Sam I am wrote:I stained my countertop with acrylic stain, and the places where I used wood filler to cover screws didn't take the stain. The filler (Elmer's) is supposed to be stainable, it says. Any ideas on how I can fix this, short of sanding down the whole counter and starting over?
I seem to remember very vaguely a thread here on T&TTT (or was it from a book I read?) about using sawdust saved from sanding and drilling on the piece in question (and from scraps).
Mix the sawdust saved with a good water-based glue (?) fill, sand, and then the stain should "take" as you have made your own filler from the species of wood you are using.
Failing that, instead of screwholes in the top, pretend that you are building a table top, or a house kitchen counter top, and do your screw attachment points from below where they will not be seen.
OR!!! go with a contrasting plug color and make the screw holes stand out in a pleasing manner.
A basic book on furniture building would have a lot of tips on how to do this...