I'm Feeling Blue. . .

  

Holy Bajeeeebers. . .This post is wuh-ay overdue.  I've been talking about these projects that I've had in the works for what feels like forever.  Oh, you think this is the big bathroom reveal?  No sweetie, that one's not quite done yet.  Just a little while longer. . .please run down to your local big box store and purchase a small amount of patience.  And then throw some my way, cuz I could really use an extra dose of patience after how long that bathroom is taking me to finish.  It is certainly slow in coming along.  No, this post is about the nightstand that I was refinishing for Tyler's bedroom.  That project is the one we're talking about now.  That's what I've finally gotten finished. 

Above, is the sad little nightstand that I picked up from Goodwill several months ago.  I paid a whopping $10 for it and trust me when I tell you this squat little dude is HEAVY!  I think it's technically categorized as "crate style" furniture and it matches the style that the Little Man already has in his bedroom.  It just needed to be refinished to match the color.  So, after sitting in my garage and getting comfy for a few months, I decided to give it the makeover so that it could finally become a part of the family in Ty's room. 

In case there are any other aspiring nightstand re-doers out there, I remembered to take some step by step pictures along the way but not enough to be considered a tutorial by any means.  Therefore, I hope this post will help someone, but if you need more detailed instructions, I would suggest you check out Sherry & John's projects page over on their blog Young House Love (if you don't already read their blog, it is a MUST ADD to your blogroll!) as that's where I got most of the information that I used to finish this project.

First, I started off by removing the drawer hardware, removing the drawer, and giving the entire piece a nice wipe down with a wet rag.  You can even see in the picture above that some dust had moved in.  I had to give that dust and cobwebbies their eviction papers.   Time to move, Fellas. . .I've got some refinishing to do! 

 As you can see, the top of the piece had some dents, dings, and scratches.  So, in order to get a nice smooth surface that was going to take well to painting, I needed to sand down the entire piece focusing special attention on the top to try to level everything out.  Pay no attention to that screwdriver on top.  It had no part in this production and was simply stopping to take a rest on its way to another project.  Not sure how it snuck its way into the picture.  On top of that, I am now realizing that I got no pictures of the piece after I had sanded it all down.  Sorry about that!  Clearly, I was a little too excited to move onto the next step which was. . . .

Breaking out the primer and cute little foam roller.  Once everything was all sanded down and smooth, it was time to prep the surface with a good latex based primer.  The dude at Home Depot recommended this stuff

Glidden GRIPPER in grey (HD guy said that since I was painting the nightstand a dark blue, the primer would do better if tinted so as not to show through the paint as white).  To apply the primer, I picked up this little Touch UP & Trim Kit which I think cost me about $2.00 total.  It came with the roller and a very convenient little tray.  The size of this roller was perfect for the little nooks and crannies in the nighstand.  A little bit small for the larger surfaces (like the top, sides and back) but I made it work just by working in smaller sections on those areas.  Here are some pics of Getting all Gripper with it

Here's one with the whole piece covered in primer.  In total, I put two coats of primer on just to make sure that everything was nice and covered. 

This is where the lack of pictures will probably do the most damage.  Once I actually started painting, I was just on a roll and didn't even come up for air, let alone to take a picture.  Actually, I had to switch the positioning of the piece so many times in order to paint a different side/angle, I didn't have any time to take pictures.  I was too busy moving, painting, moving again, painting again, etc.  It was a painful rinse & repeat process.  Although, the paint that I used was Valspar Ultra Premium semi gloss in Royal Navy.  This is the same paint (as in, same can of paint--it was leftover!) that the rest of Tyler's bedroom furniture is painted in so I knew it was going to be an exact match.  Plus, it meant I didn't have to buy more paint.  Score!  As for a brush, I used one of my Purdy paintbrushes.  These are the only paintbrushes that I use.  They are more expensive than other brushes, but they are high quality and really produce an excellent finish.  I say that like I have a ton of experience in painting but I don't.  I just copy from those that do and Sherry & John over at YHL certainly qualify as professionals (in my book, at least) in the furniture painting department.  They recommended Purdy so that's what I use! 

After the entire piece was painted, the question of what to do about drawer hardware needed to be addressed.  Initially, I was going to replace the drawer pull and put something else on.  But, as I got the piece painted, I actually kind of liked the lines of the handle that came with it.  That, and reusing the original handle was going to save me from filling in the screw holes left behind if I had decided to use a different handle.  However, something definitely needed to be done with the color.  



