Upcycled Buffet

So, I scored this hutch on Kijiji (like Craig's list for Canada) for $40, not bad. Do you think I can make it look good??? We shall see. . .

Pretty hideous, I know

 First thing I did was I sanded everything down to get rid of that nasty blue paint. I took out the dreadful fabric panels that were covering the glass doors. Next, I nailed some door casing onto the bottom to give it an updated look (p.s. I used the saw and nail gun all by myself--my mama would be so proud)! Then I primed it with Kilz 2. After 2 coats of primer, I sprayed it with Heirloom White (off white) spray paint. I debated whether or not I should use spray paint or suck it up and buy a gallon of latex. I thought the spray paint was a mistake at first, because I ended up using more paint than I thought I would and it gets a little pricey, however, for the stenciling, it is the only way to go. I tried other ways and it just didn't work out, but I'll explain that a little more in a minute.

My tools: Stencil I made (this particular pattern I didn't design but the one on the drawers I did), spray adhesive, off white spray paint, green sample paint from home depot, painter's tape, and my paint brush. 

To paint the drawers I bought a sample can of paint for about $5 from home depot in the color I wanted. I simply painted the drawer front the solid green. I looked all over for a stencil in the pattern I wanted and sadly it was a lot harder to find than I anticipated, so I made my own. I stenciled the drawers using a graphic that I created in Paint (that freebie program with Windows), then I used a program to cut it out onto cardstock using my Cricut. I only did this because I couldn't find the pattern I wanted anywhere and I'm not even sure what it's called, plus I'm not one to easily give up when I get my mind set on something. To paint the stencil on, I used spray adhesive to stick my stencil to the drawers (already painted solid green) and spray painted over them with the off white. . .worked pretty well. On the sides, I wanted more green, so I sprayed them solid white and I was going to paint over them, however after 3 failed attempts this just didn't work; the latex paint kept bleeding behind my stencil and since my stencil was cardstock, it also made the paper soggy. So after my failed attempts, I sanded the sides down again, painted them solid green and sprayed over them like I did on the drawers. What a headache.

Here is the buffet after being primed, painted, and all the stenciling done on the drawers. 

Now painting over the stencil that didn't work. 

The side now painted solid green.

Here is the finished product. I found the knobs at Hobby Lobby. They were just a little smaller looking than I hoped for, but I think the style is very fitting and they add a nice little touch. I know the buffet is a bit funky but that's what I wanted. I LOVE the way this turned out and even more, I LOVE having the extra storage space in my kitchen.

Close up of the knobs and stenciling 

Lessons learned on this project: ALWAYS use a good brush! It makes all the difference in the world. Take the time to mask off. . .it saves time in the end and looks WAY better. Don't try to brush on latex paint with a stencil. . .it bleeds behind the stencil no matter how hard you try. And last but not least. . .don't rush it, things just take time sometimes.

Oh and if anybody is interested, here are the stencils I used:

This is the one I created, and therefore, it isn't perfect. The circles line up pretty good, but not exact, just for the record.

The link for this stencil is: here but I actually modified it just a little so it would cut out on my Cricut better. 

Hair Bow Holder For Dirt Cheap!

Recently at I shower I saw a cute hair bow holder made from an old window pane. Well. . .I don't have an old window pane just laying around, so I decided to adapt that idea and use a picture frame instead. I just went to the thrift store, found the largest cool looking picture frame and snatched it up. It didn't have any glass which was just fine because I wasn't going to use it anyway. I didn't take any pictures at the time, so the step-by-step pictures are from some other frames where I did the same thing. . sorry.

First thing I did was sand it. This is a very important step. I did this with these other frames and did not sand the stain off very well and when I distressed it the stain showed through and I didn't like the way it looked. I know it is a pain, but you'll never regret it if you sand it, but you probably will if you don't.


Then I found some crappy old house paint just laying around (not kidding, it had a big lump in it and some rust fell in it when I opened the lid). I didn't really care because I was going for a distressed look anyway, so I figured it just added character :)


I just did one coat of paint because it was very thick. I wanted the wood to show through just a little.


Then I sanded a few of the edges to distress it (make sure your paint is very dry or else it will peel and look bad).


Lastly, I glued the ribbon into place and the back and voila! (gluing worked just fine, but I'd recommend using a staple gun). My frame also didn't have a place to hang it so I just hammered in one of those little saw tooth hangers.


I love it and it only cost me $1.50. . .awesome! My only wish is that I had been able to find a bigger frame. . .oh well, I think instead I'll just have make two small ones instead of one large one.  I liked how it turned out so much that I repurposed some random mismatched frames I had laying around.

If you really want to make it cute, I've seen fabric placed behind the ribbons and I think it's adorable.