The Final Product...

Okay, ladies and gents, here is the finished table!  It's been finished for awhile now, but I just can't seem to blog as much since I've gone back to work.  There are some imperfections that will probably drive me a little bit crazy every time I look at it, but overall I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.  I did it the right way this time....sanded, primed, painted (two coats), and polyurethaned it.  It's amazing how nothing sticks to it when you do it the right way.

The No.1 and No.2 came to me when I realized that I didn't want to put Vivi's name on the table.  I found this cool way of doing painted lettering.  I found it on Pinterest, of course.  Click below if you're interested....it worked great, to my surprise.

Painting Lettering on Furniture

Pinterest also helped me tremendously with the chevron.  If you want to make a chevron stencil, check out this website below:

Make a Chevron Stencil

How did I survive before Pinterest?  I say that at least once a week.  Below is the website I found that helped me redo this table the right way.  I followed the directions they gave pretty closely.

How to Paint Furniture the Right Way

Vivi loves her little table.  She likes to color, read books, and have snacks on it.  Mission accomplished!

The Time Has Come

Source: angelaparmer.blogspot.co.uk via Caryn on Pinterest

Summer is officially over for me tomorrow.  I had a few moments this week.  I got teary eyed at Pottery Barn Kid's story time when I was telling the leader how much we enjoyed it this summer.  I cried three or four times in one day when I got an Evite for a fun girl's weekend away in September just thinking about working and leaving Vivi for the weekend.  What is wrong with me?  I don't think this is normal.  I just don't do well with change I guess.  I'm FINE when I'm at work and in a routine.  Just fine.  I enjoy my job and the people I work with.  Why do I continue to freak out every time I have to go back to work????  Okay.  Enough about that.

We had the best summer.  It really was the best.  Our trip to New York was awesome.  Vivi got to spend some quality time with her extended family.  Santa Fe was awesome!  We found a new favorite place to visit.  Who knew?  Vivi and I spent A LOT of quality time together.....story time, library, zoo, parks, Reasors, Target, play dates, the backyard.  You name it, we did it.  I did almost everything on my summer list.  What I didn't get to was power washing the deck.  I'd rather just pay someone to do that anyway.  And...I never got to my wedding album.  Imagine that.  There's always Christmas break. ;)

Almost Finished!

By George....I just might finish this project before I go back to work!  I'm kind of famous for not finishing projects.  I hate to admit that, but it's true.  I have this really cool glass mosaic I made in an art class I took years ago.  It was 80% finished when the class ended and I haven't touched it since. :(  Isn't that horrible?  It will be very cool if I ever get to it.  Remember that blanket I started knitting when I found out I was pregnant?  I blogged about it.  Haven't touched it since Vivi was born.  Horrible...just horrible.  Well, I think Frank is on to me because he's been gently encouraging me to work on this table. :)  I can see through it, but that's okay.  I really need to finish this.  

Please ignore the messy garage!  The painting is just about finished.  The color in the picture looks more orange than it is in real life.  It's more of a coral/pinkish/orange.  I just need to put one more coat of white on top and then I'm ready to chevron.  How in the world do you make a chevon pattern?  I was really at a loss...felt like an idiot.  I even texted my engineer brother for help before I realized I could Google it.

This is what I found on Google...makes perfect sense!  You just make a grid then connect the lines diagonally to make the chevron pattern.  Pretty easy actually.  Hopefully you'll see some finished pictures soon!

Making progress

One more week of summer vacation.  :(  How in the world did it go so fast?  I've got a busy week too. Tomorrow I'd like to work in my classroom some.  I'm behind the learning curve there.  Everyone's classrooms are almost ready and mine is a wreck.  I just hate giving up my summer time with Vivi to go up there.  I tried working while she was there.  That didn't work. She's just a busy little girl.  Teachers report back on the 13th, but our rooms are expected to be ready, so I've got to make some time for that.  We're going to our last story time at Pottery Barn kids on Tuesday.  Our last library story time on Wednesday.  Vivi's going for a half day at Ms. Shelly's on Thursday so I can work in my classroom and ease her into that.  Friday we're having our last play date with my little group of MC teacher friends at the splash park.  Meanwhile I need to clean my house, wash and iron work clothes (YUCK!), start some meal planning and possible freezer meals, and finish Vivi's little table and chair set.  I made some progress this weekend.  The annoying parts are finished.  I sanded the furniture, in 110 degree temps by the way.  That's my least favorite part of any project!  Here's Frank helping me tighten all the screws and make some minor repairs to the chairs.  What a good husband and daddy he is! :)  

First coat of primer.  I used an oil based primer that was recommended by a few different blogs.  I hope it works.  It looks kind of streaky, but people swear by it.

Here are the chairs and table all primed and ready to be painted!  They already look so much better.  Bye-bye Winnie the Pooh....hello chevron!  I have black, white, and coral paint ready to go...stay tuned for more pics!

Splish Splash

I am SOOOOO mad that the summer is almost over and today was the first day I've taken Vivi to the splash park at the river.  It is a toddler's paradise.  I love that this park is perfect for her age right now.  So many parks are just too big for Vivi.  The water features here were perfect..just perfect.  She had a ball!

Being the cautious little girl that she is, it took some time to warm up.  She had to check out the place...test the waters, so-to-speak. :)

A nice little girl gave Vivi a cup to play with....fun times!

I'm hoping this fun day in the water will help with some of her recent bath time fears that just developed.  That's a whole 'nother story.

There's Josie!  She's a fearless little girl....quite the opposite of Vivi.  She came and was ready to play immediately! :)

Josie, Ian, and Vivi.  It's pretty cool that such good college friends now have kids that will be friends.  Love that!

Snack time at the park.  Vivi's got quite the life, let me tell ya!

Josie and Vivi playing at the playground.  I've got one more week of summer vacation and we'll be going to this splash park again next week for sure!

I Heart Hardwoods!

Today was the day to test out our Bona hardwood floor cleaner.  I have to say, I liked it!  I think it did a good job.  It was only about $32 with my Bed Bath & Beyond coupon.  It came with the upright cleaner (that was easily put together even by me), the cleaning pad (that's washable), and the liquid cleaner, as well as a concentrated cleaner for later.  First we swiffered...and by "we" I do mean Vivi and me.  She's at this age where she LOVES to help me do everything.  And by "help" you probably can tell just how much she really "helps" me. :)  I saved the Bona for nap time.  Now, my house is small, but it only took me about 20 minutes to do my entire house.  Not bad.  It was sticky when it was wet, but it dried nicely.  The cleaning pad is disgusting, so I know it worked!  Yeah!  Now I'll just throw that thing in the wash and save it for next time.  Two thumbs up!