DIY Small Rustic Bench

Have I told you yet today how much I love Ana White?  I built this bench using the free plans for her Small Easy Rustic X Bench.  It really was very easy.  I followed her directions exactly.  I like her plans because they are simple, well written and easy to follow.  She includes step by step diagrams so her plans are easy to follow especially for beginners like me.

Here's a pictures after I built it before I started the finish.  I love it's splayed legs. If you want to find some great plans, check out Ana's website.

I think I'll make the large bench next.  I think it would look awesome on my front porch!

 

DIY Felt Rosebud Heart Wreath

THIS POST IS IN THE WORKS! PLEASE CHECK BACK IN A DAY OR SO. THANKS FOR LOOKING :)

A favorite neighbor of mine from childhood (my friend's mom actually) was recently diagnosed with cancer.  She was undergoing chemotherapy and was having a pretty rough time.  I decided I wanted to send her something to let her know I loved her and help raise her spirits.  I didn't want to send flowers because I wanted something different.  Something that would last. It was close to Valentine's Day so I decided to make her a wreath made from felt flowers.

I bought 1 yard of deep red felt (the kind on the bolt - sold at most fabric stores).  I needed to come up with a wreath form but didn't want to pay a lot (if anything) for it.  I was going initially going to draw one freehand on a scrap of plywood and use my jigsaw to cut it out.  I found this heart shaped plate at the 99 Cents Only store while shopping for something else and figured I could very easily make it work.  They usually carry them around Valentine's Day. It's just a plain, heart shaped melamine plate. If you don't have a 99 Cents Only store near you, they always have them at Target around Valentine's Day too.

The plate has a very slight bowl shape to it when its laying flat on its back.  I pulled some stuffing out of an old pillow and laid it into the bowl.  I then hot glued a piece of felt around the entire front wrapping completely around the back and hot glued it down.  I cut another piece of hot glue in the shape of the plate and glued it to the bottom of the plate to cover up the edges of the top piece I had pulled around to the back and hot glued in place.

I then made a MILLION felt rosebuds and hot glued them together very closely until the entire top and sides of the wreath were completely covered with roses.  To make a single rose, cut a felt circle 3-4 inches in diameter.  Don't worry about trying to get a perfect circle.  Its actually better to have it a bit more organicly shaped anyway (it will give more shape to your outer petals).

The next part is a little tricky to explain (but easy to do....don't freak out).  I'll try my best to explain (and use lots of cryptic, hard to understand photos for you to try to figure out -  kinda like Ikea assembly instructions). 

To hang, find a ribbon of your choice and hot glue to the back of the plate.

Vintage Dresser Redo

Let me start by apologizing for the semi-awful pictures of this project.  I lost some files and the few  "before" photos I have were from my cell phone.  Hopefully you get the gist. I found this dresser several months ago at Goodwill.  Its really sturdy, is solid wood and has nice dovetailed drawers.  The only thing that was wrong with it was a small section of trim that had broken off the side and it was missing two knobs. Nothing structural at all.  I decided that it was well worth the $30 price tag and snatched it up. 

The finish on it was terrible.  It was creamy white with brown flecks.  The top layer looked like it was tobacco stained from years in a smokers home but didn't have any smoke smell.  Not sure what it was.  On the top of the dresser, there were several layers of paint.  The very top layer was very strange.  It was almost like a sprayed protective plastic of some sort.  Beneath that was another layer of tan paint and then a layer of mint green.  It had definitely been well loved.

When I started to strip the paint from the top, it began to melt and stretch and I could actually lift it and pull it off in large sheets.  Hopefully I didn't expose myself to some freakish chemical.  I've refinished a lot of furniture and I've never seen anything like it before.  Weird.

A friend of mine thought she may want this dresser for her bedroom. She wanted to do it in a gloss black.  We started with that idea in mind.  She later decided the space she had planned for the dresser was much to narrow and we had to use something else. The dresser sat half painted and looking terrible in my kitchen (storing art supplies) for a while until one day when my friend Kristin called and told me she was looking for a dresser.  

We pulled the half painted beast out into the yard and started to strip her down.  Kristin wanted to learn how to strip furniture (doesn't that sound scandelous hee hee).  Diet Cokes in hand, we got started.

Heres a before shot

We gloved up, put goggles on and got started.  One word of advice, when using chemical strippers, ALWAYS wear chemical resistant rubber gloves (stripper will eat through regular thin rubber gloves)and protective eye wear.  We both got stripper splashed on our glasses.  Stripper burns like CRAZY! Be careful!

