I love the look of raw wood furniture so when I spotted this antique coffee table at a yard sale I knew I had to have it.  This rustic coffee table has been in our home for several years now and the finish on it has completely worn off.  I searched for a clear finish that I could use to protect the top of the coffee table and found a product called Gator Hide from Dixie Belle Paint Company.


I searched the Dixie Belle Paint Company website looking for a clear finish to use on my coffee table.  I found a product called Gator Hide and decided to give it a try.  Gator Hide is poly-acrylic that repels water and is used to protect tabletops and cabinets.

After years of wear and tear, this old gal needed some TLC.  I was beyond excited when my Dixie Belle Paint order arrived in the mail.



After the table was clean it was time to apply the Gator Hide.  When I opened the jar  I was pleasantly surprised by the low odor so I decided to work on the table inside the house.  I prepped a small area in the living room and opened a window.  I even felt comfortable leaving B in the room with me.  She has become my new blogging buddy; always curious as to what I'm up to.

I applied one coat of the Gator Hide following the directions on the jar.  Three coats are needed to protect the top of the table.  I waited for the recommended 2 hours between coats.


After the third coat, I couldn't believe my eyes!  Look how the Gator Hide highlights the beauty of raw natural wood.  Not only is my table protected from spills it is also beautiful to look at.




Water spills are no problem now because I have the protection of the Gator Hide.  Before I was constantly worried about spilling something on the table - not anymore!



If a spill occurs it beads up on the surface.  Notice how the water does not penetrate the wood. Easy to clean up with a paper towel.


Without the protection of the Gator Hide, I wouldn't have felt comfortable placing a large vase filled with water directly on the surface of the table.







After trying Gator Hide for the first time it is now my favorite clear furniture finish.  I recommend using it on natural wood furniture. For more information about this product Go to Dixie Belle Paint Company. They also have a fabulous line of chalk paint, I just ordered some for my next project.


This is a sponsored post.  I received one or more products mentioned in this post for free.  I only recommend products I  believe will be good for my readers.  All opinions are my own.

For the past month, I've been busy cleaning out and organizing the clutter in our home. I've cleaned out two closets filled with stuff that I haven't seen in years.  Sounds familiar?  Most of the stuff I could let go and donate, but the sentimental things I held on to. One of them was a glass block clock that was gifted to me a long time ago by my grandmother.

So how does a repurpose project turn into a story about two dogs?


A year ago in July our sweet dog Molly passed away at age 8.  The pain of losing her unexpectedly was unbearable for me and my family.  Around the same time, we lost Molly our daughter went to college and we became empty-nesters.  It was an emotional drain and I could feel the quiet emptiness of our home closing in on me.  After a few weeks of living without Molly, my husband and I decided to go to the animal shelter where we adopted Molly as a puppy to find another sweet dog to love.

Below is a picture of Molly at 6 weeks old.  When I started my blog Molly became my blogging buddy she was in just about every blog post.  My favorite post is this one Shadow Play With Molly


Let me introduce you to B.  She is a six-year-old pit bull and yes B is her name. We are not sure why her previous owners named her that, but at age, 5 we were not going to change it. In honor of her one-year adoption anniversary, I found a picture of her on the first day we brought her home and framed it in the clock that my grandmother gave to me.


I used this clock on my makeup table and forgot to change the battery out.  When I finally got around to it the clock was damaged by corrosion from the battery.  I love this clock and was disappointed that it no longer worked so I decided to take it apart and repurpose it into a frame.






Lately, I've been using my iPhone to take pictures.  I snapped this picture of B in our backyard on the first day we brought her home from the shelter.  We have a nice size yard so she took full advantage of running around and playing with us.  The animal shelter gave her a new pink collar to come home with. I love how it matches her skin color.

The animal shelter has a website and that's where we started our search for a new love in our life.   This was difficult for me because I was still grieving Molly.  I even saw B on their website and passed her by. I felt I wasn't ready for another dog until we went for a visit to the shelter.  We went two times to the shelter and met the dogs that we picked from the website.  On our second visit, we met them again and we decided to open our home and heart to B.


First I uploaded the picture to my computer then I used PicMonkey to crop and edit the photograph. I used my printer to print the same picture in different sizes. Letter Size,  5"x7" and  4"x6"


I wanted a closeup of her face so I went with the 4"x 6" photo and used the round plastic cover from the clock to draw a circle around her face. Then I simply cut it out.