DIY Wall Art

After my dresser triumph, I decided to make our little room a little pretty. If it was up to the boyfriend we would still be sleeping on a blow up mattress with no type of accessories anywhere. I really did feel like we needed something on the wall so I was a woman on a mission.

I wanted to get really creative and do something with some type of re-purposed window with some type of pretty quote on it. After failed efforts to finding an old window and not finding the size that I wanted for our small bedroom, I refused to give up hope. I went to where else, the land of forgotten goodies also known as the thrift store. I found this picture frame in the loveliest shade of lime green. It had a drawing of a peach so I just removed the backing and the drawing itself because I fell in love with the fame and it was the perfect size.

 

I printed out the quote that I wanted, he and I are always telling each other "love you more" I believe I used font size 160 and made it bold.

They have these really cool markers for glass at Hobby Lobby and I am sure at every other arts and crafts store. I got it for $3. Now there are two kinds: one kind that you have to put in the oven to cure it or something but I just got the regular one since I could not put my frame in the oven. With my luck I would burn the apartment down. I got some cheap little brushes and some acrylic pain in "white wash"

 

I didn't take any pictures of the process because honestly I did not think it would turn out so great. I cut up the letters and taped them to the FRONT of the frame, I wanted to keep the glossiness of the glass. After they were all taped up and in place, all I did was trace the letters carefully and filled them in with the marker. If you mess up you can wipe it off with your finger quite easily. It kind of feels like dry erase markers before it dries completely.

 

I wanted to tone down the lovely shade of lime green a bit so I started sanding it down. This paint just would not come off!!!! So I left it alone for a couple of days and it kind of grew on  me. I just went over it with white paint diluted in a little bit of water to give it a "white wash" effect. I have never done this before so I am pretty surprised.

 

 

 

Thanks for stopping by!

Dresser Re-Do

When we decided to get up and move across the country, all we did was pack up the furniture in our apartment and put it in storage since we did not know exactly where we were going to be. We packed up our cars and took off! Once we got here we lived in the shadiest hotel EVER! Let me describe that for you real quick. Imagine a dark hallway with a giant hole in the middle of the hallway that is basically just being "covered" by the carpet. You finally find your room number only to realize that its written in permanent marker on the wallpaper wall. Ah! good times.

Any who, when I finally found us an apartment all we had was a blow up mattress and a TV (priorities) so off to the thrift store I went. I found this little baby at the local thrift store for $40 bucks but it didn't fit in my little car. So I went back prepared and to my happy surprise it was on sale for 20 bucks!!!!! My lucky day for sure.

 

I was very scared about taking this on. My very first adventure of DIY/painting furniture was HORRIBLE. I bit off more than a could chew and painted a gigantic dining room table the perfect shade of dirt brown. But we have grown since then and decided to give it another try.

 

After hours of searching Pinterest (where else) I found this little number for inspiration.

 

 

I removed the drawers, hardware and gave her a good little cleaning and a quick little sanding. I focused mainly on the top and drawers because the sides where some type of particle board.

 

Now, technically you're not supposed to use white primer for black paint jobs but I had it handy and went with it. This was after two coats of primer.

 

Then the first coat of paint. I used Glidden Deep Onyx in satin.

 

For the drawers I originally wanted to go with Minwax Jacobean but I was at Ace Hardware and saw that they were having a sale on their stains and they also had Jacobean, so I decided to just get it.

 

Three coats of paint and stain TADAH!!!!!! I kept the same hardware on the top drawer and went with a similar color for these bin pulls. I sealed it with two coats of  Polycrylic in clear satin.

 

Not bad for my $20 little find.

Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did sharing. Any questions feel free to ask. Till next time.