Dresser-Cab: Heavy Duty Crafting

Hello, blog world!  

Jamie here, bringing you more inspiration and ideas for your creative cognizance.

In my recent thrifting adventures I happened to stumble upon a very unique piece....

A hunk of old kitchen cabinets!

What on earth would anyone do with that, you ask?  Well, I have been searching for some bedroom storage, and I have been holding out for something slightly more interesting than your traditional dresser, and significantly cheaper than a big old armoire...

So when I discovered this beaut in Cool Stuff Weird Things, it was love at first sight.

Ok, maybe it wasn't so instantaneous.

But the point is, after fifteen minutes of pondering, deliberating, and haggling, I handed over $60 for the hunk o' cabinets, and another $20 for the delivery, and I had myself a project.

The first step was to sand it down.  

I borrowed my cousins electric sander (pictured above), and went at it.  My plan was to clean it up and rough it up before painting it over with some sort of jade green.  When I started to sand, however, I was pleasantly surprised to discover what was hiding underneath that dingy white mess of a paint job....

beautiful colors!  

And not just beautiful colors, but LAYERS of beautiful colors!

Game changer.  

Once I realized what a glorious color scheme lay beneath that top coat, I knew I couldn't just paint over it.  So after consulting with my fellow craft girls, I decided to change tactics.  

There were still plenty of blemishes and chunks to smooth out and cover up, so I decided, after cleaning and sanding the entire cabinet, that I would cover the whole thing with a coat or two of an antique white. 

While sanding I paid extra attention to edges, corners, and any spots that looked like they had been through a little extra trauma (as you can see in the photo above).  I decided that the best way to get that authentic distressed look that antique lovers pay so much money for, was to emphasize the dings and scars that were already there.  

When I was satisfied that I had a colorful, workable surface, I cleaned it and then began painting.

My only intent in painting it was to cover the blemishes and to be able to deliberately bring out the marks and scuffs where I wanted them, so I only used one coat of paint.  I bought an entire gallon of flat paint, not knowing how much I would need to cover everything, but I could have easily managed with a half gallon or less.  The inside of the cabinet was beat up, but it had a lovely, buttery yellow that I wanted to keep.  So I left the inside of the doors as is, but I sanded the shelves smooth after I painted them, and was left with a soft antique white with that gorgeous yellow peeking through

And for the exterior I used the electric sander only in a few places to get through most of the paint, but relied mostly on hand-sanding to expose those colors.  

Then, after four days of inhaling dust and hours in home depot matching paint colors, I was finished.

So let's recap...

Cabinet: $60

Delivery: $20

Paint: $15 

Misc. Supplies: $10

Total: $105

And now I have a beautiful dresser-cabinet, or dresser-cab (still working on a name)...  to stack books on and to fill with clothes.  

Success!

Thanks for reading, crafters.  

Leave comments, ask questions, let me know what you think!

DIY Christmas Wreath

Behold, we bring you tidings of great and simple crafting!

A DIY Christmas wreath, complete with a jingle bell bird nest!

YOU WILL NEED:

1 Styrofoam Wreath Ring

(size of  your preference)

1 skein of yarn

(color/type of your preference)

 Jingle Bells

(size/colors of your preference)

1 Fake Bird

(Or two, if it's a love nest!

You can get a product like this at any craft store like Michaels or Hobby Lobby)

1 Christmas Floral Stem

(design of your preference)

Spool of 1 1/2" ribbon

(color/design of your preference)

Ball-Headed Straight Pins

Small Hot Glue Gun

1. Begin with a styrofoam wreath ring.

We used a 12", but you can use whatever size suits you best.

2. Loop the yarn around the ring once and knot it tightly.

3. Wrap the yarn repeatedly around the wreath ring. Make sure it's nice and tight.

This takes some time, so be patient. Some crafters use hot glue to make sure the yarn stays in place, but if you wrap it tight enough, glue is not necessary.

4. When you are finished wrapping the wreath, tie another tight knot at the end of strand of yarn.

It's okay if the knot is slightly visible. You can always place the jingle bell nest where the knot shows to cover it up.

5. Wrap the ribbon evenly around the wreath.

Don't hot glue (at least not yet)! Pin it in place on the back of the wreath to make sure you have it just where you want it before glueing. Once it's in place, put a dot or two of hot glue under the ribbon at each pin.

6. Hot glue bottom stem of the Christmas stem on the front of the wreath (positioned around "four o'clock").

7. Hot glue jingle bells into a cluster, covering the glued bottom stem of the Christmas stem.

Put on as many or as little as you like! We used about 25.

8. Hot glue the bird in the position you would like it to sit.

We also glued some trimming from the Christmas stem onto the belly of the bird to make him look more nestled.

We hung our wreath up by another piece of yarn, but you can also get a wreath hanger at your local craft store. If you have any questions about this craft, feel free to comment!

Enjoy!

DIY Barn Door Jewelry Board

A few weeks ago, a big ol' tree branch fell on a neighbor's wooden shed. They've since been fixing it, and as they were, we spotted one of the old wooden doors in the trash and just had to have it! "Why?" you might ask. Well... to make a jewelry board, of course!

My prize :)

We first sawed it, about 2'x3'. We wanted to make sure to keep the handle on it so it still looked like part of a door. Then we went to the local hardware store and got screw hooks that fit our size preference.

Making marks where the hook will go.

Screwing holes into the board for the hooks.

The finished product. We bolted a wire to the back and hung it by two nails.

The door was free, and the hooks were only $2.50 for a pack. Plus only about an hour of our time. Ain't so bad a deal! Now what to do with those extra door pieces... a bracelet board, maybe? Hmm...