She Makes Over Lamps...

I saw this idea at Homebody - where she covered a lampshade in burlap.  I thought it was adorable and filed that in my "want to try that" brain file.

When I bought the dresser for my son, the guy that was selling it asked me if I happened to need lamps.  I said, "why yes I do but I didn't bring anymore cash with me".  But when he said he had 3 lamps with shades and would give them all to me for $5 I boogied up to the store and got the cash.

So today I went and bought some burlap for $2.99 a yard and got to work.

Check out this hideous shade...

I have to wonder who went out and bought this because they just LOVED it!?!

I laid out the burlap...probably about a yard.   Then, with my trusty hot glue gun, I wrapped and glued...

Until I had this.  I trimmed the excess and glued it in.  I wish I could have made it a little tighter but for my first try at this I am pretty pleased.

Now my desk has a much needed lamp. 

(notice my marketing text book laying there waiting for me to open it)

I am going to paint the lamp too but not sure what color yet so I just dusted it off and put it on the desk.

Lamp and shade $1.67

Burlap $2.99

New-to-me lamp...$4.66

*SCORE*

I'm sharing this post on...

Backyard Eden



Dresser Done Over...The Reveal

Well if you read my earlier post then you saw my mid-way dresser over make-over.  I was worried but I think all turned out well.

Is it perfect?  NO.  Do I love it?  Well I like it a lot, but we're just going to be friends.  Does my son like it?  YES - and that is what really matters!

This was fully sanded down when I bought it yesterday (SCORE!)  I have been really wanted to try a colored stain on ANYTHING because I have a vision of staining my kitchen cabinets with a color in the future.  So I bought Minwax Indigo Blue and some staining clothes and got started.

It was a rough start (see post below).  I wasn't sure if I had made a huge mistake.  BUT  I kept going and my hands are a little smurfish....  It was over 90 here in the Valley of the Sun so it dried pretty quick.  I added some inexpensive knobs from Home Depot (silver because we are going for Cowboy's colors) and she is looking pretty spiffy.

Here it is....

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Please forgive my tilted shot...too lazy to fix it. :P



Sharing my treasure at:

Shabby Nest

Just a Girl

Domestically Speaking

The GREAT Dresser Disaster~!?!

Ok maybe not so much a disaster as a fiasco...but I need some encouragment or maybe help!

I got my 14 year old son a "new-to-us" dresser off of craigslist....

 

Solid Pine, Good Bones, Nice Grain...

So I says to myself, "self, you should stain this dresser".  But self replied, "self, the boy wants a room in the Cowboy colors" (aka blue & silver).  So me and self decide to try staining said dresser with indigo wood stain...

"We" aren't so sure about how it is going.  Kinda looks like, well, crap.  This is after working on it for about an hour.  I have to tell you all that I am not an experienced stainer.  The truth is I think I have stained one single board of wood, ever, in my entire life.  It is much more difficult than it looks.  Soooooo  I am trying to decide if I should continue with the stain and pray it will start looking better OR scrap it and get a can of paint.

THOUGHTS?  IDEAS?

HELP?!?!?!?

New Projects

I love Freecyle

and Craigslist.

Today's free finds:

Freecycle - Wood Curtain Rods

Please excuse messy garage picture.  I picked these awesome solid wood curtain rods this morning.  I am hoping to use them in my family room.  I am not sure if I should paint them or not.

Freebie from Craigslist:

Bottom Dresser

Top Hutch

I picked this dresser up, site unseen, from Craigslist today.  How could I turn down a free dresser, less than 3 miles away!  I was thinking I was picking up something for my boy's room until I saw it.  Now my plan is to sand it and paint it white for my 13 year daughter's room.  I am thinking of making the mirror area into a chalk board.

I bought an orbital sander and a circular saw today at Harbor Freight - so excited.

I will post pics when these are completed!!!

Test and Bottles and Fabric..Oh My!

<-- This book has been the means of torturing me every morning for the last 6 weeks or so but that will soon be coming to an end!  I passed my Economics exam today earning myself 4 more credits and I have one last paper to write for the other econ class and then I am FOREVER done with economics!!!!  I am so thankful for my school Western Governor's University for making it possible for a busy mom to get her degree.  :)  Yeah WGU!


Today I found 2 awesome bottles at Goodwill and one screamed, "cover me with jute"!  Ok it didn't really but I have seen several of these twine covered bottles on the net and when I found a 50 cent bottle I thought I would give it a try.

So I grabed my Jute, hot glue gun and my cheap goodwill treasure and got to work...

Can I tell you this took a lot longer than I imagined and the glue gun got me good a couple of times.  But I made progress none the less...

My youngest, Tabitha, decided to join the crafty corner in the kitchen and make her monkey mask...she is hard at work here; you can tell this by the fact that she is sitting still.

Here is the final product next to my other 50 cent bottle from Goodwill (isn't it cute?).

I'm not sure if this is the greatest project I have ever accomplished but I like it.  I think it will be really cute with a couple of daisies in it.

After my Goodwill trip today I hit the fabric store.  I was looking for some inspiration fabric for our family room.  I believe I found it!!!!

I wish it looked as yummy on screen as it does in real life.  Here it looks like black and teal but it is really a chocolate brown and a light blue (sorta tealish).  I am going to make a couple of throw pillows  out of it and if I still love it I will go back for more! :)