Brian and I went to a living estate auction Saturday....nothing exceptional, but it is always fun to spend a day at an auction! I just love it...even if I don't find a "great deal."

But Sunday was a day of getting a few things done. My garage is overflowing with projects...and inspite of the fact that I don't have room for them at my flea booth, I have to get them done! (I did take a break and went with Matt and Kaitlyn to take the dogs to the lake. Last time we took my Lab grandpuppy to the lake, he didn't want to have anything to do with it...but Sunday the "water dog" in him came out!!! Boy that pup can swim!)

Anywho, naturally I failed to take "before" pictures of a few projects....a precious little doll rocking chair that is getting a white and pink paint treatment, a plate shelf painted with plaster paint and a few mirror frames. You would think I would learn, but noooooo.....

But I did remember to take before pictures of a few big pieces...a cedar truck we picked up at an auction last week and a HUGE round coffee table I bought at an auction 2 months ago.

The cedar truck wasn't THAT bad...just old varnish finish that had "crackled" and "muddied" with age. The copper stripping wasn't too bad either. So basically I stripped the old varnish and am applying a new tung oil finish. One more coat and it will be ready for "after" pictures!

The coffee table...now that is another story....

I have no doubt this was originally a very expensive piece...but it's a little "heavy" and ornate for my taste. But I loved the wood inlay design on top and knew I wanted to preserve that! The base is getting a "plaster paint/dark wax" treatment.

But the top...simple strip and refinish...right? WRONG!!! The finish came off just fine...but when I got the stripper on the edge of the top it took the "painted" stain off, revealing good ole' MDF. Holy crud! In case you don't know much about refinishing, MDF doesn't stain like real wood or wood veneer. In the infamous words of Reba....CRAAAAAAP!

Don't ask me how I fixed the problem...I'm still working on it! But I did get the base painted and started the sanding...and it looks pretty awesome. And I think it will be major awesome when I get the dark wax on it.

Little secret here...I have never used furniture wax before...and I have never made "homemade dark wax." But I'm gonna...

And if I don't drop kick the entire project down the street, I will post before and after pictures later this week1