My Grandmother’s Lamp Makeover

At the beginning of September I went over to my grandparent’s house and ended up raiding their basement.  The lamp pictured below was one of my exciting finds down there!  (Thanks Sugar!) Great lamp – but very dated.  I had a feeling that with a little spray paint and a new shade that this lamp had lots of potential.

So, the first thing I did was spray paint the entire lamp this gray metallic color.

Next, I put a coat of crackle on the lamp – see all of the cracks? I wanted it to look a little bit older and roughed up. 

Finally, I covered it with some Valspar Antique Glaze (love!), and then pretty much immediately ran to a little lamp shop to find a new shade.  Here is the finish product!

I'm loving round, linen shades right now.  So simple, but just enough texture to add interest!

I spray painted the finial that gray metallic color - it looks so much better now that it is not so brassy!

Unlike stripping and restaining that wooden piece of furniture, THIS project was SO easy!!! Even if you don't have a family member's basement/attic to raid - go to a yardsale or a thrift store and do your own re-do! 



Happy Fall :-)

I can’t believe it’s already the end of October.  Where did this month go? I began work the Monday following my last post and have been adjusting to my new schedule. Free time seems to be scarce these days, but I am so thankful to be working.  During the time I do have to just “relax” in the evenings, I am usually doing some reading or I want to relax, but fall asleep by 8:30 pm. 

On another note, October has been SUCH a fun month.  We’ve been to two Furman weddings this month and gotten to spend precious time with college friends, we’ve spent a weekend in Greenville, SC for Furman’s Homecoming, I spent a weekend at the lake with my parents just reading on the screened-in porch while Keith went to Auburn with his brother, and we became members at the church we’ve been attending. 

Where we live it is only just now starting to feel like autumn outside.  In the past week the leaves have really started to fall and the cooler temperatures are setting in.  I’m just thankful that I don’t have to anticipate the -25F temperatures we braved last winter in China.  Lows in the 30’s during an Alabama winter sound quite balmy. 

For the first time in what seems like many years I am going to spend Halloween night at my parents’ house watching all of the trick-or-treaters.  I grew up in one of THE best trick-or-treating neighborhoods of all time, and I’m looking forward to returning and seeing what Halloween is like there now. 

I’ll never forget Halloween last year in China when the trick-or-treaters (our sweet students) came to our apartment and said, “Trick-or-treat!” and then GAVE us a bag of candy instead of coming to our door to ASK for candy! I can’t believe that tomorrow we will have been back in America for 4 months. 

Happy Fall :-) (Finally!) Or, Happy Winter if you are reading this from Dong Bei :-) 

Refinishing Wood Furniture

While living in South Carolina, Keith and I stumbled upon an interior design store that was owned and operated by Celine Dion's personal interior designer.  He had moved to South Carolina and opened this store to raise money for his grown daughter who had been diagnosed with Lukemia.  All of the store's profits went toward a charity for Lukemia.  One Saturday while we were perusing his store, we came across the side table placed in front of the windows you see in the picture. 

Sorry for the poor quality of the picture (it was taken on my iPhone).  But, from this picture you can probably tell that it is a great piece of furniture.  The designer had suggested putting two lamps on it and a mirror above it.  I ALMOST sold it when we moved into our new place thinking that I had no room for it against a wall...soo thankful that I tried it against the window with a couple lamps and some favorite pictures.

The only thing that I didn't care for about the table was the color of the stain.  It was much too red for me! I prefer dark wood, so from the moment that we bought this piece I knew that someday I wanted to strip the old stain and refinish it! The picture above shows the beginnings of the grueling process of stripping stained wood...

I went to Lowe's and purchased the following items:

* SuperStrip stain remover

* Steel Wool

* Sandpaper

*A paintbrush

* Ebony Wood Stain by Valspar

* Polyurethane

* An abundance of latex gloves

1. The first step to this process is stripping the former stain.  Make sure you have on gloves for this task - the stain stripper is extremely powerful and will eat through your skin. I have a few scabs from the splatter to prove it...quite painful.  Also, use an old brush or inexpensive brush to apply the stain stripper, because it will eat up your brush as well.  The biggest lessons I learned during this process are (a) wipe the stripper off immediately with steel wool after applying - don't follow the instructions that say to wait for 15 minutes! (b) use the most powerful grade of steel wool!

