Updating a French Provincial Dresser

When my sister bought her condo a few years back, the seller left this dated french provincial dresser in the upstairs hallway.

I needed something to use as a small china cabinet and was able to talk my sister into a furniture trade.  She got a refurbished antique black cabinet, and I got the dresser.
The white and gold had to go, so I started by removing all of the hardware and sanding the entire piece in preparation for painting.  The top of the dresser is actually laminate, so I had to spend a lot of time sanding that surface so that it would hold the paint.
Next, I painted everything in two coats of 'Intellectual' Behr premium plus flat/matte.

Then, using a small brush, I painted 'Polished Silver' by Martha Stewart over all of the areas that had originally been gold.  This takes a bit of a steady hand. 

I wanted the piece to have more of a silver appearance overall, but I knew from a previous project that covering over the grey completely was not going to give me the desired effect.  I diluted the silver paint by alternating between dipping the brush lightly in paint and a small glass of water.  This resulted in a sort of dry brushed look without putting too much silver paint onto the surface.  I left the inside surfaces of the shelf grey.  The hardware was spray painted with Rustoleum 'Titanium Silver'.

Here is the finished piece.  Maybe someday I will get an actual china cabinet, but for now I am loving this one!

 

*The wonderful artwork to the right of the dresser was purchased from artists on Etsy*

Top right - Sparrow print by Marissa Buschow 

Bottom right - Crow print by Louise DeMasi 

Handmade Wedding Invitations

Well, I got married last September.  After we got engaged I was so excited to start planning an amazing event.  I had visions of fine linens coordinated with pink roses in vintage silver decanters, a large bridal party in satin, and me, as the center of attention in my one of a kind gown on the most special day of my life....

I have a confession....all of that is bullshit.  I was not excited about, nor did I particularly enjoy wedding planning.  If that makes me a terrible "girl", I don't care.  I fought, and mostly managed, to keep the event and the budget small.  One of the few things I did enjoy was designing and making the wedding invitations and thank you notes.  We wanted something personalized but we also needed to keep costs down. 

We had accidentally stumbled onto a pear theme since the venue was in a pear orchard and we had decided to give away pears as wedding favors (inexpensive and the guests really enjoyed them).  I found these inexpensive pear and leaf stamps online (http://www.rubberstamptapestry.com/) and started my design from there.  I ordered the paper and envelopes from paperandmore.com

I was very happy with the paper when it arrived but I decided the invitation would need some sort of backing.  I decided I liked the look of brown craft paper.  Also, I happened to have a roll of the stuff hanging around already.  Cutting out the backing paper and preparing it was my least favorite part of the project.  I used a cutting mat and straight edge to cut 8 1/2 x 5 1/2 inch pieces for each invitation.  Afterwords, the paper had to sit under heavy books for a bit and needed some coaxing to straighten out.  Luckily, I only had to send just over 50 invites.

It took some work to get the backing paper flat!

I created a template for the invitations in Word.  Two invitations were printed on each page and the margins were set so that, when printed,  I would be able to cut about 1/4 inch off of the bottom and one side of the invitations and be left with perfectly centered text on a sheet of paper slightly smaller than the brown craft-paper backing.  I also created a template for the RSVP information inserts (10 per page).

Next, I made my trusty aileen's tacky glue-water mixture and glued the printed sheet to the backing.  I added just enough water to help the glue spread easily.  If you add too much water the paper will warp.  These, again, sat under heavy books for a bit so that they dried nicely.  

I stamped the top of each invitation with the pear and leaves.  My dear husband cut all of the RSVP inserts from the main sheet into lovely leaf shapes and hole-punched one side.  I thought the leaf shaped tag was a nice way to include contact and RSVP information.  The "leaves" were then tied around the invitations with a single string pulled from a length of twine.

The finished product (not our actual names). 

We also used the stamps and remaining paper for some items at the wedding (signs for the gift table, family tables, etc) and for the thank you notes! 

Kitchen Remodel

As I have mentioned in previous entries, my condo was built in the early 80's.  The kitchen needed some serious updating but I was on a budget.  The previous owner had installed new linoleum and had painted.  Other than that, everything was original.  I guess  at some point there were saloon style doors leading out of the kitchen that had long ago been removed (aw shucks!).  There was, however, still an ugly early 80's light box on the ceiling.  I had to find a way to totally update the kitchen but I definitely didn't have the money for something like new cabinets.  It took some time and effort but we managed to end up with a kitchen that looks fresh and much more up to date.  

Before:  Notice the awesome flesh-toned sponge painting. 

As I said, the previous owner had installed new linoleum, or rather, had ATTEMPTED to install new linoleum.  Apparently, this venture had gone even more poorly than their attempt to install laminate flooring in the rest of the unit.  It was peeling up pretty badly at the edges and there was no transition where it ended.  Just a badly cut edge sticking up.  Overall, I guess this worked out in my favor because it was really easy to remove, which is one of the first things we did.  It turned out there were actually two more layers of linoleum under that.  The second came up in excrutiatingly small chunks and left a lot of backing behind.  As a bonus, there was a nice big patch of mold BETWEEN the second and third layers where the dishwasher had apparently been leaking.  This was cleaned thoroughly with bleach. 

The floor after tearing up the top layer of linoleum. 

The third layer of linoleum might as well have been welded to the floor, so I left it.  I then lived for over 6 months with a grimy, partially removed, linoleum floor.  These are the types of things you should be prepared to live with when you are doing a remodel yourself and have limited time and money.  I eventually painted it thoroughly with some Kilz primer to seal it and we installed a beautiful new laminate floor.  

6 months later....a real floor!

