Striking Red Sewing Desk

This sewing stand is such a dainty little piece with beautiful hardware. She's so girly and pretty that I knew red would look good on her! Let's take a look at her before she got some new clothes.

Pretty Little Dining Room Set

A little Coco, some Vintage White and a touch of Santa Fe Turquoise give this sweet little dining room set a cozy but bright disposition.

Love You More Chunky Sign

Chunky frames. I love them. And I don't find nearly enough of them. So, sometimes I just create my own, like this litlte guy!

The Chalkboard with a Magnetic Personality

I found this cheval mirror frame at an auction. There was no mirror in it when I bought it, unless one small shattered piece in the bottom corner counts. The frame itself was in good shape, so I snagged it up for a steal, just knowing it would be a great upcycle project!

Shabby Little Shelves

This little shabby shelf was once just a lowly frame with an ugly picture and a broken mirror. And now it's a fabulous blue shelving unit! The mirror wasn't originally broken, but I broke it when I removed it from the frame. Oops. I guess it's seven year's bad luck for me. Now, isn't that just great! :)

But enough about my misfortunes. On to the project.

Chippy Dresser with Hinged Front

Today I'm sharing my first chippy piece of furniture with you. I really love the chippy look, but I've never tried my hand at it before. I really like the way it turned out and I hope you do too! Let's have a peek, shall we...

Fabulous Farmhouse Tour: Family Momentos in the Sitting Room

Thanks for joining me again as we continue our tour of the Crosby farmhouse. Today we are visiting the sitting room and dining room. This wonderful vintage crate table, complete with an old lock, is just one of the beautiful pieces of decor here. Look what you find inside...

Fabulous Farmhouse Tour: A Turquoise Living Room

Why buy furniture when you can build your own, custom-made to fit your exact needs? 

Well that must be my friend Mary's philosophy because the items you see in this room were all made by her as the prefect way to store her items! You've got to check out these pieces...

Fabulous Farmhouse Tour: Minty Green Upstairs Bath

Who wouldn't love a clawfoot tub to soak in after a long day?

Well, Mary has one in her farmhouse bath and it's in her very own lovely shade of vintage minty green too! Take a moment to step inside this beautiful, romantic bathroom...

Fabulous Farmhouse Front Porch

Today I welcome you to the Crosby Farm. I'm showing off my friend Mary's amazing farmhouse and some of her wonderful treasures this week! Won't you join me on her front porch...

A Farmhouse Style Pie Safe

I've always wanted to pick up a pie safe. There's just something so farmhouse about them. But my cheap (make that frugal-it sounds better) nature never allows me to pay the piper for one. So when I picked up a $5 piece of junk from a yard sale, my first thought was to turn it into a pie safe. And that's just what we did!

Harlequin Box

I picked this darling little box up at a barn sale. The lady actually repurposes things herself and has a booth at a store not far away from here. For the life of me, I can't figure out why she got rid of this little goodie because I am loving how it turned out!

Red and Turquoise Table

I love using bright colors on my crafty projects, but I seldom get quite this colorful with furniture.

The mix of red, white and teal just seemed to be calling to me...

What I Love Most

I make pretty home decor, but the truth is, what I love most about my home isn't what's in it.
It's the love and laughter we share in it that matters.
I guess that's why I wanted to make this pretty burlap sign. 

Chicken Wire Memo Board

I'm finally getting a chance to show you some of the projects I've been working on for this weekend's craft show!

Scalloped Edge Table

I just love the character that this little table has!

The scalloped edges and the small finials on the corners area bit  different than what you normally see on furniture. 

A Button Daisy

A broken frame. A placemat from the thrift store. Paint. Vintage buttons. A little embroidery thread and some glue. That's all it took to make this cute little wall hanging.

Flowers and Turquoise Birds

It finally stopped raining long enough for me to take a few photos.

So I'm showing off my flowers today.

And these oh-so-cute shabby turquoise birds.

A Touch of Masculine {with a soft side}

 I think I picked a beauty to share with you today!

My friend Karlye texted me a few weeks ago and asked if I would redo a dresser.

Of course, I said yes!

But then she came over with this gorgeous antique beauty.

Wow was about all I could think!

