A Painted Dresser

I have all these projects that I need to write about and I had the good intention of writing then in chronological order of when I did them. Then I realized I hadn't blogged about a chair I refinished back in July...so since I was already off I might as well throw that idea to the wind.

This project is one I just finished for my aunt and it's my favorite piece I've done to date so that's what I'm going to write about :)

The dresser to start out wasn't bad at all. It just had a very "Pottery Barn" look about it (probably because it was from Pottery Barn but that's beside the point). Anyway, so it used to be in my cousins nursery and they're redoing her room now and it doesn't fit with the new decor there or in the rest of the house so it had been living in the basement. 

My aunts house is mostly browns, golds, and cremes. It's a mix of classics with a touch of what I'd call "glam". 

Luckily, my aunt was game for pretty much whatever. She just wanted the chest to be a chocolate brown. I sent her the idea for the painted chest (which I saw here) and she loved it. 

I started out by using a little gold rub n' buff on the edges in the hopes that it would show through when I distressed it. However, it wound up rubbing off quite a bit when I distressed it so next time I think I'll use another kind of paint. 

I made my own chalk paint again using this tutorial. The just bought another Behr sample from Home Depot in Dark Truffle. I did two full coats and then a touch up third coat where it was still not completely opaque.

Then, I put the drawers back in and sketched out my design to paint. (I actually had only painted the drawers at this point and not the dresser base because I was anxious to paint the detail work :) ) I used a white kind of charcoal crayon because I couldn't find any chalk but basically the idea is to be able to sketch out the shape of what you want to paint with a medium that you can wipe off later when you finish.

I only sketched out the general shape because I wanted it to have that really hand painted feel and not be completely perfect. I used a cream Behr paint (I can't remember the name of it now!) and watered it down. I used that with just a craft paint brush to create a sort of "leaf" shape for the vine design.

When I had completely finished painting everything, I waxed everything down using Annie Sloan wax (2 coats on the drawers and 1 on the base). The drawer pulls I used were just from Hobby Lobby. I wanted something cream and simple with a sort of flower shape that would compliment the vine design.

The last thing I did was to add some drawer liners. It wasn't necessary, but I think it added another fun touch and helped the piece feel more expensive and like all the details had been though through. I found the wrapping paper I used locally at Celebrations and simply cut it to size and used double sided table to keep it in place in the drawers.

I was SO pleased with how this piece turned out! As usual, my parents wanted to keep it, but it went back to live with my aunt. It has yet to find a permeant home but has been moving around for now :)

Here's the final before and after. I love how such a simple piece can be so special after a bit of work!

PS I "staged" the shots for the finished piece in our house. It's so funny how it looks good in the shots you take but really the room looked like a complete wreck and it was too small for the space! ;)

The Chairs That Almost Weren't (How to Upholster Broken Caning)

So...hello again everyone! Still here. Although I'm not sure if my other half is coming back, one of my New Years Resolutions is to try and blog more. My goal is once a week so we will see!

This wonderful story you're about to hear took place back in about July. Abigail and I were driving home from a bridal shower and we decided to stop at a yard sale. They were wrapping it up and had 4 SUPER crappy looking chairs for sale for $10. For me, the worse something looks, the better the challenge is so I was all in! (In reality, I was only mentally invested because Abigail was the one who put up the capital since I had forgotten my money :) ) 

Anyway…when we got home, the situation at our house was something like this: Abigail's stuff was EVERYWHERE. She had shower presents that filled the finished part of the basement and all her furniture was in the unfinished part of the basement, slowly encroaching on my Dad's work space. So clearly, tensions were running high and the obvious first item to go would be Katie's junky chairs.

I don't actually think my mom would have thrown the chairs out without my consent but she threatened to for a few weeks until one night at dinner I finally said fine! throw them out.

As fate would have it, Tori, one of Abigail's bridesmaids, was over that night to help with programs. She saw the chairs and said she would buy them if I refinished them. So the chairs were saved from a sad dumpster fate. 

To start out, almost all the caning on the backs were broken and one of the seats had been broken through as well. 

I knew the caning would have to go but luckily my grandma had a friend who graciously cut me a new seat!

I started by making my own black chalk paint (you can find the recipe here!). I very lightly sanded the parts of the chair that were super beaten up but generally left most of the dings. I painted the chairs (it only took 2 coats of black), lightly distressed them with fine grit sand paper, and waxed them (I used Annie Sloan wax for these but you can use this wax as well!). When I distressed the chairs, I tried to distress them where the dings were so they would look older!

After that, I addressed the caning. It could not be salvaged so my options were either recaning them or upholstering them. I chose the latter. I started out by fitting a piece of foam core in the back behind the caning. It fit pretty snugly but I used E6000 glue (LOVE this stuff) to glue some of the broken parts to the foam core.

Next, I cut my foam to fit the front and the back (I believe it was 3/4" foam for the back and 1/4" for the front - both from Jo Ann's). I used spray adhesive on the foam then stuck it where I wanted it (make sure to only use spray adhesive outside!). The spray adhesive held the foam in place so I could upholster over it. 

