Grandma's Dresser Redo

So... As I was getting started, I thought to myself, "self... you need to snap a pic!!!"  Well, I had already taken the drawers out, but this was a set that was my grandmothers and I decided to redo this for my daughters room.  We were redecorating our old room for her and the baby (beings it was the biggest room in the house, we thought it was appropriate for her and the baby).  

I found this stain for metal that gives it "patina" and I absolutely HATE brass... I wanted to keep the original knobs because I actually like the design of the hardware.  I love this stuff!  They turned out AMAZING!

This thing was SOOOOO heavy!  But I think that it turned out great!  I did this around November 2014, and it's been through a lot (before and after the redo) and I think that I may (later) redo it in some chalk paint, but i love the stained top.  It's so pretty!

Playing catch up!

Wow!  It sure has been a while since I posted on here!  Honestly, I totally forgot that I even had this blog!!!  So much has happened over the last couple of years that kinda slowed me down on doing very many projects, but I thought that I would post a few here that I have done... there aren't that many, but I have been working on things for my own house instead of selling so much.

I decided to redo my little table and bench that I had on the carport, turned out nicely.  I did this in 2014 and it's now time to do it again.  I think that this time I may go with some brighter colors to make it "pop" more.  It's actually not even in the same place anymore, lol!  This was a simple spray paint job.  I just cleaned it good and used a spray paint that was made for outdoors.  It's lasted a while, so I am happy with it.  :)

These next few I actually did for the booth.  Just spruced up an old corkboard with some paint and covered the cork with this awesome looking fabric I found.  It didn't last long...

Now, those dang baskets on the other hand... those took a while to go.  I still think that they are pretty though.  I probably spent too much time on them really.  They were brown plain baskets and I just spray painted those with a glossy paint and added the pretty ribbons.  If I had a fire place, I would have totally used those for spring decor!

So... one of the "things that was going on" that caused my absence from here was I am now a grandma!!!  :)  Yup!  So, you know I had to do something special there!  This is a diaper cake that I attempted.  I had never done one before and it wasn't actually that hard.  It turned out BEAUTIFUL!!!  My daughter wanted a "Shabby Chic Baby Shower" so of course I was ALL IN!  This, of course, was only the tip of the iceburg!  I made every decoration (using this theme) and everything was centered around the diaper cake.  Not too "shabby" if I say so myself!

My next project was my first dresser redo attempt.  This was actually my MIL's that I decided to redo.  Hubby wanted to put it down by the road and I told him to let me redo it.  I think that it came out great for my first ever dresser redo!  This was a piece that I put in the booth simply because I didn't have room in my house for it.  Thinking back, I should have kept it.  Oh well.

This was a little chest that my mom had in storage that I redid for my grandbaby.  I kinda cheated on this one because I was redoing a dresser set at the same time.  Of course this was during the time that I wasn't taking any "before" pics... but it was a huge transformation from what it was in the beginning.  It's actually one of my favorite pieces.  My daughter has since moved out, and of course she took this with her.  :(

The little window that was once on the porch... I ended up redoing that and creating this... I am thinking that I am going to redo it.... yet again.  Another Pinterest idea lol!  Not bad though.

I have some more that I have done but I am going to save them for another post.  :)

Project dates:
Patio Furniture: April 2014
Bulletin Board and Baskets: 2013 (featured in earlier posts)
Diaper Cake: August 2014
Teal Dresser: October 2013
Small Tall Dresser: November 2014
Window: December 2014

Shabby Coat Rack

It's been a while since the last post, but things have been just crazy busy!  My mom and I have so much to do before Thanksgiving rolls around.  We have so much that we are going to put out for Christmas and man!!!  Our booth is FULL right now!!!  We DID end up getting the WINDOW unit!  (I have GOT to get some pics on here that are more recent!!!)  I just finished up this coat tree the other day, and although it's all done and ready to go, it will wait with some other items that are being finished.  This piece started out all rickety and loose and ugly ugly ugly dark brown.  So... I decided to brighten it up a bit and totally shabby it up!  You can't really see it all that great here, but you have to see the whole thing.

So... to get this look I cleaned it really good.  I took it apart, which is the BEST way to clean it and prep it for paint.  I lightly sanded it and then used a paint on primer (which I forgot the name and it's at my mom's house but you can use whatever brand you prefer.)  I used a basic white primer that we got from Lowe's.  When painting the primer, I didn't completely cover it.  It was more like a quick brush over.  Then I used a coral pink flat paint from Valspar (I always use Valspar because it has my name in it, lol!) and dry brushed it over the white paint.  Again, I didn't coat it completely, just a quick brush over.  Finally, I used Minwax Polyurethane clear coat in satin.  I only used one coat but completely coated the tree and then went over some spots vigorously to rub off some of the paint down to the brown.  The white turned more of an antique white color which (in my opinion) really set this piece off.  I was totally in love with it and my mom didn't want to get rid of it!  This was the final product.

 I just LOVE this look, and the best thing about the shabby chic look is that it doesn't have to be perfect.  I keep telling my mom, "The best pieces are the 'oops' pieces!"  

I do have to say this... I am so bad about getting "before" pics.  I should really start just taking my before pics as soon as we get the pieces.  I am so sorry about not doing a better job of this blogging thing.  I hope to get better.

