My Little Dresser

I decided to have some fun with this free dresser.
A lot more work went into it than is visible in these photos, like making the drawers function better, cleaning out and lining the inside of the drawers, filling many holes and getting my dad's assistance with cutting off edges and adding to the rear of the table top.

Before:

After:

Knobs (brand new) purchased at a thrift store.

Tabletop edge trim created by my dad from some scraps.

Patterned wrapping paper found at Target.

Cream and Black paints I already had.

How I used decoupage to adhere the wrapping paper to the dresser top and drawer fronts:
1) I decided to use wrapping paper since the surfaces I wanted to cover were large and I didn't want to buy more than a dozen scrapbook paper sheets and have to align them to follow a pattern. The wrapping paper worked great for how I wanted it to look (not perfect and a little shabby). But, if a smoother more perfect surface is wanted, a thicker paper is better and leaves less wrinkles and small bubble bumps.
2) Cut out paper a little larger than surface.
3) Quickly coat entire surface with decoupage with a foam brush.
4)Quickly align one edge of paper on the surface and work across, smoothing with hands to get the paper covering the entire surface with minimal bumps, wrinkles and bubbles.
5) Apply a coat of decoupage with foam brush on top of the paper and allow to dry completely. I've discovered that applying the top coat of decoupage before the under coat is dry creates a smoother surface once it is all dry.
6) Use a box cutter or exact-o-knife to (carefully) trim any edges that are too long.
7) Use fine sand paper to sand all around edges to give it a shabby look, especially on corners.
8) Look over any edges/corners that may have lifted up and secure and coat with additional decoupage as needed.

I am loving this new space to organize my mounds of fabric!
I was a little hesitant to go with such a bold pattern, but I love that it is more interesting and artistic than most of my projects.

~ Chelsea ~

Using Wax - Smooth Sliding Drawers

I am always amazed at how well wax works to make drawers open and close smoothly and quietly. 

I'm currently working on a little old dresser that has the basic wood drawer guides. Those drawers were so hard to open and close and loud too! So, I rubbed the wax over the areas were the wood rubs together and now it glides open and closed wonderfully. 

I also used this method to solve loud, squeaky drawers on these nightstands.

Here are the points both on the drawers and the dresser body that need to be rubbed with wax to improve gliding. 

One of the drawers.

I am excited to make this free-off-the-side-of-the-road dresser cute and functional as a perfect place for my excessive amounts of fabric in my craft room/office. I look forward to showing it to you once it is done too!

~ Chelsea ~

Scrap Wood Art

What can you do with a warped, water-damaged piece of bead board? 

For my 16th birthday (long ago), I was gifted a beautiful Mesa Temple filet crochet (Wow, it took me forever to find what it was called online!) I have always wanted to display it somehow, but could never find a square frame that would work for it and my budget.

My dad cut out a square of old weathered bead board (above) and I sanded and painted it. Then I used the easy spray starch technique to attach the lace-type fabric to the painted board. 

I created a simple hanger for the back using ribbon and thumb tacks and hung it on a single nail up on my wall. I sealed the ends of the ribbon with a lighter. 

I love using spray starch to attach fabric to flat surfaces, like walls. I have used this non-permanent and no-damage method many times in my home now (HERE and HERE).

HOW TO USE SPRAY STARCH: Just place the fabric where you want it and spray the starch right on top of the fabric just enough to moisten it. Then use a damp sponge to wipe away any excess or drips. Use your fingers to press lightly on the fabric to secure it to the wall. Then allow it to dry. 

~ Chelsea ~

My $1 Thrift Store Clock

Before:

After:

I enjoyed this little project making this little clock so cute. It now is on the wall in my little girl's room. I made the clock face using Silhouette software and then using the Print and Cut feature. It worked great and gave me so much freedom in creating the numbers, colors and shapes. 

Clock face printed on white cardstock paper.

Brush-painted white and lightly distressed.

I hope to find another cute (and cheap) clock to beautify someday.

~ Chelsea ~

Shutter Hair Clip Display

If you've been looking at this blog for a while, you may remember this little shutter back when I made it into a picture display using small clothes pins. 

Well that shutter now has a new life and purpose as it hangs in our guest girls' bathroom. 

So many little hair accessories in this house! This is about half of them... the ones that get used the most often. 

They're just clipped right on to the shutters. It works perfectly and I love how it looks in there.

No more getting squished or forgotten.

~ Chelsea ~

I Love Stenciling!

I am so excited and grateful to have been chosen to receive a beautiful wall stencil from "Cutting Edge Stencils" I entered the give away from one of my favorite blogs, Joys of Home ~ http://joysofhome.blogspot.com/. There were so many amazing stencils to choose from, but I chose the Damask stencil named Anna. For my first wonderful project I took two inexpensive shelves from IKEA that had been used in the playroom and I decided to use them in the flex area near our informal dining room now.

