Flow Blue and White Vintage Dresser Makeover

Happy Friday before Christmas!  This month has been packed full with activities and has flown by... which is why it's taken forever to share this latest makeover with you: my Flow Blue and White Vintage Dresser!

This dresser belonged to my great uncle, so it has loads of sentimental value... and while I wanted to breathe new life into into, I didn't want to take away all of its patina, its signs that it was well-loved.

When my sister dropped this off in my garage, it was a little worse for the wear.  The top had several peeling layers of varnish, the wood veneer was warped and dry... it was in need of some love.

I gave it a good cleaning, lightly sanded the peeling varnish, lightly glued the warped veneer, and stripped and sanded the wood top.

After staining with a dark walnut stain, I loved the sheen of the natural wood so I didn't do my usual polyurethane coating and instead added a few layers of Miss Mustard Seed's furniture wax, then buffed away.  It's so smooth I can't help but run my fingers across it when I walk by.

You want to touch it, right?  Mmmmm.  The wood frame around the mirror was in good shape and the color was close to the stained top, so I cleaned the frame and waxed it and it was perfect.

Since the original knob was missing a partner, I replaced it with this great pair of vintage-looking knobs that I found at Hobby Lobby.  While not a perfect match with the original drawer handles, they coordinate nicely and fit it well with the period of the piece.

It's a little difficult to see here, but this is the area where the veneer was warped and cracking.  I wanted to keep the veneer but didn't want to risk catching something on it and damaging it more, so I did a little bit of gluing and clamping to do a minor repair.

Now let's get to the best part... that color!  I used Flow Blue Milk Paint from Miss Mustard Seed with the bonding agent (so it wouldn't chip) on the body of the dresser, and Annie Sloan Old White on the drawers and mirror frame.  This was my first experience using MMS milk paint and it was... different.  I was nervous about mixing the portions correctly but I did two batches and the color matched, so I guess it was okay.  The paint was thinner than I'm used to (with chalk or latex paint) but the color was perfect so I didn't mess with it.  I ended up doing two coats and then waxing with MMS furniture wax, which I love.  The consistency is like buttah and it doesn't have a terrible smell.

I'm not a huge fan of the really distressed pieces, so I lightly sanded along the edges where natural wear would occur.  I sanded after waxing this time and I like the result much better than when I sand prior to waxing - lesson learned for future pieces, although with this makeover, I've officially emptied my garage of works-in-progress.  I KNOW.  Whatever shall I do now?!

I've moved this dresser into my master bedroom and am slowly building a gallery wall around it.  I'm new to the whole gallery wall thing so it's taking me a while to commit... remember, this is the master bedroom makeover that's been two years in the making so it's all about taking things slow around here.  Ha!

Here's hoping you have a Merry Christmas - may you be filled with the joy of Christ Jesus this season!

DIY Lazy Susan

Whew!  The past week has been a real doozy for me at work so I haven't had a lot of energy in the evening hours... thus I'm just now posting my latest project, the DIY Lazy Susan that I shared in my No-Sew Halloween Runner tutorial.

I've had a dough bowl on my table for a while and while I love it, we had to do a lot of reaching around it when we were passing the salt or getting a napkin.  I thought a lazy susan would be a great solution - and a personalized one would be even better - so I picked up a few things and got to work.

To make your own, you'll need:

unfinished pine circular board (I found mine at Lowe's)

wood stain
sandpaper

paint

stencil

polyurethane

turnstyle hardware (found in cabinet section at home improvement store)

Instructions:

1.  Stain your board your desired color - I used weathered grey from Rustoleum - then sand with a fine-grit sandpaper.

 2. Stencil/draw your desired message.  I used a stencil for my smaller letters/numbers, placing them an inch away from the edge of the wood.  I freehanded the large U as I couldn't get the right size to print on my printer...

3.  Paint lettering.  I hand-painted all letters because I was going for a handpainted look, but you can certainly paint over the stencil if you want.

4. Once paint is dry, coat with polyurethane to protect the finish.

5.  Add turn-style hardware to opposite side of board.

6. I was worried about the turn-style scratching the surface of my table so I added a small piece of adhesive foam (from my craft stash) to pad it.  

That's all, guys.  Super easy, super inexpensive - I think this project cost me around $10.

I'm loving our new lazy susan - it's an addition that meets my criteria of being not only beautiful but also useful.  My girls enjoy spinning it to get their salt and pepper as opposed to reaching around the dough bowl/antlers that used to be in its place - I'll admit that sometimes they enjoy spinning it a little too much but oh well... they're only little for a while, right?

Hope you're having a great week - it's almost the weekend so hang in there!!

Linking here:
The Handmade Hangout
Inspiration Gallery
Inspire Me Please
Link Party Palooza
Show and Tell Saturday
The 36th Avenue

DIY Felt Acorn Garland

One of my favorite things about this time of year is collecting fallen acorns as I walk around my neighborhood.  I love using them in my décor and fall crafts, like my Acorn Tree or Glittered Acorns or Giving Thanks Wreath… and my latest addition, a DIY Felt Acorn Garland.

