My new best friend

Edited to join up with Kimba's DIY day

Hi Miniwax Stain - I think I love you.

Here's one of our bedside tables before meeting my new best friend. I purchased these end tables many moons ago from Spiegel. They are solid Mexican wood and craftsmanship, complete with rustic iron hardware. But I was feeling a bit 'meh' about look.

Here is one of the tables after just one coat of Miniwax 'Red Mahogany' and some $0.97 knobs from Lowes. I know the color doesn't look much different on the blog, but trust me. It's gone from a flat yellowish brown to a deep red-brown lustre. The stain still lets the rustic imperfections of the wood show through, but gives it a more finished feel. I think I'm going to like the knobs way more than the dangling metal pieces, too.

(By the way, that's my new craft room curtain divider behind the finished nightstand.)

And I even had time to whip up a quick scarf this week. This is a very simple 4-stitch, 2-row lace pattern that looks like you have worked your fingers to the bone.

Project specs: 1 skein of NaturallyCaron.com's Country in 'Berry Frappe' on #7 needles.

And there's still knitting

Here is the Tutti-Frutti Citron 2.0. I used some gorgeous Mirasol Hacho in the Tutti Frutti colorway. And the little peak at the neckline is only there in the photo, not when I wear it.

I also knocked off a pair of Wool Ease socks, then went out and immediately more yarn in different colors to knit some more. I actually got 1 pair of socks out of 1 skein. Bonus!

Finished home projects - really!

Linky to today's DIY day!

Look! The bathroom vanity is finally finished. 2 coats of primer, some Valspar High Gloss White, 2 brushed nickel handles, and several weeks later. Not shown is the painted interior (just some white primer) and peel-and-stick tiles to cover up the dark, shaggy chipboard floor.

The finished trim - much better than the nasty, lumpy caulk! PVC outdoor trim from Lowes.

Here is a seashell collage I made with some of our souvenir shells, a Tarjay shadow box, and some scrapbook paper as a mat.

And finally, the finished quilted headboard. I joined uniform strips of scrap fabrics, used cotton quilt batting, and an old flat sheet as backing. To quilt, I sewed down the center of each strip. The quilt is edged with some premade quilt edging found at JoAnn Fabulous (tm by my friend Sam S.) I hot-glued velcro strips to the back of the quilt and to the front of a finished 48 x 24 canvas, and attached. I should be able to easily remove the quilt to wash it. (Cashew would like you to know she was not happy to have been moved several times in the process of hanging and photographing this project!)

When I was at Joann's I also found some material to recover the stool. 15 minutes to a better-wearing cover!