How lucky was I to get to work on this?!?

For this piece, I wanted to do something just a little masculine.

The chest of drawers, without the mirror attached, just seemed to call for it.

And the piece was originally going to be a surprise gift for Karlye's Dad.

So masculine certainly seemed to fit the bill.

She and I both knew we wanted to stain some of it.

The wood itself was a little too gorgeous to cover up!

But, since it was such a wonderful piece, I also wanted to give it a little umph!

Something more than just stain. 

I  immediately though of ASCP Coco.

I love it when used with dark aging wax.

So I sanded down the trim on all four sides in order to restain those areas.

This piece also had peeling and warped veneer on the top that I decided to take off. I could tell the wood underneath the veneer would look great with some dark stain. So I set to work.

Thankfully, it came off fairly easily.

Sometimes that's a super difficult job and absolutely no fun at all!

Here's the chest sanded and restained.

I did not sand the inset areas or the drawer fronts, as I knew I would be using chalk paint there anyway.

Here's a picture of the Coco on those insets.

No wax yet...

And same with the drawers. Just paint, no wax...

 This is a close up of the drawer with distressing and wax.

Love that it has the keyhole too! :)

The side with distressing and wax...

 I chose Minwax stain in Jacobean because it's really pretty dark and I wanted dark for this piece. 

Once I had the body done, I got out the mirror.

I sanded the base for that and restained it.

Then I painted the mirror frame in Coco.

I'm loving how it turned out!

Somewhere along the line, Karlye's Dad found out about the project and he told Karlye that she could keep the Chest of Drawers.

Lucky girl!

Once I found that out, I knew I wanted to do something a little feminine with the drawer knobs.

I decided to make a trip to Hobby Lobby to look at their awesome selection of knobs and pulls.

I saw these and knew they would be perfect.

The white gives the piece just a little pop of color and yet coordinates so nicely with the Coco and dark stain.

And the dark chocolate swirls are just the perfect feminine touch for this piece!

I also bought this little birdie candleholder when I was there.

It's so delicate and my favorite color.

I just couldn't resist! :)

I think this piece turned out just how I had envisioned...

masculine with a soft side. 

I hope you've enjoyed seeing this great chest of drawers today.

I would love it if you'd connect with me via bloglovin', facebook, google+, pinterest, or hometalk!
Getting new followers and comments absolutely makes my day! :)

Everyone loves a good party!
Check my project out along with other great inspiration, at these great blogs...
One Project Closer Party at House of Hepworths

Masterpiece Monday at Boogieboard Cottage, Mop It Up Monday at I Should Be Mopping the Floor, Make the Scene Monday at Alderberry Hill, Pink Hippo Party at Pinkapotamus, Monday No Rules Blog Hop at A Sorta Fairytale,Just Something I Whipped Up at The Girl Creative, Metamorphasis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch, Making the World Cuter Monday, Before and After at Thrifty Decor Chick (first Monday of the month), What's in the Gunny Sack at the Gunny Sack, Make It Pretty Monday at The Dedicated House, Mod Mix Monday at Mod Vintage Life, Budget Decorating Party at Creative Cain Cabin, That DIY Party at DIY Showoff, The DIY'ers Link Party at Home Coming, Pin It Hop at Minette's Maze, Marvelous Monday at this Gal Cooks

One Project at a Time at A Bowl Full of Lemons, Transformation Tuesday at The Ironstone Nest, Monday Funday at Creatively Living, Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm, The Scoop at Cedar Hill Ranch, Project Inspired{d}at Cupcakes and Crinoline, You're Gonna Love It at Kathe with an E, Transformed Tuesdays at PJH Designs, Tweak It Tuesday at Cozy Little House, Take a Look Tuesday at Sugar Bee Crafts, Primp Your Stuff Wednesday at Primp Junktion, Be Inspired at Elizabeth and Co, Pretty Things Link Party at twelveOeight, Time to Shine at A Diamond in the Stuff, Too Cute Tuesday at Funky Polkadot Giraffe, The Power of Paint Party at Domestically Speaking, Creatively Tuesday at The Rustic Pig, Show Me What You Got at Not Just a Housewife, Share It Link Party at The Winthrop Chronicles, Tasteful Tuesday at Naptime Creations, Tutorial Tuesday at Hope Studios, Trash 2 Treasure at Kammy's Korner, Fluster's Creative Muster Party at Fluster Buster, The Creative Spark at Clean and Scentsible, Tuesdays at Our Home at Our Home Away from Home, Homemade by You at Made to be a Momma, Trendy Tuesdays at Sweet Little Gals, Brag About It Tuesday at Bebetsy