Here's the stripper we used

I wouldn't recommend using the black foam brushes. The best thing to use is a cheapo bristled brush.  Stripper melts the foam brushes.I like this stripper because its very thick and tends to stay put better than some of the other strippers out there.

After you remove all hardware, put a piece of tape on the back side of each drawer covering the screw hole from the hardware.  This will prevent the stripper from dripping through the front of the drawer and making a mess on the inside back of your drawer. Its also a really good idea as you remove drawers to grab a pencil and mark the bottom of each drawer with a letter or number denoting which order they go back in so they'll fit back in correctly when your done.

Brush on the stripper covering all painted areas.  I lay it on kind of thick so it doesn't dry too quickly especially in the summer since I live in a very hot climate.  If you lay it on to thin on a hot day it will still loosen the paint but then lay right back down and dry solid.  At this point, be patient.  Let the stripper work.  I usually wait about 15 minutes then try to scrape the paint off in a small section.  If it sticks, wait a while longer.  You should be able to get almost all paint off and have very little to sand if you wait long enough.  Use a putty knife to scrape the paint.  Make sure to use a glass or metal container to put your scraped paint in the stripper will eat right through stryofoam and some types of plastic. You can see the stripper working well after about 10 minutes

The stripper was working well but the temperature outside was rising fast.  We couldn't get all the drawers stripped before the stripper dried and we ended up with this

Not a huge deal if this happens, just reapply stripper, wait a few minutes and scrape again while its still wet. Don't waste your time trying to muscle through it.

Its really pretty easy to remove paint from the flat areas.  The nooks and crannies can be a little tougher.  The easiest way I've found to work with irregular spaces and detail work is to use a scrub brush or even a toothbrush in the smaller areas while the stripper is still wet.  Be very careful to move the brush back and forth VERY slowly so you don't run the risk of flicking stripper up on your skin or in your face.  Once you've loosened the paint from the nooks and crannies, grab a wet washcloth and wipe the paint particles and the stripper paste from the wood.  You should be able to get it very clean. What you can't get off now you can lightly sand off later but its much easier to get it off while its wet.

If you decide you want to use the orginal hardware you can skip this step.  If you want new hardware that won't fit the holes that have already been drilled, you'll need to fill the holes with wood filler at this point. This is the filler I usually use.

Its pretty sticky stuff.  Try to use a putty knife (or even an old credit card) to press it into the hole left from the hardware.  Run over it again with the side of the credit card or putty knife like you would if you were leveling off a cup of flour with the backside of a butter knife.  You want it to be as flush as you can with the surface of the wood.  As the filler dries, it will shrink just a bit.  Add a bit more filler until it is flush or just higher than the surrounding wood.  You will sand it level when you sand the rest of the dresser prior to priming it.

Every once in a while I run into an applique on a piece of furniture I just don't like.  I wasn't really excited about this one and neither was Kristin. Most appliques are made of a mixture or resin and sawdust. They will soften a bit when cover them with stripper and let them sit for a few minutes.  I usually give it about 10 to 15 minutes then very gently try to lift a small area with a putty knife.  This one popped right off after about 10 minutes.

When we started this project, we weren't sure how we wanted to finish it.  We debated completely stripping it and staining it. Once we had it stripped, we stained one of the drawers and immediately changed our minds. This dresser was born to be painted! 

I love finished look of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint.  Its fun to work with, has very few (if any) brush marks and has a unique finish I haven't seen with any other products.  In Tucson, we don't have any Annie Sloan stockits but my parents are driving down from Utah in a few days and have agreed to pick some up for me.  If you don't have it near you and want to give it a try, you can order it online from drab2fabpaint.blogspot.com They'll deliver right to your door.

We decided to paint the dresser in Annie Sloan Chalkpaint in the color "Primer Red."  We should have the paint this weekend and will post pictures as we work.  Thanks for looking!

Thrift Store/Yard Sale Finds

After 15 years of marriage and a very long stint (I won't embarrass myself by telling you exactly how long) in college, we finally bought our first home 3 years ago.  We'd been poor college students for so long we really didn't have any furniture when we moved in.  When we left grad school in Oregon, we quickly realized the amount the moving company wanted to charge to move our furnishings to Arizona was waaaaay more than our hand me down furniture was worth.  We happily gave it to remaining students and what they didn't want went to the dump.

