Card Catalog {Inspired} Entry Table

I'm excited to show off our new table today!

For this piece, we took a barn sale find (which was cool in and of itself... a cubby bin) and made it into a one of a kind table with 8 (yes 8!) drawers. 

 I only wish I had a before pic of the cubby. You'll have to forgive me. But when we first started our business, I didn't have a blog and never really thought too much about before pics.

It was just a plain white piece with beadboard on the back and 8 very deep cubbies. When I saw it, I absolutely had to have it! I just wasn't sure what exactly I wanted to do with it. So, we sat on it for awhile...

But then I decided I wanted to put legs on it and make it a table. The hardest part was deciding whether to go vertical or horizontal with it. But we finally decided to make it

wider instead of taller and Eric constructed a base for it. 

The problem with this piece, however, was the depth of the cubbies themselves. They are about 21" deep and, therefore, are a little difficult to use. It wouldn't have worked very well as a display curio. And, as for stuffing things in the cubbies, I was afraid whatever got stuffed in there would get lost because of their depth. Kind of like the black hole of cubby storage. And no one needs another black hole in their household. Am I right or am I right? :)

I was browsing around Pinterest one day (shocking, right? lol) and noticed how many card catalog tables I had pinned. And, it suddenly became clear that we needed to make drawers for these cubbies. That way, they would be much more practical for storage. Next thing up... to break the news to Eric that he had 8 drawers to make! :)

He took it well :)

I painted the cubby unit in Annie Sloan™ Old White and then, over that, a light coat of Coco. I then taped off the stripes for the grain sack detailing and painted those with Primer Red. (It's amazing, by the way, how far a little sample pot of ASCP™ can go! I've done SO many jobs with my little pot of Primer Red!) I then gave the whole thing a light sanding so the white would show through all over and the Coco would show through the Primer Red striping.

I applied a very dark wood stain to the inside of all the drawers and the base of the table and then gave the outsides of the handmade drawers a good, thick coat of Coco. Then I applied clear and dark wax all over it because I do like the way the Coco looks much more with dark wax. 

Eric attached the cubby unit to the base and we added some inexpensive tarnished brass style knobs to the drawers. They coordinate nicely with all of the coloring on the table. 

And there you have it. A one of a kind creation, with a whole bunch of storage, out of an inexpensive  barn sale find. We hope you've enjoyed seeing it! 

This project was featured here...

Pretty Things Link Party at twelveOeight

Share Your Cup Thursday at Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson

Linking up at these great parties...

Primp Your Stuff Wednesday at Primp Junktion

Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Creek Cottage
Hookin Up with HOH at House of Hepworths
Made U Look LInky at Made In A Day
Catch a Glimpse Party at A Glimpse Inside
Live Laugh Linky Thursday at Live Laugh Rowe
Talkin About Thursday Link Party at Designed Decor
Before and After Party at Thrifty Decor Chick

HeartPrints Keychain {for my love}

Buying gifts for a man can sometimes be way-difficult! Making them is sometimes even more of a challenge because, let's face it, I'm a girl and I like pretty things. It's sometimes difficult to not get too carried away with the cutesy and lean more toward the manly. But, I thought I'd give it another try after my

Christmas present

to Eric turned out so well!

I saw this really great pendant made from clay on Pinterest. It was so cool (here's the link to her post), but I knew I wouldn't have a chance to make it to the store for any clay. So, what's a girl to do...?

Get creative, of course! 

I pulled out what I had at home, namely a few washers at different sizes and a tin can lid. I figured I would put my fingerprints on the can lid and then cut a heart around them. What I wasn't sure of, was what to use for the medium to transpose my fingerprints on. 

I tried using fingernail polish painted on the metal, which worked (although it was a little messy for my fingers! lol) until I tried to cut the heart out, at which time it chipped off the tin. Hmmm.... what to try next?

Then I had a lightbulb moment. Chalk paint would work on the tin! So I painted one coat of Aubusson Blue on and then, over that, I used Old White and quickly made the fingerprints. It worked so well, showing off the blue where my prints were. Yay! So I put a coat of wax on the lid, then got the tin snips out and cut a heart around the 2 fingerprints. 

The next thing to do was get out my drill and add a hole in the large washer so I could make this thing into a keychain. To be honest, I wasn't really sure if the bits I had were supposed to be used on metal, but I figured I'd give it a try. And it did indeed work. Another success! :)

I next got out my trusty JB Weld, attaching the 2 washers and the heart together and clamped it for a few hours. Things seemed to be going smashingly! But something was missing. It just didn't seem finished. So I grabbed a bottled cap to see if that would work somehow. Perfect fit for the back of the washer! I painted it with Chalk Paint as well, this time in Coco, and waxed it with dark aging wax. But it still needed something more...

