The leaves actually didn't need to be refinished, but after doing the main part of the table, the leaves were a lighter color than the rest of the table and were a lot glossier. I tried just sanding the leaves down with 400 grit sandpaper and adding one coat of stain to them, hoping that would make them look the same as the rest. That didn't work out so well, so I ended up sanding them all the way down and refinishing them from scratch using the same process I did for the rest of the table.
The problem is, I realized all my mistakes from the first pass and corrected them when doing the leaves, so the leaves actually look better than the rest of the table. The stain is much more even, there aren't the same kinds of glossy splotches, and they are still much glossier than the rest of the table. But at least they're the same color now.
I think the first time, I didn't use enough "elbow grease" wiping up the excess stain as my dad suggested, and I also don't think I waited long enough for the wax to harden to a haze before buffing it. I corrected those problems on the leaves and they turned out much better. I suppose I can-rewax the table and maybe get some of the gloss up to snuff.
I guess the lesson is, when you're new at this, do the leaves first, learn from your mistakes, and then do the main table.
Here's the final picture with the leaves in:
Oh well...we only use the leaves one a year anyway., and the table is usually covered with turkeys and such, so I doubt anyone will notice...
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