One of the bad things about fresh acorns is that they eventually begin to dry out and shrink and then fall out of their caps, so making a garland out of the real deal would be beautiful but it wouldn’t last long.  I decided to use some leftover felt balls to create a longer-lasting acorn garland.

To make this, you will need:

• Acorn caps of varying sizes
• Felt balls of varying sizes
• Twine or Yarn
• Hot Glue

This project is very simple – simply hot glue the felt ball inside the acorn cap.

Next, hot glue the acorns to a thin piece of twine or yarn for your garland, leaving room at the ends for hanging.  So simple and such a sweet touch of fall.

I added mine to my Dining Room Hutch, along with a glittered apple garland.

I look forward to using this garland for many seasons to come… I’m already thinking about making another with all white felt balls – wouldn’t that be pretty?  I could even find a way to work it into my Christmas décor somehow…

Have you been making anything with fallen acorns?  Link up in the comments so I can see!

Linking here:

Tatertots and Jello

The 36th Avenue

Be Different Act Normal

The Party Bunch

Dining Room Update: New Dining Set

Hi loves – happy beginning of Summer to you!  I don’t know about you, but these long summer nights are wearing me out (and cutting in to my project time)… Even so, summer means no homework and sports practice so we are able to enjoy more family dinners at our new dining table.

This set replaced the antique dining set (seen here) I inherited from my mother – years of neglect followed by daily use had taken its toll on it so I decided to retire it before it was completely ruined.  The chairs were in an awful state so I decided to let go of them, but the table is stored away for now.

About this set: I searched dining sets for a long time, not quite sure which direction I wanted to go design-wise, but also knowing that I needed a quality piece for a good price.  I found this set on Overstock and liked it right away but wanted to be sure it would hold up for our family.  I read a lot of reviews on this set and it solidified my decision.  Then, I waited for the set to go on sale – once it did, I applied my “first purchase” 20% off coupon and got it for an incredible deal, saving almost $500 off the original price.  There was free shipping to boot!

True to the reviews, there was a lot of assembly involved with this set but the instructions were good and there weren’t a ton of different pieces so once Mr. home.made. and I got started, assembly went pretty quickly.  We did have two pieces of chairs that were broken but Overstock sent us replacement parts within a couple of weeks so that was no big deal.

The off white color goes nicely with my Annie Sloan old white painted dining hutch, and the wood adds a nice touch of warmth.  My only complaint about this piece is the distressing – it’s obviously the same on every single chair, no random placement at all which bugs me, but it doesn’t bother me enough to make me want to get rid of this set.  I’m sure we’ll add our own natural distressing in due time…

Overall, I’m pretty pleased with this dining set – I’m even thinking of getting two extra chairs to have on hand for larger gatherings.  It’s a snug fit with three chairs on each side, but its doable.  We’ll see.

Later this week, I’ll be sharing one of my favorite dishes served on this table… stay tuned.

By the way, Overstock did not sponsor this post nor compensate me in any way for this post. I bought this set on my own and this is my honest review. They’re just the lucky ducks I chose.

Living Room Update: New Side Table

Hey, hey, hey friends!  I’m slowly coming out of my funk and getting my decorating mojo back but man… is it tough!  Luckily the kids are out of school for the summer so that schedule has calmed down, leaving evenings free to get some shizzle done over here.  Today I’m sharing the latest addition to my living room, a fun wood and brass side table from Target Threshold.

I had another Target side table in this very spot that did not survive a collision with my daughter… the wood composite top snapped like a twig when it fell over and there was no salvaging the top.  I’d hemmed and hawed over this little number for over a month after seeing it at my local Target store.  I just couldn’t make a decision.  I’d put it in my basket… I’d take it out.

A funk will do that to ya.  Seriously, has this ever happened to you?  I couldn’t make a décor decision to save my life.

All of that ended this weekend when, on a quick run to Target to pick up a gift I saw this table yet again and just knew it would be perfect.  Just like that.  And I’m so glad that it came home with me.

It fits perfectly next to my hubby’s recliner, it’s seriously cute, and *fingers crossed* it won’t fall over if one of my chicks happens to run into it.  Target Threshold wins again.

I’ve got an ambitious list of things to tackle this weekend, so let’s hope I can stay on a roll.  It’s getting hot already in Texas so I need to get started now before my garage becomes a virtual oven.  Anyone up for a painting party?

White and Brass Dresser Makeover

Happy Good Friday everyone!  I promised I’d show you more of my daughter’s dresser makeover last week when I revealed her Golden Mirror Makeover, so here it is:

This dresser came from my mother-in-law’s aunt; she was having an estate sale and my MIL sent me a picture of the dresser and asked if I wanted it.  It was a Bassett piece in great condition for only $50, so I said yes!

I decided to not do chalk paint this time around because I knew I wanted to paint this dresser white and although I love chalk paint, the pure white color is not my favorite.  Instead, I primed and painted with Martha Stewart’s Picket Fence White color-matched in Glidden Paint. 