I decided to go with a rich brown since Tyler's room has some brown sprinkled througout and I figured a brown handle would tie right into his room.  I also just happened to have a can of glossy brown spray paint in my arsenal so it saved me from the cost of buying a new handle and new spray paint.  I'm all about keeping it cheap!  

Sorry about the sideways picture. 

Two quick coats of spray paint on the handle and it we were ready to put everything back together.  Are you ready for the big reveal? 

TA-DA!!!!  I'll be honest, I'm not toally sold on the brown handle.  I don't think I love it.  It doesn't tie into the lamp and the rest of the room like I thought it would so I'm considering pulling it off and painting it another color.  Maybe red?  Brushed Nickel?  What do you think?  But, I do like the nightstand!  It matches the rest of Tyler's furniture very well and he LOVES having somewhere to put the remote to his TV and his cup of water at night.  Since I have yet to ever highlight Tyler's room, here are a few total package pictures so that you can get a feel for what his room looks like--

Tyler also has a bookshelf on the other side of the room which is the same color as well as a dresser along the wall (you can kind of see the shadow of it in the whole room shot) that is also the same color.  This is probably the one room in my entire house that is as finished as it's going to get with the exception of getting his TV hung on the wall--I can't seem to find the right wall mount for the TV.  Boo! 

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed my first little furniture makeover post.  All in all, here's about what I spent to finish the project:

Nighstand: $10 at Goodwill
primer: $11 at Home Depot
foam roller kit for primer: $2

The rest of the items used for the project I already owned so there was no additional expense there.  So, overall, I only spent $23 to get a new piece of funiture in my son's room that totally rounds out the room!

What to pick up at those After Holiday Sales

Yes, I know that the majority of what you'll find at those major "After Holiday" sales is mostly Christmas (or "Holiday" if you're trying to be PC. . and since I'm in HR, I'm always minding my P's & C's) decorations but if you know what you're looking for, there are plenty of items that you can use in your every day life.  If you see any of these types of items included in an After Holiday sale, now's the time to snag them at MAJOR discounts.  Here are a few of the items that I've either seen on the sales racks or have snagged for my own house:

• Paper goods -- paper plates, plasticware, table cloths, napkins, paper towels, etc --sometimes they are Holiday prints (but who cares if I'm using paper towels with Christmas trees on them while cleaning my bathroom in July?!) but often times, there will be solid colored red, green, and white items too.
• Storage items -- ziploc bags, storage containers, plastic wrap, etc --again, they may be Holiday themed but do you really care??
• Sheets -- if you dig hard enough, you may find solid colored sheets in red, white, or green--if that's the color of your decor in one of your rooms, then you should be able to score a major deal!
• Pillows -- I got some solid colored deep green throw pillows for my Living Room last year for $4.00/piece all because the tag (yes, the REMOVABLE TAG) had a snowflake on it!
• Candy -- Frankly, I'm too busy getting down to business with the candy to notice what's printed on the wrapper.
• Candles -- again, mostly christmas scented but the "white" is usually either unscented or vanilla. . totally all-purpose! 
• Stocking Stuffers for next year -- I already have probably half of Tyler's stocking covered for next year.  I simply picked up non-perishable items from the clearance bins of Wal Mart and Target.  These items include: Hot Wheels cars, Star Wars figures, little battery operated games, Holiday themed coloring book, Holiday themed puzzle, Star Wars pens, Star Wars markers, and a few other little filler items that were marked at either 50% or 75% off but were TOTALLY going to last until next year. 
• tape
• small sets of white lights--use these in all sorts of decorating projects!
• solid colored dishes (red, green, white)
• Soap, perfume, & make up gift sets
• Kleenex

The biggest thing to pay attention to is what the packaging looks like versus what the actual item looks like.  Many items get included in these Holiday sales simply because the packaging is Holiday themed or the item was produced as part of a Holiday line whereas the actual item itself is completely neutral and would be sold normally in that store just not in Holiday themed packaging.  For example, the dishes in my house were bought at an After Holiday sale.  They're red, which is what I was going for.  I just so happened to find them included in an After Holiday sale last year because the box they came in was all decked out in Christmas glitter and had an idealic Holiday table setting picture on the front.  Guess what?  The same dishes were being sold in the Housewares Department just inside of different packaging for full price.  So, I got a 75% discount off the regular price all because of a box.  I'll take it!  Same thing with the throw pillows on my couch.  Like I said, the tag had a snowflake on it so in the Holiday sale they went where I happily snatched them up and gave them a new home. 