1. After removing the former stain, use sandpaper to smooth any gunk left on the furniture and a wet rag to remove any excess stain and dust. 
2. STIR your stain.  Such a basic step, but I initially forgot to do this :-)
3. Use a rag or towel and dip it into the stain and wipe it onto your furniture in the same direction as the lines of the wood.  Apply a second coat if desired, but wait 24 hours in between applying coats. 
4. Wait until the stain is completely dry, and then using a clean rag wipe on the polyurethane to seal the stain on the wood.
5. Voila! Enjoy your newly stained furniture!

The steps that I just shared with you might seem really simple and easy.  However, this project took me well over a week to complete.  Stripping the wood was nooo fun at all.  This piece has some detail that made it difficult to easily strip and stain.  But, I am SO glad that I took on this project, because I think it looks amazing with a darker stain on it!

So remember this is what it looked like before:

And after!!!

If I can do it - you can do it too! 

Getting Settled

Getting settled in Alabama has been quite the process! We returned home from China on July 1st.  Spent a week in Alabama with my family, spent a week in Florida with Keith's family, and on July 17th we made it up to South Carolina to get all of our belongings out of storage! Thank you former community group and Dostie for helping us pack this little U-Haul to the max with our furniture, clothes and weddings gifts!

However, because we had not yet found a place to live in Alabama, we had to unload the U-Haul and move it all back into a POD that was taken to storage.

It was not until the third week of August that we finally secured a place to live and were able to unpack all of our clothes, furniture and wedding gifts! It was almost like opening wedding gifts for the first time all over again!

Can you spot the tiny little dog we were babysitting in the picture above? She kind of blends in with the mess!

And now, six weeks later, we are finally feeling settled! More posts to come about furniture re-do's and great bargains that I found when trying to make this place feel like home.

The Tunnel of Transition

It's strange to think that Keith and I have been back in America for 3 months today.  In some ways it seems like we left China just minutes ago, and in many other ways we have quickly readjusted to life in the States.  As I mentioned at the end of "The Tale," we initially felt like we had just stepped out of the wardrobe from Narnia...we had literally returned to a different world.  Living in China was so different from anything we had previously experienced that it almost seemed like a dream. 

We don't want it to feel like a dream though.  The Lord taught us so much about trusting Him and about having a ministry as a couple.  I have never experienced His grace in such a powerful way! He enabled us to serve Him in SO many amazing ways - ways that we never could have imagined.  Through being enabled to serve Him we received the greatest blessings imaginable.  We had so little wordly possessions and no earthly family but one another, and yet, we were so incredibly joyful. 

Besides all that you may have read about the amazing Chinese cultural experiences we gained and the precious relationships with Chinese that we formed, I would want people that have followed our story to know this simple truth:  God can use you in ways that you never thought possible.  I had gone my entire life with no desire whatsoever to visit Asia.  I daily question if my relationship with the Lord is strong enough to serve Him and give a testimony in any way at all.  BUT, I asked Him to use me and He did.  It is only by His grace that He allows us to be used for His glory.  Looking back on this past year, I am astounded by the abundance of grace He bestowed upon Keith and me.  How blessed we have been.

Returning to the States for Keith to begin law school has definitely had its ups and downs.  Until I was offered a job on September 15th, it seemed as if there was no light at the end of this tunnel of transition.  However, I am happy to tell you that we have almost made it through - He has provided and we are so thankful! I begin work on Monday and can't wait to get my first paycheck :-)

Though it is so tempting to look back and miss life in China, or to look forward and think about life after Keith finishes law school, Keith and I are both trying to figure out how to serve the Lord here and now and get excited about exploring this city together and building new relationships! And so a new tale begins...