When we finally got the keys to our new house, I was excited because it was finally ours. The kids loved it because I let them roller skate around the living and dining room with their friends. The floors are all tile (except the bedrooms) and we had no furniture to get in the way. They'd crank up the stereo and had their own roller skating rink.  After a while, my sweet mother-in-law brought down her folding camp chairs so we'd have someplace to sit while watching television.

In the past three years, I've hit every yard sale, thrift store and neighborhood cleanup pile west of the Mississippi and finally have enough furniture to live comfortably and I can proudly say I didn't pay full price for any of it. 

Here are a few of my favorite finds

I found this mid-century modern set at Goodwill.  My heart skipped a beat when I saw it.  Its in near mint condition and is from the super collected Broyhill Sculptra Supriem line.  These are crazy popular right now. It doesn't really go with the rest of my house but I love love love this style.  I'm posting it on Craigslist today.  Any profit will go towards this

World Market Photo

I'm in love with this set.  I think I'd add a different style of chair for the two end chairs though. My kitchen table is terrible.  Its completely falling a part.  Ugh.

Thrift Store Headboard Redo

I've been looking for a headboard forever!  I knew I didn't want to spend a fortune and wanted something a little different than I'd had in the past. I knew I wanted to either build or redo one myself.  I looked through a million plans but didn't really see anything that I thought was worth the time and effort.  There were a couple of headboards from Pottery Barn I thought were nice, but not exactly what I was looking for.  Here are the two I kind of liked:

 Pottery Barn Photo. 

This is the "Gabriella Upholstered Headboard." It would have cost $799 plus tax and shipping for the size I needed (California king).

Pottery Barn Photo

This is the other one I really liked.  Its called the "Lewis Headboard." The headboard itself runs $399. The slipcover is no longer available but when it was, it cost another $299.

I loved the unusual shape of the "Gabriella"  and the contrast between the linen upholstery and the warm wood frame but wasn't super in love with the tufting.  I also really liked the antique french grain sack look of the "Lewis" headboard too. I decided I'd wait until I found what I really liked at a price I could live with. 

Luckily, my favorite Diet Coke stop is RIGHT next door to a thrift shop.  I stop there almost every day after my Diet Coke run but rarely buy anything. The manager there and I have become friends. She thinks I'm a crazy lady because most of the things I buy there are terribly ugly, dated or broken. She even told the man who sorts through donations to decide if they are going on the sales floor or to the dump about me.  She told him to clear "questionable furniture items" with her because I may be willing to buy them.  When she told me that, I couldn't help but laugh.

One morning I stopped in to say hello to my friend at the thrift store and noticed an amazingly ugly headboard stacked behind some other furniture.  I could see the curvy outline of one of the sides so I moved things out of the way and there she was.  One of the most amazingly hideous/awesome headboards ever.  It really was ugly but had loads of potential. And for $30??  SOLD to the crazy lady who will buy anything!

We were actually on our way to help out with a friend's son's Eagle Scout project when we stopped for sodas and ended up with a bed.  My girls were mortified when they realized the headboard had to hang halfway out the back of our minivan (as if the minvan weren't bad enough) at the service project for all of their friends to see.  Can you believe I would do that to them? Geesh!

Here she is in all her seventies glory

I immediately knew what I'd do.  I headed to Lowe's and got a the thinnest sheet of plywood I could find. then I taped up wrapping paper to the outside wood frame and used a pencil to trace the shape of the inside lattice work.

I used my jigsaw and cut the plywood about 1/4 inch inside my pencil traced lines (to leave room for upholstery).  I decided to combine the things I loved about each of the two Pottery Barn headboards into one. 

First I needed to find upholstery.   I really wanted to use a coarse, more rustic natural linen that would resemble antique grain sack cloth.  I quickly realized that was a tall order.  The linen I wanted was really expensive.  I found a cheap version at Home Fabrics in Tucson that was printed on one side with tacky cabbage roses.  I'm pretty sure its the same fabric I chose for my dress to go to the eighth grade dance in 1988.  The background was exactly what I was looking for.  If you flipped the fabric over, you couldn't see any evidence of the print.  The price wasn't marked so I asked someone at the cutting counter how much it was.  Now you'll think I'm lying, but I'm not.  He replied "well, I don't think a single soul has bought that fabric since 1988.  How does $3 a yard sound?" Who was this man??? CREEPY!  I of course bought the rest of the bolt in case ever wanted matching accessories (or maybe another dress). 

