My "New" Table

I finally got brave enough to tackle a furniture refinishing project.  Last year my mom gave me a set of side tables and a coffee table.  They are old, circa 1960, but it's fun to have something in my house now that I remember in my house growing up.  My siblings will remember this table:

(I did sand it before I took this picture, but the sanding didn't really change the look of it.)  I remember using it for everything, building block towers, drawing, painting, playing with Barbies. . .  yeah, everything.

It really was beat up, and it's not that fabulous of a table, but it was free.  Thus, I decided to make it work.  I probably didn't need to use as much spackling as I did, but there was some major particle board showing through, so I did.  Note to self:  more putty=more sanding.  Next time I will putty, and only sand down those parts, not the whole thing.

After the sanding, I primed it (about 2 coats), painted it (3 coats), and sealed it with a polyacrylic sealant (about 2 coats).  The sealing job didn't turn out as well as it could have, but hey, this was my first big job.  Next time, I'll do better.

The finished product:

I got all of my tips from these two websites (with which I now have a new love affair):
All Things Thrifty
Make It and Love It

Now, I have the courage to finish up other projects I have. . .