Refinishing Furniture

So, I absolutely love going to garage sales, goodwill, and salvation army to find old furniture to redo! 

These are a couple chairs I found at a garage sale..They were $1 ea

They are really old chairs, but all they need is a creative mind.

I took the cushions off and got to sanding.

Once I sanded them I completely wiped the chairs down 

Before

I used a white Semi gloss Valsper Paint that we had left over from when we painted so, I just used it.

I put new fabric on the cushions and put new padding on them.

After

I found this small chest at a garage sale for $10

Before

I did the same process of sanding and cleaning

I did take the top off to paint this.

During the process

After

Just perfect to put at the end of the bed!

This is my kitchen table that I already had, but we had moved 3 times with it and lets just say it was scratched up very bad..

This is a picture of it when I had already sanded it!

I did use primer on it. I then painted it black and I used a clear coat but it got bubbly on the top and I got frustrated so I took sand paper and hand sanded it in a frustrated manner and well it turned out better that way. Since I used primer the white showed up so, its looks like i meant to do it! 

See what I mean??

Well here is the finished table

Stools I got from goodwill for $4 ea

I did the same process sand and clean

I used the same black paint as the kitchen table

After

(Dont mind the shoes lol)

I have so much stuff I have redone its crazy..I would have half this stuff if  I didnt do this!

Too..be...continued...

  

Homemade Laundry Detergent

One of my co-workers gave me this idea! We read online that this is suppose to last a year and you only use one heaping tablespoon per load..I just made it a couple weeks ago, so i will let ya know how long this last me! This is also good to use if you have sensitive skin because I have really sensitive skin and I can only use certain detergents and it hasnt irritated me at all..

First off you need your ingredients

One 4 pound box of Borax
One 4 pound box of Arm & Hammer Baking Soda
One 3 pound box of Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda
One 3 pound box Oxi Clean
One Bar Zote Soap 

The Zote Soap is the only thing that I couldnt find in the store, but since my husband is mr. ebay man he found it online.. 4 bars for 12 dollars. (There is an alternative in the store, but since I knew Zote was okay with sensitive skin i just ordered it to play it safe)

First things first!

After you get all of your ingredients, go to your local dollar store and buy a cheap grater.. ( I didnt want to use my kitchen one because i didnt know how it would look after, so i just spent the dollar and bought one)

Now you need to grate the zote bar..this is the only thing that is pain staking!

This is what it looks like after you grate the Zote Bar

Then get a big container or cardboard box..just something you can mix all the ingredients in.

Do this in a well ventilated area!!!

It's as easy as that..

I bought a container from the dollar store and it works just dandy.. 

I think i spent around $20 for everything!

So, if you figure out how much you spend in a month on laundry detergent and if in fact this does last a year..your saving money!

I did read on pinterest that the blogger showed to use 2 zote bars and add purex crystals, but i cant use fabric softner and i wasnt going to waste another bar of soap if i can use it next year.. I imagine she showed doing that if you want a scent, but my husband just puts fabric softner sheets in when he dries his clothes! Just make sure you keep this in an air tight container!

Good luck!

I have been using it for a couple weeks and i like it!

Refurbished Patio Set

So, here it goes. My mom gave me her old patio set. It was old and well used..! So, i had an idea(which my husband always hears) He has the smarts and i have the creativeness (word?? i hope so lol) Anyways, I usually ramble off what I picture in my head and he usually looks confused and doesnt understand my craft lingo...So, we agreed on colors and went from there. This is a key note to anyone using spray paint to redo a furniture piece .. You will need more spray paint than you think. I learned the hard way. Also, if you can pick out a paint color look on the brands website and see if it is online.. (I learned the hard way that my tan color was discontinued so i had to pop out 7 dollars a can at the end because i could only get it at hobby lobby and any other craft store) Also, dont forget to look at your spray can and see what temp you are suppose to use the spray paint in. Trust me! I did this in the spring when it was still cool nights.

This is what the Patio set look liked before..

You can see how worn the chairs were..

So, here it goes..get motivated!! 

Take the chairs apart!(I used my lovely husband for this because once i got to the 2nd chair i got extremely frustrated lol..)

So..you have them apart..now the fun part 

Clean and wipe down chairs table ect..

I would paint one part and then go to the chair and paint them. So, by the time I painted the tan then the blue.. I could move onto the next coat.

This chair style is a mesh metal cover with plastic and  it was pretty easy to paint... Buy a Spray can trigger (I dont know the correct term, but if you go into the paint isle you will find it.. best 2-3 dollars you will spend...it will save your finger)

Here is my assembly Line

Here is one of the final pieces

                                              Before                                                       After

   

Now I didnt take pictures of the process of painting the table.. but that pretty much depends on the actual table.. I used newspaper and painters tape to mask off the glass..make sure you do that..makes the clean up so much easier!

Here is the final result!

Let's just say mom asked for it back...but i say no way..no indian giving :)