I didn't want the headboard to be too fluffy so I stapled two thin layers of batting (leftover from the Raleigh headboard project - not sure of the weight, but thin) over the plywood I'd cut.  I then flipped the fabric wrong side out and stretched and stapled stretched and stapled until it was completely covered.

After the upholstery was as straight and tight as I could get it, I used painters tape to tape off a stripe pattern I liked to mimic grain sack cloth.  I mixed a few acrylic craft paint colors until I had a muted blue/gray color I liked.  I used a cheapo disposable sponge brush (the black kind) to paint the stripes.  The trick to getting aged looking stripes is to use a very very dry brush and dab very lightly.  Don't paint up and down.  You want it to look blotchy and very light.  Sometimes it was actually very hard to tell if I was laying any color down at all.  Compared to the dark blue painters tape pale, faint paint was a bit hard to see.  Go lighter at first and once you remove your tape if you decide want it darker, you can re tape and add another very thin coat.  If you do get it darker than you'd like of if you'd like to make some areas appear a lighter and more worn, you can get a very fine grain sand paper and lightly

Make sure not to get ahead of yourself and try to paint your stripes before you upholster.  It will be next to impossible to keep your lines straight while stretching your upholstery to cover your frame.  This is especially true if the shape you are upholstering isn't a square or has any curves to it at all. Patience will really pay off. 

I didn't do anything to the outside wood frame at all.  I decided I liked the wood color.  Once the stripes were done, I fit the upholstered inset into the frame and used a few wood screws to secure it from the back.  I decided not to use adhesive and used the screws sparingly so I can easily change out upholstery or maybe even someday take the insert out and do something with the original lattice. 

This project would work for many different headboards.  I see cheap headboards that would work at yard sales and on Craigslist all the time.  Just look for beds with inset panels that you could fit a very thin layer of plywood into. The shape of the headboard doesn't really matter, just find one you like.

This was an incredibly easy project and start to finish cost less than $50 including all supplies except the paint and batting I already had on hand.  Here's a photo of it in my room:

I'm in love :)

DIY Pottery Barn Inspired Numbers Painting

Okay, so if you've looked thru many of my posts, you can probably tell I have a thing for typography.  When I saw this painting from Pottery Barn, I fell in love. 

Let me clarify, I fell in love with the IDEA of the painting.  I did have a few problems with it though.  Obviously, the price was more than I wanted to pay for a wrap around laser print.  It wasn't even a real canvas, just printed to look like one which meant it wouldn't be durable and wouldn't look very real anyway.  The other thing that really bugged me were the random numbers on it.  I decided I'd do my own with numbers significant to me and my family.  I had a giant blank wall in my living room. I knew I needed something on a large scale to look good.  I found a large 36 x 48 canvas at a funny little thrift store down the road for $7.  I knew it would be the perfect size for a large wall in my living room.  I jumped on it.  The great thing about this project is that you could really recycle any canvas you wanted to.

I love hitting thrift stores and picking out the VERY ugliest paintings they have because you'll be covering the image up with your own and you can usually get the really tacky ones for next to nothing.  Last week I found a large canvas at Goodwill that I should have bought.  I really really should have.  I've been wishing I had ever since.  I guess the best way to explain it would have been to show you this:

Now that you have some idea of what I'm talking about, imagine blue and purple make up and a bigger perm all in a graphic-y arts painting kind of form.  If I remember correctly, there were even little rhinestones on her leotard. It really was fantastic. I'm kicking myself for not buying it.  It was almost to amazing to cover up with another project though.  In fact, it would probably have ended up being a Christmas gift for my little brother Ryan.  He would have loved it! Bummer.

End Table Redo

DIY Dropcloth Ottoman Slipcover

Yardsale Bench Redo

My friend Kristin and I went to the Dove Mountain community yard sale a few weekends ago hoping to find a dresser for her new house.  There were a million yard sales but most of them were pretty blah.  At one of the last houses we stopped at, we found this little gem:

Its in near mint condition.  The only problem I can see is that the upholstery is a bit faded (oh and really really ugly).  Structurally speaking, its in great condition. The pad is still in great shape too.  For $7.00 I knew I couldn't pass it up.  I've been thinking about putting a bench at the end of my bed for a while now but haven't found one that would work until now.