What everyday items have you been able to snag at after holiday sales?  Or, what Holiday themed items have you been able to repurpose to be able to be used in everyday life? 

Kid Bathroom Makeover-Part 1

While most normal people were spending their Christmas break visiting friends and family, eating hoards of delicious foods, analyzing their Holiday spending receipts and pondering bankruptcy, or coming up with excuse after excuse to get out of traveling to see those relatives, I was spending quality time with my ipod.  And paintbrush.  And sharing close quarters with a toilet used solely by a six year old boy.  One, which I have recently discovered, possesses the aim of a blind bat.  Fabulous times, let me tell ya!

Since I was off work for almost two weeks (which is unheard of), I'm out of school for a few more weeks (again, almost unheard of), and I (gasp) don't have too many other things on my to-do list other than DIY projects, I figured I'd start to tackle one of the projects which has been on the painfully slow moving to-do list for awhile.  Like, for a year and a half. 

Step into my office. . . .err, my canvas?. . .no, my PROJECT!. . .

This is Tyler's bathroom.  Well, kind of.  I took this picture after I had already started in on some of the makeover.  Oh, not those blue blocks.  Those have been there for a year and a half.  Yeah, I'm a little slow.  I had already started moving in my tool friends and had removed the cabinet doors by time the thought occurred to me to grab my camera and document the process for you blogger friends of mine. 

The next few pictures are courtesy of my over eager six year old.  Ty wanted to help SO bad but there was just no way I could give him a paintbrush during the (much dreaded) cutting in phase.  So, I told him he could be the photographer instead.  I must say that the kid might have some talent.  At least they came out clear.  This pic is of me cutting in around the tub.  Unfortunately, Tyler doesn't know how to zoom in and out on the camera so he didn't capture the interesting way that I had myself positioned with one foot on the edge of the tub and the other braced on the back of the top of the toilet.  This is dangerous work, people! 



Another photo of the cutting in process.  I HATE CUTTING IN!  I don't mind painting. . .well, not a whole lot. . .I don't love it while I'm actually doing it, but I like when it's done.  I'd like painting much better if I could just snap my fingers and have it be done.  Regardless, I HATE cutting in.  It's slow, it's painful (seriously!  My wrists hurt really bad right now.  Typing is killer after painting for several hours!), and it's dreadfully boring.  I'm much happier when the cutting in part is over.  And right now, it's far from over.  So, I'm far from happy. 

I've got to get back to painting.  For now, here's a sneak peek at the progress that I've made so far.  There's some color on the wall.  Be sure to come back soon to catch up on the progress as I go. 

Thrifty Thursday: Fun Christmas Ornament Craft

I love fun, easy, and cheap crafts that I can do with Tyler!  What I love even more, are crafts that we can do together that don't look like they were necessarily done by a six year old and his creativity challenged mother!  Therefore, this craft was P-ER-FECT for us!

Cinnamon Applesauce Christmas Ornaments

Ingredients:

3/4 c. cinnamon (yes, that's alot of cinnamon!)
1/2 c. warmed applesauce (maybe a little more, if needed)

Directions:

Mix cinnamon and applesauce in medium size bowl.  If mixture is too crumbly (i.e. dry), add more applesauce a little bit at a time until mixture forms a nice dough consistency.  Do not add too much applesauce at one time or dough may be too sticky.  Once dough consistency is reached, place dough on large piece of wax paper.  Sprinkle down some cinnamon both on wax paper and on top of dough ball to act as "flour" to keep dough from sticking to wax paper.  Add another sheet of wax paper on top of dough ball and roll to 1/4 inch thickness. 

Sprinkle down more cinnamon as needed to keep dough from sticking.  Once dough is rolled out, use regular cookie cutters to cut out shapes and place on wax paper lined cookie sheet.

Once all shapes have been cut out, use a straw (or similar shaped object) to poke a hole in order to string ribbon through to use as ornament hanger.

