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!

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!

Revamped Lamp!

I had a lamp that was kind of blah. I wanted a new lamp for my desk--something with a bit more color and pizazz. So instead of spending a bundle on a nice new lamp, I decided to revamp the one I already had.

Here's my lamp. Boring. Blah. Uninteresting. The lampshade doesn't even fit in porportion to the lamp. It's in need of a revamp.

So with a little help from my friends Rust-oleum, Design Master, and Krylon...

I taped off (and no, I'm not advertising for Target...but yes, I really love to shop there!)...

And primed, painted, and finished...

And a $10 lampshade from Walmart with a little bit of $1 ribbon from Michael's later...
I now have this.

Ahhhhhh. Much better! Now if I could just give my desk a revamp. Sigh. Another project for another day.
Here's the before and after.

Happy DIY-ing!

 

Clothespin Art

I've been working on getting organized this summer and one of the many rooms on my to-do list was the laundry room.  As I was washing load after load I noticed a big blank wall that I hadn't really paid much attention to before.  Maybe my natural distaste for doing laundry prevented me from seeing the potential in my bare little wall.  So today I decided to dress it up a bit with some funky art that I made with materials I just had laying around.

I used craft paint in light blue, yellow and grey, two different clothespins for stamps (I got the jumbo one in the dollar section at Target--yay Target!), and a canvas I bought a long time ago at Michaels when it was on sale (it's been sitting in my closet for a LONG time).  After I finished it, I wished I had waited and bought a different blue color, but oh well!

It was a little bit time consuming to stamp each one on since I had to clean it inbetween colors.  After I stamped them all on I went back in to paint the little metal springy part on with a brush.

Maybe now that I have a fun piece of art in my laundry room, doing laundry will be fun! Then again...it is laundry. :o)

Linking up here!

Chic on a Shoestring

Finding Fabulous

Momma's Kinda Crafty

Fingerprints on the Fridge

It's a Hodgepodge Life

504 Main

Happy Crafting!