Repurpose project: from a dresser to a buffet

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[after]

Here she is in all of her golden splendor. ;)

When I was in high school, my parents took an old dresser that was painted in an olive, sort of army green color and they completely changed its appearance.  They removed all the paint and gave the wood a beautiful finish.  The transformation was fascinating to me and I remember thinking that someday I wanted to do something amazing with a piece of furniture.

Well, many Pinterest pins later someone offered me a dresser she no longer wanted.  It was the perfect opportunity for me to let loose all that inspiration that had built up over the years.  :)  

I did my research, gathered my materials and couldn't wait to get started!  First, I used wood filler on the nicks and scratches in the wood.  Since I knew I wanted to update the hardware, I also used wood filler on the cabinet doors to cover up the impressions left by the old hardware.  After that, I sanded and primed.  Obviously, a lot of prep work was involved before I could get to my favorite part...that yellow paint!  I chose Valpar's "Gala Gold".  I love this yellow!

For the painting, I used a combination of a brush and a foam roller.  I used a brush to get the paint into all of the grooves and crevices and I used a foam roller to smooth it all out.  This worked very well and I was able to avoid the issue of having brush strokes all over the wood.  I am, of course, an amateur but when I went shopping for a clear coat finish to protect the paint, the store did not have the product that was recommended online.  And so, with a little help from the store clerk I settled on "Clear Protector" by Valspar.  Hopefully it does it's job well.  I just kept wondering if I had made the right choice but so far, so good.

This was such a fun project!  Since I'm not much of a power tool person (yet!), my husband installed the new hinges.  It took a few tries to finally settle on a hinge that would work best for those doors.  After installing one of them we ran into a slight problem.  Since we installed new hinges, the doors did not have the same amount of space as before.  But my husband had a great idea.  Thankfully, the door on the right had a "spacer" in between the cabinets.  A strip of wood that we could simply cut down to size.  With a little help from a friend who has a saw, our problem was solved!  It all came together in the end and I am so happy with the results!

Now, time to store those tablecloths, napkins and who knows what else?!  It will come to me, I'm sure!

It's beautiful to me

I am the type that does not feel satisfied until a project is complete.  I am convinced it is a strength as well as a weakness.  The drive to finish certainly helps me to get things done, but it also makes me a little impatient when I have put things off because, well, life is happening...at full speed.  But once I have accomplished what I set out to do, it is so rewarding.

I am not posting these pictures because I expect you to be impressed with how amazing my room is.  It doubles as an office.  It's small.  It's a pretty ordinary place with cheap bookshelves and thrift store finds.  But I am just glad that God has taught me to rejoice in the blessings he has given me (it's been a work in progress) and to do my best to make this room a place that I want to linger in throughout the day. 

It's a place to have a quiet moment to regain some sanity...to slip in and and quietly close the door to pray a desperate plea to God for the grace and help not to totally blow it...to talk with my husband privately...to comfort and disciple my children.  I have taught school lessons while ironing at the same time.  This is definitely a room that is used all day and it really needed help!  I needed to feel at rest when I entered, not have my stress level rise.

Having art on my walls makes me feel a little more of a sense of order and also gives me more motivation to keep it that way.  I do a lot of laundry friends.  This is the place where the dreaded laundry will often be folded and then need to be put away.  It is my weakness and the thing I try to put off the most.  But there is nothing worse than hunting for a needed item when I am in a rush to go somewhere and I can't find it anywhere!  I want to experience that as little as possible.  It takes work and sometimes it seems like the laundry never ends and it feels so mundane!  But, as I keep teaching my kids, God has given us these responsibilities and meeting them is important and worthwhile.  

I am finding that the more I beautify my little spaces, the more I want to keep them that way.  I understand, this might not mean a thing to some, but it's meant a lot to me.  I spend a lot of time in them. ;)

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Some more details if you're interested...

~I bought the frames at thrift stores for six dollars or less and painted them.  I cut duck cloth to size.  I cut pieces of fabric and hot glued it to the duck cloth.  Very fun project.  You can find a picture of something you like online and use it as a guide for cutting pieces of fabric.  Lowe's sells paint in sample sizes which is perfect for painting frames.

