Nose to the Grindstone

I don't know about you, but I enjoyed this holiday break so much. The lazy days with no schedules or appointments, the having to ask yourself what day it was, the staying in pajamas all day, the movie watching, the purchasing of Christmas leftovers and a significantly reduced prices (I got some Christmas dishes for 32 cents a piece!), and the finally getting around to finishing up some projects that have been needing to be done. As most of you know, I am a thrift store junkie. I have been one for as long as I can remember and way before it was the cool thing to be. Imagine my happiness at finding others "just like me" here in blog land! :) (My second favorite store is the hardware store, by the way...) Well, I wanted to share some of my recent thrift store make-overs. First, is a little two drawer cabinet I found. I realized after I started sanding away that I had broken the first rule of blogging and didn't take a before picture. But, trust me when I tell you that it was ug.ly. It was spray painted a hideous light green, over pink, over white. There was so much spray paint on this baby, that even I almost looked past it's potential. After sanding for what seemed hours, I finally got to the point that I thought it could handle its last and final paint job. I was so wrong. More sanding was required, and I thought, for a fleeting moment, that this little project was a lost cause. After even more sanding, I sprayed a light coat of flat, cranberry colored spray paint on it. (I am one that would usually expound on the virtues of spray paint, but in this instance, I will say the less is definitely more.) I thought to change the handles but the original ones just looked better. However, the screws were stripped and would not stay tight in the drawers. Craig, (my brilliant and clever husband) suggested Gorilla gluing them in place. So I did. And it worked. After sanding the edges and going over them with a dry brush and a teeny, tiny bit of black paint, I pronounced this project finished. It still shows signs of its former overly painted life, like the crackling bit by the handle on the top shelf, but I would like to think that it makes it looks just a little more prim. Next up is a salt box house. I blogged about this back in May but can't link to that post. (Can someone please tell me how to do that?) It was painted a shiny royal blue with a brown roof. I went with the cranberry color again, and painted the roof black. This baby was a huge pain in the rear. Despite my sanding, the paint still bubbled up and cracked. I was determined to make it right though. Craig cut me some new roof slats as I broke the others trying to nail them back on. I used his nail gun and it was just too powerful. He very kindly volunteered to put the new roof on for me....I think I heard him mumbling something about "doing it right this time".... :) I had to put the silver heart on the front to cover up some gluing issues from it's former life. It had a rusty heart on it before and it must have been glued on with some industrial strength stuff because I just couldn't get it all off. Anyway, it looks fab with the clip light on! And finally, this is a little dresser that my dad gave me while we were in Utah this summer. I remember this from when I was a little girl. My mom used to keep good smelling things in it like perfume and powder. In it's former life, it was a pink-ish sort of color. ( I know....Ewwwww!) But now it's black. After sanding off all it paint, (note to self. "When sanding what appears to be lead based paint, always wear a mask and other protective clothing. It makes you all itchy and gives a BIG headache.") and even the part where my little brother, Jay, wrote his name, I painted it with a semi-gloss black paint. I cleaned up the handles with a little steel wool. I tried a brass polish but realized they weren't brass. I finished it up by sanding the edges and staining the whole thing. I would like to think that it feels a lot prettier! This will find a new home in the Library. (also known as the toilet room in the master bathroom) Now, if you will excuse me, I really need to go and attempt to catch up with all the things that I so irresponsibly neglected these last two weeks..... Have a great day!!