Refinished Dresser

Had a lot of time on my hands today and decided to tackle a dresser I picked up at a yard sale for 27.50 a couple weeks ago.   Here is what I started with.

I removed all the hardware, sanded off the loose paint,  and made some repairs to the base of the dresser where it had some separation issues.  Then I just gave the whole thing a fresh coat of paint, and went back over it with a sander to soften brush stroke lines (which I could use some work one, truth be known), and took off some areas of paint where the wood was rough.  I used a distress ink to add some color to the wear spots on the top and sides of the dresser, though it turned out more pink than I wanted and I ended up sanding it back down.

  On the drawers, I took my sander to the edges and corners and re exposed the natural wood underneath and opted not to distress it any further as I really liked the wood showing through.

  And I LOVE the hardware on this piece.

  Overall, I'm pretty pleased with it and it took about 5 hours from start to finish.

Chicken Wire Memo Board

I purchased a bunch of old windows when a nearby thrift shop went out of business.   Wasn't sure why at the time, but figured I could do SOMETHING with them.  And here's what I did.  Knocked the glass out - carefully - and removed the interior aluminum frame.  Cleaned up the dirt and took an Orbital Hand Sander to the paint job to get off the flaking paint and grime.  I liked the look, so I didn't repaint the frame, but you certainly could do that.  I then stapled chicken wire to the back of the frame, as well as a piece of cording to hang the board.  Then I used regular clothes pins, hot glued a button to the front of each one and tied a small piece of country plaid fabric onto them.   This is the result.

Scrabble trays

My friend Sarah and I had loads of fun making these trays.  We took a wooden serving tray, 1 sheet of 12x12 scrapbooking paper, paint, Modge Podge, embellishments of choice, scrabble tiles, distress ink and Envirotex and had some fun.

First, we picked our theme in scrapbooking paper.  We did one for camping and one for the beach.  We then chose a paint color to compliment our paper.  Painted the trays on the outside and inner rails.  We then cut our paper to match the size of the inside bottom of the tray and used Modge Podge to adhere it.  Once dried, we picked out the words we wanted to make from our tiles that went with our theme, laid them out in scrabble fashion, and used ink to color the edges of some of the tiles.  We chose to use several  shades of Distress Ink.  Once the tiles were in position, we glued each piece down (we like to use E6000 glue), and added some  embellishments, such as the seashells on our beach piece.   We then covered the interior of the tray with Envirotex, which seals it in and self levels, so you can use it to carry drinks or use as a breakfast in bed or decorative tray.  So much fun!!

Misc Completed Projects

I'm working on a large refinishing piece right now, so I decided to post some pieces and projects I've already done, although they don't have step by step pictures as they were finished.

My most recent favorite projects for people are shadowboxes.  Pictures are always great gifts and a shadowbox gives you depth and the option to add items to the box.  These two I did for a friend for fathers day.

Dried flowers are a favorite of mine, and it seems like roses always start to droop before they open.  When my coworkers get flowers they have a tendency to throw them away before they've opened because they start to droop.  I hang them upside down and allow them to dry, and when I have enough collected I will bunch them together and tie them with a ribbon.  This particular bunch was collected over months of just getting one or two at a time.  I had another set that I pulled from a floral arrangement from a friends' mothers' funeral, and when they dried, I added those roses to a shadowbox with her photo and funeral announcement.  This set I have lying on a shelf just to be decorative.

Finally a few pieces of yard sale furniture refinished to suit my purposes.  This first is a 4 legged stool that I picked up for a dollar and distressed in white with some burgundy to match my laundry area and it supports a big basket of silk flowers.

This was a horrible glossy black and wicker cabinet with brass knobs that I picked up for two dollars. I used a chocolate paint over the black and as it dried pulled the brown off in spots using toweling to let some black show through. I left the wicker alone and used a metallic spray paint to recolor the knobs.

This last was a 1970's light green pressboard dresser that was given to me.  I painted it originally in sage green and used pictures cut from Victorian Trading Catalog to decoupage the drawers.  When I changed my room I repainted the dresser in white, pulling some off as it dried to let the sage green show at the edges and corners to look worn, and I painted a light coat of white paint over the pictures to cause them to fade but still be visible.  I plan to replace the the existing knobs with old fashioned clear glass knobs.

