The Many Uses of Diaper wipes!

Every momma has them.  But do we truly utilize them as much as we can?  I use them EVERYWHERE!  Seriously though, I have a package on the changing table (obviously) in the boys bathroom, the master bathroom, the kitchen, the garage and my car and my husband's truck!  Often they can be found outside and in the living room as well!  So I give you, the many many uses of diaper wipes! 45 in fact!

*To change Diapers ;)
*Wipe dirty hands and faces after meals
*to wipe countertops
*to wipe floors (marker, paint, stickies, mud, etc.)
*to wipe chairs

*to clean windows of fingerprints
*to clean up the red juice your children somehow talked you into
*wipe acrylic paint off the tile floor... the walls, the table, the windows, etc....
*clean up potty accidents
*wipe down the potty after dribbles

*wipe paint off projects that drip
*wipe paint off the garage floor
*wipe paint off your shoes
*wipe paint off your hands/arms/legs/feet
*wipe paint off just about anything!

*clean grime off the inside of your car (the dash, doors, windows, steering well, etc.)
*Clean gunk off carseats, you know, all those nasty unidentified-goobers...
*wipe dog slobber off of.... well anything!
*wipe baby spit-up off baby, yourself, the floor, well, just about anything!
*clean grime off of doorknobs

*clean grime off light switch plates
*Dust your house!
*help someone who is bed bound feel clean
*clean dirt off of tools, floors
*clean dirt off of people (aka my very boy-boys)

*spiffy up dirty-dirty shoes
*clean bird poop off of, well, anything
*squish unwanted bugs
*pick-up yuck-ness
*use them on your swifter mop instead of the pricy mop pads. (If those don't fit, costco sanitizing wipes are the perfect size!

*wrap them around your duster to clean up spider webs
*clean wood putty off of stuff
*wipe up nail polish (sometimes, if it's still very wet.)
*clean toothpaste and other miscellaneous gunk off of the sink in the bathroom
*clean grime off of your keyboard

*wipe down your phone
*de-sticky-ify just about anything!
*spit-bath while camping (seriously, nothing feels so good as wiping down with a wipe when you're grimy and can't shower!)
*clean dirt and sand off your feet while hiking to avoid blisters
*clean anything while camping

*keep clean in an emergency situation!
*cleaning cake off a new bride's face (from recent experience!)
*wrap around flower stems to get them home without water
*wipe down your fridge/stove/glass doors of fingerprints
*clean surface spills off a couch/chair/carpet

Bonus Round!
*Clean Desitin off when used as sunscreen (a story for another day...)

Kitchen Table Refinish

Recently my sister-in-law offered me their old kitchen table.  They bought it when they were first married and they now have 5 kids and just don't fit around it anymore!  Our table is getting pretty small for us so it was good timing for us!  The only problem was that it just wasn't my style...  It's a great table, sturdy great wood, but I didn't love the color.

So I went online and found some great table refinish jobs that I fell in love with!  So we told her yes we would love it and I got to work!

Did I mention it comes with 6 chairs too?!

First I sanded down the w.h.o.l.e. thing!  The top didn't take too long, but the side design and the feet took forever! 

Side note, I've always just used whatever sandpaper, the cheap stuff from Walmart, but this time I tried the 3m, pink, fancy paper and let me tell you!  That stuff just takes it right off!  Additionally, the paper lasts a lot longer too!  Worth the tiny bit extra it was to buy it for sure!

Next I flipped the table over and painted the feet!

Now, I didn't bring the feet all the way down to wood.  One, there were way too many curvy surfaces, and two, I wanted to paint it black so I really didn't need to do anymore than bring it past the old clear-coat.

I newspapered the table top so I wouldn't get any black spots on it, and it was good because I did drip a few times!

As you can kind of see here I didn't worry about complete coverage the first time, I really just wanted a base coat down that would hold additional coats well.  I ended up doing 3 solid coats with plenty of time to dry in-between.  The paint was actually kind of interesting, it is Behr paint, Carbon colored, but when it goes on it looks navy blue!  While I was applying it I was was thinking, man, I really hope it dries black!  It did, but I was a titch worried!

Once it was dry I flipped the table back over (leaving all the newspaper on to protect the feet).