I had though once about using metal stamps on this piece. But, they are really kind of a pain! lol. Instead, I printed out some words on plain paper, cut them out and used Mod Podge to attach them to the bottlecap and again over them to seal it. 

I put a nut between the washer and the bottle cap and used the epoxy to weld those together too. Finally, I added some dark wire through the hole I had drilled and an old spring I had found when scrounging through my box of junk. I bent the wire back into the spring and used a little more JB Weld to hold it. Then I added a ring and it was done. 

I was really happy with the way it turned out. Junky and totally repurposed. A bit manly (but still pretty!). All with a personal, unique-to-me touch. The perfect Valentine for my guy. And he thought so too :)

We're sharing at these great parties...

Monday Funday at Creatively Living

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm
Creatively Tuesday at The Rustic Pig
Tweak It Tuesday at Cozy Little House
Pretty Things Party at twelveOeight

Cowgirl Up! Party
Your Gonna Love It Linky Party at Kathe With an E
Transformed Tuesdays at PJH Designs
Take A Look Tuesday at Sugarbee Crafts
Be Inspired Linky Party at Elizabeth and Co
It's Party Time at Three Mango Seeds
From Dream to Reality at The DIY Dreamer
Wow Me Wednesday at Ginger Snap Crafts
Whimsy Wednesday at Smart School House
Tasteful Tuesday at Nap Time Creations
What We Accomplished Wednesday at Green Willow Pond
Show and Share with Southern Lovely
Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style
Wednesday Whatsits at White Lights on Wednesday
Show Me What Ya Got at Not Just a Housewife
Under $100 Linky Party at Beyond the Picket Fence
Live Laugh Linky at Live Laugh Rowe
Home and Garden Thursday at A Delightsome Life
Made U Look Linky at Made In a Day
Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Creek Cottage
Hookin Up with HOH at House of Hepworths

Romantic Jewelry Armoire

I sure wish I had taken some before pictures of this jewelry armoire, because it sure was not very pretty to look at, that's for sure! It was painted black and had dark gold scrollwork and stars on it. Don't get me wrong, I love scrolls, but this piece looked liked some bad magic show relic. Not attractive at all. But it was cheap and had good potential, so we bought it!

The first thing I did was lightly sand the whole thing down. From there, I used some antique white homemade chalk paint on the outside, even on the black hinges, and some aqua on the inside of the cabinet and the drawer. I distressed it so the black would show through. I just love the way an old white looks with black showing through! I then added some furniture wax for protection.

For the insert areas of the cupboard doors, I simply took some coordinating scrapbook paper (in a faded aqua with white flowers and just a pop of poppyseed orange), cut it to size and mod podged it on. And it was that simple. A little paint, a little paper, and we turned a pretty-ugly Goodwill find into a romantic jewelry armoire!

Sharing this at these great parties...

Make the Scene Monday at Alderberry Hill

Making the World Cuter Monday

Creative Muster Party at Fluster Buster

The Power of Paint Party at Domestically Speaking

feeling the love

We sure are feeling the love over here

on Valentines Day!

Eric and I are so excited about being featured this week. Not only once, but 3 times! 

I Love That Junk by Funky Junk Interiors

In the Old Road

Beyond the Picket Fence

I Love That Junk

Thanks so very much for the features <3

If you missed the post that got featured, here it is...

heavy metal love

And happy, happy Valentines Day to you all!

Live Simply... A Simple Craft Project

I purchased this little shutter at a local barn sale. It was previously painted black and I just wasn't sure what I was going to do with it. But, I figured I would think of something. And why pass up a cute shutter if you have the chance to buy one for cheap? :)

One day I finally decided to give it a coat of Annie Sloan™ Old White paint. It sure brightened it up from the old black that was on there. And, suddenly, I got inspired!

I had made previously some burlap flowers with vintage buttons from a tutorial I'd seen on Pinterest. I pulled those out and attached them to the shutter. 

I loved the simplicity of this little project. So I decided to add some simple text too. :)

I used my scrapbook stencils to pencil them on and then painted over the pencil with Graphite. 

Hope you like it :)

{and if you do, go ahead and like our fb page too...

on a whim on facebook

We're sharing this shutter at

Someday Crafts

Wildly Original Link Party at I Gotta Create!