General Finishes

So one of my pharmacy customers found out I like to redo furniture so she asked me if I would redo a small table for her.  A small table, sure, how hard can that be? She told me it was a family heirloom and wanted it "wood" color.  Hmmmmmmm, ok I'm sure I can jazz it up.  What made it so special was the inscription on the inside of the drawer which reads "Beloved, to Mrs. Annie Smith 47 years ago when she was married.  Aug, 29, 1888".  She wanted the inscription preserved.  So she brings it to me and I'm thinking there is no way I want to tackle this thing.  It had layers and layers of paint which had cracked over the last 100 years and I was terrified.  I DO NOT like stripping furniture using liquid stripper and haven't used it in years.  I let it sit for weeks and she started calling to check the progress.  I remember a post on a Facebook painting page using a heat gun and asked hubby if we had one.  We did!  I sat outside on a beautiful winter day for 5 hours.  I could not believe how easy and almost theraptic it was, 100 years of paint came off like butter.  When I was finished removing the paint sanding was super easy.  The whole table was stained with GENERAL FINISHED JAVA GEL and sealed with GENERAL FINISHES HIGH PERFORMANCE TOP COAT.  I wanted to do something special with inside of the drawer so I drew a heart around the inscription and painted the rest.  I found some scrapbook paper that matched nicely and applied it to the inside and outside of the drawer.  I also added a new knob from Hobby Lobby.  The inside of the drawer was sealed with GENERAL FINISHES HIGH PERFORMACE TOP COAT to preserve the inscription for another 100 years.  When Joyce saw the table tears welled up in her eyes.  My job was done.