~I bought a king-sized sheet at a thrift store for three dollars.   I strategically used the seams that were already there so that I would have less sewing to do.  I bought linen at Walmart and sewed a strip on the outer edge of each panel, it helped to make them bigger and I love linen so it was perfect.

~I used the same fabrics from the curtains and the wall art to make the pillow cover.

~The duvet cover, as I mentioned in another post, is made from two queen-sized sheets that I sewed together, also thrift store finds!

I really didn't have to spend much money and it was so fun to do!

Enjoy the rest of your Saturday!  God's blessings abound!

Bring him your anxiety

I was up early this morning, seeking God in prayer.  Many things sought to draw my attention away from him.  I would not let them.  This early in the morning it is not children who interrupt communion but it is other things...like sleepiness...like the children's paintings that dried overnight on the dining room table and need to be put away...like the full laundry basket over in the living room...I face a day full of keeping all of the plates spinning.  Some of them I have to spin, some of them I want to spin.

There is much that I am trying to accomplish before we begin school again.  I am already beginning to feel the anxiety of a rigid schedule.  I so enjoy the low-key aspects of a break.  Time to create has been a gift to me.  But soon I will be busy at work on a new schedule that requires making the most of every minute we are given in a day.  It will be posted and I will have a pep talk with my children.  The life that we have lived for the past two weeks is about to change.  I want to make this change with prayer because I dread reluctance.  I don't like to think about facing any resistance from my crew, but I will follow the Lord as I lead them.  The tasks we must accomplish are given to us by him.  Help us Lord to honor you!

My studies in the book of Mark continue.  So many accounts of the mighty works that Jesus did.  I read of crowds of people who came to him.  I read how he healed them and rid their bodies of diseases, demons and even death.  This is the God I serve.  I do not have problems that are beyond his ability to help.  I do not have circumstances that are too difficult for my God.  He can help me with any and every single challenge I face...with every problem, every sin that corrupts, every anxiety that discourages...

I am running to him this morning.  I am giving all of my anxiety...all of my concerns...to him.  He knows about them all of course.  But I am turning to him for strength and courage to dive into the day and the coming week with enthusiasm.  His Spirit dwells within me and I need not fear.

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{I know I need to pull this back out and iron it, but I just had to see what it looked like in that frame!}

The pictures contain some things I created last night.  At first, I thought I would sew the fabric on.  I also thought I would have Amera paint the tree for the birds.  Then it dawned on me....GLUE GUN!  I'm so glad I thought of that because it was so much faster and easier to do it that way!

I told my husband that all I wanted for Christmas was to redo our bedroom.  Our bedroom doubles as an office.  The walls are lined with bookshelves and our dresser is home to our printer.  It is also a rather small space.  I have been organizing and creating pretty things.  I covered a boot-sized shoe box with some leftover fabric from the boys cloaks and it now stores all of the stuff I had in a few smaller containers.    I found a few sheets for about $3 each at a thrift store.  They are very nice and look like they were hardly used.  I wanted white in my room to brighten it up, so I have a king-sized white sheet for the curtains and cream and beige sheets for the duvet cover.  I also love brown linen so I found some of that at Walmart and plan to sew a strip of it on the inner edges of my curtain panels.  It's all coming together nicely and I'm having so much fun!  Time to start the day!

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...and later that day, I finished them and hung them on the wall...

make a framed chalkboard using an old painting

I have discovered how much I love to take something old and unsightly
and make it look new and beautiful.  What a thrill!  Oh, what a little paint can do!

I'll never forget the old army green dresser that my parents stripped, sanded,
and refinished.  It turned out so beautiful!  I was so inspired!

With that said, I was beyond excited when I found this idea online.
I got to enjoy the thrill of the thrift store hunt.  My goal was to find
and old painting with a sturdy canvas.  Preferably a painting that was
damaged anyway, and collecting dust on the shelf because no one
wanted it.  Thrift stores are full of those!

