Artwork

Bug's room wouldn't be complete without some artwork on the wall, and since we can't paint in our military housing, a large canvas piece was definitely needed. I asked him what he would like and he got very excited and yelled, "Rockets!" So a rocket was the plan... I wanted to go with a 1940's science fiction style rocket. I really like how it turned out so far, the coolest part has yet to come in the mail though. :) I found this really neat company that sells kits for fiber optic lights and my plan is to add fiber optic lights as stars all over the canvas. I will try to get a picture up once that part is finished, but I couldn't help posting a picture of how it looks now in the little guy's room:

Thanks for checking it out! Have a great day!

Dresser before and after :)

Bug's dresser was a difficult little beast. First off 4 of 6 drawers were in cracked and broken pieces, only the drawer fronts were use-able. A side panel was cracked and the finish on it was in horrid condition but, I loved the strong lines and the price (I got it for free, thank you lady on Craigslist who was cleaning out her garage!). It took 9 months of sitting in our garage before I was able to do anything with it, and then another 2 1/2 weeks to get it to where it is now. My amazing dad helped a bunch by making new drawers for me while we visited for Christmas... basically the dresser would have ended up in a landfill if he hadn't steped in. After we came home with the drawers there was a ton of sanding, priming and painting involved, and numerous re-dos because of bubbling paint. I am so happy to have it done and in my little Bug's room.

Ah, finally done... all of the decorative trim was painted by hand in a black gloss and the dresser got 5 coats of glossy Navy paint. I'm still searching for those perfect handles, but someday I will find them.

(Bug couldn't wait to get his toys back "where they belong" even though mommy was still taking pictures.)

If you'd like to see more about the transformation, check out the 2 posts before this one :)

LOL, I wasn't going to make you wait forever!

Here is the dresser!

A problem I ran into with this dresser, beyond the drawers needing to be rebuilt, were the drawer pulls. Some of them had stuck and stripped screws holding them in place, as a result they weren't usable when I finally got the dremmel to take them off. And, they are antique hardware, so matching them would be expensive, and frankly I didn't like them that much to begin with. So, I was left with this:

A pretty dresser without handles.

I tried putting yarn in until I could get the pulls I really want, but no matter how many large knots I put on the ends, they kept pulling out.

Then I got an idea for a cheap and easy fix.

Washers and ribbon.

The washers were $.79 at Walmart and the ribbon was $1.50.

First I pushed the ribbon through both holes with a half loop on the outside of the drawer ( I had it cut in about 6 inch strips).

Then I tied the washers to the ribbon on the inside of the drawer with half of a square knot.

I love how it turned out, and although the ribbon in not suppose to be perminant, it is cute and I may just keep it like this!

I think it could be a great way to add some cute decoration to a little kids room (girl or boy) and add interest to a plain dresser without having to paint.

Thanks for looking and have an awesome day!

Shared at:

http://adventuresofthemichelenafamily.blogspot.com/

Sneak peek...

I know I've been gone forever, but I have been working diligently on plenty of projects... they are just big ones that take more time than anything I've done before. One of those projects was refinishing a dresser for Bug. I've been holding onto this dresser for about 9 months, because I got it for free, but it needed a lot of work. 4 of the 6 drawers were broken and in shambles and I didn't have the tools to fix them... step in my AWESOME dad who built me new drawers while we were in phx, so now it has just been painting. As the title says, this is a sneak peek, so don't think you are seeing the dresser today (I'm mean, huh?) But I did come up with a cute way to show Bug where his clothes go... for that magical day when I teach him how to put away his own clothes.

I know, I'm dreaming.

Here is what I did:

(and yes, you are seeing a bit of the dresser too, but it has changed a little from the pic, no strings!)

Anyways, it requires the following:

Muslin

Freezer paper

Exacto knife

Fabric paint

Paint brushes

Iron

Now I'm not going to write a whole post on freezer paper stenciling, I'm going to let one of my favorite bloggers do that because she does it so well. So, hope on over to MADE and read her great post on freezer paper stenciling, it is super cool ;).

I thought of this project because I wanted Bug to KNOW where his clothes go so that I know where to find them. I also didn't want the excuse, "but I don't know where they go!"

First I cut the muslin to fit the drawers, it makes a great cheap drawer liner on its own.

Next I used a bunch of free clipart to make my images, I printed them out and traced them onto the freezer paper. I used my exacto knife and cute them out and then used the MADE tutorial to do the freezer paper stenciling.

I hope this makes putting away clothes easy and fun for Bug. Goodness, now daddy will know where to find things when mommy is out with the girls :D!

Have a great day everyone!

Shared at:
http://adventuresofthemichelenafamily.blogspot.com/

I'm still here :)

I am still around, we are home finally, however the Flu has taken over out house. When everyone recovers I should be able to finish a project or two that I have been working on... Ben's dresser, toy organization, another table and a nifty storage solution. I might even talk Jon into the bed project I've been considering. I am also brainstorming a tufted daybed for our guest room... in my mind it is easy, but I guess that time will tell on that one. :) I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!