Shop Local Saturday.

I did my part, did you? While my stop last Saturday wasn't exactly local to me, it definitely counts as a local business. It just happens that it was two hours away from my home. I spent Saturday morning driving a rescued Boston Terrier to meet her new foster mom. On the way to our designated meeting spot, I saw a sign for an antique store a little up the road. After I saw Madge on her way, I headed for the store.

It was a combination craft and antique store, and I supported both. In the craft section of the store I found a few reproduction iron work pieces. Reproductions don't bother me, as long as they are well made, and of course, well priced.




The sailboat key hook was $7 and the reproduction wall hook was $10. The key hook will be easy enough to find a spot for. I'm not quite sure about the latter, but I'm sure we'll figure something out.

As for the antiques, I waded through booth after booth of random crap. There were some interesting things, but nothing that really struck my fancy, except this...



I picked up this little cane top bench for $20. It's a pretty common piece, and I'm hoping I can find a twin to it at some point in the future. It's been painted and distressed, which is not really my style, but it is in otherwise good shape. Once I decide where it's going to live, I'll give it a nice clean coat of paint. The caning on this also matches the chairs we bought over the summer at another antique store.

I intended on making another Shop Local stop, at our favorite cupcake shop, but errands got in the way. I'll find another day to support them ;)


I almost forgot! This is Madge! I picked her up from City Animal Services on Wednesday and she spent a few days with us. Poor little lady was picked up as a stray, and due to her old age was scheduled to be put down. She's now settling in to her permanent foster home. Good luck Madge! We'll be thinking of you!

Don't try this at home.

Mostly because, I don't really know what I'm doing. I'm just faking it, and I think I got lucky with this one. My aunt and uncle brought this old table to us on Thanksgiving. After a long useful life, it had been relegated to the barn for the last few years. When my aunt learned we were looking for a table for our eat-in kitchen, she gladly offered this old gal up. I love the style, and the grain of the beautiful beech, but it had seen better days.



Being that our garage is already full of pressure treated timbers, leaf blowers, miscellaneous chairs, a fire pit, etc, I needed to get this out of there asap. Also, I absolutely detest the little table we had in the kitchen, so I was plenty motivated to get this one done.

There was no shellac, polyurethane or any other coating on the table, so I started to clean it with steel wool and some denatured alcohol. My brother in law told me about the successes he'd had using it on old furniture, and so I'd picked up a can a little while ago.

I was lucky that it was another warm day here, so I was able to work outside in the garage. I wore gloves to protect my hands from the alcohol and worked in small sections. As I worked across, I scrubbed gently with the steel wool and sloughed off the dirty residue. Then wiped everything clean with a damp rag and warm water. When it was dry I took my orbital sander to the top, using 220 grit sandpaper.

I'm pretty happy with how well it cleaned up. The watermark you can see here is the only spot still visible. Not bad considering how it started out. To finish it off, I ran to Home Depot to pick up a can of Minwax Finishing Wax. It went on easily, and buffed to a nice sheen. I almost went with Tung Oil, but was afraid an oil might highlight any leftover imperfections. I'm glad I went with the wax. It came out exactly as I'd hoped.

This is the table we had in the kitchen. I hate it, but it served a purpose. We don't eat here ever, but still needed a little something in the space. This little oak table just looked so cheap, it drove me crazy.

And after, with the new table in place...

Maybe approves!