll make you do a class on it if she does!

Peyton and Jaxton

For Lana's birthday she got a really cool camera... I think I may be as excited as she is about it because I know who my new photographer is now :) A few weeks ago we tried to take pictures of the babies together. Have you ever tried to get two babies to smile at the same time? It's nearly impossible. When we first started, Peyton was in a fairly good mood and gave us a few good shots, but Jaxton was hungry and whiney. Then after he got fed and was all smiley, Peyton no longer wanted to participate and was cranky.... we tried. Here are the best shots we got. They are so cute that it really doesn't matter if they smile or not :) At least in my opinion.

This was after we had tried to play "smile!" for too long :(

She wanted to "cuddle" for the camera. :)

Isn't he so cute?!

Peyton: "I hate this. I won't pose with him anymore!"

Look at this stud! He rocks the smile poses, and the serious poses!

"Okay Jaxton, let me teach you a thing or two. In a second, we will start crying at the same time and they will try to hush us. If we keep crying they will bring us treats to get us to stop... then we'll smile for a second and do it all over again. Got it?" (and this they did.)

Her mischievous looks kill me. It explains her whole personality!

Poppyseed Temple Art Class

For those of you who haven't seen this on facebook, I am holding a Poppyseed temple art class. They show you how to make your own temple picture like the one shown below. I have always wanted one, but wasn't willing to dish out $300 for one at Deseret Book or Costco. These homemade ones are SO BEAUTIFUL! My Aunt Camille made a few for Christmas gifts and they turned out so wonderful.

Poppyseed provides everything--for $50 you get the temple print, the antiquing gel, the thick, black frame, and the class instruction on how to do it. They are big too! They are 26" X 32". I'm still waiting on the instructor to confirm, but I am tentatively planning it for Saturday, May 7th. If you would like to join us or would like a kit (for those of you who already know how to do it and just want the print and frame), let me know within the next couple of weeks. They also do big family picture frames too that includes the big frame, matting, and vinyl decoration. They are also 26" X 32". The little photo plaque at the top left is only $13, and is 12"X12".

Twinners... and other stuff

Mine and Peyton's birthdays are only 8 days apart from each other. Grammy B. gave Peyton and I both black shirts from Gap. Peyton also got skinny jeans to match mine. :) So we dressed up as twinners one night. :)

Peyton has looked like her daddy from day one, but I have had a few people tell me that the older she gets the more she looks like me. :) Do you see it?

I am so lucky to have such a cuddly girl :) Sometimes she'll bring her blankie up to us and say, "Cuddle?" It's so adorable and NO ONE can resist it!

Her face says it all, "Can we be done doing my hair please?"

We added our pink after the black pictures. I put on a pink vest and she put on her pink jacket and boots. :) We may be nerds, but I have to at least TRY to keep up with her cuteness!

Peyton loves her little ball house. One morning while I was cleaning up breakfast, I came in to see her hair all static-y! It was so funny. :)

Peyton's new trick is to click her tongue. She does it all the time with such pride. :)

Okay, I know this is kind of gross, but it was so funny that I had to tell you the story. So one morning Peyton woke up REALLY early. We put her in bed with us with a bottle. She drinks soy milk because she is lactose-intolerant, but she is not supposed to drink too much each day. So anyway, we put her in bed with us with her bottle. When she got done, she wanted another one. I knew that probably wasn't a good idea, so I tried getting her to eat breakfast, but she REFUSED! All she wanted was, "BA BA!!!" Finally we gave her another one (yes, we are weak). So as I am cooking breakfast I hear Dave yell, "Ah, Peyton!" Then a few seconds later, "AH, PEYTON!!!" Then again, "AHHH!!!" I finally ran in to see what was going on. When I got there, this is what I saw...

"What the heck!? Did you helicopter her around as she was throwing up?!" You know how people can get water-logged if they drink too much water?... Well, I think Peyton got milk-logged. She threw up a little bit on Dave and that's when he yelled the first time and he started to get up with her out of bed. Then she started to throw up again and he turned her to run to the bathroom with her... and that's when it got ALL OVER!!! After that she felt better and went back to spinning circles and running around the house with her dolls. :) We just cleaned up and started the washing machine. Oh dear.

Zion's National Park

In February--President's Day to be exact-- Zion's had their free admission's day. So the Bailey's came down with their friends, the Robinson family, and we had a fun time visiting Zions's National Park. It was still pretty cold, but a BEAUTIFUL day. :) We picked a hike that was about a mile and a half long and saw two little beautiful waterfalls falling into a huge bed of snow. It really was quite nice to get out in the fresh air after such a long winter and Peyton loved it as much as we did. Hiking in the sunlight was nice, but once we got in the shade... the snow covered the trail and it was a bit chilly! That didn't deter us though. :)

This is the beginning of our hike. Notice no snow here...

Okay, this is actually at In-and-Out burger before. Guess my pictures are way out of order!

Playing at the park before we entered Zion's. Poor little Peyton fell down by a tree and scraped her face. :( Her nose, lips, and chin were all red and swollen. It was so sad. :( As long as she was outside though, she didn't care one bit!

Lauren and Tia falling to their deaths. ;) They are the cutest dorks I have ever seen.

Isn't this GOREGOUS! The river, the canyon, the scenery! (This is Peyton, Dave, Kirt, and Ash.)

As the trail progressed, the shade covered the trail and the snow packed up. People that were walking down the trail saw our stroller and said we wouldn't be able to make it all the way to the falls and that it got to icy and slippery. I told Dave I would turn back with him, but he said he and Peyton would make it there... and they did! I love having such a strong, determined man. :) He makes anything possible.

Tyson and Emma found these big ice-blocks and said they were going to slide down the hill on them. Luckily they didn't--that would have been bad. We teased Emma and Tyson that they were going to get married one day--an idea they are both grossed out about, so Emma wouldn't turn around for a picture with him. :) He he.

I wish the pictures could show how neat it really was. They were just two small waterfalls, but they landed in the snow and made like a little "snow canyon." It was so neat! That is Dave down under them. There were danger signs, so only he went down that close.

More of the falls.

I just love Zion's. In the summer, Dave and I, and Mom and Dad Bailey have already decided that we are going to go back this summer and hike Angel's Landing. It looks incredible! I hope they were all serious about doing it because I am really excited to do it!

The whole Bailey clan that went on the trip. I love all of them so much :)

This is the cute Robinson family. :) Ash and Steph have 3 BEAUTIFUL girls. Ash is from Fiji and gave his beautiful skin to all of them, which I am slightly jealous about. Tia is the oldest, followed by Emma, and then Mara.

Playing in the pink walls of Zion's.

We had such a good time. We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful time. It was such a fun weekend. Besides Zion's, we also got to eat some good Polynesian food, see Tangled in theaters, and just have relaxing weekend together. :) I love little mini-vacations like these. They always make for good memories.