Then I stained it with a _______ poly-shades minwax stain.  In retrospect and so you know, there's nothing wrong with using a poly-shades stain, but it can be finicky when doing a coat of polyurethane later.  It has a looooooong drying time. 

(poly-shades stain are stain and polyurethane in one.  Because they are together you don't technically need a polyurethane over the top, but an additional coat gives the shine of a finished piece and in this case protection on a table top!)

I did not let it dry long enough and this happened....

So my amazing husband came home and spent a couple of hours sanding the top off again....

Here is the table after I finished staining it!  I let it dry for nearly 24 hours!  No pooling this time!  I did three layers of polyurethane on the top and two on everything else.  Done! and just in time!  I finished the night before we headed out of town!  

I love it!  Now to decide what to do with the chairs!  I can't decide between painting them all red or so they match the table (stain the seat, everything else black), or all black.  What do you think?  Or something totally different?  Let me know in the comments!

Grandma's Washstand Makeover - Finished!

I finished!  Yeah, I know, I told you I finished like, two months ago... which is true. But I've been busy and hadn't finished posting about it.  So here it is, the final post!

As you'll recall if you've followed these posts, my Great-Grandmother passed last March and last July we went out again to visit family and I was offered the opportunity to fix the old washstand that had been in her bathroom as long as I, and incidentally my Grandma can remember as well!

I was recently talking with my Grandma and she told me that this washstand use to stand by the back door so you could stop and wash your hands on the way in from the bathroom (outhouse).  Then when they got an indoor bathroom it sat in there as extra counter space for years and years.  I was honored to have the chance to fix it up!

I think that it started out a stained wood finish, but over the years it had been painted at least four different times.  Rose, cream, and several layers of white!  at some point the wood top and backsplash was covered with formica after the wood warped and split a bit from all the water.

All those years of water damages and thick layers of paint had made it look old and worn out.  So I got to it!

First I took it apart!  Oh the nails!  This piece is very old and they used ridiculously long nails to attach the hinges... like 3-4 inch nails!

Then I cleaned all the hardware with some salt and vinegar and a toothbrush

And got to work stripping the layers and layers of paint!

Then it all needed sanded!

And that was a job!  However, once I got the paint layers sanded down, I found beautiful wood and even managed to sand away most of the water damage!

Then came the agonizing task of choosing a stain!  I didn't get all of the black water damage removed so I opted for a dark stain, Espresso.  YIKES!  That's a scary color to apply! I had this beautiful, oak wood and that stain is black in the can!

But it came out beautiful!

Lastly, to protect the wood from the sun and kiddos, among other things, I finished with a couple coat of polyurethane (triple on the top).

Then I put everything back together!  Some of the nails were inevitably bent during deconstruction, but most of the nails are original, I only replaced a few!

When I got the cabinet it only had one knob for two doors.  Somewhere along the way the other one was lost.  I looked and looked but couldn't find a match.

So I found a close match and replaced both of them, saving the original for if I ever find a match! 

(I almost found a match yesterday at an antique shop!  But still not quite)

And it's done!

It currently sits as an entry table next to our front door.  However, we practically never use our front door so it has managed to stay clean and clear of junk!

I found this perfect little plate at my favorite thrift store for a coin/key plate.

I just love how rich the wood ended up looking!  It's really hard to take good pictures of it though, any light reflects off the smooth surface!

I put our blanket stash inside.  I figured if I filled it with something now, it won't collect junk!  Previously our blankets were in a diaper box sort of hidden between our couch and comfy char.... I like this much better!  Besides which, being summer is here, we won't be using blankets as much now anyway!

Nothing is in the drawer right now except the original door knob and a few nails too bent to use on the hinges.  crossing my fingers it stays that way!

Isn't the wood just amazing!

Just in case you've forgotten how far we've come!  

Grandma's Washstand Part 1 - Disassembling

Grandma's Washstand Part 2 - Cleaning hardware
Grandma's Washstand Part 3 - Stripping paint

Grandma's Washstand Part 4 - Sanding

Grandma's Washstand - All Ready to Paint!
Grandma's Washstand - I Stained it!

What projects have you done?  Comment below!