Do you remember the nail-biting, breath-holding anxiety of watching the Olympic gymnastics competition? The U.S. women’s team competition?
Two months ago we were glued to our television sets. Sitting on the edge of our seats. Fingers crossed. Prayers issued. Our collective breaths held as we telepathically wished away the wobbles …
… the mistakes …
… the falls.
But I think the most anxiety-inducing part was the dismount. Especially when that dismount came at the end of a perfect wobble-and-fall-free routine …
And there was that moment. You know that moment. The moment when she stood at the far end of the balance beam. She stopped. Oh so briefly. She inhaled. And exhaled …
… and then she was on the move …
Or when she was on the uneven bars and started to pick up speed. Around and around she spun while we waited for that crucial moment. That crucial moment when she would let go of the bar and release …
And as she flew through the air …
… flipping and twisting and rotating one, two, two-and-a-half times …
… you stopped breathing altogether.
Until she hit the mat. Hard. Feet together. Arms thrown in the air over her head; elbows next to her ears …
… and then you waited …
Hoping and praying for no hops … or steps … or stumbles …
But she stuck it. She stuck the landing.
SHE STUCK THE LANDING!
And you found yourself on your feet. Jumping up and down. Fist pumping the air. Double high-fiving your daughter while jumping in the air …
… or maybe that was just me?
Now I bring up the Olympic gymnastics competition because the makeover of my $5.00 thrift store table this past week had me reliving many of those moments …
It felt like the equivalent of an Olympic-level gymnastics performance. Complete with nail-biting …
… and a fair share of breath-holding …
Though, to be fair, some of the breath-holding was to avoid inhaling spray paint fumes.
The biggest challenge was the unknown. Would this performance end with a hop? Or a step? Or would I land on my butt …
So as I added 2” vinyl letters and numbers (that I found at the hardware store) around the edge of the table …
… a table that I cleaned and sanded and used nail polish remover to remove the sticky sticker goo …
… a table that I gave a coat of primer and four coats of white gloss spray paint …
I took a risk and tried to execute a move way more advanced than my skill level: I tossed aside the tape measure and just eyeballed the vinyl letter and number placement. I know, a real nail biter …
And then this novice spray painter decided that chalkboard spray paint was the way to go …
… go for the gold, that is. So I gave it four coats. Four light coats. Just to be sure …
And after the last coat of chalkboard spray paint dried for 10-minutes or so, it was time for the dismount…
… the moment of truth …
I literally held my breath as I very gently and very carefully peeled up those vinyl letters and numbers …
Sure there were a few wobbles here and there. It’s not perfect. But there were no major hops. Or steps …
And in the end, I stuck the landing.
I mean really …
… isn’t this $5.00 thrift store makeover so stinking cute?
And if you need some convincing, how about a side-by-side before and after …
I think I hear our national anthem playing …
P.S. If you’re falling in love with spray paint … then be sure to check out our upcoming spray paint link party and contest here …
The party goes live on Friday, October 12 …
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your gold medal and flowers are on it’s way!
AH!! I want this for my preschool classroom!! Take your place on the podium, Linda!
xo heidi
and it came out awesome! i would say you stuck the landing.
I hear music too!
~Bliss~
Oh say can you see…how cute this table is?
Cracking up…very fun post. Definitely the thrill of victory!
Linda,
Bravo it looks great!!! I am a bit of a risk taker too.I usually always eyeball things.I don’t like messing with tape measures.But sometimes I have made mistakes only to get made at myself.But do I learn?Nope I do the same thing over and over again LOL!!!
xx
Anne
A perfect 10 in my book!!!!….that table is the cutest!!!….You can hang the gold medal proudly!!
Good job! I had to smile when I saw the “before” as it brings back childhood memories… yes I was one of “those” kids who put stickers on everything in my room and I now have one of “those” children myself! except at 13 he draws on his furniture. but we addressed that just like you did. chalkboard paint! Isn’t it a mighty thing!?! And darlin’ you done good! The placement of the numbers of letter by eyeballing it came out wonderfully! (its how i pretty much do things!)
Have a wonderful day! and keep up the good work!
Love it! A perfect ten! (Do they give out tens anymore? There seemed to be all kinds of weird 15’s at that last Olympics…)
I can’t get past the fact that you managed to space them all so perfectly! I would be SO stressed about that. Gold medal to you!
Nicely done! A virtual high five to you, Linda!
Did you wear your sparkly red, white and blue leotard to paint this?
Kelly
‘MERICA!
Gold Metal for the table AND Gold Metal for the writting. Great Post!
obviously, I would not get a gold…WRITING! Gold metal for the writing!
That’s an incredible makeover! As I was reading I was holding my breath, until I saw that you seriously stuck the landing on this one! Now I’m exhaling and loving the inspiration 🙂
This came out amazingly! Definitely a good call on the chalkboard paint! 🙂
Definitely gold medal worthy! Next thing you know, I’ll be seeing you all over the Wheaties boxes!
Kelly
Really, it is! Gold medal worthy!
So that was YOUR face I saw on the Kellogs Corn Flakes box today!! Congratulations!
Awesome Linda! This is SO great! The side by side picture really takes the cake. That little $5 table is totally unrecognizable.
Wow! Wow. Woooow! Simple and Awesome. Thank you for the inspiration!!
<3 Christina at I Gotta Create!
Wildly Original Linky party is open!
Awesome! You totally rocked it the whole way through! And you definitely stuck the landing! And the national anthem is so lovely – I can hear it too!
You nailed it! This would be so cute in a house with young kids. Love it!
Holy Cow! I can’t believe they are all so perfectly spaced. It looks so awesome. Such a great transformation. What does your gold medal look like? 🙂
Yes you stuck the landing and won gold ! it looks fantastic ! I’m pinning this to our HAPPY HOUR pinterest board…thank you so much for taking the time to share with us…what a great post ! xo
Love it, and for sure, this is a gold medal winner. What is the national anthem of Curacao? You should be singing it to yourself every time you look at this table.
Your table looks fabulous and I would never be able to line them up so straight! Looks awesome!
I LOVE this–I would truly like to purchase it for my grandsons’ playroom! Wanna sell it?
I recently got a round table like yours out of the trash and am currently trying to figure out what I want to do on the top. Yours turned out beautifully! Congratulations on eyeballing the placement. That would be my method as well. Much easier than measuring sometimes. The crowd roars at your stuck landing.
Liz
Vinyl letters…brilliant!
You sure did “stick” the landing with this one my friend!!! a big WOW!!!!! thanks for linking up over at JJ! : ) hugs…
Oh, yes you did! That’s one awesome table. Pinning! Found you from MMS!
So cool DIY chalk project! It so Cute and amazing at the same time, respect! Have a lovely day
Great transformation! Great tutorial! I love this table! I’d like to invite you to share it at my party, Twirl & Take a Bow at http://www.houseontheway.com. Hope you can join in on the fun!
Leslie
houseontheway@gmail.com
What a fantastic redo–and a great post. I just saw this on A Bowl Full of Lemons, and I love it! If you haven’t already, I hope you’ll visit “One Creative Weekend” on OneCreativeMommy.com today (or any time Fri-Wed) and link up!
Fabulous job! Its adorable and for $5???!!!
Love love love it! So much I had to PinIt and then sign up to receive your posts. Now that’s LOVE!
p.s. Found you on ‘Not Just a Housewife’
I just love everything about this little project 😉