I found this one.  It wasn't in very good condition and it was just the right size 

as well as just the right price.  Ya Gotta love thrift stores!

I began by removing the canvas from the frame.  I sanded the canvas, as well

as the frame, with 220 grit sandpaper, and wiped it with tack cloth.

Then I set up shop in my back yard and spray painted them both.

This was a very easy project and the results are so rewarding!  

using a shoe caddy to get organized!

See that chalkboard?  It was a dry erase board once.  I always did prefer chalk.  I just couldn't seem to find a chalkboard when I went looking for one...so I settled for dry erase.

Once I found the idea to turn an old painting into a chalkboard, I removed my dry erase from the wall and put it outside in the donation pile.  It wasn't until a couple of days later that the idea hit me that I could make this a chalkboard too! (see note below)  I knew it would be perfect for my kiddos.  They love to draw on it and write special messages.  

And how convenient! The chalk makes it's home in it's own little pouch in this caddy within arm's reach!

I LOVE this idea!  It is working sooooo well for our family.  I know it's not ideal to have it out in the open, but my back door was my only option.  Truth be told, I love this organizational tool so much that I rather like having it out in the open.  No more wondering where something is and not being able to find it.  It also inspires the kids to use these things more.

I used some zipper storage baggies to keep everything together in the pockets and for easy removal and putting away.  This little caddy had made my life so much easier!

Put the things you least want your toddlers to get into in the highest pockets.  

That was my strategy!

Ahhhh...everything in it's place.  What a relief!

Maybe a simple shoe caddy could do wonders for you too?

NOTE: Before painting a dry erase board, make sure you sand it well with 220 grit sandpaper and wipe clean with tack cloth.  

framed art: "HOME" covered in map

Okay, confession time.  I was reluctant to get into the whole "Pinterest" thing.  I thought that it would only serve to make me sit around and wish I had things I don't.  So I wasn't even gonna go there.

Even now, I don't have an "account" or whatever (maybe someday), but the Pinterest website has actually been really inspiring.  I've discovered that I can find some pretty cool ideas there.  

This 'lil project was inspired from an idea I saw on Pinterest.  That project had wooden letters spelling "HOME" that were covered in map print.  I really liked it, but surface space in my home is very limited.  

So I came up with the idea of framing the letters.

I started with this thrift store find.  I think I paid $3.

I removed the brown paper backing to get to the glass so 

I could remove it in order to spray paint the frame.

Using the cardboard backing, I did a rough sketch.

Using my rough sketch as a guide for sizing, I traced the letters

 onto some playdoh boxes I was planning to throw away.

My son Javi did quite a good job cutting them out.  ;)

Using an old atlas, I tore out pages of the places where we have lived

 and cut out the shapes of the letters from those maps.

Clara brushed on some Elmer's glue.  

We glued the map letter cut-outs to the cardboard cut-outs.

Now to cover the cardboard background with fabric.

I used the leftover fabric from my kitchen valance project.

Using a hot glue gun, I glued the fabric down on the back of the piece.

I flipped it over and assembled my letters.  The next step was to hot glue them onto the fabric one by one.

It's not perfect, and if I did this again I would probably change the letter proportions a little bit.  

But it's ok, I'm happy with my cheery "HOME" sign hanging in my kitchen.

Imperfections and all.

a valance for the kitchen window

I am convinced that it is never too late to learn new things.  It doesn't matter what your background or how familiar you are with something already.  If you have a passion to learn how to do something new, you should try!  

It was about eight or nine years ago that I sat at my dining room table with an older couple from our church. The topic of sewing came up.  I really wanted to learn to sew!  I especially wanted to make a quilt.  I inherited my grandmother's sewing machine and I wanted to use it to create things.

Well, this dear lady, her name was Paula, took me through the whole process of making a quilt.  From buying the fabric, to ironing it, to threading my machine.  I will always be thankful for that time she spent with me.  I still remember what it felt like to thread that machine the for the first time.  So awkward, so complicated.  Now it is so familiar to me.

