Dresser Makeover

So, my house is 1800 square feet.  And, we have seven people and two dogs.  We outgrew this house about 7 years ago, but because of the market and some not so wise decisions, we will be staying here, for better or worse.  Space is always an issue now.  I am constantly rearranging, trying to find a ‘better way’ to store things.  My kitchen is probably the most difficult room, because we have growing kids and seem to be buying more and more food.  I have been wanting a hutch for.ev.er. (and a day).  But, sadly the budget doesn’t allow for it right now (and honestly, space is an issue…I had 50” to work with, and found a BEAUTIFUL hutch right around the corner at a yard sale a couple of weeks ago, but when I measured it…heart break…it was 54”, and even worse, it was only $50…that is just not right!  I find exactly what I want, in my budget, but  it doesn’t fit?  Not right I tell you!).  Anyway, I found this dresser on Craigslist for $30, and thought it might work.  They measured it for me and it was perfect!  So I ran right over, and even ended up getting it for $25 (yay!). 

The door looks crooked because it is just propped up there, I had already removed the door and drawers and started sanding, when I realized I forgot to take a ‘before’ picture… oops!  So, I put it back together for the picture

I sanded it, primed it white, then painted it Heirloom White.  I didn’t understand everyone’s infatuation with this particular color.  UNTIL I painted my dresser.  Oh my goodness.  It was love at first sight.  The primer was white, and it looked nice, but the Heirloom was so warm and lovely.  I love it!  I decided to paint the top black (or, Oil Rubbed Bronze), because I had bought new black knobs, and I hoped it would look pretty together (plus, a white surface with 5 kids is not a good match around here!).  This was my first attempt at adding a stain wash type of finish, and while it’s not exactly what I had in mind, I actually am learning to love it.  Next year, I am going to repaint my kitchen (including cabinets), and this is what I had in mind.  I didn’t put a poly finish on it, because I figured if the kitchen cabinets don’t match this finish, I can always change this (much easier than trying to change all my cabinets).

I cannot believe how much room we have for storing food and goodies!  The middle drawer is still empty, and the top drawer is pretty much empty.  And the cabinet?  Well, the 16 quarts of spicy green beans and an extra half rack of Diet Coke are stored there!  Yay for storage! And yay for hidden storage!  This (I think I’ll call her ‘Lovely’ from now on) replaced a baker’s rack that I got about 7 years ago.  It worked well, but didn’t have enough storage and everything was out in the open…I hated seeing it all! I still have lots of other plans…like painting the monstrosity of a freezer that lives next to the beautiful new sideboard (can I call it that now, instead of a ‘dresser’?  I hope so, it sounds much more sophisticated!). I’ve been begging the hubby for years to get rid of that freezer, but it is a necessity…unfortunately…it’s just so U.G.L.Y.  Really ugly. Especially now, sitting next to “Lovely”.  Oh how I wish we had a garage!!!

Well, that is one project down, about a million more to go!  Thanks for stopping by.  Please leave a comment and let me know you were here!

Birthdays!

Nikolai’s birthday was Monday, and he turned 13. Wow.  I can’t believe I have two teenage boys in the house (yes, we go through a lot of food!).  Nikolai is the jokester…he’s always teasing and laughing and making funny sounds and using funny voices and making funny faces, to try and get a laugh.  He is very sweet and kind with ‘the littles’ (which is what I call the youngest 3 kids).  For his birthday all he wanted an airsoft gun, so when he got to hold it, he was beside himself.  The pictures tell the story!

(ohhhhhhhhhhh!)

(wicked laugh)

ummm???

Chocolate Chip Mint Mud Pie for his birthday cake!

Yes, there is a piece missing in this picture. He actually had a piece on his birthday, but because the freezer had been unplugged (I didn’t know), the cake never set up, so we couldn’t put the candles in…but I let him have a piece, melted ice cream and all.  So Tuesday we sang and had the cake.  Nikolai adds a lot of fun and laughter to our family.  He is such a blessing!  Happy 13th Nik!!!

Sasha turned 7 on Tuesday the 26th.  He wanted about a million different toys for his birthday, and back in March Walmart had a HUGE clearance, so I picked up quite a few toys then.  Of course, I had to get a few of the ones he actually asked for as well…He also asked for chocoloate cake (a boy after my own heart!).  Sasha is quiet and shy and loves to play with Legos and Video Games.  He is a total momma’s boy, and I love it!  However, he is now starting to be aware of what others think of this, and he will only love on me when no one is around (he doesn’t want to be teased).  But, he still whispers “I love you” in my ear!

His ‘new’ Game Boy (from Dima)

Checking out the cake Dima made him.

so cute!

Sasha has such a special place in my heart.  I cannot explain it, not even to myself.  I love all of my kids like a crazy woman, but this one is different somehow, like I am more protective and aware of him than anyone else.  It sounds strange, I know.  But, there’s just something about him…I tell myself it’s because he’s the only one of the 5 who has my genes (the rest have a very strong ‘Russian’ look)…Sasha actually looks a lot like my dad did when he was young, and he has the sweetest sprinkle of freckles across his nose!  Just for the record, his formal name is “Aleksandr”, but since before he was born, he was “Sasha” to me.  He only hears his formal name when he’s in trouble, and then he knows it’s bad! 

