Dresser Refinishing!

I won't deny it, refinishing furniture is therapeutic for me. You take something dingy and dumpy and give it a new lease on life. AND if you keep it, you add a little bit more of yourself into your home. I resent my big brand store-bought pieces some times, because they're so lacking in personality! Cheap, sure, but I can't wait until they break and I can replace them with something OLD. Crazy.

I picked up this one for $25 at Value Villiage a while back. I haven't quite found the right place for it in my house, but it looks cute none-the-less.

I gave it a light sanding, then painted it with white Behr paint/primer interior. Even though it was white on cream, it took 5 or 6 coats to get a solid cover. I picked up some sweet old pulls from the Habitat for Humanity Re-Store for .50 each, and gave them a coat of black spray paint (they were a bronze/gold). Since both paints I used were left over from other projects, I didn't have to spend anything else, so that totals this project at $27! Including a few hours of painting fun :D.

To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure if the paint without a clear coat would stand up to much abuse. I've never used a clear coat because I don't abuse my pieces much, but I think the risk of painting is chipping, and a clear coat might be necessary if you've got kids around. (EDIT: because I was thinking about it, I looked it up. Here is a great set of answers for these clear coating questions: http://www.allthingsthrifty.com/2012/09/how-to-seal-your-furniture-and-when-it.html)

Going to the Ocean!

Next week, I'm going to the ocean! My hubby and I are travelling down the Oregon coast  to go to prison. No really, our final destination is Alcatraz in San Francisco, the only place Dwayne REALLY wanted to go. In all honesty, I'm not super stoked to go into a dark creepy prison, but I get it. It was the show (badly done as it was...) that got him hooked. It was also probably the show that gave me that creepy feeling I get when I think about visiting there...!

We compromised by him agreeing we could end our trip at the Seattle Zoo (hmm, who could have requested that one?) Although now that I think about it, I'm not sure we'll have time. Either way though, spending a week travelling beside the ocean will be wonderful enough!! 

On monday I was gripped by the need to finally make something of the canvas I have had sitting in the spare room for a few months. I went home and started with some of my favourite colours and some paintings I was inspired by, and ended up with this! Something tells me I'm more excited than I realized about travelling to the ocean!

Painting, cups, and TLC.

Ok, I'm not actually sure what I was watching while I painted last friday. Wait! Friday is "bride day" on TLC, so I was probably watching "say yes to the dress" re-runs. But cut me some slack, when I'm painting i'm not really watching. Now that I'm thinking about it though, I'm pretty sure I also watched an episode of "the Mentalist," which I remember because it was actually interesting. I probably did more watching than painting for that hour...

ANYWAYS, I was waiting for Hubby to come home before we could leave to Kamloops for the weekend. I started my painting while I waited, having no clue at the time that I'd have plenty of time to finish AND admire the painting before he got home (we finally left at 10 pm ... late night! We get to blame the granite guys).

I must confess I saw a painting very similar to this at some store somewhere. But it was $50 bucks and I knew I could do it myself for much less (can you say dollar store paints again?) And besides, I have a growing collection of canvases at home waiting to be brought to life. Sooo... here it is!

Basic How-to:
1. Paint your canvas with your base colour! I used a creamy off-white.
2. Find a circular shape you can get covered in paint, a good size proportional to your canvas (i had to search for a bit, but settled on a plastic Ikea cup). Once you've got the diameter, graph out a grid and the circles with pencil. Make sure you start in the center of your canvas, so that your circles will line up how you'd like them to on the edges.
3. Settle on a colour palette, with 4-7 colours. Start filling in the overlapping pieces of the circles in a random fashion! This is where your gut comes in, just go with the flow! Don't fill in every single one.
4. Using a black or dark grey paint, dip the cup and then stamp it on the circles. Don't worry about precision, it'll look nice and casual mis-aligned!
5. Paint the lines as well. I used a ruler with my paintbrush because my hand isn't quite steady enough for my liking!
6. Sign it! All done. Next step (which I still have to do as well) is to hang it up!

Pulling out the paints and giving thanks

Thanksgiving weekend! Its been good. I've had more than my fair of turkey and turkey comas in the past three days, and I'm loving the "recovery day" that today has become. It may be more out of a lack of plans and potential boredom, but ultimately I found myself with a free morning and decided to take advantage of it!

I finally pulled out the paints, and I'm so glad I did. Its good news all around: I feel great for finally letting out a bit of creative energy in a hands-on way, and our basement suite is a little brighter!

 

This year, this season, I have much to be thankful for. Blessings abound! Can't wait till Christmas... :D lol!