Dresser Turned Buffet Table

Well friends the countdown is on! I have 5 1/2 weeks left till our little guys is scheduled to arrive and that means I've been in full project mode around here. We also celebrated both of our little girls birthdays and mother's day so there's my excuse for the lack of love on this lil blog of mine! Good news is that there are lots of project posts coming!

I'm excited to share this first project with you! This is a sentimental piece of furniture passed down from my grandma. Does it look familiar?

Remember this post about this special piece of furniture that I made over for my daughter's room? Here's a reminder of what it looked like after that post.

 Here's what I did to make it the beautiful buffet table that is now in my dining room!

Strip the paint from the top and sand it down to a silky smooth finish.

Apply 2 coats of my favorite spray paint Krylon Ivory to bottom portion of dresser. Then distress on corners and anywhere you feel like it!

Apply Minwax Ebony stain to top and distressed areas. I did 3 coats of stain because I wanted it nice and dark. Apply protective coat. I used polyurethane and applied 3 coats, sanding in between each coat. Add new hardware and it is now a beautiful buffet table!

What do you think? I absolutely love how it turned out and that I had a new use for this special piece of furniture. Another bonus is it added lots of storage to that room! Thanks for stopping by!

Enjoy!
 

Children's Rocking Chair Makeover

Hello there! As promised here's the children's rocking chair for my girls room! If you didn't see my post about the inspiration and colors I'm using you can check it out here.

Now lets refresh our memories of what the chair looked like before.

And after removing over 100 staples, filling the holes in the seat, a little bit of sanding, a solid coat of Kilz spray primer and Krylon Raspberry spray paint here's what she looks like now:

What do you think? I still need to make the pillow for it, but that will be done with the sewing projects. First things first...I will be stenciling this weekend and am so excited about it and can't wait to show you!

Enjoy!

Shelf Makeover

Just in case you missed my What I Know post over at Southern Lovely here it is! I have this little shelf unit in my entry and I've been wanting to give it a makeover to match and flow with the rest of the pieces in my home. Here's what I did to make it beautiful!

1. Clean with soap and warm water.


 2. Primer is the key to no sanding! Apply an EVEN and generous coat of primer. I use and prefer KILZ primer. There are a couple things to think about when choosing a spray primer or primer by the gallon.

• If the piece has a lot of detail or rounded edges in it I would use the spray. It will be a little more expensive, but so worth it!
• If the piece has flat edges I would choose primer by the gallon and invest in a good roller.

Before you move to the next step please please please make sure the entire piece has an even and generous coat of primer.

3. Once the primer is completely dry apply paint. I prefer Krylon, Rustoleum or Valspar spray paint. You will want a good quality spray paint. In my opinion I think spray paint gives the piece a more finished look. It is quick and you don't have to worry about brush or roller marks. One day I hope to own a paint sprayer and then I will use paint by the gallon, but until then spray paint is my best friend!

When spray painting hold the can upright at all times possible and spray in even strokes from one side to the next. For this piece I started on the side at the top left corner; sprayed in one stroke to the right corner and moved back and forth. It will look streaky. Don't spray another coat on until the previous coat is dry. If you do it to soon you will get drip marks and have to sand them out. For each coat I also flip my furniture if possible. For example on this piece I sprayed the first coat with it standing up and the second coat with it on it's side. This will help to eliminate streaks.

Keep applying coats until desired color is reached. For this piece I used Krylon Ivory in a glossy finish and applied 4 coats. I didn't spray the inside and you'll see why below.

4. Next comes the glaze. I use Behr faux finishing glaze tinted black. There are two types of glazing that I'm aware of.

• Clean glazing - when the glaze is only in the indents, cracks or corners.
• Dirty glazing - when glaze is applied randomly allover.

Here is a photo of the side while I was glazing. The far right indent has no glaze, middle is how it looks right after I apply the glaze and the far left is what it looks like when the excess is wiped off.

A little glaze goes a long way. Use a foam brush and dip the tip in the glaze and dab into indent making sure to cover it completely with glaze. Using a damp cloth wrapped around your index finger wipe excess glaze off leaving glaze only in the indent. Repeat the steps if needed.

5. For this project I wanted a design on the inside. I've seen many different options such as wall paper and stencils, but I opted for a very inexpensive and less time consuming version and used wrapping paper.

