Furniture Transformation...Wednesday!

Hey ya'll! My bestest friend and I just signed a lease for a new apt! Yay! Packing and moving all the millions of things I have, not yay. Since we are moving, I have decided it would be a great time to redo my furniture and make my room all matchy matchy.

I have a super cute dresser that was so graciously given to me by the Floyd's. (thank you, thank you, thank you!) It was painted all black and the front drawers were modge podged with bright, printed scrapbook paper. I really loved it, but it doesn't match my room which will be grey, turquoise, and yellow. My plan was to use the same idea of modge podging scrapbook paper, but I wanted to do so with grey and turquoise.

Here is a really poopy picture of what the dresser looked like before...I don't know why it is so blurry??? It doesn't do it justice at all. And I already ripped the scrapbook paper off one drawer 'cause I got too excited and forgot to take a picture before I destroyed it....I do things like that a lot.

So first, I worked on removing all the scrapbook paper from the drawers. Some of them were easy, and some were a major pain, but finally I got it all off. I had to use scissors on some parts to help me scrape the paper off. 

Ignore my mess of clothes...did I mention I'm moving??

After I got all the scrapbook paper off, we (mostly Kyle) sanded the whole dresser. In some places, we were able to completely remove the black paint, but other places it was impossible. We really need an electric sander...so if you wanna give me one, that would be fantastic and I would love you forever! The whole point was just to have it roughed up enough that the new paint would have something to soak into. I hate sanding...and I've been coughing up black dust and blowing out black boogers for weeks...probably should have worn a masky thing.

After we sanded it, we painted the frame of the dresser gray. I used Valspar Reserve paint which apparently is the fanciest paint you can buy. It is suppose to only take one coat (with built in primer), not suppose to stain, is washable, and the best part, had no odor! Seriously, no paint smell whatsoever. Which meant we didn't have to paint outside in the Texas heat. We like that :)

This is semi-gloss in Stone Mason Grey...excuse the paint running down the side.

What a sweet man helping me with all my projects :)



We let the first coat dry and decided to put on a second coat to smooth it out a bit...even though it says it only takes one coat.



Next, we took on the drawers. This time, I called in my best friend for help. I went to Hobby Lobby and got some grey and turquoise scrapbook paper and used some of what I already had at my house. Download the Hobby Lobby app to know when they have different things on sale! I got my paper and knobs for %50 off :) I like me a good deal. Three pieces of 12x12 scrapbook paper was the perfect length for the drawers, so we just had to measure and cut them so they were the right width.





I have this handy dandy straight edge cutter thing, cause Lord knows I can't cut straight.



Then, we modge podged the paper onto the drawer. I put a layer of modge podge on the drawer and then Kayla was in charge of getting the paper on straight...I always make her do the difficult jobs :) We put all three pieces down the length of the drawer with just a coat of modge podge underneath. We were trying to avoid air bubbles...but still ended up with some, nothing too noticeable. Any tips for modge podging and not getting air bubbles and wrinkles??? Help me out people...

We started on the next drawer and got the paper modge podged on, and then went back to the first one and put a top layer of modge podge on. We wanted to give the bottom layer a chance to set up before putting on the top layer to avoid sliding and more air bubbles. We repeated these steps for all the drawers.



For the drawers with handles, I laid the paper down wrong side up and used a pen to trace where the handle was. Then I cut out that spot with scissors and proceeded to modge podge the paper on as before. It wasn't perfect by all means.



Once the top layer of modge podge was dry, we put a second coat on for good measure.



The top two drawers were the only ones that had knobs on them. I pushed the knob through from the back, not quite all the way so I didn't make a hug hole. I pushed it through just enough so I would know where the hole was. Then put the knob through the front like you would normally.


Ready for the finished project???



Are ya??



TADA!



I love it sooooo much! and am so happy with how it turned out. It matches my room perfectly.

I loved my dresser so much I decided I should paint everything I own!...not really (Kyle and Kayla might kill me), but I did decide to use the same method and take on this desk. Here's some pics of that project :)



Desk before:



And after!