Bake in oven on 200 degrees for roughly an hour (maybe more, maybe less) until ornaments feel mostly dry.  Remove from oven and let air dry overnight or until dry and hard.  String ribbon through, hang on tree, and ENJOY!



Things to note, be careful when handling these ornaments once they are done because they are very brittle.  At least, mine are.  We haven't broken one yet but they just seem fairly delicate.  This project was super fun, easy, and cheap (I think I paid like $5 for cinnamon and only used half of it, already had applesauce, and we got about 12 ornaments out of it) and it made the house smell DELICOUS!!!  The ornaments are all sitting in my living room right now waiting to go on the tree and almost a week after making them, I still get a waft of cinnamon scent every time I walk by them.  Now, if you don't like the smell of cinnamon, I wouldn't recommend making these. . .cuz it's gonna smell like a cinnamon factory in your house!  In my case, I don't mind that (trust me, it's better than sweaty six year old boy, wet dog, and old grumpy cat!) so this was great for us! 

Do you have any fun Christmas crafts that you've done lately?  Share them with us!

Thrifty Thursday: Frugal Advent Calendar

For this Thrifty Thursday, I have a project that I found to be VERY exciting.  Probably because I thought it up all by my lonesome (thanks to being bored at work!) and also because it's for my little baby bear and I think he's really going to like it!  I have always admired advent calendars but I've never found one that was really just it for me.  I also wanted something that was going to allow me to include activities each day that Ty and I could do together.  So, I made one myself.  And I'm so excited how great it turned out.  I hope you think so too! 


Here's what it took and how much it set me back:

• 24 clothespins--FREE (just stole them from my laundry room) for me but you could probably get a whole big pack at the dollar store for only. . .well, one dolla!
• 3 cans of spray paint (white, red & green)--$3.40 for all three cans @ Wal-Mart
• Sisal rope (need a higher weight rope to hold up all those clothespins)--$6.48 from Lowes but I have a TON leftover so I'll probably finish that rope jar project that I never got around to making for my mom's beach house (Sorry, Mom!)
• 24 mini cards and envelopes--$2.00 from Micheals

You could number the envelopes any way you wanted but I found a super cute set of tiny letter stamps at Wal-Mart for only $.97 plus some small Christmas themed stamps (3 to a package!) for .97 so I splurged on those and an extra ink pad for $.97 also. 

Grand total spent: $14.79--not too shabby when you consider that I now have enough sisal rope to either complete another project or hog tie a herd of wild elephants.  Cuz I sometimes find those walking around in my neighborhood.  Just sayin'.


And here's how I made it happen:

Step 1: I laid out all 24 clothespins on some old newspaper in the garage and seperated them into three groups of 8.  One group was spray painted white, one group red, and one group green.

I put two good coats of the red and green on each side but the white took three coats.

Step 2: I took my mini stamps and spelled out the different numbers from One to Twenty Four on the mini envelopes.  I then took my little Christmas stamps and decorated the envelopes.  This step is totally optional.  You could number the envelopes any way you wanted or decorate them any way you wanted. 

Step 3: I took the Sisal rope and strung it between the two light fixtures that Tyler has hanging in his bedroom.  You'll want somewhere fairly sturdy (tied to a banister going up a stairwell, hung from a mantel, etc) because once all of the clothespins and envelopes are on there, it's fairly heavy. 

Step 4:  Once I had everything else done, dried and tied to the wall, I wrote an activity inside of each of the little cards.  Since I wanted activities that were going to allow Ty and I to spend some extra time together, I included things like:

• Extra snuggles before bed
• Pick out a movie to watch together
• Go on a nature walk
• Breakfast at IHOP
• Paint a picture together
• Do something nice for someone else
• Put together a puzzle together

And other activities that I thought would really help us bond during this crazy stressful time otherwise known was the Holiday season as well as some things that would give Ty an opportunity to learn about the giving that is associated with the Holiday season as opposed to only receiving.

Step 5: After all of the cards were filled and put into their envelopes, I used alternating colors of clothespins to hang the cards on the line.  I started with number Twenty Four and went all the way down to One since the idea is to have a countdown till Xmas.  I'm hoping that by spelling out the numbers, versus just printing the numbers on the envelopes, it will help Tyler with his sight reading skills of numbers.  Always gotta think about the educational spin! 