• Measure and attach the back piece first. Add a 1/2 inch to the width of the measurement and wrap around onto the sides when gluing it in place. This will ensure that you don't have any gaps that will show through at the corners. 
• Measure and cut the sides. I added 1/4 inch to the width so I could wrap it around on the front inside that will not be seen.

Here's how it turned out.

Much better don't you think? I love it! Enjoy!

Children's Table Makeover

My daughter loves playing kitchen, having tea parties and doing all sorts of art projects. I think every kid needs to have their own table that's just their size. I wanted something that would be cute, stylish, durable and not just a folding table. Cute children's tables can be pretty pricey and you know that's not my style. I found this one at Ikea for $20 and put my own spin on it. Enjoy! Also please click to follow me and leave a comment so I know you were here! I really appreciate all the support!

Here's what I used:
table and chairs
modge podge
paper
alphabet/number stickers
paint (if you want to change the color)

1. Paint table
2. Measure each place you want to cover with paper. I used coordinating paper, but used a different piece on every section. I covered all sides of the chairs including the seat. For the table I used the stickers to cover all sides.
3. Apply modge podge one section at a time and adhere paper. I also put a layer of modge podge over the paper and stickers to give it extra protection and to make it easy to wipe off.

Deni's Dresser Makeover

This dresser has been in the works for over a year! Why you ask? Because stripping 2 coats of 60 year old paint out of detail work takes so much time! And I'm a perfectionist so that probably added to it. I do have to say that on a flat surface the paint came off like a charm! I used spray paint stripper and it was so easy to use. This dresser has been in my family for a long time. It was used by all my aunts and mom growing up and then used by me all growing up. When my mom was young they had put a coat of white on it and then a coat of pink. The paint was old and cracking and not in good shape. I love how it looks now and I'm so glad that I have it for my daughter to use. Enjoy! Also if you haven't clicked to follow me please do! I also love comments so let me know that you were here!

I used Kilz spray primer and Krylon Glossy White. The dresser had long handles on it before so I filled the holes with wood filler and sanded it down before I painted it and then added the knobs.

The dresser finished and beautiful!

This is the mirror after I had stripped the paint off

Linking here.

Green to Coral Shoe Makeover

My fabulous sister-in-law is taking our family pictures this weekend. I decided to go with coral, white and tan for our colors. We've always done blacks or browns so I'm excited for some bright new fun colors. I found our outfits easily, but was stuck when it came to finding shoes for myself. I have small feet (size 5) and it's difficult to find shoes that fit that aren't a fortune. If you know me you know that I have love shoes and would say that I have a slight obsession! To accommodate my obsession and thrifty living style I cannot pay more than $30 (if that much) for a pair of shoes...I just can't bring myself to it! So I've been on the lookout for some cute white or coral wedges to go with my outfit and kept coming up with nothing! I've seen a few people that do shoe embellishments, but I decided to do a total shoe makeover. I've been going through my stuff and have a pile of things that need to go to the DI (local thrift store). There on the top of my pile was this pair of green shoes that I got for $5 about five years ago. I loved the shape not necessarily the color, but I still got them. They have hardly been worn and were making their way to the DI until now. Also in my pile was an old swim suit and it had the perfect color of coral lining. Here's how it went.

Before

Sorry I don't have more pictures! I really had no idea what I was doing or if it would even work and I was just going with it.

1. Lay material over the area that will be covered and cut an approximate shape making sure to leave extra to tuck under to glue to the inside. I used modge podge and it worked fabulously!
2. Start at one end putting glue just at the edge. Only put glue on the outside of the shoe when absolutely needed. 
3. When wrapping the fabric to the inside cut little slits so the fabric doesn't bunch up and lays flat.
4. When doing the heal I pealed back the liner (silver) on the inside bottom. Glue the material on and then glue the liner back in place. 
5. Once the entire shoe was done I added the ribbon ruffle. I did a straight stitch with my sewing machine and then gathered the ribbon. Attach to shoe with hot glue or modge podge. Just a little note if you use modge podge you will need cloths pins or bag clips to hold it in place while it dries.

 What do you think? Not bad for some old stuff that was going to the DI right? I absolutely love how they turned out and they will work fabulously for our family pictures! I hope you enjoy! If you have any question please email me or leave a comment. I'd love to hear from you! Also if you haven't clicked on the side to follow me please do! Have a fabulous day!