Outside Patio Table

Two summers ago my husband and I created a really cool table for our backyard.  I had actually seen the design on Better Homes and Gardens but we tweaked it a little and made it our own.  I had left the table in its natural state and just protected it with some polyurethane but this summer I decided to give it a facelift and try out a new painting technique.

Before

After

Here is how I created this look:

I sanded the table top really well with a palm sander.  I needed to get some of the wear and tear from being outside out of it.  I then took a stain by Minwax - White Wash Pickling - and instead of using a brush, I used a towel to wipe the paint on the table top.

In some areas I wiped the paint evenly and in some areas I blotched it on or applied it heavier.  Basically I was very sloppy and made it look messy!

 Once it was mostly dry, I took my palm sander and would dab some water on the sandpaper then sand away.  Every once and a while I would wet the sandpaper a bit more.  I would sand edges and certain areas a bit more than others to get that real vintage look.

The last step was applying the coats that would protect the wood from the elements.  I used a polyurethane that is good for outdoors as well as indoors, also by Minwax.  I applied 2 coats to this piece.  Do know when you apply this it will change the color a bit.  Above photos are before the finish below are with the finish.

You really can customize the paint job to your liking.  I love things a bit aged and rustic looking so I really did a bit of sanding but for some this could not be your taste and you may want to sand a bit less.

You can also have fun with it and add another layer of color - something I plan to do on my next project!  Hope you enjoy and send me photos if you attempt to do this process!!

As always, send me a note if you have any questions and if anyone is interested in Barnwood and Bangles customizing a similar table for their backyard - let me know!

xx

A LITTLE OF THIS, A LITTLE OF THAT

So sorry to everyone following Barnwood and Bangles as I have not posted in a few weeks.  LIFE HAS BEEN CRAZY BUSY!!!  First, I have been very busy with my real job - summer is the time of year that all of our new faces are out of school and coming into New York for test shoots and to learn some more about the modeling business.  Plus as the kids are all out of school it is a great time for scouting.  In my personal life, we have had some family Birthday's and friends Anniversaries so our house has been party central!  And last for my second job - or really my favorite past time - we have just been accepted to do our first craft show in November so I have been working hard coming up with some lovely creations for us to show.

So I thought it may be fun to show everyone all the stuff Barnwood and Bangles and the Scimeca family have been up to in the last few weeks!!  Take a peek....

Savannah, Georgia

I had a scouting trip I needed to take to Savannah, GA so as school is out my family decided to join me.  Here are some of the beautiful things we saw!

Everywhere you go along River St. you will see these crazy steep stairs

Crab Shack!  You can feed the gators!!

Came across this random, cool bar while driving to Tybee Island - Gerald's Pig and Shrimp.

Awesome reclaimed bar at Gerald's - so much atmosphere in this place!

Tybee Island Beach - Not far of a drive from Savannah and totally worth it.  We got to see this beautiful beach as well as some great eating spots!

Along River Street you will find this old fashioned Candy Store - Savannah's Candy Kitchen.  Look how they make salt water taffy right there in front of you AND on a 100 year old machine!

This is the oldest house in Georgia.  Once served as a tavern and Inn to the sea men coming to town.  It is said that Robert Louis Stevenson stayed here and this very house was his inspiration in writing Treasure Island!

Anniversary Party

Our dear friends just celebrated their 25th Anniversary last week so we decided to throw a last minute surprise party in our backyard on the same night of the town fireworks - too bad the fireworks were canceled due to rain but the party continued on!

As this was an 80's wedding in all its glory, we had a ton of fun using old photos in all of the decor.  We put them on glass bottles filled with flowers.  I love to take the photos and copy them in black and white.  Not only does it give a vintage feel but it makes the decor more uniform as well.

Some Backyard Projects

As we are getting our backyard into shape for a Model Camp I am hosting here in a couple of weeks we have been doing some fun DIY projects to spruce things up.  Take a look at two of our new creations.

This is a really simple project that can cost you hardly anything to make.  I took a pallet that was fully in tact and tilted it on its side.  I went to the dollar store and purchased some flower pots - I chose to use ones made from a tough plastic as then I could easily screw them onto the pallet.  To give them a little personal touch and to match my decor, I painted a green stripe on the pots in an outdoor porch paint that I had.  I then decided upon how I wanted to arrange them on the pallet and screwed them into the pallets with a drill.  Add some potting soil and your favorite flowers and you have a inexpensive but attractive flower stand!

As we do a lot of entertaining, I wanted to have some type of bar that can be great to sit at and eat but also a perfect place to display the food or drinks during a cook out.  So I built this very simple bar/table.  I used some decking pieces for the table top and stained it with decking stain. I then put a frame around the top piece and painted it in a country white. Then I took 4x4's for the legs and painted them in that same green porch paint I had.  I actually had that color in a spray paint form and took it to Home Depot and asked them to match.  Came out perfect!  This was put to great use during our party we had for our friends above.

Now I hope you can all understand and see why it has been hard to post specific projects!!  I promise to have some fun posts coming up soon!!!  So please Stay Tuned!!!!