Well, this is two of the crazy days from this past week.  Crazy.  Fun. Wonderful.

Thanks for stopping by!

ONE CRAZY WEEK!!!

HI Everyone!  Well, it truly has been ‘one crazy week’ around here!  In the past week we have: had 3 orthodontist visits, canned 36 quarts of pickled green beans, given a dresser a makeover, had two birthdays in the family, one doctor’s appointment, 2 Vision therapy appointments, went bowling, and (barely) survived my 3 year old cutting her own hair (again).  Wow.  It’s been hectic and crazy.   I feel bad that I didn’t post my boys’ birthdays, but with them 2 days in a row, I was too busy enjoying the days to worry about posting (that will come tomorrow).  I was also so excited about my dresser makeover, but didn’t have time to post that either (tomorrow I will though).

Thanks for stopping by.  Be sure to come back tomorrow…there will be pictures at some point, I promise!

Have a good night.

A New Addition (and a sign to go with!)

About a month ago, we added a new girl to our family.  Meet Ali:

This was about an hour after we got her home…she made herself comfy on the couch.  She is so sweet, we are all absolutely in love with her, and best of all, she loves Lucy!  It is hilarious to watch them play together.  She immediately attached herself to my son:

Seriously attached.  She follows him around everywhere.  She cries when he leaves.  For like hours (no exaggerating!).  So now she is his new fishing/camping buddy.  She loves the boat and gets to go every time they go fishing.  Thankfully (for me and my sanity) she loves the boat! One big adjustment with a  Beagle (that we didn’t have to worry about with Lucy) is her bark…she’s loud…and there’s more than one bark…there’s her cry (mostly for Dima) and her howl, and her bark.  She is LOUD.  And, did I mention my husband works graveyard…and that she’s LOUD…so we’ve had to adjust a bit to keep an eye on her and what she’s keeping an eye on (her favorite spot is the couch by the window, so she can watch everything). This brings  me to the necessity of my next project:

We had been having A LOT of ‘visitors’ lately, and Ali, doing her job, barks each and every time one of them knocks on the door.  For a couple of days, we were frantically trying to shush her while the ‘visitor’s came to the door, but it got pretty stressful pretty quickly, so, I  grabbed some wood from the stash and repurposed it into this sign.  To make it, I base coated it Oil Rubbed Bronze, then added the vinyl (just the ‘soliciting’ and ‘religious’),  then painted it red.  Once dry, I added the two “NO” words and the ‘queries’  in vinyl , and then painted the whole thing white. Once it was almost dry, I removed all the vinyl.  Once completely dry, I sanded it and added some stain to make it look old (it faces the afternoon sun outside and will get all the rain, wind, etc., so I figured if it started out looking beat up, I wouldn’t be sad when it ended up looking that way).  The next day I added a layer of clear top coat, and added the wires to hang it, and here we are.  And, to my relief, we have not had a single visitor since I put it up (and no struggles with Ali barking!).  Yay!

One more cute picture of Ali (with her new toy Alligator):

Thanks for stopping by. 

Water Balloon Flip Flops

HI!  I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!  We relaxed, ate, watched fireworks, comforted the dogs, and had fun! 

While visiting Someday Crafts a few days ago, I saw this project by guest blogger Kelly from Running with Glitter  and knew I had to try it.  It looked so easy, and so very cute.  So, today while I was at Target I picked up 2 packages of water balloons, knowing that if I gave the kids a whole package,  I’d probably have enough quiet time to finish this off.  So here is my version:

 

and here is how it started:

Water balloons, flip flops, string, (Diet Coke and Hot Tamale flavored Cotton Candy weren’t needed for this project, but made me oh-so-happy!).

  I tied 4 water balloons together with string, then used the ‘tails’ of the string to tie them onto the flip flops.  I then tied one water balloon around the bundle, to cover the string.  I tried it Kelly’s way, but kept breaking the balloons, so I had to improvise! I think I ended up using 4 bundles on each side of each flip flop.  Because my little choo-cha has Fred Flintstone feet, I didn’t go all the way down the straps.  As it is, they are now a bit snug for her to get on (I bought her 2 pairs, and the other pair goes on fine, so I’m glad I quit when I did!).  They are so cute, she calls them her “party shoes”.  And, like Kelly did, I wanted to make a coordinating hair accessory, but since I didn’t have a barrette, I used a rubber band (ok, not a rubber band like you have around your newspaper,but I’m having a brain fart and cannot remember the name of it!  It’s a little covered one…can anyone help here???) and tied 8 water balloons around one side.  That way, I can still put it in her hair easily.

 

I think I might just make myself a pair of those flip flops! And, what I really love is that all the fun colors make them match just about anything in her wardrobe!

Thanks for stopping by!

I’m linking up to some fun parties, go check it out:

  House of Hepworth’s

 

My Repurposed Life