Something Old Turns to Something New

I always have a project I'm working on -- some large, while some are on the smaller scale. Marcus, I'm sure, loves and hates this about me. He loves the enthusiasm I have for it, but the unfinished projects can get frustrating. I've worked really hard on that, and I have to say, I'm better. I try to only work on one thing at a time.

This time, it was a new dresser. I realized with 2 little girls, I just didn't have the dresser space that I needed. While I was in Michigan, I searched craigslist everyday -- and I finally found a dresser, for $30, that I felt would work perfectly. I didn't want to just paint it, so I went online and looked for fun ideas. When I got to UT, I checked it out, and feeling quite satisfied, I bought it. My finished product was a combination of some of those ideas I found online.

The dresser started like this. It was in great condition with 3 smaller drawers and 4 deep drawers. Obviously it needed some work, but overall, good condition.

The dresser top did have some issues though. A part of it was damaged and I wasn't concerned about the cosmetic factor as much as the safety of it. What if, as Samantha stumbles by, she knocks the corner and takes a gash out of her head? She's already had enough done with her head...let's avoid any further surgeries. And this problem has much more potential to do damage than a normal corner.

To fix it I, with the help of my neighbor, ripped off the entire front molding and replaced it with a cute, detailed molding I bought at Home Depot. Then I filled in the missing wood with some putty; when it dried, I sanded it down. You can't even tell there was a huge chunk of wood missing.

Next, I painted the top a light brown and the rest of the dresser pink. For the dresser drawers, I found this super cute scrapbook paper that I absolutely fell in love with -- simple but cute. I measured it all, cut the paper down to size, and antiqued the edges with a stamp pad. Then came putting it on the dresser drawer.

Now I had never done what I was about to try, so I admit it took me 4 tries and just when I was about to give up and just paint it, my neighbor, with her expertise, showed me how it's done. We put glue all over the back of each piece of paper. Once it was pressed in place, we put a coat of clear paint over it. That sealed it in and the bubbles were minimal. If bubbles did appear, it was easy to push them back down. The trick is putting the glue ALL OVER the back. You can't miss a spot. (And Elmer's doesn't work here folks. I tried. It's too wet of a glue. There is a glue that we used that was similar to Modge Podge, I think it is, that you can get at any craft store.) Once everything was dry, I had to figure out what to do with the knobs. They were silver. I wanted to avoid buying new knobs (which are relatively inexpensive) and I wanted them to match. So, I dipped them, one by one, in the brown paint like fondue. And here is the finished product:

I'm pretty happy with it. It was fun and I think it turned out great, if I say so myself. And here, my something old and rough turned into something new and girly for Samantha and Callie to share.