Makeover Monday: Getting back to the Blog, Plus a Small Wardrobe-Type Thingy.

I am guilty of making promises to myself that I don't keep.

To be sure, I intend to keep them.  I am a hopeless optimist that way.

But I let life get in the way of pursuing the things that set my soul to singing.

I shall try - again - to carve out time.  I can write a little in the mornings.  Right?  Less social media, more pen to paper  typed words on a screen.

And because I am undiagnosed OCD, I shall jump right back in with a schedule that satisfies my compulsions.

I'm thinking, Makeover Monday: for furniture-refinishing frivolity.
Wordless Wednesday: just for pretty pictures.  Cute stuff.  Puppies.
And to round out the alliteration fun, perhaps a "Smalls Saturday": up-cycled and re-purposed and prettified small stuff.  Mason jars.  Wine bottles.  Barnwood galore.

So with that in mind, I shall post a couple of (very poor) pictures of a wardrobe-type thingy I picked up at a yardsale.  Really cute little piece.

I didn't do much repair.  I left chipped veneer as it was for the most part.  I cleaned it up, gave it a coat of shellac (because it looked to be mahogany and I didn't want bleed-through), and painted it.  I did a custom color of Annie Sloan Antibes Green, Graphite, and Old White to get a celery-seed kind of color.  I painted the upper drawer fronts in a black chalkboard paint so that the drawers could be labelled.  I used adhesive spray to cover the interior of the doors with some burlap.  Lastly I added some new drawer pulls.  I totally cheaped out with them and got some 99 cent knobs I found at Home Depot.  They're actually really cute little black metal knobs with a simple raised pattern.  Finally, I distressed and waxed with AS clear wax.

I think it's just darling.  Very old-timey.  What do you think?

This piece is for sale at Consign-it Furniture in Kennet Square, PA.

PS: I'm linking this post up to some blog parties!  See list in my sidebar.

Makeover Monday: End Table

A couple weeks ago, my friend Theresa picked up one of those old-school two-tiered end tables for me.

It was out at the curb, and she figured I could make one of those Pinterest Lego tables with it.

Or something.

After eyeballing it for a bit, I decided I was too lazy.

I was going to just paint it, but I thought maybe that would be too boring.

I wanted to do something that would make it stand out a bit, and yet still be functional as an all-purpose end table.

I had picked up some maps from a flea market, and after looking through them, I decided to go with an interesting map of Mount Everest.  I loved all the blues and greys, and thought it would go well with the Annie Sloan Paris Grey I used to paint the table.

After decoupaging, I still thought it needed a little something.  Something for the top.

Explore!  

"Explore" with an arrow built into the word would be just the thing.  I painted that in black and was finally pleased.


The only work that remained was to distress it with my orbital sander, and then add a coat of clear wax.

All done.  I like it!

Do you...?



I'm linking this post up with a few blog hops.  See the list in my sidebar.

I Have a Problem....

This is all the stuff I've bought in the last few days.

Basically, if I see a wooden thing for cheap, I buy it.  I HAVE to.

May I justify?  That long low 70's style dresser in the front?  Ten bucks.

Yep.

The tall dark and handsome dresser?  Twenty.  You heard it here first.

Three solid chairs, $5 each.

Even that cute little petite upholstered chair was only ten dollars.

How can I resist these bargains?

Impossible.

IMPOSSIBLE, I tell you!

Now I just need to get busy.

Reallllllly busy.

Wish me luck!






(Linking up in some blog hops.  See my sidebar for a list!)

Makeover Monday: Pretty Dresser

I picked up this nice little dresser for a song from my local on-line yard sale group. $30.

Very nice shape.  Nothing wrong with it.  I almost hated to paint it.

Almost.

I love painted wooden things.

LOVE.

We'll see if I feel the same way after I'm done.

So here's my tutorial.



Like I said, there was nothing at all wrong with this sweet little dresser, so I was able to go right to painting.  Since I was using good quality chalk paints (Annie Sloan Old White and Paris Grey), there was no need to do any prep like sanding or priming.

And this would be why I am such a fan of chalk paints.

I took out all the drawers and removed the top piece.  I unscrewed all the pulls and taped off along the lines of where I wanted to paint white.

I did a coat of the white, and after a little while, did a second coat and removed all the tape.  So far, looking good!

Next day I painted they grey. I had run out of painter's tape and was too lazy to go out and buy more, so I just tried to cut in with the brush.  Sometimes my brush was flawless, and other times it decided to color outside the lines, but I didn't fret about it.  Just figured I'd fix it up once the paint dried.

(Here are some of the brush mistakes that I had to touch up.  No big deal.)    

So after two coats of the grey, and after it all dried, (and after I fixed all my oops-es), I took my orbital sander to the edges to distress it, then started rubbing in all the wax.

Finally, I decided to add a little something extra, so I painted this on the side, using the same Old White paint that I used on the drawer fronts.

I think I'll add a little bit of the design on the side of that top drawer.

And I'm not done waxing.

And one more thing I'm not done with.  Did you catch it in the pictures above?
I accidentally left her barefoot.  I forgot to paint her feet!

Oops (again)!

Back to work tomorrow!



Hope you enjoyed this.  What would you have done differently?

I'm linking this post up with some blog hops this week.  See the schedule in my side bar if you'd like to join any of the parties!

Facelift

I feel like I just stepped out of the spa.
Or had a major facelift.
I feel younger and prettier!

Well, my blog feels younger and prettier.

Isn't she beautiful?

With some of my earnings from the pieces I've created, I sprung for a little blog design by the amazing Stephanie of How Sweet Designs.  I think she managed to give me just exactly what I was looking for.

Plus now I've got this cool hovering Pinterest button.  Try it, just hover over an image from my blog post and a Pin button will pop up.  Cool right?  I feel so fancy.

Now hopefully I will stop neglecting my blog.
So easy to neglect the plain Janes.
So fun to pay attention to pretty shiny things.
Sad but true.

Here are a few pictures of some of the recent pieces I've worked on....

A Little Before and After

Bought this darling little rocker at A Habitat store for $5! It was a dull white, and I decided to paint it a pretty slate grey, and distress it just enough to let the white show through in places. I also went ahead and drew a flower in one corner of the seat for a touch of whimsy. I used a paint pen for that so it was beyond easy. It was easy peasy.

Then, before I even finished the rocker, I found this sweet little table someone was selling for $10. Can you say chippy love? Clearly, the two needed to be together. I painted the table white with the same slate grey for the top, and now the two look inseparable, don't they? I can only hope that when someone sees them at Rooted, they will take them home together.

You know, the way it was meant to be.