Wildly Original Link Party at I Gotta Create, Wow Us Wednesday at Family Home and Life, Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts, Whimsy Wednesday at Smart School House, What's It Wednesday at Ivy and Elephants, Wednesday Whatsits at White Lights on Wednesday, What We Accomplished Wednesday at Green Willow Pond, Under $100 Linky Party at Beyond the Picket Fence, Show and Share at Southern Lovely, Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style, Wow Me Wednesday at Gingersnap Crafts, From Dream to Reality at The DIY Dreamer, Its' a Party! at A Creative Princess, Show Off Your Stuff Party at Fireflies and Jellybeans, Look What I Made Wednesday at Creations by Kara, Create and Share at The Trendy Treehouse, A Little Bird Told Me Link Party at The Life of Jennifer Dawn, Oh What a Happy Day Link Party at Not Done Growing

Party Time at The 36th Avenue, Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home, Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Creek Cottage, Share Your Cup Party at Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson, Hookin' Up with HOH at House of Hepworths, Talkin' about Thursday at Designed Decor, Live Laugh Linky at Live Laugh Rowe, Home and Garden Thursday at A Delightsome Life, The Inspiration Gallery at Craftberry Bush, Made U Look Linky at Made in a Day, Creative Things Thursday at The Vintage Farmhouse, Catch as Catch Can at My Repurposed Life, Time Travel Thursday at The Brambleberry Cottage, Catch a Glimpse Party at A Glimpse Inside, 52 Mantels, Creative Inspirations Linky Party at Embracing Change, Simply Create Link Party at Redfly Creations

Simply Creations Link Party at My Simple Homelife, Furniture Feature Friday at Miss Mustard Seed, Inspire Me Please Link Party at Liz Marie Blog, Frugal Friday at The Shabby Nest, Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage, What Have You Redone at Redoux Interiors, Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home, Thrifty Things Friday at The Thrifty Groove, Simple and Sweet Fridays at Rooted inThyme, Be Inspired at Common Ground, Faunt It Friday at Chic on a Shoestring Decorating, Frugalicious Friday at Finding Fabulous, Fabulously Creative Friday at Jennifer Rizzo, Show and Tell Friday at Romantic Home, Junkin' Joe Vintage and Thrifty Finds at The Cottage Market, Weekend Wrap-Up Party at Tatertots and Jello, Shabbilicious Friday Link Party at Shabby Art Boutique, Tickled Pink at 504 Main, Anything Blue Friday at The Dedicated House, Rustic Restorations Weekend Link Party at Homespun Happenings,  Great Idea Thursdays at A Handful of Everything, One Sharendipity Place at The T2 Women Blog

Saturday Show and Tell at Cheerios and Lattes, Saturday Nite Special at Funky Junk Interiors, A Bouquet of Talent Party at Life on Lakeshore Drive, Strut Your Stuff Party at Six Sisters' Stuff, Show and Tell Saturday at Sassy little Lady, Get Schooled Satuday at Too Much Time on My Hands, Power of Pinterest Party at Fox Hollow Cottage, Your Great Idea Party at Or So She Says, Overflowing with Creativity party at It's Overflowing, Craft Country Cottage Party at Old Red Barn, Saturday SHOW-licious Craft Showcase at Sew-licious

The Sunday Showcase Party at Under the Table and Dreaming, Sunny Simple Sundays Party at Sunny Simple Life, Sundae Scoop at I Heart Naptime, Think Pink Sundays at Flamingo Toes, Nifty Thrifty Sunday at Nifty Thrifty Things, It's Party Time at Three Mango Seeds, Restyled Sundays at Stylish Once Again, Silver Pennies Sundays at Silver Pennies, Frugal Crafty Home Blog Hop at A Blossoming Life

A Blue Beauty {The Sequel}

 
We previously showed you our Beauty in Blue Desk Makeover in Duck Egg and Old White. It's one of our most popular posts, so go and check it out if you missed it. :) In the meantime, here's a photo so you can check the two out together. 

