Craft Room Project #5 - Work Table

For work space, I knew I would need a table that was at least three foot by six foot.  I determined that by the size of my large cutting mat that I tend to use for projects and the average size of my chalkboard projects.  My table needed to have a smooth finish,  fairly inexpensive, and easily to revamp!!

I thought about finding an old door, but I couldn't find any the right size and none of them were smooth, most of them were paneled.  I would have needed a piece of glass cut to the size of my door tabletop.  I kept scouring thrift stores, online, and garage sales.  I also determined that I didn't want to spend more than $75 on my table project.  

After months of searching, I picked up this table for $60 on an online garage sale!!  It is four foot wide by six foot long, with two leaves that give me about two more feet of work space if I need it.  The crazy thing was that it was located just four blocks from my house!!

Originally, I thought I would just paint the table top white and leave the base alone, but once I got it home, I decided to switch it up and paint the base.  There was a bit of damage to the finish on the base, but nothing a few coats of fresh white paint wouldn't fix.

I first wiped down the base with some dish soap and water and let dry.  I sanded the entire surface down.  I wiped it down again, let dry, and sanded again.  Then, I wiped it down again and let dry a third time.  Next, I painted the base with a coat of primer.

I ended up putting on two coats of primer.  After allowing for drying time,  painted my first coat of white paint.  I tend to load my brush with too much paint, so I always have to go back and check for drips and clean up my mess!!  I then left the paint to dry and sanded lightly.  I ended up painting three coats, because the stain was so dark underneath.  Normally two coats would do.

Then, I pulled out the sander again and roughed up the edges a bit.  I would hold the sander down on a few areas to expose the raw wood or pull out the original finish.  Once I was pleased with the way it looked, I wiped down the whole base again with soap and water.

Once dried, I applied two coats of clear polyurethane, allowing for 24 hours of dry time in between.  

Then it was move in time!!  I loved that this table is two pieces - it made it so much easier to get situated!!  The previous owner had put all the pieces in a ziploc for me and my husband made quick work of putting it back together for me.  

The top of the table has a few nicks out of it, but not enough for me to feel like I needed to paint or stain it.  The leaves are in worse shape, but if I need to I could sand them down and paint them white, but for right now I haven't need the extra work space.

This project was simple, compared to the last two furniture pieces I attempted to revamp.  When I purchase a piece of furniture to paint, I look for something that has a simple design, with few nooks and crannies that I have to figure out how to paint. 

Craft Room Project #4 - For the Love of Spray Paint

I use spray paint all the time!!  It is amazing what a quick coat of paint will do to transform an outdated item.

On one of my last trips home to my mom's, I brought back a 70s microwave cart.  I remember having the cart in just about every room in the house.  This cart was a bold avocado green with lots of blue paint spilled all over (I'm sure from some sort of Scotland County Tigers painting project!!).

The cart also had a bit of rust.  I pulled out the belt sander and sanded and sanded and sanded some more.  I still didn't think the shelves were very smooth, but I was done sanding.  I purchased two cans of spray primer and three cans of frosty berry  spray paint.

I got to spraying.  The key to spray paint is holding your can of paint at the right distance away from the item you are spraying.  You want to move your can back and forth at a slow and steady pace.  Thin coats are better than a thick drippy coat.

I sprayed one coat and then lightly sanded the cart down again and sprayed another coat of paint of primer.  I ended up taking both cans of primer!!

Then I sprayed them with the frosty berry spray paint.  I did about three coats, with lots of touch ups. I used 2 1/2 cans of spray paint!!

The legs were a little harder to paint, so I had my husband make a make shift stand for them with some scrape wood screwed together.

Once everything was bright pink, I did a couple of thin coats of clear acrylic on all the pieces.

Then it was time to reassemble the cart.  I was thankful my mom had saved all the original nuts and bolts. Once they were put back into place I did another quick coat of paint on the legs, paying attention to the hardware.

I wasn't happy with the smoothness of the shelves - I felt they were still pretty rough.  I could have left them, but I came up with a fun and simple solution!!

Last summer, I had picked up a couple of rolls of some aqua and white chevron vinyl in their dollar spot.  Since I knew what color scheme I was going with in my craft room, I figured I would use the vinyl somewhere.

I had my husband take some scrap wood and cut out to fit on the shelves.  Then applied the vinyl to wood and used an x-acto knife to trim it down to size.

