children's table & chairs

A dear friend of mine recently gave me this table & chairs (thanks, Laura!).  Her children had used them for years, but had outgrown them.  So I gave them a little sprucing up and right now they are at home in our craft room/ office.

Adorable, right?

Somehow, I didn't get too many before pictures, but managed this one of the chairs and the following one of the table after I had sanded the top down.

I painted the chairs blue, sanded & glazed with white.  I really like how they came out.

So now is as good a time as any to show you where the magic happens here at our house... in this room. All of my 'stuff' is in here, the boys do their homework in here and they have a huge dry erase board (I think it is 6' X 5', it is huge!) to play on.  As cluttered as it looks right now, it is actually pretty clean.  

This is my project table.  I was really loving the one from pottery barn a few years ago, but I was really not loving the price.  So, I sweet-talked my dad into making me one :)  Isn't it great?  And not only a fraction of the price, but also much more special.

Of course, I have a giant magnetic board in here too.  Pictures make me happy, so we have them all over our house.

 We also have some great built-in's in this room.  Funny, my dad built those too!  He's super talented like that.  He's always working on something for me or my sister- he can do just about anything.

Our sweet & fat cat sleeps in this window seat.  She likes to fluff the curtains a certain way depending on her mood, so I just don't touch them.  Sometimes I think she is stretched out in this window 90% of her life!

So, the last thing about my office that I'll share is a favorite, favorite photo and frame.  I used to teach, in my 'prior life' before I had children.  I taught at a Special Education Center for children with severe & profound intellectual & physical disabilities.  It was an amazing, miraculous, joyful, spiritual place.  I loved that place- The Heritage School.  We had a school motto and it was...

We Must All Paint Our Rainbows

With the Colors We Are Given

These sweet children did the best they could every single day with what God had given them.  I was so blessed to be a part of that place for so many years.  For a while, I would take the boys up to the school so that children with disabilities would be a part of their lives, and so they would know that even though these children were different from them, they were children of God just like the rest of us.

Sadly, Heritage closed a couple of years ago.  What a magical place.  This frame, made by my wonderful friend Judy for me, is a favorite reminder of that place.

The sweet birdie on the top is on her last leg, but she is hanging on, ruffled feathers and all!  But this little girl is the other reason this frame is so special to me.

Try to excuse the scratches on the photo covering.  Can you see the joy in her face?  This kiddo was so full of life, a total spitfire.  I think when I had her in my class she was 6, so she must be a teenager now... crazy!

Anyhow, that's all I've got tonight.  TONS of projects to share with you this week!  I have a sick child at home, and although he is sick, he is feeling ok so he's been helping me paint :)  Stay tuned!

thanks for coming by!

kathie

Linking to:

The Shabby Chic Cottage's Transformation Thursday

My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

Blue Cricket Design's Show & Tell Wednesday

Domestically Speaking's Power of Paint Party

Between Naps on the Porch's Metamorphosis Monday

Primitive & Proper's Piece of Work Wednesday