A friend snatched up that desk and she loves it. She loves it so much that she wanted a dresser to match! She ended up choosing a dresser from a little shop known as My Garage Showroom. It's actually very far from a showroom. There's hardly any room to move in there right now! And it's currently much more full than in this before pic...

This particular dresser was a free-to-me from another friend. Her husband had started scraping the old (and quite bad) paint job off already. He had most of it done except some scraggly areas and one whole side. As soon as Karlye decided to go with this one, I started sanding and scraping. The weather was nice, as it had finally started to get warm here in Michigan, so it wasn't an unpleasant task. And the scraping was pretty easy. I had to fix one corner of the veneer at the bottom, too, but it was basically just gluing it back down and then putting wood fill over it to smooth the edges.

 Once sanded, I stained the whole thing in Minwax Jacobean so it would be a nice dark finish like the desk. I did the whole piece since I had to sand it and I wanted it to distress the same as the desk too.

 

I painted the drawer fronts and the sides in Duck Egg. For the front, I used Old White.

Then, because the desk had nice Old White trim along the corners but this dresser did not, I taped off the sides and the bottoms of each side and painted a faux trim along them. 

I distressed. Then waxed with a combination of clear and dark aging wax.

For the finishing touch, I chose knobs that actually didn't match the desk. We used the original hardware for the desk but this dresser only had one knob and, truth be told, doesn't even need any. But it looks so much prettier with the knobs I chose, all white and distressed and flowery. Just a touch of girly :)

I chose 2 different styles but they all have the same chippy finish.
I staggered each drawer so that the knobs on the top and 3rd drawers are 10" from the outside of the dresser and the other four knobs are only 8" from the outside. I thought this boxy dresser deserved a little more pizazz and the knobs did the trick!

Although it seems like the blue on the dresser is a different shade than desk, it really is just a product of the difference in lighting I had to work with for each photo shoot.

I hope she is as happy with her new dresser as she was with the desk! Next week, we'll be showing you a really awesome chest of drawers we did for her too. But you can get a sneak peak of that project this Thursday when I guest post at Alderberry Hill {So excited!}

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Getting new followers and comments absolutely makes my day! :)

Everyone loves a good party!
Check my project out along with other great inspiration, at these great blogs...

Masterpiece Monday at Boogieboard Cottage, Mop It Up Monday at I Should Be Mopping the Floor, Make the Scene Monday at Alderberry Hill, Pink Hippo Party at Pinkapotamus, Monday No Rules Blog Hop at A Sorta Fairytale,Just Something I Whipped Up at The Girl Creative, Metamorphasis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch, Making the World Cuter Monday, Before and After at Thrifty Decor Chick (first Monday of the month), What's in the Gunny Sack at the Gunny Sack, Make It Pretty Monday at The Dedicated House, Mod Mix Monday at Mod Vintage Life, Budget Decorating Party at Creative Cain Cabin, That DIY Party at DIY Showoff, The DIY'ers Link Party at Home Coming, Pin It Hop at Minette's Maze, Marvelous Monday at this Gal Cooks

One Project at a Time at A Bowl Full of Lemons, Transformation Tuesday at The Ironstone Nest, Monday Funday at Creatively Living, Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm, The Scoop at Cedar Hill Ranch, Project Inspired{d}at Cupcakes and Crinoline, You're Gonna Love It at Kathe with an E, Transformed Tuesdays at PJH Designs, Tweak It Tuesday at Cozy Little House, Take a Look Tuesday at Sugar Bee Crafts, Primp Your Stuff Wednesday at Primp Junktion, Be Inspired at Elizabeth and Co, Pretty Things Link Party at twelveOeight, Time to Shine at A Diamond in the Stuff, Too Cute Tuesday at Funky Polkadot Giraffe, The Power of Paint Party at Domestically Speaking, Creatively Tuesday at The Rustic Pig, Show Me What You Got at Not Just a Housewife, Share It Link Party at The Winthrop Chronicles, Tasteful Tuesday at Naptime Creations, Tutorial Tuesday at Hope Studios, Trash 2 Treasure at Kammy's Korner, Fluster's Creative Muster Party at Fluster Buster, The Creative Spark at Clean and Scentsible, Tuesdays at Our Home at Our Home Away from Home, Homemade by You at Made to be a Momma, Trendy Tuesdays at Sweet Little Gals, Brag About It Tuesday at Bebetsy