And there you have it.  An advent calendar that I'm totally in love with!  I put it together last week while Ty was at his dad's house as a suprise for him when he came home to me on Thursday.  He LOVED it!!!  He's gotten so excited about seeing what is inside of each envelope each day.  I've tried to schedule around the fact that he's with his dad 50% of the time so I've included activities on those days that he's with his dad that I thought would be relatively easy for his dad to complete with him.  

What do you think?  Do you have an avent calendar project that you love?  If so, please share!!

Thrifty Thursday: Cheap Fall Mantel Decor

Today's Thrifty Thursday post is coming a little late since I'm out of town for work this week.  Whew, it's been a busy week so far and I'm really ready to go home tomorrow! 

I'll be back next week with a continuance of the Birthday Parties on the Cheap series but this week I wanted to bring you a special little treat.  One of my big time successes on my day off from work on Monday (Thank You again Mr. Columbus!) was getting a little bit of my house decorated for Fall.  This project literally took me about 10 minutes once all of the items were "ready". 

I would love to take credit for this idea, but I totally had help.  In fact, if you were to get down to the nitty gritty, I'd have to say someone else actually came up with the idea and my part was more of a helping role.  My real life friend, Sarah, over at Downtown Southern was the real brain child behind this project.  You see, she loves Fall even more than I do, if that's even possible.  I mean, she's like. . .obsessed.  Seriously.  She loves Fall almost as much as she loves Justin Bieber.  Just testing to see if she's reading this. . .if I don't post anymore for. . .oh, forever?. . .you'll know it's because she's reading and she killed me for outting her undying love for the Biebs.  Ha Ha!  Anyways, on one particularly Fallish feeling afternoon shopping trip in search of perfect (and cheap!) fall decorations, Sarah spotted the pumpkin garland and that's how the whole project started.  Here's how the idea shaped up along with how much I spent on it (which is what makes it part of Thrifty Thursday):

• Pumpkin Garland from the Dollar Spot at Target--$1

• (3) Plain Orange Pumpkins from Dollar Tree--$1 each x 3 = $3
• the idea was that we'd take the pumpkins and spray paint them white to make them match my decor a little better
• 1 can white spray paint -- $1.99
• 1 small bottle brown craft paint (for the stems of the pumpkins)--$1.49
• (2) Pumpkin Spice scented candles (jars in between the pumpkins) from Garden Ridge--$3.99 each = $7.98

 Now, for the pumpkins. . .the original plan was to spray paint them white and paint the stems brown.  However, it was too much of a contrast with the white and the brown and literally made the pumpkins look very strange.  Like they were waiting for kids to attack them with stickers or crayons or something.  So, I took the same brown paint from the stems and watered it down quite a bit.  To about the consistency of a stain.  Then, I brushed it onto one portion of the pumpkin and wiped it off with a paper towel.  I repeated that step until the entire pumpkin had been "stained".  This left a slight brownish tint behind which makes the pumpkin look MUCH more realistic than the bright white/dark brown contrast did.  I like it this way much better!

• Hurricane Glass candle holder -- FREE (I already had it)
• Candy corn inside candle holder -- .50 (I only used about half the bag)

• Orange candles on candle holders and inside Hurricane Glass -- FREE (already had them)

I see that the candle on the right appears to be leaning.  I should fix that!  I'm sure I will. . .when it's time to decorate the mantel for Christmas or something! 

Now, if you'll notice, the two candles on the candlesticks are not the exact same color.  The one on the left is the same color as the two in between the pumpkins and the one inside of the Hurricane glass is the same as the one on the right side of the candlestick pair.  I did this to try to tie it all together since I tried to put the taller one on the left in the Hurricane glass but the color of it just looked too awkward against the colors in the candy corn.  What do y'all think?  Should I change it up?  Does it look too. . .off?  

I love this mantel decoration for two reasons: 1. it can easily extend beyond Halloween simply by replacing the pumpkin garland with a fall leaves garland (and maybe some white lights strung in between?) and replacing the candy corn with acorns or some small orange pumpkin vase filler.  The other reason, 2. It was CHEAP!!!  In total, I only paid $15.96 and all but the fifty cents in candy corn can be reused again next year!  Yipee!

What kinds of fall decorating projects have you completed in your own spaces?  Share pictures or ideas with us!