Bailee's desk

Here's the second "furniture re-finishing" project I've completed. Inspired by All Things Thrifty.

Bailee has a TV tray down in her room that she likes to use as a desk, but TV trays are flimsy and there's not much surface area to work with! I thought it would be fun for each of the girls to have their own desk, so I started shopping on KSL. I found this one for $20. Here's a shot of it, after I had sanded the top and sides.

I don't think it's necessary to sand it all the way down to the raw wood, just rough it up a little so the paint sticks better.

I used Krylon spray paint again. Bailee got to choose the color all by herself! She chose Blue Ocean Breeze.

Here it is before the glaze....

And then after the glaze. I used some that my SIL gave me, which was a Ralph Lauren faux glaze w/ black silk.

I'm still working on her dresser. I hope to get all of these projects done within the next few weeks. It's been so cold outside lately that I can't get the painting done. (I do it in the garage). Now that we have a warmer week coming up I can hopefully get a bunch of them painted. :)

Featured!

Remember my dresser project from a few weeks ago?

Well it was featured today on All Things Thrifty! How fun is that?

Easter happenings

We had a wonderful Easter this year. I forgot to take a picture of the kids in their Sunday best, but they didn't get new clothes this year anyway. Here's a pic of their loot. They didn't get too much candy, which was good because I knew they'd be getting more later that night.

They were happy to see what the Easter Bunny brought them.

This is probably their favorite gift. They got the Live Butterfly Garden! These caterpillars will soon make a chrysalis, then they'll eventually turn into butterflies! I'll keep their progress updated on the blog. :)

We went to church, then headed to Kevin's parents for Easter dinner (ham & funeral potatoes, yum!) and the annual easter egg hunt.

They got a lot of fun candy and prizes. In fact, Ryker ate a little too much candy, and early Monday morning started throwing up. :(

We kept reminding the kids all day that Easter really isn't about the candy and bunny, but about Christ and the Resurrection. We talked about what they learned that day in their class, and they seem to understand. :)

And I just wanted to share this find I got over the weekend for $15! It is one of the upcoming projects I've been working on. I still need to finish Bailee's dresser, 2 desks for the girls, the new baby's dresser, and this table. I can't wait to have it all done!

More stuff for sale

We're really purging around here, and if you'd like to see our ads on KSL, click here.

Don't eat me!

This poor little gopher didn't have a chance once Snowflake got his paws on him. I felt kind of bad for a second, but then I remembered the destruction that little gophers long front claws and little yellow teeth have done to my yard, and I felt bad no more!

It's kind of morbid, I know. But also kind of funny.

My project.

I'm so excited to tell you all about my latest project! It all started with this dresser:

This dresser is a cheap piece of crap from WalMart or Kmart, I can't remember. It's one of those fake-wood cheap dressers. I've had it for years, but my kids have done a number on the drawers after climbing in them and bending the heck out of the slider thingys. The two bottom drawers won't open once you shut them. The third drawer won't close all the way. You get the idea.

I'm in a nesting mood, trying to get things ready for the new baby. I need new dressers for my girls! (We have another cheap one which we're having the same problems with. The drawers have broken out the bottom, etc.)

So last week, I started to look on KSL for a nice solid-wood dresser. I only found ugly ones, or really cute EXPENSIVE ones. Then, I remembered my SIL, Brianna, re-did some furniture. And all of the sudden, I was determined to buy a crappy dresser for cheap, then fix it up cute, just how I wanted it!

So Brianna directed me to AllThingsThrifty.com, and VintageRevivals.blogspot.com. I read those blogs for a couple of hours probably, and immediately started shopping on KSL. That day, I found this beauty (below) for $70. (Looking back, I bet he would have taken less, but I didn't even ask).

It's solid wood, in good condition. Just kind of ugly. So first, I took out the hardware and sanded down the worst of the scratches.

Then I primed it using Kilz. Then painted (yes, SPRAY painted), with this Krylon paint.

This is what it looked like after a couple of coats of primer. And the paint was just plain ol' white.

These are 2 drawers, the one on top is just with white paint, and the one on bottom is after I added the glaze.

It was easy, and I had fun doing it! You just paint the glaze on, then wipe it off. I only did one coat. I liked the way it looked!

Glaze dries slower than paint, and it washes off easily. So I let my little buddy help me:

I purchased new hardware, and voila!! I've created a beautiful new solid-wood dresser!

Isn't it gorgeous?

One more before and after:

I have also purchased another dresser and a desk that I plan to re-finish. I'm also going to re-paint our crib! I'm having so much fun. :)