Sprucing up the cabinets was, by far, my least favorite project of the whole remodel.  The cabinets were sad, so sad, but there was no way I could afford to replace them so a coat of paint was my only option.  I have helped to repaint cabinets before and it is pretty easy, when they are actual wood.  These cabinets are really little more than crappy particle board covered with vinyl that has been printed with a wood grain pattern.  You strike again 1983!  The problem is that you cannot easily paint on vinyl.  We even tested primer on them and it still just peeled right off.  It was clear I would have to sand them a bit first to prepare the surface for paint.  The belt sander we had on hand was far too aggressive for the thin layer of vinyl. 

Cabinet doors removed for sanding.  Linoleum removal finished.

In retrospect, I should have just bought myself a finish sander like the one I have now.  Instead, I ended up hand sanding every single surface of those cabinets.  It sucked, a lot.

Cabinet doors painted and re-installed.

The cabinets are painted with Behr satin "beluga" paint.  I had initially planned to paint them more of a cocoa color but when I tested that color I didn't like the way it looked at all.  I was actually initially afraid of painting them "beluga' because I was worried it would be too dark.  I am thrilled with how it turned out though.

Another view of the finished cabinets.

 
Everything was finished up with a coat of paint on the walls, a new stainless steel sink and faucet and brushed nickel handles on the cabinets.  The lovely 80's light box was replaced with a respectable light fixture.  I don't have pictures to show this.  I guess I hated the light box so much I didn't even want to take a picture of it!

The next project, when I have the money, will be a new stove.  New cabinets and a new countertop are down the road a little further! 

Coffee Cups

 

A few years ago I snapped a picture of two coffee cups on my kitchen counter.  Something about the simple shape of the cups and the shadows just caught my attention.  

A while later, I decided to try to dredge up what was left of my artistic side and attempt a pencil sketch of the photo.  It is really a fairly simple subject so it was a good starting place.  Though the sketch could no doubt be improved upon, I was really surprised at the result.  There was hope for me after all!  It seems that 5 + years of soul crushing grad school had not, in fact, crushed my soul ;) 

Pencil Sketch

Grad school is now an increasingly distant memory.  I finally earned my Ph.D. last September.  I have since been teaching and working more on creative endeavors.  Recently, I decided to attempt another take on the coffee cups.  I love watercolor paints but I am definitely still learning how to paint.  I thought the coffee cups would also be a good subject to help me increase my skill with watercolors.  I had such a fun time making the little painting and I did learn a lot.  

Watercolor Painting (for sale in my etsy shop)

I am sure that the watercolor painting will not be my last artistic rendition of the coffee cups.  I really am obsessed with this photo.  I also need to keep my eye out for new subjects that can hold my interest like this one.   

"Vintage" Travel Garland

I have never really done any scrapbooking, but a while back I bought a booklet of fun, travel-themed scrapbook paper that I found in the discount bin at the craft store (DCWV, "The Bon Voyage Travel Stack").  I only needed a few sheets to line a decoupage gift box I was making for a friend.  After that was done, I was left with a bunch of really cool paper that I had no idea what to do with.  Somehow I got the idea to make a garland out of one of the sheets that had vintage-style travel tickets printed on it.

First, during a craft night with Linda over at Our Lovely Bungalow, I cut each ticket out.  I will be honest and tell you the cut out tickets sat in a box for about 6 months before I remembered them.  

 

Next, I cut some brown packing paper from the roll and started to glue the pieces onto it.  I use Aleene's acid-free tacky glue for things like this.  I put some of the glue into a small bowl, added a little bit of water and applied it to the paper with a small paintbrush.  The tickets needed a little coaxing to really stick at all the corners and lay flat so each time I had a text-book size area finished, I put a heavy book on it and let it sit for a few minutes. 

Once everything had dried, I cut each ticket out of the brown paper, leaving a border of paper showing. 

I then used a hole punch to make the holes for stringing the tickets into a garland.  For most of the pieces I punched two holes because the tickets won't lay flat otherwise.  A few of the smaller pieces only got one hole since they were going to be strung together with a larger ticket.

I made sure to get the layout of the tickets how I wanted on my desk first before starting to string them onto the twine.  I chose twine because I think it compliments the weathered look of the tickets and the brown packing paper nicely.

Overall, this was a fun, easy project.  I may make another one with the other sheet.  Hopefully it doesn't take another 6 months though!

The garland is for sale in my etsy shop

Condo Patio Garden

Chinese pistachio

 
 I love to garden.  Unfortunately I have mostly lived in apartments and condos for the last 10 years.  Some of my first apartments didn't even have a deck.  The condo I own, and currently rent out, did have a deck but it was small and in constant shade.  One of the many benefits of moving in with my wonderful significant other was that I gained a large patio with morning sun.  Still, I can't wait to someday transplant my "babies" into a real yard!  Anyway, this is how things are progressing so far this summer:     

From left to right: Gerbera, Canna and lemongrass.

Dwarf Canna about to bloom!

Tomato, strawberries, basil and radishes. 

Peace lily and maidenhair fern.

Too many cards!

The school year is over!  It was a busy one since it was my first year as a "real" professor.  I loved every minute of it but I have been looking forward to Summer.  I am excited to have the chance to get some craft projects done and work on getting my etsy shop up and running again. 
At the end of last summer I bought a set of white cards and envelopes from the craft store for only a few dollars and discovered how much I love making handmade cards.  I love that they give me the opportunity to do something artistic while producing a useful product.  Some of them I have kept for my own use.  Below are some that are/were for sale in my etsy shop.  I can't wait to make more! 

http://www.etsy.com/listing/100190974/set-of-two-handmade-botanical-notecards

http://www.etsy.com/listing/79640860/one-of-a-kind-handmade-blank-note-card

http://www.etsy.com/listing/81183674/one-of-a-kind-handmade-thank-you-note

http://www.etsy.com/transaction/56901322  (sold)