In some weird and twisted way I like to paint.  I’m attracted to the instant transformation it brings. This OCD stems from my mother, she was  the type ( if there is a type) that painted a different room of our  house once every month.  I can remember painting my room as far back as 5th grade, I really wanted all of the walls to be white with black trim…I guess not much has changed.

If only I had known this trick…

We grew up with the Traditional Christmas Tree like most Americans. But times have changed in the  Dattola household.  We have ditched the traditional REAL Christmas tree, bypassed the fake “real looking” tree, and advanced directly to a plywood Christmas Tree.  Like most things we do, some may like this idea and some, like my grandfather and sister think its un-American and disgraceful. This is year #2 with the tree (this year brought the addition of ornaments) and I have to say it’s really grown on us.

Heres how we made it…

MATERIALS:

• Plywood (2 identical pieces – size determined by how big you want your tree)
• Butcher Paper (for stencil)
• Jigsaw
• Skill Saw
• Drill with good sized drill bit (1/2 inch is what I used – big enough to get the jig say blade into)
• Sanding paper (just a little to smooth out jig saw edges)
• Spray Paint (for our six foot tree we used 3-4 cans)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Make a template out of butcher paper (Let your creative juices flow – we googled sketches of Christmas trees for inspiration).
2. Trace the tree directly onto a piece of plywood – we used a 6ft piece of Plywood and our tree took up almost the entire sheet).
3. Cut outline of tree first.
4. Drill  holes large enough for jigsaw to fit into in order to cut out the interior pattern.
5. On Plywood #1: Cut a slit from the top of one tree half way down an 1/8” larger than the thickness of the plywood (used a skill saw for this step).
6. On Plywood #2: Cut a slit from the bottom up half way also 1/8 larger than thickness of plywood.
7. Spray paint to your liking
8. .

We’re all about keeping things OG especially when they’re vintage BUT when you have two gremlins for children destruction happens. We inherited a very cool mid century dining room table with leaves. The table had been previously painted/stained so it had lost its true Mid Century character so we didn’t feel too bad refacing it.

How we did it:

-The first step in refinishing a table or anything is to CLEAN IT. TSP (Tsp Cleaner Compound – 1 Lb. – Trisodium Phosphate) or just soap, water and a 3M pad.

-Once the table is clean dissemble the piece as much as possible.

-Now the work begins. If you’re just applying a new coat of paint you can lightly sand the surface with a high grit sand paper like 220. If there is varnish or any other finish on the piece you will either need to use a stripper (3m 10101 Safest Stripper Paint And Varnish Remover, 1 Quart) or  a whole lot of sanding starting with a low grit sanding paper (like 60 grit) and work your way to at least a 220 grit. Something to keep in mind when sanding furniture is to make sure it’s solid wood. If it’s a plywood or veneer be sure you don’t sand through the first or top layer.

-Once sanding is complete you are ready to paint, stain or Varnish. In my opinion spraying is king.  Spraying over brushing always comes out looking more professional. These days spray paint comes with primer already added in which is awesome and saves time.   If you’re going with a varnish, polyeurathaine Minwax 33050 11 5 oz Aerosol Gloss Polyurethane Finish works really well.

-If you’re using Polyurethane, apply multiple coats and make sure to sand between coats with a very light grit like 400.