Cedar Chest Makeover

Once upon a time...

 I found this little beauty in a thrift store for $15 dollars.

What?!  Not such a beauty you say!  

Well, that's because she just needs a little makeover!

To become this...

And here is an up close picture of the fabric that I used to upholster the top of the cedar chest.  It was left over from my daughters crib bedding so it is extra special to me.  This chest is for my daughters room.

 And she lived happily ever after!  Well, almost but lets take a look at the makeover process!

and

Here is how I got the look:

• I skipped sanding this time and went straight to priming I used Kilz oil based spray paint to prime but for some reason half way through the bottle it started coming out in blobs and made the chest look texturized.  But luckily it was easily fixable, it sanded right off and left enough primer on for the paint to stick:) Whew!

• I gave it two coats of Valspar's Windsor Way (looks like it should be named Cinderella Blue to me but... hmm what a fun job that would be naming paint colors!)  I did water it down a little bit.  This helps the paint to dry smoothly instead of having all those yucky bristle marks made from the paint brush.

• I gave it a good wax on/ wax off of antiquing glaze making sure to focus on the details in the wood.

• finished it off with 2 thin coats of poly.  OOPS!  I forgot to lightly sand around the details!  I just grabbed my little sanding pad and sanded anyway, then just very lightly reapplied the poly over these areas. No harm done!!

Thrifty Finds Special Edition

Today was a very special day today in my "neck of the woods"!  I bet you are wondering why and I'm going to tell you. 

On my way to take my oldest to school this morning I noticed that is was...drum roll please....Trash haul off day!!!!  And yes I did!  And yes, I was one of those who participated in raiding my neighbors trash.  I like to think of it as going easy on my pocket book by looking for thrifty finds somewhere other than my local thrift store. { Insert big cheesy smile here }.

Well, actually I kinda tried to pull it off without everybody staring at me and I am ashamed to say I was "a lil' embarrased" {hangs head}.  So I pulled up to said curb hit the button to raise the trunk of my van, got out ran over and attempted to throw the goods in the back, Unnoticed.  Then ran back and about the time I started to get back in the van to hit the button to close the trunk so that I could blow that popsicle stand...I heard it fall out of the back of the van and onto the road!  So much for incognito!!! 

You would think that would be enough embarrassment for one day but a couple houses down I spotted this awesome mirror that I had to have.  However, the house that it was sitting in front of was getting a new roof and there were people all over it.  I did not pass it up or try to grab it and run.  I was very proud of myself I simply got out and put it in the van. 

So here is the loot:

      Love this mirror! Will propably end up above my fireplace mantel.

Some new pulls a little paint.  It has potential!

I ended up with it sitting beside me in the passenger seat and is now safe in my garage waiting for its chance at a new life:)

I will be linking this to the parties in my sidebar.

Thrifty Finds

For those of you who don't know I have been working on my kids rooms for some time now.

No seriously, it seems as if we have been working on them Forever!

And, to make sure that no detail is left without proper attention paid to it, I have spent many thrifting hours looking for things with maximum potential and at a minimum price to decorate them up a bit. Here are a few of my finds:


So thrifty in fact that I found this in my Mom's garage.  Is that considered cheating? Just needed a little TLC and it is sturdy again.  I really love the shape.

And this cute three drawer Vintagey type file cabinet.  I YUV the hardware on it!  Don't you think this would make a darling night stand in a little boys room, I do :)

Thanks for lookin'