Monday, February 8, 2010

Sew long snowmen!

It’s time for a DIY Day mini furniture remodel to take this little cabinet from snowy ...
to sunny!
It’s not that I have anything against snowmen. At Christmas time I find myself falling hard for their adorable sweetness, but when I crammed delicately put away all my decorations this year, there was simply no extra room for this mini cabinet. I decided it was the perfect size to hold my thread and a few other sewing machine accessories, but the snowmen motif wouldn’t cut it for something that’s going to sit out all year. Plus, with all the winter weather we’ve been having, I may be feeling just a tad passive aggressive towards snow.


Here's how the transformation happened:
Step One – snow removal. I used a sanding block to rough up the paint as much as possible. Do you ever have conversations with the previous owners of thrifty finds? Mine went: mutter, grumble, mutter, “What possessed you to use so many layers of textured paint!” mutter, grumble, mutter. Needless to say, I threw any ideas of a perfectly clean surface out the window and decided that paint and mod podge would cover a multitude of indiscretions.
Step Two- paint! The body of the cabinet took three coats of Folk Art French blue acrylic paint. I just gave the drawers a little dash of paint around the edges since I planned to cover them with scrapbook paper.
Step Three – mod to the podge. I applied a thin layer of mod podge to both the drawer fronts and the backs of the scrapbook paper, then smoothed the paper onto the drawers.

Step Four – load the washer. Or anything else that takes 15 minutes. The key to perfect mod podge is waiting between coats.

Step Five – more glue and waiting. Apply a thin layer of mod podge over the top of the scrapbook papered drawers. Wait 15 minutes.
Step Six – rough it up. I used my sanding block to rough up the edges of the drawers and show off a little of the blue paint. I put one last layer of mod podge over the top to finish things off.
Step Seven – super cute with knobs on. I put the original knobs back on the drawers. But I think this anthropologie hotness...
... would look even better.
Step Eight – admire your handy work. I love it! If I convince myself to spend 12 bucks on designer knobs, I’ll probably paint the feet orange to match. I do kind of love the red though, who doesn’t love red shoes?

I’m excited to have brought a tiny bit of summer sun into the house, even if it’s only in the form of a little sewing cabinet. Take that snowmen!

What are you doing to warm up your winter blues? Do tell!

Ooooh, and do you think the Anthro knobs are worth it - or would you stick with the originals?

<3
Hattie

15 comments:

Marianna said...

Very cute and very creative!

Randi~Dukes and Duchesses said...

What a cute transformation! Love the knobs!

Alisa said...

Love the colors in that paper. Super cute!

Sarah @ Hennessey House said...

oh my word, this is awesome!

Laurel @ Ducks in a Row said...

Is Anthro worth it - that is the question? It sure looks cute!

Julia said...

I love the original knobs, and I loved that you used the word hotness in this post. Wonderful! I want it.

Whitney said...

Great job. It turned out adorable!

Tracy said...

LOVE it! And while I do think those Anthro knobs are beautimous, I like the clear ones just as well. Of course, this is also probably one of the few times you could get away with only spending $12 on designer knobs since there are only 2 drawers to makeover. Stick with what you have now and if you're still drooling over the orange ones in a month give it a whirl??

Kate @ The Gaines Gang said...

Too cute! I have been trying to work with paper and Modge Podge but still have troubles with it wrinkling.

Thanks again for the inspiration!

Angie Holden said...

Nice makeover!!

Nepperess said...

Super cute Hattie! And yes, those Anthro knobs are screaming, "Please put me on your most adorable little cabinet..."

Tracy's mom said...

Your craftiness never ceases to amaze me! What a great way to transform this piece. There are so many beautiful scrapbook paper choices now that I also love to find new ways to use them other than just put them in my scrapbooks. Beautiful job, Hattie.

Christen said...

Wow!! That seriously looks like something you could buy from anthropologie! Very cute!

Jen Bowles said...

What an adorable piece! Love the color palette and the idea of stashing sewing stuff in such a compact little cabinet.
(visiting from Kimba's)

Becky@Beyond The Picket Fence said...

It turned out so cute--love the scrapbook paper you chose to use.