My Craigslist find studio table

One thing every crafter needs in their creative space is a good, sturdy table to spread out on. I had an idea of what size I wanted and that I wanted it to be solid wood. So I did what every self respecting DIY-ER would do and let my fingers do the walking on Craigslist. Low and behold I found a beaut, and even better, it was cheap! 40$ and it could be mine!
Here is a pic of the table from the original ad. I loved the curved detail on the ends. It just needed a little TLC and some elbow grease. So after a few emails back and forth with the seller I was sold!

 Let me interject here with a very long side story.
While I was beyond excited over my big score for the day I had a bit of a dilemma . I drive a sedan folks. A four door sedan, but still, a sedan. So at the same time that I'm emailing with the seller, I'm panicking because I need to find someone with a truck, and quick! If anyone reading this has bought something on Craigslist, then you know, you have to step up quickly when it comes to a good deal. So here it is, after 8 on a Saturday NIGHT (that's right, I said at night) and I'm hunting down a truck. So I send out a few texts. One to my brother and one to my nephew, both of whom own a truck. My nephew doesn't respond, no surprise there because he's 21 and has a life, so I forgave him immediately for not coming to my aid. My brother responds with a phone call in which he proceeded to tell me he was working at a gun show and wouldn't be home until late. *sigh*
Now let me say this, my dad also owns a truck too, however, it's approximately 20 years old and has over 200,000 miles on the odometer. Now normally it wouldn't be an issue except the table is over an hour away, and part of that commute is usually bumper to bumper traffic, even at night! So driving that truck was a concern. But I was determined not to miss out on this deal. So I put in a call to dear old Dad. I asked him if he felt old trusty would make the trip okay and he said, "sure!"
So I headed over to my parents home which happens to be just a few blocks away. (I'm a very blessed woman to have them close by.) I digress. So I hop in old trusty and head towards my lovely table. About 15 minutes in I start to wonder if this was such a great idea. The truck starts to kind of skip as its going down the highway. Something I can only assume is a transmission issue. But I hammer on as the sun starts to set behind me. The skipping seems to get worse, the closer I get. I'm lucky however that the worst section of highway in the state of Texas just so happens to not be a nightmare. Those of you familiar with North Texas know exactly which area I am speaking. The stretch of Loop 820 anywhere between Haltom City and Hurst. So I kept on trucking, still very aware of the trucks shortcomings.
I have no problem finding where I need to go. It's an extremely high end neighborhood and I'm driving what could only be seen as a bit of a clunker truck. Beat up body, complete with a cracked windshield. I just know there was probably a few calls made to the local authorities about the strange questionable truck strolling the streets, no doubt-ably casing the joint.
So I find the house, just as its getting dark. I climb out, head to the door, and ring the bell. A nice gentleman answers and proceeds to tell me that the table is in the garage which is on the back side of the house, around the block. I walk back to old trusty, put the keys in the ignition and turn. And nothing! That's right folks, not a sound! The truck is dead in the water! Babombbabombbabomb! That's the sound of my heart beating out of my chest with panic! What in the world am I going to do? An hour from home, nearly 9:30 on a Saturday night and I have no clue when it comes to fixing anything on a truck. Must be the battery, that much I can gather so I hang my head in shame and head back to the door to ask if this kind man has jumper cables. I try to call my Dad and he doesn't answer. He's on a side trip with my Mom at the local casino 2 hours away. I then call my friend Bryan who happens to know how to fix cars and he accepts the challenge to come rescue me. The gentleman finds his cables and starts to set things up to jump old trusty off, using his wife's Volvo! I was mortified! But I was saved by the bell. My Dad returns my call and tells me it's probably a loose battery cable. So we lift up the hood and a few jiggles later and it starts up again. Whew! So I call off Bryan and close the hood. Now most people would say, I'll cut my losses and head back to the casa before this gets worse. Not me! I can't leave my table behind! I've came all this way, can't let it be for naught. So I drive around the block, we load er' up and I head back home. I made the decision to head straight home and not for any reason shut off the truck until I deliver it safely back to my parents driveway. I get about halfway home and realize I'm about to be out of gas. Well poop! So I pull into a station, put a few bucks in, and yes I broke the rules, I left the truck running while I pumped my gas. Call me a rebel! In the end, I made it home safe and sound and have decided I miss my truck even more now. :/
Now, onto what we're here for, my lovely table:
 The legs had a nice distressed ivory finish but I wanted them white to match the other furniture in my studio. So I pulled out my handy dandy spray paint and sprayed away. I only sprayed two coats and  I didn't even bother with a coat of poly. I might regret that later but I don't mind a few scratches and dings. I like the character!

This is a pic of the underside of the table.  You could tell it was well used! I think some little ones had some fun with a bowl of food under there!

I had my inspiration photo here to work off of so I went right to work.  I started off working on my deck, but some rain kept getting in the way so I moved it over to my parents so I could borrow some work space in their garage. I sanded it down to the wood and then put one coat of a dark stain. I believe it was hickory but don't quote me on that. Sprayed a good four coats of poly and sanded lightly in between. I love how it turned out with the dark and the white. .

Here she is in her new home!

A gallery of my "work"

I use the word work loosely because I don't consider creating anything as work. It's a joy! Even when it turns out to be more difficult than I anticipated or at some point I'm asking myself how in the world I planned on executing my idea. I hope to some day be blessed enough to be creative full time as my only form of employment. A girl can dream! Anyhooo.....here are a few of my creations. If you have any questions about any of them, just leave a comment below and I'll do my best to answer them.

Tag/Card I made for a friend's Birthday gift

Tag for my aunt's birthday gift.

Clock I made for my studio

My Studio

This table I also refinished. Post to follow on this soon!

Here is just a glimpse into my "studio".  Otherwise known as my extra bedroom in my ever so humble home. First off, let me apologize for the pictures. I don't have a fancy camera yet so my picture taking abilities will hopefully improve.
I spend almost as much time organizing and rearranging things in this room as I do actually being creative in what I like to think is a very warm, inviting, and inspiring space. A lot of the things in this room I have had the pleasure of creating or at the very least helping create.  The bulletin board is a mixture of a thrift store find and a bit of sheet metal.
                                                  

I bought the frame for $5 at my local thrift store and it was a lovely shade of seventies gold, which I of course spray painted white.  Spray paint is my friend! One of the best inventions ever and they just keep improving on it. I wanted a magnet board and didn't want it to be boring white board so I bought a piece of sheet metal at my local Lowes and sprayed it with some spray adhesive and covered it with fabric.  I also made the magnets with some fabric covered buttons and added magnets to the back.

The closet I added shelves to, to hold all my goodies

My typical office chair made not so typical with the aid of my sewing genius of a mom.  I'm still learning on the sewing machine so she so generously aided me in my plight to make an ugly gray chair into a beauty. Thanks Mom!

These racks are simply cafe rods I hung on the wall to house all my rolls of ribbon and trim. I also used them across the room by my bulletin board to hang my packaged embellishments. I found this idea on pinterest and I have loved the easy access to all of that "stuff" instead of having to dig through a basket to find the right one. 




I just finished this garland a few days ago with all the scraps from the chair, the lamp, and the curtains, with a few coordinating ribbons thrown in there.  The curtains were also made with the help of my Mom. I had been eying striped curtains on pinterest as well and attempted to paint stripes on a pair and failed miserably. So I opted for cutting stripes out of fabric and sewing them on top of existing curtains that I scored on clearance at Wally world. 

All in all I am pleased with how it's turned out and it always makes me smile when I walk into it.  I plan on posting more pics in the coming weeks of some of the projects that went into this space.