French Bee

Oops, I goofed when loading this little tutorial. The blogs are not in the correct order. If you look at the labels for the blog, you will see which was intended to be first, second and third. Sorry -

What do you think? It's not hard to do - just takes time and a little determination. I applied about 5 coats of gloss varnish because I wanted it shiny. It is important also, to sand in between coats of dry varnish. My new sewing bureau is ready for use. You could apply as little as two coats of a matte varnish if you prefer. It is now in my new sewing room, filled with fabrics and projects waiting to be finished. I couldn't find handles long enough to span the 5 inches of space between predrilled holes, so I opted to put two round nobs on each drawer instead. I like it - it functions very well. So, next time you see a throw away piece of wood furniture - take it home and give it some love! You'll be very glad you did. To see phase 1 of this project, click here .

As you can see from the photo, there was some weathering to the legs of this piece that resulted in a black stain. The process of stripping the piece seemed to naturally bleach the wood a bit and it wasn't necessary for me to do anything else to it. After the piece is completely stripped of old varnish and coating which had accumulated, you then begin sanding. Sanding takes about as long as the stripping. I used a palm sander in the direction of the wood grain (very important). I used a medium grade for the first layer of sanding. I used a sponge sanding tool for the rounded corners. To get in the crevices, I folded the sanding paper in half and rubbed in the grooves with the folded edge. So, after you get really sick of sanding, you get to sand some more! But, progress to the finer sandpaper and you will be so pleased at how smooth your piece becomes. When the entire piece is sanded and smooth to your satisfaction, then you need to clean off all the dust; a tack cloth...

I could hear it calling me - I couldn't resist this old bureau which was in my sister's backyard. I am inspired by wooden furniture that needs a little TLC. This piece was a little weathered, warped and some mold had set in on the legs. Kris was happy to get rid of this old bureau and I was excited about the project. However, it sat in my garage for about 3 years before I decided to start the refinishing. Once I decided to begin, I applied a gel furniture stripping product and removed it with a combination of steel wool, metal spackling spatula and old toothbrush. There is some carving and indentations, so I needed all three items to complete my project. I didn't do this all in a week. I was able to work on it for about an hour or two at a time, which fit in with my schedule. Due to the nature of the product, you could not apply the stripping paste and leave it for more than 20-30 minutes. Be sure to wear rubber gloves and some suggest goggles. Since I wear ey...

Look at the beautiful Mandevilla bloom from my backyard! Isn't God great with colors? I love a pink and green combination. We have two small trees in pots outside of our front door and have been watching a mama mourning dove tend to her nest by sitting on her two little eggs. Fairly recently the eggs hatched and we have been enjoying peeking in to see the babies when mama would leave for a moment. Just a few days ago I noticed they were gone! Now I suspect they are nesting in the ground under our giant bird of paradise plants. I see them flying away when I step outside the door and I feel like a proud mom myself. I took a picture of the bird nest cause I thought that would be way cool to put on my site, but after living in a nest with no housecleaning or outhouse - it was not such a pretty site and some of you may not appreciate that at all.

There we were at Lake Tahoe; one of the most beautiful lakes I've seen. The water is clear bright blue. Strolling along the beach you couldn't find a bad view. We went jet skiing and what a trip that was! It was the first time for us and it was wild. It was windy and the water was blowing in our faces. We were bouncing around and I felt I was hanging on for dear life. Maybe we shouldn't have had three of us on one ski . . . In the middle of the lake we decided to switch drivers. Ha! now I see how silly that was. Well, guess who fell in. . . My friend, Linda, is going there this weekend to rent a house by the lake. They have their boat to play in. I know how much they are going to love being there. We went to the Sunnyside Cafe for lunch - twice! You just have to try it. Right on the water - I took most of my pictures of the lake at that spot.

In the Spring of 2007 we spent a week in this fascinating city. I could not get enough of the Eiffel Tower! I love the image of it. The tower is so big, you can view it from many different locations. It was just a few blocks from our hotel. And surprise! at 9:00 pm for about 10 minutes, the tower lights up with sparkly twinkling white lights. It is just breathtaking. We were in line for the elevator to ascend to the top, but come to find out after a few minutes waiting in the hot weather, it was the line for taking the stairs to the top! No thank you - I couldn't do that. Did you know? The color of the tower is actually taupe and not black.