Ombre Painted Dresser (DIY)

When we found out we were having a baby I remembered a pin I'd seen on Pinterest (search Ombre Dresser, I can't find the original right now but when I do I'll update) and decided that's what I wanted to do with the dresser and nightstand we'd had for years and was currently sitting empty in our basement. 

The only picture I have of the dresser before we made it pretty

For the ombre, what you do is pick a color swatch with enough colors to do one for each drawer, and go to your hardware store and get a sample can (about 5 oz) of each color. Paint each drawer on color. We went with purples and a gray background. We ended up using one sample can for each row of drawers and I think 4 sample cans of the gray for the main dresser.
FYI you cannot get a finish on your sample paint at Home Depot, you can only get it as a matte. We liked the way the matte looked and decided to not put a gloss or semi gloss top coat. 

Being amateur furniture painters we weren't sure how to prep the wood, so we sanded off the existing finish, this seemed easer (and safer for me, being pregnant) than stripping it with chemicals 

Once we had it sanded (which was a total pain in the ass) we painted, first we did the dresser completely because I wanted to see that I liked it before we did the big huge dresser. 

and I liked it

with our color swatch

Really I think the mirror was the hardest part, to sand and to paint, it all had to be sanded by hand, and then the glass taped off, then painted then rotated so I could paint the part that was on the ground. It took forever. and it weighs a ton! 

dry faster!

In the Nursery

I should have cleaned the mirror

up close

no flash, a better representation of the colors. 

And the nightstand

It took me forever to decide on drawer pulls, I wanted fancy ones and we just couldn't find any we agreed on. When we moved I wanted to be able to use the dresser right away so we decided to get some cheep-o ones at Ace Hardware for temporary use, and as it worked out, I totally love the way they look! 

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Do you Pinterest just to Pin?

I like to think of myself as an active pinner. I find things on pinterest and actually cook them, or make them, or clean them. Here are some of my pin reviews:

Source: crunchybetty.com via Alana on Pinterest

Okay I didn't follow this one exactly, but I did use olive oil and water and instead of the soap she suggests, I used brush cleaner. This was cool, but gross. My brushes were nasty. like really nasty.

Source: lifeingarrison.blogspot.com via Alana on Pinterest

 SunDried Tomato Cream Sauce

Again I didn't follow this exactly (I rarely do with recipes), but I was disappointed. Paul loved it BTW. I change it by adding chicken that was cooked with onions, and my tomatoes weren't dried, so I added them to cream sauce in the beginning. It think my taste would have liked it better if I had spiced it up.

Source: mmmisformommy.com via Alana on Pinterest

Crock Pot Ribs

Theses were an amazingly easy WIN. So much so I've made them twice.

Source: fabulouspinterestfinds.blogspot.com via Alana on Pinterest

homemade ranch with 1/2 the calories

this was mostly a fail. It wasn't bad, just not great.

Source: livingwithpunks.com via Alana on Pinterest

Floor Cushion 

Coolest thing ever, I just need to finish it. 

Source: erinerickson.com via Alana on Pinterest

Dog Bed

Cute and easy and a total WIN

Source: morganmoore.typepad.com via Alana on Pinterest

Awesome Smelly Room Stuff

This is great. sans the vanilla.

Source: diyhshp.blogspot.com via Alana on Pinterest

 Spoon to prevent boil over

Yeah, doesn't work.

Source: bathnbody.craftgossip.com via Alana on Pinterest

DIY Carpet Fresh

Okay I have made this but not used it yet. But it smells great!



Well that's all for today.
Time for me to be productive.

She's Crafty: Dog Bed

For this wednesdays crafty project I made a fleece doggy bed. 

Pattern from Dog Under my Desk

Found on Pinterest:

hers:

Source: erinerickson.com via Alana on Pinterest

I ran out of stuffing, I'll have to buy more tomorrow. 

Aiko is cute as hell. 

But I need to get more stuffing tomorrow. 

Then it wil be even cuter. 

She's Crafty!

In honor of national craft month I will be doing one new crafty project each week. I'll try to have them up on Wednesday.

Today's Crafty Craft is a necklace holder!

I've had this idea in my head for a few weeks now, I don't think I was inspired by any one thing. Just sick on hanging my necklaces on the towel rack you see in this picture.

It's just a piece of molding I got at Home Depot (for free!) and some little nails, and spray painted red.

