Wedding University 101: “beware of the D.I.Y”

OK ladies and gents, are you ready for this gut buster? I mean you’re probably literally going to fall out of your seats laughing at me in the DIY that I attempted. I know, I know some of you are like Shamira D.I.Y is your thing, but you guys I literally jumped in head first and just took on a project without more than a ponder.

Okay, so one of my girlfriends came to me with this crazy concept. She says, “Hey wouldn’t it be cool if you had a raw edge table for your styled shoot?!”

You know me, I’m always down for a d.i.y project so of course I respond yeah sure it would be awesome if I had a raw edge table! In the back of my mind I know that I have only had a few woodshop classes in middle school, but hey that qualifies me as a professional right? I mean I’m crafty how hard could it be to take this raw wood and turn it into a table? Easy Peasy!

 

So I grab my purse and hit the store and I come back with this gigantic slab of wood, sandpaper with varying grits, a can of stain and wax. I’m so excited to do this because it’s going to be totally awesome. So I run, grab a pair of yoga pants, a long sleeve shirt and some tennis shoes and pulled my hair back in a ponytail. I run back outside, slap the sandpaper on the orbital sander and I get to work. I mean I’m working hard. I’m going back-and-forth making sure to cross over slowly and not too fast, cause I don’t wanna mess up the wood and I’m working and I’m working and I’m working and I am working…

Almost an hour into this project I notice that I haven’t seen a change in the way that the wood looks. I thinking to myself, the guy from the wood supply store said, “Well all you have to do is sand it and you will be good to go.” “It’s easy,” he says. Well excuse my French but that is a bunch of bull! This was the hardest thing ever. After one hour of sanding, I got fed up and was ready to quit. But being that persistent d.i.yer I am I decided to turn to the mighty crafting world of the many Facebook groups. I mean I posted in EVERY. SINGLE. LAST. ONE of them for help. Some told me to give up and others said the wood was ruined from the jump, but I was determined to get this job done. So I trekked on. After a few minutes Googling I found that there was a more course grit of sandpaper out there. So I grabbed my purse again and made my way back to the store. I went straight to the first hardware store employee I could find and asked for 24 grit. To my surprise, they didn’t go that low. He said the lowest they had was 40 grit so I bought it and headed back home.

Now look at that! I DID IT! It only took an additional 2 hours and 40 grit sandpaper. Once it was all pretty I was able to sand it down to a smooth finish. After the 40 grit, I moved to a 60 grit, then 80, and 120 and finishing off with a 220.

Needless to say I am so proud of myself for accomplishing this labor of love. However I wouldn’t recommend any bride take on a challenge this grand for their wedding day. Some ideas you get from Pinterest should be left on Pinterest. So ladies and gents please be mindful of your limitations and the knowledge you have in the subject at hand before diving into the shallow end of the pool.

Happy planning,

The Savy Girl