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Making my journey through life, but taking you on my stops along the way!





Monday, September 26, 2011

Nightstand Re-Fab: Part Two

The second coat of paint is on! Now it's time to work on the handle.

I did a quick Google search on how to clean brass and found several solutions. First said to use ketchup. Now, this sounds extremely misleading, but it sort of worked. The only thing, is it took a ton of ketchup and a lot of time. The smell of it was absolutely making me nauseous. It was like a Heinz factory in the kitchen, AWFUL. So back to Google I went, and found something saying to take a lemon, dip it in salt and scrub. I knew this smell wasn't going to make me nauseous, so I was in.


I bought two lemons for $1.58, and used regular table salt, and scrub, scrub, scrub! I cut each lemon into small wedges, and scrubbed down to the rind. Cutting into the smaller pieces was great so the juice wasn't wasted. TIP: Make sure you don't have any cuts on your hands, otherwise the mixture of lemon juice and salt will kill you! TIP: Cut the lemons as you go, this way if you don't need them all, you can save it for something else!

Now for the reveal, Da Da Da DUNNNNN!!!!!!!


It looks great! I love how its sort of shiny, but not too new looking. It works well with the clean, crisp white and really pops. I'm going to save the picture of it for when the nightstand is completely finished!

Now for the price breakdown:
Ketchup: (already had)
2 Lemons: $1.58
table salt: (already had)
Detailed brass handle: (already had) but the normal cost is $40 and up!

Total cost: $1.58

Originally I was going to throw the handle out, and buy a new one, but I'm SO happy I didn't! What a treasure, and it really looks great!

TIP: Don't be overwhelmed by a project, and don't underestimate yourself! Give it a shot, you never know how something is going to turn out! TIP: Google is always there for you!

Look forward to Part Three: Finishing the detail on the nightstand!!

Stay tuned, stay crafty and stay determined.

4 comments:

  1. I can't believe the difference! I will have to remember that trick!

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  2. I am certainly getting excited to tackle my projects!!! Great blog autumn!

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  3. never thought of the salt & lemon idea...pretty cool! Good job!

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