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

The Sad Little Ugly Dresser: Part 2

Just to recap what happened in part one, you can find the story here.

The next morning mama woke up with much soreness in her bones.  After all, there is a lot of manual labor involved in all that preppin' for paint.  But, the best thing to do in that kind of sore situation is just work it out.  So, off mama went to finish up with the transformation.  The day was sunny, bright, and warm.  Perfect for painting!  Once the base was finished, it was time for the drawers.  Mama painted the drawers along with the insides of the drawers.  Mama's OCD kicked in and couldn't "not" paint the inside of the drawers... She sure is glad she did!  They turned out great!

I actually really love the way that turned out.  I noticed that some people don't do the inside of the drawers, I can't stand that!  I feel like it's only 1/2 done!  I am glad that I opted to do that.  Looks better.

Now, mama was finally done with the sad little ugly dresser, and now it was time for the final touch... The knobs.  Mama had a picture in her head of what she wanted and it didn't matter where she had to go to get them, but they had to be those particular knobs...

I decided to paint it teal (because I just LOVE teal right now!) and I did the top black.  You can't even tell that the top was so messed up!  All that sanding really paid off!  Looks great!

My Mika likes it too... well, actually, she wouldn't move, so I went ahead and just snapped the pic.  The only thing missing now is the knobs!!!

Off to Hobby Lobby!  The fam decided that they wanted to come along, which was good.  We had a good time!  Well, except my son... he's always so serious!

Yeah, he's probably going to be mad when he sees that I put this pic on here... both my kids grew up in front of a camera.  They hate that I am a professional photographer because I always have a camera handy... they are totally sick of it, lol!  Oh well!  I say, get over it and move on with life!  As you can see, my daughter loves being goofy with the camera.  The only one missing is hubbs!  Yeah, well, He likes to hide from the camera, lol!

It was the only place that she hadn't been yet, and in retro-spec, this should have been the first and only place that she should have gone to.  FOUND EM'!  And they were JUST what she had envisioned.   Perfect!

I just LOVE LOVE LOVE these knobs... and let me tell you, Hobby Lobby has GOBS AND GOBS OF KNOBS!!!!  I was impressed, seriously. 

By this time, it appeared that the hubbs, daughter, and son had started to change their minds about the sad little ugly dresser. Now hubbs, daughter, and son all wanted to keep the not-so-sad little ugly dresser.  They finally saw what mama was seein' that whole time!  Just because it's ugly to you, doesn't mean that you can't get a little creative and transform that ugly duckling into a beautiful swan!  Wouldn't you agree?

Yeah... didn't realize that this was such a crappy pic... (need a image stabilizer on my iphone!  Lol!  Rent-a-wreck!)  As you can see, we are still in the process of getting stuff in there.  I have some stuff to put up there on that peg board that I will be posting later on.  :-)  I had 4 people rubber-necking as I brought it in to the Moon and was putting the drawers in it.  I don't think that this one will last long at all.  ;-)  

So now it was time... although the fam wanted to now keep the beautiful new old dresser, it's fate had already been planned.  It was being transported to The Moon!  The Moon?  Yes, The Moon...   My mom and I have a little spot in a local indoor antique/flea market type place called The Blue Moon Antique Mall.  Our little 10x10 booth is named, "Simply MarValUs."  So, the awesome not-so-little dresser is now at it's new home, The Blue Moon, until someone falls in love with it and gives it a permanent home.  :-)  It's sturdy and well built, so it will last another 40 years, that's for sure!

So... if you are interested in it and are local (or surrounding area), you can find the revived sad little ugly dresser at:
The Blue Moon Antique Mall
3721 N. Navy Blvd.
Pensacola, Fl. 32507
Just ask for "MarVal's booth!"  They will be happy to show you the way.

Now... for the next project... hummm, what will it be this time?  Guess you will have to check back to see what dust has been blown off some old tired furniture that we have discovered!

Project #1: Patio Areas

The inspiration for this project was the bright yellow sunflower bench.  This is what really did it for me.  Once I got it home and sat down, it was quite obvious that the rest of my patio really did pale in comparison to my bright yellow sunflower bench.  Back to Lowe's I go.  The bug done went and bit me after that... I was almost finished with everything when I realized that I didn't do a "before" pic of the different pieces that I re-did.  Not new to blogging, not new to crafty DIY projects, just doing the two together, lol!

I really should take more "before" pics... 

After knocking off the loose paint with a sanding block, I mixed a teal colored paint with water and used a sponge to apply it lightly over all areas of the window.  

Here I just washed the table and disassembled it.  I used outdoor spray paint that I found at Lowe's. Pretty simple! 

The little girl was made from a resin material and her bells were metal. I just cleaned it up and sprayed it with outdoor spray paint that I used on the table and the stools.  The bench legs were concrete and I just washed them and painted those with some left over household paint that I had from my daughter's room.  Use what you have, right?  The 2x4's that I used for the seat were just cleaned and painted with another household color that I had on hand left over from my kitchen.  I painted it on and them wiped it down with a clean cloth which turned out kinda neat.  The concrete plaque I have had for years... I watered down some paint that I had on hand and lightly sponged it on to bring out the words and pictures on the plaque.  Turned out nice I think.  

This was a fun project... now for the next one...  Hummm, what to do, what to do???