Shabby Chic China Cabinet

Mom found this beautiful china cabinet and immediately I wanted to get my hands on this thing and shabby chic it up!  The front has glass on it, not a mirror, although it does look like a mirror.

 The back of it was really messed up so I decided to just cut a new piece of wood for the back.

First thing, sand it.  So, I used my electric sander to knock off the sheen so the paint would stick to it.  Then primer.  I just used a basic white primer.

Once I let the primer dry for a couple of hours, I started the process of painting it.  I used a seafoam green color to paint it with.

 After applying the green, I mixed the green with some water and used a sponge to rub off some of the paint for the shabby look.  Other spots I used a light grit sand paper, but I was really going for a light/dark look for this piece.

After I got the look that I wanted, I applied my favorite sealer, which darkened it a bit just like I envisioned.

After I sealed it, my mom and I headed to our favorite store, Hobby Lobby, and found this really pretty designed fabric.  We came back home, hubby cut the wood to replace the back for me and I sprayed a glue adhesive to the wood and had mom help me stretch it across the back.  I let that dry for a few hours and then attached it to the back of the china cabinet.  Done!

Here is the finished product!  I just love this shabby chic look.  I want to do my whole house like this.  One day... maybe... if I ever get the time to do it.  :-)

Coffee and End Table Redo

Mom and I picked up this set of coffee and end tables at a yard sale and there was some things that were missing... there were these decorative wooden bars across the bottom so I just cut them off with a saws-all.  Mom filled it with wood putty and sanded that down along with the rest of the tables.  Then it was time for paint...

First coat was a white primer then she put a yellow color on it.

After the yellow became a little tacky, she hit some areas with a fine grit sand paper and gave it the shabby chic look.  Finally, the sealer was put on it.

This is the BEST sealer out there in my opinion.  When you apply it, you have to make sure that there are no drip marks and then let it dry for at least 24 hours before handling it.  The finished product is simply gorgeous!  The sealer makes the color deeper.  You can put up to 3 coats of this, depending on the wear and tear that you are anticipating for the piece that you are working on.  So, here's the finished tables!

The color is much deeper than we wanted, but in this business, one thing that I have learned is that it doesn't matter what we like, it's what the customer wants.  Needless to say, these gorgeous tables didn't even last a week!  They were GONE FAST!

Cottage Style Hutch Redo

This little hutch has been in and through our entire family.  It started out at my mom's and was there for years until I acquired it.  Then I passed it to my brother and eventually it ended up back at my mom's.  This hutch has done more traveling than Gulliver!  When my mom and I opened our little "Simply MarValUs" booth at The Blue Moon, this was one of the first things that we brought down there.  Well, we have moved to the front of the building from the back, and then over to a window unit since we opened... and this little hutch has been traveling all the way.  My mom and I decided that it needed a facelift so we took it to the house and started working on it.  

Hutch before

So... we loaded it up and took it to the house.  My papa took it apart for us and I started painting it.  The back of it needed a little something more, so we found this pretty burlap material and I put it on the back of the panels with some modge podge.

I watered it down, and I think I watered it down too much and didn't get all the fabric so some of it bubbled up, so make sure when you coat it, you do it well.  I did this on the back of my husband's truck at night... probably shouldn't have done that... but it all worked out.

I let it dry over night and then took it back to mom's and after 2 long and quite irritating hours, we manage to get it back together and more secure than it was before.  :-)  And... here is the finished product!

So much brighter and so much more lovely than before.  We even have a table that matches it and I took the extra material and made some table settings for the table that matches the hutch.

So, 4 coats of white laytex later on each piece, some crafty craftin' on the table settings, we have a beautiful cottage style/farm style hutch and dinette set.  

Homecoming Top Hat

So, my daughter didn't want an updo for homecoming and asked me for something to "decorate" her hair without having to put it up.  So, I got the idea that it would be cute to have a little hat on her head.  I could have probably made 10 of these things with everything that I bought to make this one hat, but we do anything for our little princesses, right?  So... the day before homecoming, I broke out the glue gun and all the stuff purchased from Hobby Lobby and started making her a little hat.

Here is what you will need:

Ribbon

Flower

Feather

Beads or something similar for that "bling" factor

Doll hat

Headband

Hot glue gun

I used a strip of beads that were made like ribbon and wrapped it around the hat, hot gluing it about every inch to make sure it was secure.  (Excuse the gross looking thumb, that was incident that happened on a previous project...)

After wrapping the beadwork around the hat I glued the flowers in place.  You can use ribbon or anything else you want to glue on the hat.  Make it your own!

After gluing the flowers on there, I glued a pretty diamond like pendant in the center of the flower to give it a little more bling.  She wanted it off center so after the hat was all done, I glued it off center for her.  And that's it!  Easy peasy lemon squeezy!  You can use just about anything you want to make this adorable hat, I just had to get things that matched her dress, which turned out great!  Here's my Bella ready for the ball!

Share your photo if you have done something similar!  I would love to see what you create!!!

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.