My Mom’s Dresser

I have been wanting to do some blog posts but it just hasn’t been happening lately.  I feel like I am treading water these days and am constantly behind and trying to catch up.  My health isn’t great and I’ve been dragging lately energy-wise.  It stinks, but that is life for me, I guess.

Anyway, it is Saturday morning and I am in bed with my laptop and a headache.  So I thought maybe I could get a quick post up about my mom’s Christmas present.

You may remember THIS post where I asked for advice on what to do with this piece of antique furniture someone had put out for the trash.

Well, a few people threw some ideas out but I still didn’t really have a clue how to fix this thing.  I finally decided what I needed to do.  I wanted to leave some of that beautiful wood grain showing on the front but that door was sooooo thrashed and the top was bad too.  So, here is what I came up with:

The blue color does not read well in the photos but it was a really pretty greyish blue.  I created vinyl sticker stencils with my Silhouette for the door and the top.  I put them on and then painted over them and then removed them.  My parent’s last name starts with “E”, thus the monogram.

It took a lot of work to fix this thing.  I used regular wood filler to fill the corners on the top and all the places on the door.  On the door, the place where the hinges were attached were so worn down hinges couldn’t work there.  I tried filling those up with wood filler but when I went to sand it it all crumbled out.  SO I had to chip that out and then used an epoxy wood filler to fill those in.  After that I had to use a file to get them down to the right height for the hinges to fit in correctly.  Same with the little door pull hole. 

I sanded down the drawer fronts and top and then stained them.  After that I used a spray shellac to seal them and the inside of the dresser and drawers.  Remember, this had a very bad smell to it.  You can still smell it if you put your nose inside the drawers but the smell does not permeate the house, which is good.

I went for a chippy paint finish, done by chipping off paint with a putty knife.  Very easy was to distress.  I finished the piece with an antiquing glaze and a clear wax. 

Honestly, it think it looks AMAZING!  I wanted to keep it for me.  But my parents really like it, I think.  It looks great in their house. 

Here are some more pictures for you.

Had to cut a new shelf for this cubby. 

Lined the drawers with scrapbook paper.

What do you think?  I am amazed that something destined for the dump could look this good!

If you want to “pin” this I won’t be upset at all!

LITTLE MAN STAMPED PAPER PLATES {Party}

I bought some white paper plates at the dollar store for my Little Man shower.  Today I saw much nicer plates at Wal-Mart for 97 cents.  So, I am MAD!  I can’t return them because I have already stamped mustaches onto the dinner plates and bowties onto the dessert plates.  I am pretty happy with how they turned out.

I traced a mustache onto a new foam sponge and then used an Xacto knife to cut around the shape.  Once I had cut down into the sponge around the mustache about 1/4”, I used some little trimming scissors to cut away the excess to create a raised stamp shape.

I mixed some of this black paste food coloring with a couple tablespoons or so of powdered sugar and a few drops of water.

I mixed mine on a dark brown plate since I was using black and didn’t want to risk dying one of my white plates.  I just experimented with the consistency until it seemed to work alright stamping it.  I originally tried to do just food coloring and water but it didn’t stick at all.  I also tried just some ink (not on this sponge) but it never got dry on the glossy surface of the plate.  The puddle of goo was about 1/16 to 1/8 of an inch deep.

I simply pressed the sponge into the goo and then looked to make sure it all seemed well covered, then gently pressed it onto the plate.  Some of them turned out better than others.  But I think the effect if perfect!  Here is the bowtie.

Then I just set them aside to dry.  Once dry, I was able to stack them all up on each other again.  I am wondering how black people’s mouths are going to get from eating off these.  I will keep you posted on that!

Refinished Chair for Desk

I found this chair in someone's trash pile.  It was painted a creamy yellow that was pretty thrashed.  The seat was ripped and nasty.  But I knew it had potential and I could not pass it up at the price of $0!
So, I shoved it in the back of my minivan and took it home to sit in my garage until my husband threatened to divorce me if I didn't do something with it.  So, I decided it was time to refinish it!  I got out the mouse sander and smoothed out the paint, taking off the top layer and smoothing out the chipped parts of the paint.  I wiped it clean and proceeded to spray paint it this lovely torquoise color.  It was a Rustoleum spray paint, which is the brand I prefer.  I added enough coats until it was covered.  Duh!

Then I glazed it.  To glaze it I used Ralph Lauren Faux glaze mixed with some black paint.  I did a section at a time.  I brushed on a layer of the glaze, getting in all the nooks and crannies and cracks.  Then I wiped it off with a barely damp rag.  I repeated this one section at a time till the whole chair was glazed.  Once that dried I sprayed it with a clear spray paint to seal it.

To recover the seat, I removed the seat by unscrewing it from the bottom and then pulled off the nasty fabric and padding.  I bought a new piece of foam padding at the fabric store.  I got the 2" thick piece, but most people use 1" thick foam for chair seats like this.  I also bought a piece of canvas fabric in a natural color.  I cut the piece of foam the same shape as the board for the seat.  After I finished, I read a tutorial that said you are SUPPOSED to cut the foam 1/4" bigger than the board on all sides.  So, mine isn't perfect because you can kindof see the board underneath the fabric on the front corners.  If you cut the foam 1/4" bigger you won't have this problem.  So, trace the board onto the foam and then cut 1/4" outside your line.  Then glue your foam to the seat. 

For the damask design, I used freezer paper to cut out this shape on my Silhouette.  If you have a Silhouette, you can cut things like this that are wider than 8" by cutting half the design and then the other half and lining them up.  This is what I did.  If you don't have a Silhouette, you can print out your design you want to use and then use an Xacto knife to cut your stencil out of freezer paper.  I then ironed on the stencil to the fabric.  Then i applied black fabric paint with a sponge brush.  Once it was dry, I pulled off the freezer paper.

I then took my board with the foam glued to it and placed a piece of quilt batting over it and the fabric over that.  Then I used a staple gun to staple it into place on the back, pulling it tight as I went. 

I then sprayed the seat with Scotch Guard to hopefully repel the dirt it will inevitably be inflicted with by my children standing on it and using it as a napkin!  I still haven't reattached the seat to the chair.  It is so hard for me to completely finish projects!  I need to get it done.  Also, this chair has these holes on the top.  They had a little piece of metal in each of them which I pulled out. I'm not sure what was originally on this chair, but I am hoping to find some thing cute to put on them....maybe some glass knobs or a glass knob and a cute bird knob or something.  I am sure I will find something someday!  This chair is now the chair I use in my craft space/office and I love it!

Next time I refinish something I will take pictures as I go.  I did this before I started this blog.  Let me know if you have any questions about the process.  It was really easy!

What furniture do you have sitting around that you need to refinish?