Now I did get the hanger idea from pinterest.

mine:

theirs:

Source: apartmenttherapy.com via Crystal on Pinterest

And that's it for our first week of National Craft Month!

DIY Soap

This is a followup to: She's Crafty: Lets make our own soap

Last week I ran out of laundry soap (oh noes!) So it was time to make more. This time I still followed the recipe at Being Creative: Homemade Laundry Soap But I did one thing different.

When it came time to shred my bar of Fels-Naptha I decided to be lazy and use the grater on my food processor. Well this didnt quite work right and it just cut it up into uneven pieces of chunky mess. So once I had created this mess, I took out the grater and put in the blade, and pulsed it until I had created a powder, much like the other powders in the recipe.

I then combined all the ingredients and mixed.
Same as before, Just now there are no chunks of grated soap, it's all a fine powder.

One batch of the recipe and this is what I have:



Wine bottle to show size.

Sew Cute!

Since I created my doggie gate stopper thing I have been sewing a few things.

Some have been failures, but I have had two, very useful successes.

 

I made this with some scrap cloth from the dog gate, it's one of those microwave heat pack things. It's filled with rice. I can nuke it for 2 minutes and it stays warm for a while, it's great on my back and the dogs love it too.

And then I made this cute little purse.

I was inspired (and mostly followed this pattern: Easy Zippered Purse)

The only mods I made were a wider strap I did 3.5 inches I think, I also made the strap longer so I could wear it over my shoulder and across my body. Also the overall dimensions are bigger I made it 9x9.5 instead of 7x7.5 so I had to use a 9 inch zipper.

I think the fabric is adorable.

I didn't finish the seams on the inside very well but I plan to eventually.

I plan on making a few more, but I think I will make them 9.5 x 12  so they are longer, also I will reinforce the strap with interfacing.

I have naughty little doggies.

I love my doggies, but they are naughty little creatures and can't be let to run amok through the house. We have an upstairs and downstairs, the down is rarely used except as access to the garage and the laundry room. The upstairs is the living, dining, kitchen, bed, computer and one bath. But confining the dogs to the upstairs for supervision isn't even enough. Renji has a bad habit of eating EVERYTHING. Really anything he can get in his mouth he will eat, paper, plastic, fiber, cat litter. Aiko has a nasty habit of sneaking off down the hall and doing her business instead of asking to go outside, especially when it's cold.

So the dogs are constantly confined to the main living area of the house. We do this with baby gates. But those things are hard to step over, and we trip over them constantly. Well earlier this week I tripped on one and demolished it. I had to come up with a better solution, something that would be stationary but not as tall. I decided that I would sew a little divider and keep it in place with tension rods.
And here is my divider:


well hello there Renji!

and from the other side:




I have only replaced the gate I broke. The other one we move every night from the end of the hall to the bedroom door to keep the dogs in the room at night. Tripping over this one happens less because it is on a level surface, not on the stairs.

This divider was super easy to make, I sewed two coordinating fabrics together, and hemmed up each raw side. Then I figured how big of holes I would need for my tension rods and sewed another hem on the right side of the fabric a little bigger than my rod.

I have fallen in love with sewing. I am already washing my fabric for my next project!

Oh, How Pinteresing!

I am still on the sewing kick on pinterest, 90% of my pins this week have been sewing related. 

Source: sewmamasew.com via Alana on Pinterest

Fat Quarter handbag.  I am afraid this may be too intense for my first sewing project, maybe my second. 

Source: makeit-loveit.com via Alana on Pinterest

shopping bag holder. I think this will make a good first project. 

Source: jaimelyn11.blogspot.com via Alana on Pinterest

how to cut glass without a glass cutter.  awesome and hella easy looking. 

Source: tumblr.com via Alana on Pinterest

This is an accurate description of my house when it's not winter. 
 

Source: sweetsugarspicecandy.tumblr.com via Alana on Pinterest

I wish I could wear my pumps at work. I wish I could walk in my pumps. 

Source: Uploaded by user via Alana on Pinterest

This one reminds me of Okinawa. 

Source: facebook.com via Alana on Pinterest

yep

Source: marthastewartweddings.com via Alana on Pinterest

Wine jello shots. ...because real women are classy when they're being trashy...

Source: tumblr.com via Alana on Pinterest

yeah that's me.




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