Thrifted Wingback Chairs Reupholstery

I found these great wingback chairs at a thrift store for $35 each. They were actually in really good shape and were very clean.  The upholstery was a very lightweight robins egg blue silk.  Silk is pretty impractical in my house.  I had them for almost a year before this happened

One of the kids dropped a glass bottle of black nail polish on the tile right next to the chairs.  It shattered and splattered black nail polish all over one of them. Wahoooo uh crap, now I'll get to have to reupholster them!

I've always had a thing for mens suiting material.  I love old suit coat fabrics of all kinds, pinstripes, plaids, houndstooth and just about everything else.  I was really excited when I found this houndstooth at Home Fabrics on sale for $5 a yard.  I wanted to find something that would go well in my living room as well as my bedroom so I could use the chairs in either room.  I ended up buying 20 yards so I would have enough to match the pattern and also for throw pillows if I decided to make some.  I figured I'd need around 8 yards for each chair.  I've made slipcovers before and have upholstered several simple projects but these was the first big project I've done.   You'll have to excuse the terrible photos.  I took them as I deconstructed the chair so I would know how to put it back together.  I didn't plan on starting a blog.

Vintage Nightstand Redo



While helping a friend with her master bedroom update we were both on the prowl for new nightstands.  We looked through a million websites and catalogs and stores. We found a lot of them that would "work" but nothing that really excited us.  We were on a budget and weren't really interested in buying new.  We decided we'd take our time and find just what we wanted. 

One night while on Craigslist, I spotted two matching antique walnut nightstands.  They had an amazing shape but a dark, dated finish and boring hardware.  I think the seller only wanted $60 or so for the pair.  The nighstands had just been posted a few minutes before I saw the ad. I was so excited I couldn't stand it!  I called the seller right away to see when I could pick them up.  The seller told me they had just been sold.  SOLD? SOLD!?? I wanted to cry.

As soon as I hung up my phone rang.  It was my friend Sue.  She told me she'd just found the perfect nightstands on Craigslist.  I described the nightstands to see if they were the ones I'd just seen.  They were.  I sadly told her they'd just barely sold.  When she told me she was the one who'd just bought them I about died.  What luck!  I'd get to refinish them after all. 

DIY Striped Shower Curtain

Vintage Numbered Boxes

While walking thru Ikea, I noticed these dovetailed, solid wood boxes in the garden section.  They were really inexpensive and looked well made.  Each of them came with a small, removable metal tray inside too if you wanted to use them as planters or table center pieces. I bought the large square ones (I think they were around $9 each).  They also had smaller squares as well as rectangular ones.  I loved the dovetailing.  I decided to distress and stain them.  I used a hammer, my handy can-opener (handy for beating furniture, not opening cans.....stupid, crappy can-opener) and anything else I could bang on it with that wouldn't break. 

I gave it a quick rub down with an orphaned athletic sock soaked in Minwax Dark Walnu t stain. After it was dry, I used a generic 3" stencil from the hardware store and gave them a quick paint job with some black craft paint sponged on with a cheapo black sponge brush. After the paint dried, I went over the stenciled number with a fine grit sandpaper to age it a bit. The Numer "1" bin is mine to store keys and my wallet and anything else I happen to have in my pockets.  My husband quickly called the "number 2" bucket because in his heart, he is still a twelve year old boy.....

How to Do Chippy Paint Finishes

DIY Spice Drawer

Anyone who knows me will tell you I'm one of the most unorganized people on this planet.  That said, I feel pretty silly posting anything about organization.  Getting organized is one of those lofty "someday before I die" type goals for me. 

Vintage Factory Cart with Casters

Have I mentioned how much I LOOOVEE Ana White?  For those of you who don't know who she is, please check out her blog www.ana-white.com.  She posts her plans free online.  Many of them are big name knock-offs (Pottery Barn, Land of Nod etc.).  I built this vintage style crate in no time at all (with some help from my toddler).  I wanted it to give it a well used, well worn appearance to give it some "street cred" ha ha. I built it exactly to Ana's specs from her plan for Vintage Crate Carts but used new wood rather than reclaimed pallets.  My only adjustment was making it two inches more narrow than hers so I can fit two of them on the floor in my pantry.  Had I made them as wide as her plan, they wouldn't have fit.  The plan was really easy to follow and quick too. I think the finish took longer than the build. 

This is the pile of wood I started with after I'd made all of my cuts.  Ana's plans are amazing so I won't really go into much in the way of instructions.

