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Saturday, June 11, 2011

A Week's Vacation

This last week I had vacation and I wanted to get away for a while so I spent some time at my parents Up North.  It was mainly Mom and I as my dad was gone for a couple of days fishing with the guys.  We did many things, both fun and work.  I helped with some yard work and on Wednesday we took a road trip to Longville, MN.  Turtle Racing Capital of the World!  I've been to Longville a couple of times before but only on weekends.  Turtle Races are only run on Wednesdays so this was my first.

Even though temperature were in the 100's on Monday and Tuesday, it was mighty chilly in Longville.  It even rained while we were watching.  The locals say that it's always 25 degrees cooler there by the water than what the meteorologists estimate.  Despite the goosebumps, it was a fun experience.  If ever you go, stop by Frosty's Ice Cream Parlor for a cone.  It's the best ice cream I've ever had!

During the rest of the week, Mom and I had a project we wanted to start on.  An old dresser my grandma inherited.  When she was younger, she worked at a house on Summit Ave.  I believe she was a housekeeper but don't quote me on that.  When she moved out, the lady of the house said that she could have the furniture in her room.  Some years later, my grandma's sister (Aunt Luella) had it and thought it would be a great idea to paint it pink.  Not just any pink, but FLAMINGO PINK!   So Mom bought some Zip Strip and we went to work.  We did two applications; the first for the paint, and the second for the underlying varnish.  Once we were done with that, it was time for the new stain and varnish. 

It took all of Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and all of Friday morning to finish it.  My next duty is to shop for vintage hardware for the drawer pulls.  I'll start with Menards, Lowe's and Home Depot and maybe do some online browsing.  Here are some pics of our Martha Stewart skills.  When the final product is sitting in my dining/living room, I'll post it's final picture.
The lovely pink drawers and plastic black knobs which disintegrated when we removed them.

This is one drawer after removal of paint and varnish.

The pink dresser

My mom's applying the Zip Strip.  The paint turned the Zip Strip from clear to orange.  We are both SO over orange.

The dresser after the first two coats of of stain and varnish.

The drawers after the first two applications of stain and varnish.  Wanted: drawer pulls.

1 comments:

Beth said...

My mom had a similar dresser issue, when she was young one of her sisters spilled blue paint on this dresser they had, so she decided to just paint the whole thing blue - it was pretty ugly. As a gift to each other on their 25th wedding anniverary my parents took it to a refurbishing place and the result was awesome! Kudos to you guys doing it yourselves, that is a LOT of work!