MyLuckyChicken

Stripping

I started stripping my little cabinet tonight. There are about 4 layers of paint on it and a kinda freaky yellow that takes the stripper (that's what it's called I even checked the can) a long time to get through.

I'm using this stuff called Klean-Strip. So far it's working pretty well, but it's not as strong as my favorite 5F5. The man at the home store said the government wouldn't let them sell it any more. Wow. It musta been more powerful than I thought. That stuff can eat through any thing, it could easily eat a hole through your floor right into the basement, absolutely.loved it. So it took a few layers of your skin off. That's the price you pay. I've tried all the natural nontoxic stuff but it just didn't work. Open all the windows, pour a little 5F5 on and you'd be seeing wood in no time. I've still got a few cans I found in the back of my supply cabinet. Hope the government doesn't confiscate it.

So back to the Klean-Strip. It's doing a good job and doesn't have the smell of the 5F5. I would recommend it. I used it for a good hour before it started eating through the special stripping gloves.

The thing is I think I am going to end up painting the cabinet. It turns out the wood is a pretty cheap looking vernier. I even tried to put some Restor A Finish on it, but no luck. So I guess I'll paint it which means I can put my little dental instruments away and just do a quick stripping job.

I am working on this at night while the kids are asleep so it should be done by the end of the week.

And because you can't have too many projects going on at once, we also started to repair the kitchen walls and paint...

crazy.

roadside treasure

Since my sewing machine is dead I have turned my attention to other things.

You may be interested to know that I am particularly good at finding seemingly crappy things on the side of the road (um, in the trash actually, most of the time) that with a little bit of elbow grease could be turned into something quite lovely. So as I am driving home today I hear from the seat beside me, "wait what's that stop, stop, stop now!!". So I guess I can't really take credit for this find, but I did agree to load it into the minivan.

Yes, I do drive a minivan. The first time you try loading a 35 pound child into a car seat while bending over, holding groceries in one hand and balancing a door that wants to close with your foot, you too will go running to the car dealership begging to be shown one with a dvd player. It's true, it will happen. But I digress...

So this lovely little cabinet was being put out onto the street by a darling lady who is moving to smaller quarters.

It was used as a tv cabinet. The back was mostly taken out, so we took out the rest. I plan on replacing it, but I kinda like how the snap dragons show through.

Don't get too attached to the base. The legs were very woogidity and we couldn't save them, plus the veneer was beyond repair. I am very into saving things in their original state if possible and then restoring them, so you can trust that I had no choice. We took the top off and I will be stripping it tomorrow. I don't know if we will repaint, stain, or just tung oil, I suppose it depends on what is underneath.

I've no plans for this little treasure as of yet. I am thinking maybe the hall. There are little holes in the bottom and I could pull the phone cord and a plug through and keep the phones in there. Then maybe I could find them when I go out. That would be good.