Finally! The Bassinet...

Nicole Awtrey gave us this lovely bassinet. I don't have the original picture of it - can't find it anywhere. But it was just a nice white bassinet with cute winnie-the-pooh sheets. But you know me, can't leave anything be. And if this tells you anything, I got this the same day I got the desk that I refinished and finished around March 19th...been working on this since then too...

So, of course, in this picture I've already applied a bit of the chemical paint-stripper to the bassinet. I made quite a mess on our sidewalk and trash can (which became my work bench).

Here we are almost completely paint free. The two side pieces, with 9 spindles each, were too much for me. The chemicals wouldn't get all of the paint off. There were 5 layers to get through - white, cream, pink, teal and the original stain/varnsih. Dad thinks the teal must've been an oil-based paint because it was almost like it wasn't dry underneath the other layers. It would spread too. In the end, what worked best, on everything but the spindles, was a sanding disc that you put into your drill. I used 3 of them for this. The spindles took Brian and a knife. Thank you, very much, Brian for doing those even though it was the LAST thing you wanted to do for a total about about 5 hours over two Saturdays.

And finally, the finished bassinet. I've used the same can of stain on: two bookshelves, one chest, one dresser, one child sized table and four child sized chairs, one computer desk, this bassinet and will finish it off on my next project...a new dining room table and chairs. Everything is Red Mahogany 225.

I bought the fabric awhile ago and figured it would be perfect for this - it's Peter Pan and Pinnochio. There is a metal frame that lays beneath the mattress and it's painted white, so I made a fleece "sheet" to cover it and keep it from rubbing white paint on the wood. The mattress is actually just a piece of really thick foam and I think after all of my hard work we're going to have a big baby and only get to use this for a few months...but at least it looks good...I think. So up next SHOULD be my completed arm chair. Totally recovered and very elegant - just waiting on my buttons. Then the dining table. I've got four weeks...hoping to have it all finished before the little one makes his entrance!