Sooo cute! I love it all, and especially that candle arrangement! I'm also PM, yes, I understand your putt reference, LOL I'm adding my T & P's to the rest. We have a 6 yr. old DGD and my heart just breaks for all those families. I can't imagine trying to cope with such a tragedy! I'm wishing them the strength and courage to begin the healing process. Words are so inadequate, but also wishing God's comforting blessings surround them at this time. Wishing Christmas Blessings for everyone here, Candy

You have lots of questions. I will try to answer some of them. Cherry will darken over time. However, cherry consists of sapwood (nearest the bark) and heartwood. The heartwood starts out salmon colored and will darken to a rich dark red. The sapwood starts out oatmeal colored and does not get red. Premium work will cut away the sapwood and delegate it to the scrap pile or secondary wood (parts you don't see). If the manufacturer is trying to avoid so much waste, they may employ "sap staining" in an attempt to bring the colors together. This normally involves first staining only the sapwood, then covering everything with a blending stain. Some manufacturers even bleach all the color out of cherry so it's all bland, and then use stains to restore the uniform color. Stripping may remove some of the added color, but it usually does not remove the patina, unless it's followed by aggressive sanding. What did you see in your stripping sludge, lots of color? Then, of course, you could have birch wood with a cherry stain. Cherry, for the DIY, can be particularly difficult to stain, both because it is prone to blotching, and because it may obliterate the natural beauty of the wood. --- The following is from a friend of mine that I will simply call "Steve," primarily because that's his name. You can achieve the color of the cherry very easily without the use of either stain or dye by using the schedule below. Over time the natural inclination of the cherry to darken with age will only make it better. Begin by carefully sanding thru 220g. Make sure that you remove all sanding scratches left by the proceeding grit and don't skip grits --120g, 150g, 180g, and finally 220g. Remove all sanding dust with a shop towel dampened with mineral spirits and carefully examine the MS wet wood for scratches you have missed and for evidence of glue squeeze-out that must be removed. Next, apply a liberal coat of boiled linseed oil (BLO). I'm talking here about applying a thick, syrup on pancakes application. Allow the oil to soak into the wood for about 25-30 minutes and then wipe away the excess and buff the surface as "dry" as you can with a clean towel. Then, set the piece aside for a few days to allow the oil to cure. The towel is a spontaneous combustion hazard so do not wad it up and throw it in a corner, but hang it up to dry. After a few days apply a 2# cut of garnet shellac mixed fresh from flakes. Simply brush it on with an inexpensive natural bristle brush with as little over-lap at the wet edge as possible and by keeping back-brushing to a minimum. Keep an alcohol dampened soft cloth in your free hand to pick-up runs and sags as they occur. The freshly mixed shellac will dry very quickly (25-30 minutes tops). You can then lightly sand, just enough to smooth the surface, and apply your varnish topcoat. For a light-colored varnish that will not darken itself over time use a soya oil based alkyd resin varnish such as McCloskey Heirloom. For a somewhat darker look switch to a tung oil based or linseed oil based varnish. I prefer Waterlox Original, a tung oil-based phenolic resin varnish. --- End of Steve's process --- NOTES: 1) A Tung-oil based varnish is not the same as tung oil. 2) 90% of things labeled "Tung Oil Finish" have not a drop of tung oil in them. They are either thinned varnishes or oil-varnish blends. They are NOT tung oil. This is typically true of anything you're likely to find in a home center or hardware store. It's not that they are bad products; they are just extremely over-hyped and you are being lied to.

Your photos intrigued me so I did some Googling on stencils. Here's some links I found, so I hope you find them helpful. I think you could turn your kitchen into a beautiful example of stenciled cabs with some time and effort: Photos: http://www.stencilsearch.com/articles/kitchen-cabinets.html http://www.walltowallstencils.com/gallery/pages/kitchens.php HGTV has lots of articles on stenciling which can be applied to cabinets: http://search.hgtv.com/hgtv/stenciled-cabinets/search.do?searchType=Aggregate How-to article, no photos: http://home.howstuffworks.com/guide-to-decorating-wooden-furniture-ga4.htm Stencil design ideas: http://www.stencilsource.com/ideas.html An outstanding old home with magnificent stencils and a full set of photos and articles: http://designinspiration.typepad.com/design_inspiration_planet/a_tour_of_the_stencilled_home/ Dover Publications has a long list of stencil pattern books for inspiration. Their website isnÂt very good  hereÂs a search for "stencils", but remember to click on the "more results" button on the bottom to continue reading the full list of what they have available: http://search.store.yahoo.net/cgi-bin/nsearch?catalog=doverpublications&query=stencils

Can we see? Not sure why you would have to, or want to paint at all. Could just clean it up and apply some sort of clear matte or satin finish over all of it .... not sure which product, you would have to research and test in out of the way area.