Chest Makeover

I found this chest at an auction…my son needed a chest in his room.  He had been using baskets on his closet shelves so he really needed a chest.  This chest was really solid, with dovetailed drawers and simple but functional design.

There was some veneer damage on one drawer and one side, so I decided not to refinish it but to paint it instead.  I removed the hardware and sanded it really well. 

I used Clark and Kensington Primer and Paint in One, in a soft grey color, it was a quart I got free during their promo at Ace Hardware.  Anyway, I guess I was expecting not to have to use two coats, but you can see in the pic above on the drawer on the left the difference between one coat and two coats.  The paint has a really strong ammonia smell, but otherwise worked well. 

I spray painted the knobs and then glazed them with Valspar glaze.

I distressed and glazed the dresser as well and my son reassembled the pulls (each of those pulls was in 7 pieces!) and it was carried upstairs to his room before I had a chance to take good pictures.  We are getting ready to paint Sam’s room a soft grey, so I am thinking this will look great up there!

It’s not one of my favorite projects, didn’t quite turn out how I envisioned, but then again, I won’t be looking at it every day! 

After I started writing this post, I realized Sam put some of the pulls on backwards!  He’s not going to be happy when I point that out to him!

I am linking to these great parties!

Vintage Stool Makeover

I bought this sweet little wooden handmade stool at an auction, I think it was $20, but I really liked the size and the style.  It has approximately 412 layers of paint on it, ranging from pale green to aqua to dark green to white. 

It had some great crackling, but there were several spots where it looked like some kind of stripper had been dropped on it.

I tried to strip it but only got about the first 50 layers of paint off, at that point I gave up and sanded the heck out of it.  Well, that didn’t work so well either, so eventually I just caved in and painted it, just right over the top of everything ugly.  Love this hand hole for picking the stool up and moving it…it is such a petite hole only 2 of my fingers fit in there!

I used an off white and then glazed it with a brown/grey Valspar glaze.  Some of the original crackling showed through and I am really loving the way it turned out.

The cool thing is that it has some writing on the underside, which had never been painted. Looks like a name there and the date 1917, in an old time script. 

I am linking to these great parties!

A Busy Holiday Weekend

I did all sorts of stuff this past weekend…I was pretty much internet free so I concentrated on making stuff!

I did some sewing for Mom…she had a wrap skirt pattern that was decades old (I remember her wearing a skirt from this pattern when I was in high school) and I made a lovely skirt for her in some fabric I had on hand.  Sorry Mom, but the only fabric I had that was long enough was green gingham!

Love how tight this quilting is…mom quilted the two pieces and I just made them into pillows for her. 

I found this slate chalkboard at Goodwill, all I did was finish the wood frame in a beachy theme. 

I also whipped up this cute bunting with washi tape and bakers twine…so cute in red and aqua.

Been meaning to make some Scrabble magnets for a while…going to have to make some more of these!  These are for a gift…

I made some cute bookmarks for a little gift…

I love the names of these paint blues…Deep Mediterranean, Fantasy Blue, Smooth Southern Sea.  Makes me feel like I’m on a beach somewhere!

I worked on this stool…

and decorated this peacock tote bag.

Made a tuxedo pillow…

and stripped and  refinished this baby for my son’s room!

Oh yeah, I also cooked and cleaned and worked on the garage and did some work in my flower bed and planted some more flower pots and cleaned, did I mention that?

Whew!

A few new pillows…

Well not new pillows, just new pillow covers…

This is the after….

And this is the before picture!  Yep, I saw this tuxedo shirt at Goodwill and thought that it would make a great pillow.  The shirt was $3 and I had a pillow form without a cover waiting at home. 

I just marked and then cut out a rectangle about 2 inches wider than the pillow all around and used the placket for the closure, so no zippers or buttonholes!  Easy easy easy!  This pillow now resides on my bed, with my blue and white bedding.

The second pillow is made from a sleeveless sweater I found for $2…

This is the before….

And the after!  I needed something to go with the couch, but something pulling some other colors into the couch.  And I wanted the pillow to complement my other pillows and my flower wall art.  I think it was the perfect mix of colors.  

I am linking to these great parties!!

Wednesday thoughts…

I love petunias…this purple color is great…love the different shades!

I just got these hanging plants a few weeks ago and they already are starting to wilt if not watered at least daily!  I am thinking there are too many plants jammed into the pots!

I did stick some of those water globes in the pots and hope that helps. 

A few weeks ago I ordered these {Farmhouse Vintage} Chicken Wire Crate with 4 Milk Bottles~~a set Of 2! 

Today I got them and filled one of them with cut flowers from my flower garden.

They are tiny, but very cool!

Pretty cute, huh? 

And there’s two of them, thinking it might be nice for a gift, or maybe I will just keep them both for me!

I have been wanting to show how to make a fountain…thought this would be a great time to show you my cat drinking fountain bubbling fountain!

Ours is also a souvenir keeper too since my son and I found the crystals in the fountain when we went crystal mining in Arkansas!  Anyway, more on the fountain later after Mama Kitty finishes with her drink. 

Washi Tape

I found out that Washi tape is now at Target! 

I bought these rolls in the office supplies section…

And, it is only $4 for four rolls!!

It comes in sets of four rolls, one each solid, large dots, small dots and diagonal stripes.  And look how thick the rolls are!

I may or may not have bought one package of each color!