I took the backs off by removing the small nails. Then I just turned them over and laid them right on the back of the shelves. I know I was being really risky by not putting any plastic down underneath. Very carefully I stenciled away. The application was really easy with a high density foam roller. I made a custom color out of mostly Glidden satin paint (Rain Washed) that I already had from a previous home. Then I mixed in some dark brown & some dark green acrylic paint. The color is soft & subtle and I think it is beautiful.

It is so fun for me to display some of my white milk glass pieces on this pretty shelf! Most of the glass I picked up at thrift stores and antique stores. But there are some very special ones that came from my Mother in-law, my Mother & my Aunt that I love! The old bicycle basket on the bottom shelf holds some table linens. I tried to put items on the bottom shelves that wouldn't be dangerous for our little Grandcuties, but I'll just have to put some things up when they come, even though they are such well-behaved children!

I'm still working on getting our new home decorated, but you can see how nicely the shelves go with our blue window treatments and throw pillows.

And now for a bunch of close-up shots!

Crystal picked up this gorgeous blue vase for me from DI a few years ago.

If you like blue & white keep scrolling down!

With Gratitude ~*~Lynda~*~

My Girl's Room - ABC's and Easy Art

A few simple additions to my girl's room:

I found some wall stickers at a nearby dollar store (Dollar Tree) and put the alphabet along a boring window wall in my daughter's room. My 2 year-old loves singing the ABC's.

Also in the last few weeks, I used a fancy software called Microsoft Word (haha) to put the words "I love to see the temple" onto a black and white photo I took of my daughter at the Mesa Temple. Then, I printed it out on normal copy/printer paper and used decoupage and smoothed the print onto an 8X10 sized canvas. I picked up this canvas in a pack for really cheap at Michaels awhile back during a sale.

I like making art on these canvases because they are easy to hang and I like the canvas look. 

I love how this looks with the contrasted black and white. Shea loves it too.

~ Chelsea ~

Bright Baby Room - for the Window

This bubbly valence is the result of many hours of envisioning, some fabrics I already had along with a few purchased additions such as wide quilt binding and jumbo ric rac. 

I started by measuring the window and curtain rod and then drawing a sketch of my idea. Then, I made a template for my "semi-circles" (more like semi-ovals). I cut out all the fabrics, each piece has a white backing piece cut from a cheapo Ikea sheet. I sewed the round edges and left the tops open to insert a piece of quilt batting cut to the same shape (I made a template for that too). Then, I laid all the pieces out on the floor to align them how I liked them and overlap them enough to achieve the right length for the curtain rod. I pinned and sewed the pieces together. Then, I sewed on the quilt binding which served three purposes; to piece the semi-ovals together, cover up the raw edges and create the tubing for the curtain rod. Then, the white ric rac added a little more interest and covered up the raw edges that could be seen through the white quilt binding. 

I was excited to hang it up, so excited that I risked waking my baby up and snuck into her room ever so quietly to see my creation up on the window.

See my other Bright Baby Room decor: WALL ART AND COLORS.

~ Chelsea ~

Formal Dining Room Decor

I'm having so much fun decorating our new home! I'm still being very careful not to spend a lot of money to help our goal of being completely dept free as soon as possible.

Do you remember this pretty chandy? It used to be painted metallic champagne. I felt that it would look better painted oil-rubbed bronze now.To make the 3 fabric wall art boards, I started with these canvas's that I picked up at a yard sale last year for 50 cents each.
Then I found some colorful fabric that I really liked (on sale, of course).
Place the canvas board on the under side of the fabric. Cut the fabric about 3/4 inch larger than the canvas.

Then hot glue the fabric to the back wooden frame pulling it tightly to stretch to get a better fit. I must say that it is helpful to do this with another person, but I did manage to do it myself. It would have been better on the edges with help though. If you are using a fabric that that has a particular pattern, make sure to keep it straight. I really like the easiness of this paisley. I did make sure that they were all placed on the fabric in the same direction though. I use a skewer to press down the fabric with the hot glue applied so I don't burn my fingers.

They bring a lot of interest and color to the room. I already had the 2 metal iron work pieces. I spray painted them oil-rubbed bronze also. I was really feeling the urge to buy 3 new metal pieces from Hob Lob to go over the top of each of the fabric boards, but not now, maybe later.

Here are a few items that make a pretty center piece!

And on the buffet the bunny comes out for spring time. I'm not suggestion anything by placing it on the platter. That's not very nice of me now.

Our china cabinet holds the china down below and a collection of brown and cream dishes along with my many off-white ceramic pieces. Some of these dishes have been in a box for 2 years. It was so much fun to get them out and enjoy them again!

I saved the best picture for last! I love having one of my favorite nativity scenes up all year long!

Thinking about Jesus Christ is one of my very favorite things to do!

~*~ Lynda~*~

Adding Color to my Family Room

Well, after a few months of thinking about all the things I want to do to add some color to my family room, I have had a little time here and there to create!

This wall hanging was fun because I didn't have to make it from scratch. My mom made it previously and I just changed it up a bit.

I really like this turqiouse color because it is just bright enough to give some life to the room. I also love the lace ribbon I found for really cheap at SAS fabrics.

Here it was before I painted and added my touches to it:

~ Chelsea ~