Dresser Makeover

Here was a quick update I did to a dresser I found at Goodwill for $50. The dresser itself was solid wood. All the drawers worked great except for three that needed new drawer guides (which I bought at Home Depot for a couple dollars).

I took the drawers off, removed the hardware and sanded down the paint where the flowers were. I wanted a nice smooth surface. Then I took a tack cloth to remove any dust and gave them a nice even coat of aqua spray paint.

I decided to keep the rest of the dresser the original color. Besides a few dings and scratches the paint was fine. And truth be told, this dresser was going in my daughters' room. My kids aren't always easy on furniture anyway!

I decided to spray the hardware as well. I had Heirloom White on hand which matched the rest of the dresser so I just used that. I had just enough to do the job. Overall, I'm very pleased with the result! It was a very easy update and it made a huge difference! And my daughter loves having a bigger dresser for all her clothes.


Happy DIYing!

The Stockings Were Hung by the Chimney With Care

I know I've been MIA for awhile. Things have been pretty busy over here.

Mostly because of this.

 

Yep. I'm almost 31 weeks pregnant with a little girl. We're so excited! But because of this impending bundle of joy, my little blog here has fallen by the way side. And in an effort to get ahead of the holiday game (while I still have the energy), we've already begun our Christmas decorating

(which is really early for us--I'm a "day after Thanksgiving" kind of girl).

 

We normally travel to Oregon to visit our family for Christmas. This year is different. Since I will be about 38 weeks on Christmas and my last three babies came at 38 weeks ... well, no traveling for this momma. So this will be our first Christmas EVER spent at home.

And I realized ... we need stockings.

 

So I pulled out any spare fabric scraps, old sweaters, trims, anything I could find ... and this is what I've come up with.

 

 

I love the way they turned out! They were very easy to make. I traced an existing stocking onto some craft paper for a pattern. These are fully lined so I did two patterns (one is slightly smaller than the other for the lining.) I just whipped up a bunch of cuffs, stitched on different trims to each cuff (the last "bow" stocking doesn't have a cuff), then sewed them together with a loop of fabric for hanging. Easy peasy.

 

I still need to make little nametags that will hang from each one. I found cheap little wooden name tags at Michaels that I'll paint and decoupage.

And I'm still not sure what baby girl's name tag will say.

Maybe that's the next project I should tackle!

 

Happy sewing!

DIY Bamboo Skewer Mirror

I wanted a mirror to go above our fireplace mantle but didn't want to spend big bucks for one, either. It seems that the larger the mirror is the more money stores want for it, which I understand. But my thrifty self couldn't justify spending a couple hundred dollars just for a decorative mirror. Well I found a way to spend less than $20 to get a nice large mirror to fit my space nicely. Here's what you need:

-a small round mirror (I found mine at good ol' Walmart on clearance for $10)
-a few packs of bamboo skewers ($1 each from the Dollar Store)
-a wooden wreath frame (at Michaels for a few dollars)
-a glue gun and glue sticks (lots of glue sticks)
-a pack of D-ring hangers (not pictured)
-metallic paint of your choice (I started with craft paint, as pictured, but switched to spray paint--so much easier!)

This was pretty simple to construct. I first went through the skewers and threw out any that were too bent. They're so cheap it was no big deal. I then started gluing bamboo skewers all around the wooden ring (pointy side in) trying very carefully to keep them even and trying even more carefully not to burn my hands. They aren't perfectly even but in the end it looked fine.

Once you have them all glued down, it's as simple as gluing the skewer frame onto the back of the mirror making sure it's centered. Then just tape off the mirror, paint to your heart's desire and add the D-rings onto the back. I know I don't have pictures of the rest of this process but it really is pretty self-explanatory. The key is lots of hot glue. You want to make sure the skewers are securely attached to your mirror. The D-rings can just screw right into the bamboo-wooden frame part. And that's it!

You can see how the original mirror on it's own would have been much too small for the space. The bamboo skewers add just enough to the diameter to make it fit perfectly. And having it all painted in a metallic finish makes it looks like one very nice (and expensive) mirror for less than $20! What other things could you substitute for the skewers to have a similar effect?

I'm sure the possibilities are endless!

Happy crafting!

Master Bedroom Nightstand Redo

Good things come to those who wait. And I've been waiting for a long time for a matching set of nightstands for our bedroom. In all the years we've been married, we've never had a matching set, actually. The past few months I've been searching craigslist and thrift stores for the perfect pair. Well, it's surprisingly difficult to find a matching set. There are tons of single nightstands out there, but matching ones? Not so much.

Well, my luck turned around when I found these glorious, hunter green, log cabin-style nightstands. Beautiful, right? They were solid wood and had minor dents and scratches. Did I mention they were solid wood? The drawers were also in good shape (nothing wonky or wobbly). And the best part? They were only $20 each. Yup. They just needed to be made pretty.