Quick Easy Fourth of July project!

Got canning jars? Check. Spray paint? Easy to come by. Hole punch? And bendy straws. You're all set for festive party glasses.

Here's the supplies you need.

Remove rings and lids from jars. Use hole punch to punch a hole in the top of each lid.

  Lay out some cardboard or news paper. Spray paint your lids blue on one area of cardboard. While those dry, spraypaint your rings red. By now, the blue paint is dry. Spray white spray paint on your fingers and flick them at the blue lids to make little white spray designs - as much or as little as you like. Allow to dry and put the lids and jars back together. I opted not to use the little star brads, but you can if you like. Before your party you can fill the glasses with premixed drinks, strawberry lemonade - whatever you like. Set them in a tray of ice, add your straws, and drinks are ready for guests to grab and enjoy.

This little project took about 20 minutes to do a set of 6, including drying time. I'd let them rest a couple days to allow the spray paint smell to dissapate.

My Shame

It's only fair that since I showed you my nice, neat, organized Craft room, I now must share with you what will become "the Workshop". The area of storage, woodwork, refinishing, and creation.

This is not for the faint of heart. I would say in my defense that yesterday I inherited two vehicles full of misc items, plus two pieces of furniture, but truthfully, it didn't look much better before. So I will be posting finished crafts and instructions while I attempt to create order out of......this.

Don't judge me.

A place of your own

Starting with my craft sanctuary. This is where I do my paper projects, floral arrangements, card making, scrapbooking and photo work. I've spent years building mine to house everything I need, want and otherwise cannot live without, so I went with the JETMAX 12x12 cubes to organize my stuff. You can just as easily set up a great work station using a good size table, office style in/out paper trays, a few shelves. Your space - no kids, no pets, no husbands - ALL YOURS!!!!!!










My desk is a drop leaf farmhouse table that I refinished in white and chocolate to match my office and the chairs came from a thrift store and shabbied them to match the paint on the table.

Welcome

Welcome to the crazy world of "Hey, I bet I could make that!". Chances are, you can. You may have any number of reasons for doing so - boredom, gift giving, inherited a bunch of crap you don't know what to do with, started hoarding buttons when you were 10 and now you need to do something with them. The important thing is, we're all in it together. My style and your style may be vastly different. That's okay. Change the colors, change the shape - go crazy with it. Crafting is a form of expression and it should suit you. My reasons for crafting are numerous - I LOVE old things and I love to bring them back to life. I prefer to give a homemade gift and a handmade card to show someone that I spent time thinking of them (although I am so not above grabbing a gift card when pushed for time). I love to preserve special moments from people's lives. And I HATE to spend money on new furniture and decor. Almost everything I own is second hand and I like it that way.

So, having said that, I'll share what I've done, and hopefully give you some fun ideas along the way. As far as I'm concerned you need very few tools. I'm a girl, so I pretty much feel if I can't do it with a hammer and a screwdriver, it doesn't need to be done. HOWEVER, if you're working with wood I highly recommend an orbital palm sander (seriously, like 12.00), a good cordless drill (you'll thank me after your wrist falls off if put in screws manually) and one of my most favorite things ever, a staple gun. And I'm really thinking I'm going to get a nail gun as soon as I get over my fear of shooting myself with it.

******DISCLAIMER******* If I tell you to use a saw and you cut off your fingers, not my fault. Same goes if you shoot yourself with a staple and or nail gun, burn yourself with a hot glue gun, glue a section of your hair together with a hot glue gun (there is a story there) or cut your arm open knocking glass out of window panes. I do recommend wearing long sleeves and elbow length leather gloves when working with glass, and I highly suggest investing in a few face masks for sanding wood and paint. I will list the supplies I use - if you're in the Boise area you have many Craft stores to choose from, however I will tell you that you will get the best assistance, recommendations, selection of products and guidance from experienced crafters at Craft WareHouse. I work there, so I am biased, but the reason I work there is because these people know what they're doing and everything you see on display was made by an employee - they know their stuff. So - happy crafting, good luck, and remember there are no failures, just learning experiences. (actually, there are HORRIBLE failures, but they're usually so funny that it makes it worth it.)