It doesn't have drawer pulls yet because I'm waiting for them to be on sale at Hobby Lobby. :) I plan to get the same ones I have on my dresser.

If you have any questions, or suggests please comment and let me know! I still have a couple more furniture painting projects left to do so let me know what tips and tricks you use.

Happy DIY-ing! :)

Red, White, and Upcycled

It only seemed appropriate to make my first tutorial patriotic seeing as 4th of July is right around the corner and nothing says patriotic like a pair of American flag shorts :)                                                                                                                                                     

For this project I used an old pair of shorts that I made from jeans summers ago and bleached (future tutorial?). This set me up for a perfect white background for my American flag :) Although denim would look great as well!

Disclaimer: Since I created these shorts before starting my blog I don't have all the pictures I probably should! So if you have any questions just shoot me a message or comment below :) You are such understanding people! :)

Using my handy dandy chevron template (found here), I lightly traced the pattern onto one side of my shorts. I did it at an angle to add a little creative flare. Since my shorts were white, I just used a pencil; if you use denim shorts, you may have to use a pen or something. After tracing the chevrons onto my shorts, I used frog tape to tape off my pattern, as well as the parts of the shorts I didn't want to get paint on, like the pocket, top band, and the folded over bottom part.

Taping the corners of the chevron pattern was a little tricky. So here's how I created the right angle for my corners.

Tada! That darn chevron template is so handy :)

 Here are my shorts once I got them taped off :) Oh and I put a piece of cardboard between the layers of my shorts in case the paint went through.
 Using normal acrylic paint, I filled in the spaces of my pattern with red.

Oh look! There's Kyle :) tehe 

Here is one of those points were I don't have pictures. For the other half of my shorts, I cut out 5 stars. I drew them like I learned in elementary school and made them a couple different sizes. I really didn't want them to look perfect. If you prefer some perfect starts you could print them and then cut them out.

I used this fancy tumble dye stuff that I bought forever ago for the blue side of my shorts. I put tape on the back of my cut outs and placed them on my shorts. I also frog taped the parts of my shorts I didn't want painted again on this side. Then I just sprayed the dye over the stars.

I only used this stuff because I happened to have it laying around the house. Blue acrylic paint would work as well! Oooor if you are using denim shorts just paint the stars on with white paint.

Once everything dried, I removed my tape. The red and white side turned out great! The blue star side...not so much. A lot of my dye leaked through my stars and the tape protecting the other parts of my shorts. Darn you fancy tumble dye! To fix this, I just used white acrylic paint to  fill in the stars, so they didn't have blue splotches. I then sprayed the waistband and folded bottom part with the dye, since it had leaked here as well. Trying to cover up my mistakes... In the end, I really wish I hadn't had to do this, but oh well, tis life :)

After finishing the front of my shorts, I decided I wanted to put some red and white chevrons on the back pockets as well. I used the same method for the chevrons on the back as I did on the front. You're smart, I'm sure you can figure it out ;)

And here is the finished project! :)

Here is the outfit I plan to wear Friday ;)

 Too much?? Haha Go 'Murca! 

Happy 4th of July! :)

Chevron Template

This is a short tutorial, but oober important! And it will save you a lot of time in the future if you are anything like me and love to put chevrons on everything :) I've used other methods to put chevrons on things, but this has worked best for me because it gives me consistent chevrons every time and makes my life so much easier.

I used an old piece of card board that I cut off a box for my template. Anything sturdy will do, just find something laying around the house.

Using a sharpie or pen, put a hash mark at 1 1/2 inches. Then measure and put another hash mark every three inches.

Move the ruler down (the distance you move down will affect the angle and depth of your chevrons). Then make the first mark at 3 inches and mark every three inches again. These marks should be right in between the marks you made at the top.

Now you just have to connect the dots :)

The distances between your marks and the distance you move your ruler down can change the size of the chevrons, so adjust these to get a template that is just right for you :) Being obsessed with chevrons myself, I have several difference size templates.

Once you have your template drawn onto the cardboard and your happy with it, cut it out.

Now you have a beautiful template to use for all your chevron needs. Happy crafting!