Once you've got your crate built, it's always a good idea to give it a test drive. My baby loveeees anything with wheels. When we got our wheeled laundry sorter a few months ago, "lawnee" rides were the only thing that would calm her down when she was upset.  Not sure why I'm introducing another wheeled object into our home.  I'm a glutten for punishment I guess.

So I'm going to peg myself as a little cheesy here, but I love to incorporate places we've lived and loved into my projects. I live in a small-ish town near Tucson that is famous for the cotton that grows here (Pima Cotton).  From what I hear, it only grows here and in one small area in Egypt. I have no idea if its true or not but kind of a cool thought anyway.  I decided to make an old antique looking "Marana Cotton" cart.

I distressed (beat the crap out of) my crate, taking all hard edges off of the wood.  On some of them, I used a knife to peel away some of the wood and used my sander on some of the others. Then I took a hammer, a can opener, my keys and any thing else I could find to give it some good bumps and bruises.  If you've ever looked at real antique or vintage crates, you may have noticed the black rust staining around the screws and nails.  I wanted to mimic that look (without waiting 80 years) so I decided to use drywall screws rather than normal brass or galvanized screws so they would have dark, aged looking heads.  I took a black permanent marker (medium tipped Sharpie) and very quickly drew some lines from the screws going out into the wood.  Then, I VERY QUICKLY smudged the ink before it could dry with my finger.  I started out light and then kept going until I liked it.  You could do the Sharpie trick before or after you stain your wood.   Once the crate was aged and stained, I added casters (found the vintage looking ones at Lowe's) and stenciled the lettering on the front.

DIY Faux Antique French Stoneware

I'm always excited to find new products or techniques I haven't seen or tried before.  One day I was at the craft store and saw a box of pre-made paper mache.  All you had to do was add water.  Hmmmmmmm, interesting.  I knew I definitely needed it and couldn't live another second without it,  I just wasn't sure why.  I remembered LOVING paper mache while in Mrs. Reed's second grade glass.  I loved the way it felt, the way it smelled and maybe I also liked the way it tasted.  I said MAYBE! Don't judge me! Anyhooo, I bought this at Michael's crafts (I think it was around $5 with a 40% off coupon).

It was true, all you had to do was add water.  Oh, and it was just how I remembered it.  Squishy and cold and slimy and smelled exactly the way I thought it would. Not sure how this brand tastes.  Maybe someday I'll let you know. Not today. 

The label said it would "stick to any surface." That got me thinking about what I had laying around my house to experiment on. I rummaged through my kitchen and found a couple of glass containers that were missing their lids and were marked to go to Goodwill. Here is what I started with (except without the lid, of course):

When I mixed the paper mache dough, I didn't really pay attention to the directions.  I added enough water to make it a nice soft play dough or pottery clay consistency.  It was maybe a little bit stickier than play dough but not much. I pressed it on the glass and kept adding and adding and smoothing with my fingers.  I wanted it to look very hand made and rustic.  I didn't want it to be perfectly smooth.  I got it as smooth as I could and placed it on a baking cooling rack overnight to air-dry.

This is what it looked like after it had dried before sanding and painting (a smaller one I also made - forgot to take a midpoint photo for this one. Oopsie).

I decided to take pics before lining the inside of the pot so it would be easier to see.

The next day after it was good and dry, I went over it with a piece of medium then fine sandpaper until I was happy with how smooth it was.  To make it appear authentic and worn, I wanted it to be pretty smooth (but still wavy if that makes sense). 

I painted the entire piece in a creamy white acrylic craft paint (any cream paint would do fine).  After the cream paint was dry, I stenciled a number "5" on one side (to symbolize the number in my family) in a dark gray. I decided to use a dark gray so it looked aged.  I thought black would be to dark.  I then waited a day or two until all of the paint was good and dried and used painters tape to block off one thin line around the jar. I sponged it on with a black disposable sponge brush really lightly in a country french blue.

 

I gave it another sanding (this time with my eyes closed to make the worn areas more random and natural). Once it was "worn enough" I rubbed it down with one coat of antique glaze.  If you aren't familiar with this product, it's AWESOME.  You can buy it by the quart or even by the gallon at the big box home improvement centers or in the small craft paint size bottles at craft stores.  The stuff lasts a loooong time.  You rub it on with a soft cloth and then rub it right back off.  The little cracks, crevices and any imperfections or dimples retain some of the glaze.  It adds more dimension and authenticity to vintage or antique finishes.  It's one of my favorite products. 