Movin' on UP!

It finally happened!  We outgrew our booth and had to get a bigger one!  We finally got everything moved and set up and it looks great!!!  Projects have been a little slow because of my work schedule, but things are about to slow down enough where I can get back to work on what I love to do!  Several projects are lined up and ready, I just need some TIME... which is something that I don't have a lot of at this moment... I just wanted to share with you some of the things in our new booth, AND... we are actually getting the booth next door to us and we actually have a FRONT WINDOW!!!  WOOHOO!  I am just itching to do a little window dressing!!!  I am so excited!

 I can't believe that the clock table is still there... the hubbs says that I should put a real working clock in it, Idk... maybe he's right.

 I have purchased a dress mannequin to put the jewelry on and that will free up the space on this wall.

 This was the first piece that my mom and I bought together... if we knew then what we know now, this purchase would not have happened... if it doesn't sell, I am going to redo it myself, hand painting all the coka-cola stuff on the table.

 If this buffet doesn't go soon, we will be redoing this one too.  There's a part of me that hopes it stays, I really want to slap some paint on that bad-boy!

 This is actually a very comfy couch... 

 Oh... the white elephant... I love this table and it took me almost a week to hand paint this... I wish it would go though!

 Lots of shelving for all those knick knack paddy wacks!

 Lots of bags and a beautiful mantle piece all the way from New York!

Our entrance!  Everyone loves it... you can't miss it when you walk in the door!  Draws you into our booth!  We still have lots more to bring in and a long ways to go to get it like we want it, but it's looking good and we get lots of comments on it.  :-)

The Sad Little Ugly Dresser: Part 1

Once upon a time, there was a sad little ugly dresser that was in pretty bad shape.  This particular sad little ugly dresser had been used for so long that there was not a time in the last 30 or so years that it wasn't around (that husband could recall).  The sad little ugly dresser had been used and abused by many family members (some more than others).  It had been handed down from husband's mother to her son and his wife (which shall be called husband and mama from here on out), then to daughter, and finally to son.  Time had taken it's toll (rather roughly) on the sad little ugly dresser.  

One day, son said, "Mama, I don't want this ugly dresser anymore, it's too big for my room and I don't use it anyway, I wanna throw it away."  Mama decided not to hear son and ignored his request to remove the sad little ugly dresser from his room.  After all, it did belong to husband's mother and there was some sentimental value to the sad little ugly dresser, no matter how ugly it really was.  Soon after, husband declared, "Son does not want the ugly dresser anymore, we have no room for it so I am going to take it to the curb because trash day is day after tomorrow.  If someone doesn't pick it up then the trash man can take it.  It's a crappy dresser anyways, not worth anything."

Did mama hear this right?  Was the sad little ugly dresser about to be on it's way to curbside???  "Oh no you don't!"  declared mama.  "That's not going curbside!  Put it on the porch, I want to use that as my first furniture project!"  The whole family laughed at mama.  They did not believe that the sad little ugly dresser could be saved.  But, there was a little glimmer of hope for the sad little ugly dresser.  

Mama had been combing though many wonderful pictures on Pinterest  and she had so many wonderful ideas and had contemplating for some time about starting a big furniture project like this.  She had read countless blogs for months about painting furniture using various methods.  It was time for mama to get off her keister and try her hand at some of the awesome DIY projects that she had seen throughout Pinterest and other DIY bloggers!!!  After all, mama was quite crafty and creative herself, and thought that she could do it.  It seemed easy enough, although mama knew that there would be surprises along the way.  At least that was her experience after doing many DIY projects with husband and friends throughout the years.  

So... this is where it had begun.  Mama done went out to her local Walmart and done bought herself a sander and decided to take a chance.  After all, anything was an improvement to this sad little ugly dresser.  With very little help (and I emphasize very little), mama began her journey down the road of giving old, sad, ugly, thrown out, forgotten, used and abused furniture, new life again.

Before:  The sad little ugly dresser (which really isn't all that "little"). 

Before:  The top was severely abused with stickers that had to be scraped off by mama along with years and years of water stains and other nicks from son and daughter.  That top looks really rough!!!

Mama broke in that new sander just fine!  It took a little longer than expected, but mama sanded and prepped the entire sad little ugly dresser, drawers and all, then relaxed a bit. 

After many hours of sanding and cleaning the sad little ugly dresser, mama had to take a break.  She was pooped!  Quite honestly, mama isn't used to all this manual labor.  Although she used to be physically fit, time has also take it's toll on her and mama was sore for a few days after this little venture.  But, it wasn't over yet...

Step 1:  Prepping:  Complete.  

Now it was time for mama to make husband, son, and daughter fall in love with the sad little ugly dresser again.  But then it will be too late.  Because mama has plans for that sad little ugly dresser.  Mama's takin' that thing to The Moon!  Yes sir, to The Moon!!!

Stay tuned!  Will mama finish her sad little dresser and make husband, son, and daughter wish that they wouldn't have treated the sad little ugly dresser so badly?  Will mama be able to move tomorrow after using all those muscles she forgot she had (even though she's a nurse and knows that there are 640 muscles in the body, 850 if you count the hair follicle muscles)?  Is she really going to take it to The Moon?  

Check back and find out!!!