Table, puzzles and projects

When Brian and I where married, my Grandma gave us my Great Grandma's kitchen table which we have loved and used well over the last almost decade (you can see that table in the back of the video of Aubrie in her walker in the previous post). However, though the table is great for 4 people, it really is a little small to have more than that at it every day, so when we had Aubrie we started looking for a new table.

Of course, all the tables I was in love with were expensive, and I really wasn't willing to justify that expense yet...especially while we still have young kids...as I would eventually feel sorry for the first one who does something to my dream table and receives the wrath of Mom, so I looked elsewhere.

In September, I actually found close to the exact table that I wanted at a second hand store. The top was damaged and needed to be redone, but I thought it had enough good still there to work with so we went for it....plus only paying like a 10th of what the table is new will definitely help save my children from future harm should they dent, scratch, carve on, etc to this table.

However, right as I found and bought the table, we had to move, so moving took priority, then it was Thanksgiving, then all the projects for the craft fair, then Christmas,etc, so here we are in January and I can FINALLY say that I am done with it and it has been moved into the house.

Is it perfect, no...it was my first restoration project....but it is good enough I think. (Plus, if it doesn't start perfect then it is great for a family with kids when you know things are going to happen with little ones around.)

There are mistakes I know are there, that hopefully others won't notice as much as I think they will, but I finished it and I think it will work great for our little family of 5.

So, though there are no before pictures, here are a couple of pictures of my finished project (which are not great I am noticing...guess you can see how shiny the top is):

The chairs we bought new (and have added 2 more since this picture, so we have 6) and one day I'll finish the leaf as well then, if ever needed, the table can go bigger for company.
Here is a closer view of some of the detail on top:

So will I miss our first table, yes, but Nana and Papa took it home with them, so hopefully it will be used by someone else in the family and they'll love it as much as we did and hopefully now we'll love our new table just as much....if Brian ever forgives it for how long of a project it turned out to be! :)

Once we had a big enough table in the house, Brian and I celebrated it by breaking out a new puzzle and spending the next 4 days completing...since we had the room to leave it on one half and still eat on the other half, why not...right?!

Here is a picture of that finished project we both did:

My final project for this week was to finally finish and hang my new family tiles.

I like they turned out pretty cute and add something more to our huge long wall.

Again, it's a project that has been half completed then on the back burner for a while, so it really is nice to finally have two projects finished and off the to do list.

Here is to hopefully finishing a few more soon too.