I don't have any pictures of the process, but it's pretty easy (you just need to be patient and wait the recommended time between coats of paint, stain and finish). I used wood putty on any dents and then sanded the whole piece. I completely removed the finish and stain on the top portion and just roughed up the rest. I added some trim to the drawers that was left behind by the previous owners of our house (thank you previous owners!).  I filled in any cracks or nail holes with painter's caulk. I used Rustoleum's Heirloom White on the body, and Dark Walnut stain on the top. After a few coats of Polyurethane, they're good to go. I also lightly sanded inbetween coats of paint, stain, and Poly to get a nice smooth finish. I bought simple oil rubbed bronze pulls to replace the old wooden ones. Now I just need to move them into their new home: my bedroom!

Happy thrifting and DIYing!

Clear Glass Lamp Redo

I am so thrilled to share my latest thrift store find. This lovely pair of glass lamps were definitely from another decade. But I took one look at them and knew they could easily be updated and be really chic. In fact, I quickly grabbed them off the shelf at Goodwill before anyone else had any ideas. These lamps were MINE!

They had a thin film of amber-colored glass glaze that was flaking off. So I used a razor blade to scrape it all off the glass so they were completely clear.

Better already, right?

Then I took out the old wiring (I was worried about them being a fire hazard) and replaced them with new cords. I also spray painted the bases and all the metal pieces with a Rustoleum Satin Nickel spray paint. After reassembling I just popped on a new shade and BAM!

Gorgeous.

Can you believe that these lamps were only $10 a piece? Add another $11 for each lamp kit and $15 for the shade and you have a grand total of = $36 per lamp!! That's a lot easier on the wallet than this one from Pottery Barn for $199...

(image source)

And that's just for the lamp base, folks.

Happy thrifting!

Heart Doily Shirt

It's been quite awhile since my last post. Heaven knows I've been busy. It hasn't all been bon bons and soap operas (not that I watch those anyway.) Besides my family, most of my time has been spent fixing up our first home! It's been wonderful to be able to take on projects we couldn't in a rental. I love being able to choose paint colors, fixtures, lighting ... whatever! I'm sure as time goes on, I will be filling up this blog with a lot of my DIY projects and "before and afters"!

But for today, let's talk Valentines. About a year ago I was stalking Dana over at MADE (surprise, surprise!) I just love her style. Her home is gorgeous. Her kids are adorable. And she comes up with the cutest ideas. Well, while searching for a cute shirt I could DIY for my daughter for Valentine's Day, I came across her post for the doily heart shirt. It was adorable! And super easy.

First, gather everything you need.

-old t-shirt or scrap piece of jersey knit (for painting on the stencil)
-piece of cardboard to go under your stenciled fabric
-white fabric paint
-paint brush
-paper heart doily
-glue stick
-new t-shirt
-scissors
-sewing machine

Then apply glue to the back of the doily and position it onto your old t-shirt or scrap piece of jersery knit fabric.

 

This next part takes a little time. When you're painting don't just glob it on. And make sure you fill in every little hole on that doily!

 

 

To help the drying process you can use a hair dryer.

 

Once it's good and dry carefully peel off the doily. You may have little pieces that stick here and there. Just peel them off as best you can. I'm sure anything you miss will wash off in the laundry. Make sure you heat set your newly painted heart. Just follow the directions on your bottle of fabric paint to do that.

 

Now decide where you want to position the heart on your new shirt. Then pin and sew around both the outside and the inside of the heart.

 

I wanted to try something a little different so I very (VERY) carefully cut out the center of the heart also. I like the pop of pink in the middle. :)

 

And that's it! Now you have an adorable new shirt for Valentine's Day! This could be done in several color combinations and be so cute! I'm dying to try it out in something a little more ... NEON!

 

Happy sewing!

Faux Chenille Baby Blanket

When I first came across the Faux Chenille Baby Blanket tutorial on MADE, I knew I wanted to try it. It looked so cool! So I waited for the perfect opportunity to come along. Because heaven knows I don't have time to tackle another project "just because".

This past week I was finally able to give it a go. A friend of mine had her first baby recently. I used the printed fabric from my fabric stash and made a trip to JoAnn for some snuggle flannel (on sale!). All of the material was purchased at JoAnn

(even the printed fabric, which looks very designer to me--score!)

As explained in both Dana's tutorial from MADE and Anneliese's from Aesthetic Nest, this blanket takes a l-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-n-g time to sew. It took me a good chunk of my day just to sew the rows.

The cutting went faster but still took an hour or two. My hand kept cramping up so I had to take frequent breaks inbetween rows. I was wishing that I had this tool. My sister ordered one. Too bad we live about 900 miles from each other. :) It's on my wish list now.

The binding went a little slower because I wanted to add this yellow pom pom trim by Riley Blake. I wasn't sure how it was going to look but I love the result! It adds just a little more fun and whimsy to the blanket. The light gray bias tape was purchased at JoAnn. One of these days I will make my own!

All in all, I am so thrilled with how this blanket turned out. Next time I make one I will take my time and drag it out over a week or two. I was so anxious the see how it would turn out that I worked on it every chance I got and finished it in a couple days. I don't think my family liked that. ;)

I really hope my friend (and her little baby!) enjoy it as much as I do!

Happy sewing!