Although my daughter originally wanted some fun, colored knobs, she decided she liked the original brass ones so we kept them.  The brass goes well with her golden mirror and with some other gold/brass accents in her room.

This room is slowly coming along, little by little.  One of these days I’ll give you a full reveal, but for now here’s just a peek as you walk into her room: pink feather boa wreath on the door, newly painted white and brass dresser, and all of the accessories that a little girl must have.  She’s a princess…

Hope you have a great Good Friday!  I’ll be heading to work while the rest of my fam enjoys the day off… boo!

Duck Tape Office Tray

I started a new job about a month ago and with it will come a new office space… meaning a new office space that will need décor, right?  My office is still empty right now, a boring beige shell, so I thought I’d make a fun office tray out of a plain wooden tray and some fun duck tape.  The end result is a snazzy inbox for my future work digs!

I started with a basic wooden tray and duck tape that I bought with a coupon at JoAnn’s.

I chose metallic gold and green moroccan trellis duck tape for this project, although the selection of patterns was pretty incredible.  I obviously have been living under some sort of duck tape rock and had no idea that it came in so many colors and patterns.  And I call myself a crafter…

Anyhoo, this project was super simple.  I simply cut the duck tape and applied.

Okay, it was a little more involved than that, but not much.  I added the gold tape to the straight sides first, then cut strips of the trellis tape to line the interior of the tray, lining up the pattern to make it continuous.  I smoothed the edges of the tape with the back of my fingernail to help it adhere.

The ends with the handles were a little trickier.  I traced the curved portion onto the tape and cut out, cutting into the tape in the curve of the handle so I could wrap the tiny pieces around the interior of the handle.

And that was it – easy peasy.  Now I have a fun little place to collect papers and inter-office mail all while adding some color and a little nod to Liberace in my boring beige office space.  Can’t wait to move in!

Have you made over anything with Duck Tape?  Surely I’m not the only person who didn’t know all these colors existed!

Linking here:

That DIY Party

Home Stories A to Z

The Scoop

Inspire Me Monday

Golden Mirror Makeover

Hey, hey, hey friends!  Happy Friday to you… I’m taking a break from Friday Faves today to share a fun golden mirror makeover that I recently completed for my baby girl’s bedroom.

 

This mirror has been sitting in my garage for longer than I care to admit, but just so my readers are well informed… it was a companion to my French Linen Dresser and Duck Egg Chevron Side Table.  It started out like this:

It was brown and drab and covered with dust and cobwebs – ick.  After a good cleaning, I rubbed on a golden finish with AMACO Rub 'n Buff Wax Metallic Finish, Antique Gold, 0.5-Fluid Ounce using my forefinger.  That’s it.  Seriously.  I buffed it in well as I applied to save the extra step of a separate buffing.

This mirror had a bracket to mount to a dresser, so I removed it and added some U-brackets and picture hanging wire (with Mr. home.made.’s help) so it could be freely hung on the wall.  This bad boy is heavy, so I hung it with a 50 pound capacity picture hanger.

It looks gorgeous in my daughter’s room, especially over her newly made over dresser (I’ll talk more about that next week!).  She has a lot of color going on in her room despite the white walls so the gold provided a perfect neutral accessory to all of it.

The end result is just what I was going for and I love that it didn’t cost me anything since the mirror was part of the dresser package deal (for $75) and I had the Rub n Buff on hand.  Best of all, there’s a little girl who’s quite happy with her new wall accessory.

That smile makes all my crazy ideas worthwhile.

Have you ever made over something with Rub n Buff?  I’d love to hear about it!

Linking with these fabulous parties:

Fabulously Creative Friday

Inspiration Gallery

Miss Mustard Seed

Inspire Me Please

Link Party Palooza

Be Different Act Normal

Get Schooled Saturday
It's Overflowing
DIY Showoff
Three Mango Seeds

Decorating for Easter

Easter’s coming up in just a few short weeks – and I’ve slowly been adding touches of Easter décor around the house.  I’ve been avoiding the Easter items at Hobby Lobby so I won’t be tempted to bring anything new home and I’ve limited myself to using what I already have on hand.  Make do and make it beautiful, right?

I’ve discovered over time that I have a thing for bunnies… I just love the element of sweetness a bunny brings to a room.

There’s another little bunny hiding on top of my Chicken Wire Curio.

My Mod Podge Easter Egg and pompom wreath came back for another visit.

And more bunnies on my mantel… with a container of robin eggs that taunt my “I’m giving up sweets for Lent” self.  Never.  Again.

It isn’t Easter without eggs either, so I have this fun little container of pastel eggs on my Aubusson Blue side table.

I’ve been thinking about making an Easter table runner this week, but I’ve got to get some sewing mojo going.  My sewing machine is tucked away right now and I’d really have to want to make this runner to pull it out of the closet.

Do you decorate for Easter?  Is your décor more traditional with the easter eggs and bunnies or do you decorate to celebrate the risen Christ?  I’d love to hear what you do!