A family heirloom

Bud and I celebrated our 8 year wedding anniversary in April.

Did you know, though, that we've never really had a dining room table?

Sure in our first tiny house we had a small table set up with 2 chairs, but we never ate there and it served as more of extra counter space than a table.

In our last 2 apartments we've turned our dining rooms into makeshift offices.

We, maybe I, decided I was ready for a grown up table.

Unfortunately, Bud wasn't a furniture builder at the time.

So I enlisted the help of my Dad.

He showed Bud the ropes...

 The guys took advantage of the wood shop on post.

It's one of the luxuries that they've recently been talking about discontinuing at select bases.

I think this would be a horrible loss!

Arg!  Let's hope those budget cuts don't take away some of the wonderful extras our service men and women have come accustomed to.

Anyways, back to the table.

 My Dad is a Jack of all trades.

It was he, not my mother, who french-braided my hair when I was a girl (he had a younger sister...that's how he learned).

It was he, not my mother, who knew how to wield a sewing machine!

So many outfits my Dad made special for us kids.

It was he, who built our bunk beds as kids, and later my daybed and matching desk.

Hope chests for my mom, remodels on homes we owned, and so many other things.

When it comes to wood working I knew Dad would be the perfect teacher for my hubby.

 There were trips to Home Depot for parts...

...and hours spent in the wood shop planing wood.

 Assembly was the easy part.

 My table is huge.

It's 8 feet long.

It'll comfortably sit 8 right now.

There will be a bench for each side and then we are on the search for 2 chairs, one for each end.

I think, since our table is taller than standard, but not barstool height, that we will probably buy some unfinished barstool height chairs and cut them down a bit for a perfect fit.

What you don't see and probably won't for sometime are the extensions.

I asked Dad and Bud to make it so that the table could get even bigger, hey I have 3 brother-in-laws...I want 3 kids...I want a FAMILY table for holidays!

The extensions will slide on the ends and are 2 feet each.

We will comfortably be able to sit about 12 people...and if we wanted I'm sure we could squeeze up to 16!

Perfection.....

After my Dad left, we knew that we couldn't yet stain the table.

The wood was still drying.

Bud then left for 9 weeks of school in San Antonio, leaving me with an unfinished table that filled our home with the fresh smell of drying lumber!

I love that smell.

Finally around April Bud was able to tackle the table.

So I helped him bring it to our covered back porch, it was HEAVY, and get it situated for stain and poly.

 Bud had to permanently attach the legs to the table top.

 Nice and sturdy.

 He's becoming his own Jack of all trades, slowly but surely.

He's excited that he'll be able to learn all these tricks and techniques and then pass then on to our little ones.

 Once assembled he needed to fill all the holes with putty.

 That way we wouldn't have to worry about food getting into them and us not being able to clean it out.

  The final sanding before the first coat of stain. 

 Let me tell you, there is something scary about staining.

You spend a lot of time at the store picking out the stain you think you'll like.

Then you apply the first coat, wipe it off, and if you are smart you'll have a practice piece of wood nearby that you experiment with to see how many coats you will settle on.

It's nerve-wracking watching the stain go on and wondering what the final product will look like.

 Bud patiently applied it...and wiped it off.

 Section by section.

 And when he was done, we were in love!

He followed up with the poly next.

 And then I helped him move it back into the house.

 It's all shiny and perfect.

Now I can't wait until we have benches!

Then I'll have to make a table runner for it...since it's longer than the average table.

Oh and I'll need placemats too!

Bud has been a little worried about setting any glasses directly on it, after all it is his pride and joy!

So there it is.

My farmhouse table.

It's bound to get beat up as we move around world, but I think that'll add to it's charm.

It's now a family heirloom.

I hope one day that one of our kids will want it.

We are still trying to figure out how to put our seal on it...maybe handprints on the underside...any suggestions?

I want to find a seal that we can apply to all the pieces Bud makes.

I'm sure I'll be back with more pictures once we have benches.

Do you have a family heirloom?

Was it hand made or a hand me down?

What makes you love it so much?

I hope you have a Blessed Thursday!