Happy 1st Day of Spring!

Well, it certainly felt like spring here today!  The high here today was 59, which is pretty nice for this time of year!  This afternoon I was able to get started on a fun project, since the sun was shining bright in the sky, and it was simply lovely outside.

I have been looking for a different table to put between my husband and my sitting chairs in the living room.  I found this one at a thrift store, and while it would work, it needed a face lift.

It definitely had seen better years.

I had a coupon to try the Amy Howard at Home "One Step Paint".  I chose to use Ballet White.

First coat goes on.  This paint is very thick, and has a textured appearance as it goes on.

I had two very faithful attendants as I painted...

Second coat of paint went on, and it looked really nice.

You can see here how thick this paint is, and how much I used to paint this small table... all of the container!

Next part of the process was to add the Antique wax coat.

I used a sponge to daub the wax on, and then rubbed it in with a buffing cloth.

And the finished look... quite different from the beginning!

I was quite pleased with the end result... now I had to let it dry... oh the impatience of it all!  The paint dried very quickly, but the wax was still quite tacky.  I let it sit in the sun for several hours.

This was the area that the new refinished table was going to go.  This area needed a change, and I had been searching for just the right piece of furniture to make it happen.  I was glad that today it was all coming together!

Finally... the table was done drying, and the fun now was the rearranging!  I also had painted the large white shelf in the background today as well.  It was part of my efforts to make this space more usable. I found it at a thrift store for 10.00.

I really am in love with this new little painted table. It has a space for both my husband and I to place our books that we are reading, and room for coasters for our drinks.

This was a fun project from start to completion.  The actual painting process took about an hour. The nice thing about this paint is that no priming was necessary.  This paint will go on over just about any surface.  The surface of this little table was a veneer, and would have required a lot more work to strip it before painting had I not used this paint.

The above shelf I got at the thrift store for 10.00 and looked pretty awful. I was going to use the Amy Howard paint on it as well, but decided against it, as the paint is pretty spendy as I would need a much larger container to finish the shelf.  I went to the hardware store and discovered a really nice Krylon spray paint was on sale.  My thrifty heart went with the spray paint, and I was pleasantly pleased with the results on this shelf.

From start to finish, this was an easy project, and I do recommend the Amy Howard paint quite highly if you are working with a difficult surface.  However, the price of the paint is somewhat of a downside to the fun that I had.  The little jar of paint I used normally cost $15.99, but with my 30% coupon, I paid $11.19 for the paint.  I can't remember how much I paid for the wax, but it will last much longer, as I only used a very small amount of it for this table.  

While the paint was drying, I stayed busy.  

Yesterday I had put up the indoor greenhouse, which was a Christmas present a year ago from my husband.  It has been a big blessing to have! I can start my seeds indoor (which happens to be in our porch addition). 

I bought a Seedling Heat Mat last year and used it with my greenhouse and found it really made a difference with the germinating of the seeds.  This year since the greenhouse is in our porch addition, which is not insulated, the Seedling Heat Mats will be necessary to keep the soil warm enough for the seeds to germinate.

I bought one grow light new at the store last year.  Then, as summer progressed, at a yard sale I found more grow lights for $1.00 a piece!  How exciting was that!  Grow lights are not cheap to buy new!

I started some flowers from seeds, including pansies. I had a package of lavender seeds, and I've heard they are hard to start from seed, but I will see what happens.

Here I've started my cold weather veggies - kale, spinach, and broccoli.  I also plan to try starting onions from seeds, as in years past I've planted the seed onions from the nursery.  

With all the nice weather we have been having, it is quite exciting to be able to start my plants indoors, and it is a huge cost savings as opposed to buying the plants at about $3-4 in a couple of months in the stores.  I will also be starting my tomatoes as well.  I typically can't put them into the ground until the end of May or first of June, so I don't want to start them too early, because I won't have room for them inside once they get bigger.  

Every year is an adventure in gardening here, as you never know what curveballs the weather may throw at you.  I just do my best with what I have, ask the Lord to bless my efforts, and enjoy the journey :)  

I wanted to share an update on my mother-in-law for those of you who have been praying for her... she came through the surgery just fine today, and they plan on getting her up to put weight on her leg tomorrow!  Unfortunately, my father-in-law (who is in a nursing home) is quite upset about it all.  He has the early to middle stages of Alzheimer's, and wants to go stay in the hospital room with her, but cannot because of his health conditions.  So please pray for them, as this is a tough situation for both of them.  We are praying that she will have a quick recovery and be able to walk again soon!

I hope you have enjoyed the very first day of spring!  We were blessed here with a beautiful day, although snow and rain are in the forecast for the rest of the week... such goes this "springter" season!  :)  How was your first day of spring? 

I may be sharing this post with: 

Strangers & Pilgrims

Home Matters
Roses of Inspiration
Mosaic Monday
Darling Downs Mondays
No Place Like Home
What Joy Is Mine

So Much At Home

A Tray of Bliss

A Wise Woman