Oh you want some more, eh?

(Disclaimer: I promise I'll finish these soon so this blog isn't all flops and long-winded diatribes about how crap I am at DIY projects! Maybe I'll even post pictures of the curtains I made since those turned out ok- kind of great if I do say so myself, even).

In any event, that cute little "Corner Cat" sander- with its pointy little nose for getting into tight corners until all of the sandpaper on the pointy part gets worn off since these nightstands are ALL crevices and tight corners and maybe-they-should-find-a-way-to-reinforce-that-part-of-the-sandpaper-pad-since-it-gets-used-the-fastest, has been a fabulous help in getting rid of stubborn paint that wasn't budging for me before.  Additionally, according to their website, these sanders are great for the "DIY enthusiast".  (New business cards, anyone?)  Maybe too much of a stretch. 

When I bought this sander, as with most things, I had two requirements 1-cuteness and 2-price. Check (adorable name and cute little nose for poking into corners) and check (maybe set me back around $25 or $30). As an aside though, this "cheapie" project is quickly adding up since thus far, I've essentially tried three different means of achieving the same goal.  (Not exactly Mrs. Efficiency here).  But here's how the to-do list is shaking out:

• Buy a whole bunch of supplies from Home Depot, including a too-big plastic dropcloth that is SO hard to cut with scissors
• Get high off of paint stripper fumes in backyard as neighbor looks on
• Buy a cute, cost-effective sander (presumably to use on future projects until I give up on this entirely)
• Remove paint from all drawers
• Prep drawers with mineral spirits (have absolutely NO idea what this is supposed to do but they looked nice after I put it on)
• Stain drawers dark walnut
• Figure out whether the panels of the stands are actually different colors or just look like that (and if so, how I need to stain them in order to make that work)
• Finish scraping the paint out of the grooves (getting there)
• Decide whether to try to remove paint from the drawer pulls or scrap them altogether and get new ones
• Buy polyurethane to coat everything post staining
• Actually coat everything post-stain 

 Whew.  Exhausting, right?  How do you think I feel?  But this is encouraging:

And so is this:

  At least I feel like I'm making a tiiiiiiny shred of headway.  (These had better be the greatest nightstands OF ALL TIME!)