I've decided I'd like to play with (not eat) this paper mache stuff a bit more.  It really does seem to stick to anything.  Looking at this cheapo glass canister, you would never guess its paper mache.  It looks, feels and even sounds like stoneware when you knock on it. I think I'll try covering some cheap bowls or maybe make a utensil holder for next to the stove.  So many things you could do with this amazing paper mache!! 

After I finished the glass container, I had a little bit left.  I used the same technique on a plain terra cotta pot. Once again, it stuck just fine and is completely believable. One of the nice things about this paper mache is it will last several days if you store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Nightstand Redo

Okay, I'll just come right out and say it. I'm not a huge fan of the matchy matchy six or seven piece bedroom (or living or dining room) sets you see in every stinkin' furniture store and Craigslist post out there. I hope I don't offend anyone here but I find it a tinsy little bit BORING.  Just putting it out there. With that said, the set of Rubbermaid storage drawers that was serving as husband's night stand was even worse than that. Ugh. I knew I wanted something fresh and light with clean lines that wouldn't distract from other pieces I knew I eventually wanted to add to my room.  We both needed drawers for storage.  I wanted them to coordinate but NOT match.  Also, I needed to do them on a very tight budget.  I found this nightstand for $15 at Goodwill. It had been marked down because it had a crack near the top.  I LOVE finding slightly blemished furniture because many times its super easy to fix and most people will walk right past it.  It's also a great way to bargain for a lower price. Since I knew I'd be painting it, a little wood filler and a light sanding to fix the crack was all it took. Here is the before picture:

 It's not terrible but its nothing special either.  The scratches in the top are just in the finish.  I sanded the top until it was smooth and then gave the rest of the piece a light sanding.  I filled the crack with wood filler then gave it 2 coats of primer.  I wasn't a big fan of the brass pulls but liked the shape.  I decided to spray them with Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint. I painted the entire piece in a warm antique white paint I had left over from another project.  I decided to paint it in a satin finish because I knew lamps would be placed on top and I didn't want any glare or reflection.  I gave it two coats of paint then lightly sanded back the edges and gave it one coat of antique glaze to give it some dimension.  Here's the after picture.  I love how it turned out. I also love the little Dollar Tree bird sitting on top of it :)

DIY Pottery Barn Raleigh Headboard

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My friend Sue asked me to help her update her bedroom recently.  She wasn't exactly sure what she wanted but knew she wanted something with clean lines and something fairly neutral so she could easily change linens without much hassel.  She also knew she wanted all white bedding.  We decided to hit some of our favorite stores for inspiration. When we saw the Raleigh Upholstered Camelback Headboard with Nailhead Trim, we both fell in love.  When we looked at the price tag we both choked.  For a california king, it would run $1399.00 with the linen we loved and then you had to tack on a 10% tax and a shipping charge of $150. YIKES!  We decided that was way out of our budget.  We looked at a lot of other beds and the Raliegh headboard just kept nagging at us.  Soooooo, we decided to build it.  Looking at the photographs and specifications in their catalog, we drew up our own plans and started gathering supplies.  The Pottery Barn headoard is VERY substantial.  If you've seen it in person, you'll know what I'm talking about.  Its almost 5 feet tall and nearly 5 inches thick.  We drew our plans so our finished bed would be exactly the same size as thiers. 

We found an upholstery fabric that looked and felt identical to the Raleigh upholstery at Hancock Fabric in the home dec section. The wrong side of the fabric actually looked most like PB headboard so we used that side.  We Bought the fabric when it was on sale 50% off.  The nail head was pretty hard to find.  We wanted to use the same oversized 1" nails they had used and finally found them at Bailey's Upholstery Supply in Tucson.  The nail heads we used go by the brand name "DADS." We also bought most of our upholstery supplies there including foam, spray adhesive and batting. It was much cheaper to buy it there (wholesaler - you do have to pay tax if you don't use a tax ID #) than it was to buy it at a fabric store. 

We drew up plans and went to work.  It was actually much easier than we thought it would be.  It turned out beautifully and looks identical to the real thing.  We built a california king but also modified and have included plans for other sizes.