Wildly Original Link Party at I Gotta Create, Wow Us Wednesday at Family Home and Life, Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts, Whimsy Wednesday at Smart School House, What's It Wednesday at Ivy and Elephants, Wednesday Whatsits at White Lights on Wednesday, What We Accomplished Wednesday at Green Willow Pond, Under $100 Linky Party at Beyond the Picket Fence, Show and Share at Southern Lovely, Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style, Wow Me Wednesday at Gingersnap Crafts, From Dream to Reality at The DIY Dreamer, Its' a Party! at A Creative Princess, Show Off Your Stuff Party at Fireflies and Jellybeans, Look What I Made Wednesday at Creations by Kara, Create and Share at The Trendy Treehouse, A Little Bird Told Me Link Party at The Life of Jennifer Dawn, Oh What a Happy Day Link Party at Not Done Growing

Party Time at The 36th Avenue, Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home, Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Creek Cottage, Share Your Cup Party at Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson, Hookin' Up with HOH at House of Hepworths, Talkin' about Thursday at Designed Decor, Live Laugh Linky at Live Laugh Rowe, Home and Garden Thursday at A Delightsome Life, The Inspiration Gallery at Craftberry Bush, Made U Look Linky at Made in a Day, Creative Things Thursday at The Vintage Farmhouse, Catch as Catch Can at My Repurposed Life, Time Travel Thursday at The Brambleberry Cottage, Catch a Glimpse Party at A Glimpse Inside, 52 Mantels, Creative Inspirations Linky Party at Embracing Change, Simply Create Link Party at Redfly Creations

Simply Creations Link Party at My Simple Homelife, Furniture Feature Friday at Miss Mustard Seed, Inspire Me Please Link Party at Liz Marie Blog, Frugal Friday at The Shabby Nest, Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage, What Have You Redone at Redoux Interiors, Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home, Thrifty Things Friday at The Thrifty Groove, Simple and Sweet Fridays at Rooted inThyme, Be Inspired at Common Ground, Faunt It Friday at Chic on a Shoestring Decorating, Frugalicious Friday at Finding Fabulous, Fabulously Creative Friday at Jennifer Rizzo, Show and Tell Friday at Romantic Home, Junkin' Joe Vintage and Thrifty Finds at The Cottage Market, Weekend Wrap-Up Party at Tatertots and Jello, Shabbilicious Friday Link Party at Shabby Art Boutique, Tickled Pink at 504 Main, Anything Blue Friday at The Dedicated House, Rustic Restorations Weekend Link Party at Homespun Happenings,  Great Idea Thursdays at A Handful of Everything, One Sharendipity Place at The T2 Women

Saturday Show and Tell at Cheerios and Lattes, Saturday Nite Special at Funky Junk Interiors, A Bouquet of Talent Party at Life on Lakeshore Drive, Strut Your Stuff Party at Six Sisters' Stuff, Show and Tell Saturday at Sassy little Lady, Get Schooled Satuday at Too Much Time on My Hands, Power of Pinterest Party at Fox Hollow Cottage, Your Great Idea Party at Or So She Says, Overflowing with Creativity party at It's Overflowing, Craft Country Cottage Party at Old Red Barn, Saturday SHOW-licious Craft Showcase at Sew-licious

The Sunday Showcase Party at Under the Table and Dreaming, Sunny Simple Sundays Party at Sunny Simple Life, Sundae Scoop at I Heart Naptime, Think Pink Sundays at Flamingo Toes, Nifty Thrifty Sunday at Nifty Thrifty Things, It's Party Time at Three Mango Seeds, Restyled Sundays at Stylish Once Again, Silver Pennies Sundays at Silver Pennies, Frugal Crafty Home Blog Hop at A Blossoming Life