Chalkboard

So, I bought that dresser a few months ago that went into my office. Well, I finally got around to turning the mirror that came with it into a chalk board. It is sitting in the office waiting for Hubby to hang, but I'll show you how I did it and how awesome it looks!
This is the before picture:
First I covered it in three coats of Magnetic paint.
Then I covered it in Chalkboard paint

After that, I painted the outside edge that red color that was on the dresser.
This is the way it looks now. I know it still needs to go up in the office, but doesn't it look good?

Newest dresser

So, a little while back I promised that I would show you what I have been up to. Here's some pictures! I found an AWESOME wood dresser at a garage sale for a whopping total of $10! Yup.... $10. Even cheaper than the Salvation Army. So, here's the work I've done on it. I also have been working on my chalk board. So, here are some pics of the dresser:

This dresser is done, so I will get some new pics and post them in the near future. If you're interested in buying it, I will be selling it..... so let me know!

Entryway

This is a project I've been working on for a few days. Remember that huge black bookshelf that is now in the office? Well, when we had someone living with us, it was pushed up against this wall. So, in the last few weeks since I've been re-doing the office, I've now had this space free to decorate. So, here is a picture from our front door looking into the house. My mother-in-law had this table from ikea that she used a while back and then wanted to get rid of. We gladly took if off her hands. The baskets underneath are from ikea as well. The table is now working well as a place we put our keys, and mail. Sorry about the mess in this picture.

Here are some different angles looking at the wall. (and with a clean table!)


Here are some close-ups of the pictures on the wall.


In order to hang these pictures so nicely, I cut newspaper out the same size as the frames. I "hung" the newspaper using a nail. Then, I ripped the newspaper out, leaving only the nail.


Lastly, I'm looking for ideas/inspiration for this last wall. See when you walk in how this wall just is so blank? It sticks out like a sore thumb......

Dresser Part 2

I have now been working on the dresser for a few days. It has been stripped of the paint and sanded as best as I can. The next thing I do is to paint it a dark brown color. The top of the dresser is a laminate, not wood, so painting it was a little difficult. Anyways, here are some pictures of what I've been doing. This picture is a drawer. It has been sanded and is ready for painting. It is a beautiful wood!

Along with doing the dresser, I also painted the handles. They were an ugly gold color (from the 70s), and with some metallic spray paint, I drastically changed their look.

It took a few days of sanding and scraping to get the dresser to where I wanted it to be. Finally, I was able to paint the first coat. I chose Behr Spiceberry. It is a dark chocolatey brown.

If you notice, I didn't paint the whole dresser that brown color. There are still a few spots where the original wood shows through. That is because I want to distress it and have the wood show through in some spots and the brown show through in others.

When I was done painting the brown, I covered the top (remember - laminate!) in a thing called Weathered Crackle Glaze. I got it at Lowe's, but I believe that have it at Home Depot, too. You can see the glaze on the picture. It is shiny colored, compated to the dull brown. I did not cover the entire dresser in the glaze. I didn't want the whole thing to be crackled, just in certain spots. After the stuff dried, I began painting the top coat. I chose Behr Awning Red. It is an awesome, bright red color.

When I paint over it with the red, you can see the brown from underneath. See how the brown is showing through? That is thanks to the crackle glaze. Coming soon is the big reveal!

Picture Frames

Above is the final project of something I've been working on this summer. I really enjoy the Shabby Chic style, but its super expensive! So, I decided to try to figure out how to make a frame. Its actually very easy. It starts with a frame like the one below. I got this at Goodwill for $3.99. A little pricey, but much cheaper (and more fun!) than buying the one of these at a store.


I took the frame apart, cleaned the glass, and got rid of the picture in the frame. I started by painting the wood frame a brown color. It wasn't quite as dark as I had hoped, so I did a topcoat with a black. The finished product was a black-brown color.



I then melted a candle. You can use any cheap candle, but it does need to have white wax. I took the melted wax and dripped it over the picture frame. I spread it with my fingers and a napkin. It was quite thick.


I then painted two coats of white paint over the wax. As you can see, it is still rough-looking.



The last thing I did was take some sandpaper to smooth it out. The wax makes it very easy to sand. The black-brown color shows through quite nicely. I found a quote that I liked, printed it up and put it in the frame.



This project was super easy, and I have to say I love the frame! You can try different color top-coats - a light yellow, blue, or pink would look lovely in this style. I'm not very attached to the quote I put in the frame, I am going to be looking for something else to go inside this picture frame. Any ideas?