After making that quilt, I made other quilts.  I tried my hand at matching sundresses for my daughters and their cousin Serena (That was three dresses total at that time!).  I made a fleece coat for Amera.  I was able to mend things that tore.  I shortened my husband's pant legs and hemmed them.  And now...I make curtains.  

These are very simple curtains.  I fully admit that someone else could probably make better curtains.  My goal here is to simply say that I love them, because I made them and maybe you can make something that you love too.  

I wanted to replace our Walmart curtains that were long and blocked the sunlight.  I would tie them back, but that didn't quite look right either.  We also found it amusing that they spelled espresso with an "x"!  

These curtains served us well and I was glad to have them.  But I just got to thinkin' that I could 

make something that I liked even better!

Here is the machine I inherited from my grandma.  She wrote instructions on little labels to help the user.  Isn't that sweet?  I started to remove some of them, but then decided I kind of liked having them there. 

 They were tough to get off anyway!

I totally winged this project.  I bought 1/2 yard of three matching fabrics.  I would use less than that for the trimming fabrics, but I wanted some extra for some other projects I am working on. 

The main fabric I didn't cut at all.  The other two I cut with a rotary cutter on a mat. 

 I began by sewing on the trim for the bottom (red), and the trim for the top (yellow).  Once that was done, I began ironing all the edges.  I fold in the edge (about 1/4") and iron across one side.  Then I go back to where I started and fold it over again, and iron it again.  This helps everything to stay in place when you are sewing it together.  

The above picture shows the top of the valance.  I simple studied the way my old curtains were sewn together and copied that.  I just folded over the yellow trim fabric and sewed it in two lines in the back. 

 That created the opening that the curtain rod would go into.

At first I thought I wanted to shorten the valance a little bit, but I decided to leave it.  

I'm quite happy with my cheery little valance.  It was fun to make and cost me less than ten dollars! 

framed "paint sample" calendar

Lately, I have been so inspired to create new things for my home.  I haven't really hung much on my walls in a long time.  It was a bit of a "minimalist period" for me.  

I am currently on quite a creative streak and have several projects going.  It all started with a desire to change the picture I had on my living room wall.  I love that painting, but it was time for a change.

My husband and I walked up and down Hobby Lobby looking for a replacement and nothing seemed "just right" for us.  We ended up settling on something and it was the following day that I began to get ideas.  I returned what we purchased.

First of all, my daughter is an artist.  She draws, she paints...why not implement her gifts and talents?  When she's finished with her paintings I will post some pictures.

We began with some frames we already owned and started thinking of ways to fill them.  Painting, crocheting letters to spell "Family" (that was fun), old keys hot-glued to fabric in the shape of a heart (Javi's idea) and more.

I started looking online for more art ideas.  I found some things I really liked.  I have developed a passion for taking something old and ugly and making it look beautiful.  This is the beginning of a fun adventure!

I raided the thrift store and found a bunch of frames, most of them less than $5.  I had the projects I wanted to do in my mind so I knew what sizes I was looking for.  The thought of painting them any color I wanted was a very exciting prospect.  My husband and I had a fun time picking out paint at Walmart late one night.

Say "bye bye!" to the bunny!

I sanded the frame with 220 grit sand paper, then wiped it clean with tack cloth.  Then the fun part...SPRAY PAINTING it!

Using the back of the original art, I began positioning my paint samples the way I wanted them.  

Once I decided on a layout, I began gluing it all together.  I used Elmer's school glue.  This worked fairly well, but I wonder if another glue might work even better.  There were a few puffy spots, but I put some weight on it overnight and it looks great.

Here is the finished product!  I wrote the days of the week with a Sharpie directly onto the paint samples before putting it into the frame.  Everything else is written with a dry-erase marker.  This easily wipes off the glass so that I can change it each month.

I will be hanging this in my kitchen.  The border will serve as a place to write reminders, to-do lists and things like that.  I like how they kind of look like little sticky notes.  :)

This project was so much fun!  There are different ways you could do it.  You could use the same color or two colors, there are so many possibilities.  You should try it!