I cut the fabric (which was a bleached drop cloth - you can find a tutorial on how to do it here) generally the right size and stapled it into place, starting top middle then bottom middle, then left, then right so it was all taut then worked to the edges. (Sidenote: please enjoy the conversation that ensued as I'm a terrible speller and blanked on how to spell "taut"  meaning "pulled tightly")

And back to the chairs...so I tried to keep the staples in a straight line because then I covered them with trim when I finished. The trim was just from Hobby Lobby and when I trimmed back the fabric I first tried to use small scissors but that was really tedious so I found that carefully using my rotary blade next to the staples worked best. 

I also forgot to mention my favorite part - the backs of the chairs. Luckily Tori was super game to my ideas and let me use an old coffee sack as an accent. Heine Brothers occasionally sells their coffee sacks and the money goes to a women's shelter. The last one they had has hot pink writing and it was PERFECT for this project. I just washed it in the washing machine and let it lay flat to dry and it was good to go.

So there you have it. The extremely long (sorry!) epic saga of my rescue of some yard sale chairs. I've mentioned it before, but every time it feels like I'm rescuing and rehabilitating a puppy and I love sending it off to a good home :)

Homemade Halloween

As much as I like to sew, before recently I hardly ever sewed for myself. Kids clothes are just so much easier. They don't require a perfect fit and they're just tiny which makes them adorable. Adult clothes you have to be a little more careful with.

I've wanted to make my Halloween costume for a few years now but Halloween falls about mid semester when sh*t seems to hit the fan and it just doesn't happen. But I was bound and determined to make it happen this year. (side note: I really got DOUBLE handmade Halloween points this year because Jani wore the Dorothy costume I made for her sophomore year for Big/Little reveal! :) )

Our wonderful Catholic missionaries got me hooked on BBC's show "Call the Midwife" this semester (Studio time = lots of time to watch TV). It's a cute, feel-good show about midwives working in poor London in the 1950's. It's actually based off one of the nurse's memoirs which makes it even better! In one of the episodes, the protagonist, Nurse Lee, has to work in the London Hospital. One look at the uniforms and I was IN LOVE. How crazy that they actually wore couture nurse uniforms?

I debated whether people would get it but I loved it so much that I decided to just go for it and it was a huge hit :) Luckily this year, I went to three Halloween events so I'm glad it actually got some good use!

I wound up winning "Most Original Costume" at St. Michael's Halloween Hop (I think it was a function of a certain missionary bragging on me that I made it myself but I'll take awards where I can ;) ). I know I often joke with an over exaggerated self-confidence but really, I'm not one to go around and say "guess what? I made my costume!". It's weird…I love sewing which is really not normal for someone my age to say but surprisingly a lot of people thing it's really cool instead of nerdy (although I'm self-admitted nerd!) Anyway…

For the pattern, I used Rae's Washi Dress pattern and changed the neckline and added the sleeves and collar. I based my nurse hat loosely on a pattern that was originally too small.

And I made the executive decision to wear Uggs with my costume when I was going to be outside for the last two events I went to so the whole "sticking to the time period" thing went out the window. But who knows? Maybe they WERE secretly wearing Uggs then. You can't know for sure!

And for a last thought...I don't know when this "grown up" thing happened but sitting in the bar with Jani we realized we enjoyed wearing our more modest costumes and felt bad for the girls in their skimpy costumes that were just trying too hard. And the fact that we hadn't talked to any boys all night made it a good night :) 

**sorry about the iPhone but I'm a college student…I do what I can for pictures! :)

xoxo,

New to my Etsy Shop!

Hello everyone!

Long time no see. I know. Life gets busy and it's hard to sit down and actually write about the things I'm working on BUT today I'm updating to show you all a few new items I've added to my Etsy shop. Two of these booties were actually part of a custom order but they turned out so darling that I decided to list them in case anyone else was interested!

First up are the custom mascot/logo booties! This pair was made for the Red Sox and what great timing with them in the World Series! If you didn't already know I'm actually a Red Sox fan myself but I've been really bad about watching the games lately ;) #stillafan

And with that same listing I showed a few more pictures of other custom pairs that I've done as examples. Fun fact about these Notre Dame booties is that the gold thread I used (which is beautiful but a pain in the butt to use!) is actually from my great grandmother!

Sorry for the out of focus iPhone picture but I had to share these too because they're some of my all time favs because they're for Sacred Heart!

The next listing is for these koala booties. They actually are going out to Australia but they are so stinking cute they'd be great for any baby here too.

And the last new bootie design is for...monsters! Apparently monster fashion is a thing...who knew? And Fendi is up this is trend too with a bag starting at just $4,450. Christmas presents anyone ;) 

All jokes aside I really do love this pair of booties. They're definitely non-traditional and would be so fun for a boy (yay boy items!!!) or an awesome baby girl :)

The last new item in the store is a self-inking custom stamp. I've been having so much fun with making my labels pretty when I ship things out that I figured I should probably make a listing for them. They're perfect for a wedding or Christmas present :)

This sample stamp is heading over to my sister and JJ soon...for JJ's birthday present. I'm sure he's going to be thrilled ;) and I'm sorry for spoiling the surprise! #marriedlifepresents

So there you have it! What do you think? 

I'm thinking maybe I should improve my writing skills...perhaps less smilie faces and hashtags? Hmmm  maybe not :)