Pottery Barn Raleigh Upholstered Headboard with Nailhead Trim

Wood Supplies

A: 1/2 inch 5-ply plywood

California King: 44” x 72”

Quantity: 2

Notes: Don’t worry if there are shallow cracks in the plywood as long as they don’t go all the way through the wood. That is why we got a 5 ply--because it is 5 times stronger.

B: 1/2 inch 5-ply plywood

California King: 12” x 72”

Quantity: 2

C: 1 x 4 pine board

California King: 65”

Quantity: 1

D: 1 x 10 pine board

California King: 72”

Quantity: 2

Notes: This is one 6 foot board. No cuts needed.

E: 1 x 4 pine board

California King: 56”

Quantity: 4

2 feet. Our feet are 4.5 inches long. The design is called “Tulip Bun” Z

Other Needed Supplies

Wood Glue

Wood Screws

Drill

Jigsaw

Table saw (if you aren't having your large plywood sheets cut at the store - if you are, you don't need table saw)

Power saw (I used my compound miter saw, there are are no angled cuts at all so a chop saw or miter saw would also work fine)

Sharpie to mark pieces

Measuring tape

One inch thick upholstery foam

batting

upholstery

spray adhesive

electric staple gun with staples

1" nail heads for the trim (known as D.A.D.D.S - can be found online or from Bailey's Upholstery Supply in Tucson)

Rubber mallet for the nail head trim (do NOT use a regular metal hammer or you'll ruin them)

Valspar Oil Rubbed Bronze spraypaint for the feet

Notes on cutting wood: I always have Lowe's or Home Depot cut my plywood sheets.  The sheets are so large they can get pretty hard for me to control well enough to safely run them thru my table saw.  Plus, I have a major fear of table saws (watched my dad lose fingers in one when I was a kid).  I'd rather just have them cut it.  Most of the time my Lowe's will do the first few cuts free and then I think they charge around 30 cents per cut after that.  I will gladly pay a dollar or less to be able to fit the lumber in the back of my car (as well as keep all ten fingers).  If you don't have saws, there aren't a lot of cuts and it wouldn't cost more than a few dollars to just have them make all of your cuts. If you're really nice, sometimes they won't charge you anything to make your cuts.  You would still need to buy or borrow a jigsaw if you wanted to do the camelback top.  Jigsaws are fairly inexpensive. I think mine was less than $50.  Its just a little Black & Decker and its worked perfectly for me.  I use it all the time. If you wanted keep your cost down or make it as simple as possible, you could build the square Raliegh headboard and bypass the jigsaw all together.

Drawing the arch

This is one of the hardest parts. We found a 60” round table and used it to get a good slope. We only drew the slope on half of the wood. Then we cut the arch with a jigsaw. We took the piece off of the cut wood and traced it on the other half of the wood. Then we cut the arch. This part took us longer than it should have. You can use our template if you want or you can be artistic and create your own. It is helpful to use something to help you get a good curve.

This is a serious headboard

Because we wanted a substantial headboard, ours is 4 pieces of wood thick. Yes four. So we have two arches cut from the 12’ ply pieces. Then we needed to jigsaw the large pieces to match the curve.

Vintage Desk Redo

While at Goodwill a few months ago, I spotted this little eyesore gem.  It was originally marked $39.00 but after a few markdowns was only $9.00.  It was in pretty rough shape cosmetically speaking but was actually really solid.  No wobbles, cracks or anything else that I could tell.  There were a couple of names scratched into the top (Jessica and James, you should be ashamed) and someone had spilled a bottle of blue nail polish down the side.  Aside from that, pretty typical scratches and water (or hopefully, DIET COKE) rings on the top. It was solid mahogany and had dovetailed drawers so I knew it would be worth the work. Here is how I found it:

I completely stripped the finish with Ace Hardware brand stripper then sanded (and sanded and sanded - dang your little hides Jessica and James) until it was smooth. Anyhew, after it was sanded, I stained the top with Minwax Dark Walnut.  I painted the rest of the dresser a creamy white.  I decided to stripe the drawers.  I can't tell you the color I used because I mixed a few leftover colors from the garage....kind of a grayish greenish I'd call it.  Very neutral maybe even more of a light khaki.  I used painters tape to create the stripes.  Once everything was dried, I used a light antiquing glaze to give it some authenticity and dimension. I finished it off four coats of wipe on non-yellowing poly sealant made Minwax in glossy to protect the top from Diet Coke and pesky kids.  I replaced the round pulls  with new hardware I found at Hobby Lobby.  The hardware is amazing.  It looks much better in person.