The cart originally had wheels, but they were rusted and covered in paint and could be salvaged, so we pulled out some white rubber caps and they fit perfectly on the legs.

My finished cart is going to house my cricut machine, cartridges, and supplies.  I am thrilled with how it turned out!!

This is a fairly easily project, but it did take about five cans of spray paint.  I love salvaging something instead of going out and buying something new.  Revamping something takes some time and creativity, but that what I love to do!!

Craft Room Project # 3 - Painting the Night Away

Each summer, I make a list of projects I would like to get done while I don't have the responsibilities of school or crazy schedules.  They include painting, crafting, filing, and organizing!!  On my list this summer, was setting up my craft room.

I was able to score a gallon of paint from my friend, Rachel.  It was an oops paint that she had picked up and it is the perfect shade of blue to coordinate with my craft armoire!!

My craft room is a small room that connects our boys room and bathroom to our laundry room and storage room.  We can't make it into a bedroom because of the layout, but it makes a perfect craft room for me!!  My goal is actually to move my crafting items into my craft room, so that we can have a little more room in our storage room for off season clothing and decor.

When we moved into our home, 15 years ago, our basement was a blank slate.  Since that time, we have created a family/school room, laundry closet, a second bathroom - that is actually larger than our master bath, and a boys bedroom.  When we constructed the boys bedroom, my husband and crew went ahead finished this room as well.  At that time, we weren't sure what we'd do with it, but I talked my husband into letting me have it!!

My husband truly loves me!!  Every time I take on a project, he doesn't complain when I ask for his help.  I like to paint, but I do not like cutting in the edges.  I'm terrible at it, and he can do it without taping in half the time it would take me to tape it!!

The room color turned out lovely!!  It is quite inviting and serene.  I still have several more things I would like to add to the room before school starts, but we'll see what actually gets done.  I am just excited to finally have a space that functions!!

Craft Room Project #2 - Organization Options

After I finished my storage armoire, I purchased a couple of pieces of fabric that would be the color palette for my craft room.

I picked up these two options at my local Joann's store.

I used bold print to make bulletin boards for inside the armoire doors.  I thought it would be a fun place to tack pictures, inspirations, scriptures, or quotes.   I simply measured the inside panel of the door and cut my cork board to size.  Then I took my fabric and cut it about an inch wider and longer than my cork board.  Then I used double stick tape to adhere the fabric to the cork board, wrapping it like a package at the corners.  Finally, I took some upholstery tacks and gently tapped the board in place.  I love the way it turned out.  My only purchase was the fabric.  I reused some old cork board and my neighbor gave me the upholstery tacks.

Once I selected my color palette, I started collecting items that I thought would work for organizing my various crafting items.  All of my craft items were stuffed into whatever boxes, totes, and bags that I could tuck way into our furnace room.  My goal is clear out all my craft items from the furnace room to make room for other items we need to store.  When I organize a space, I want my items to be easily accessible, clearly labeled, and cute!!

I started at The Dollar Tree.  They had various plastic crates, baskets, and boxes in lime green, fuchsia, and aqua - just the colors I was looking for.  I bought about 20 different items!!  When I brought them home I sorting out what supplies would work in each item.  I took a few items back, but  about 3/4 of my organization woes were solved in one stop!!

I also started looking for items at garage sales and thrift stores.  I made a list of supplies I still needed to organize.  I have picked up a few wall organizers and shelves that will have to photograph later, once I paint the room.  Stay tuned!!

My friend, Alex, told me about a cool organizing option from Home Depot.  Last summer, she was putting together her kindergarten classroom, so she had me run to Home Depot and pick up one of these organizers for her.   The link shows a similar option.  The size we picked up were being discontinued.  Since I was picking up one for her, I thought one might come in handy for me.

It was about $15.  She had found a fun tutorial on Pinterest on transforming it into a teacher's toolbox for her classroom.  A cheap can of bright lime green spray paint for plastics and this basic gray toolbox is transformed!  

Then I went to TeachersPayTeachers and found a free downloadable template to make my labels.  This site is amazing!!  Lots of inexpensive or FREE files shared by educators.  I found a font I loved and then glued fun scrapbook paper to card stock and printed them out.  Then I took my Xyron sticker maker (which I got at a garage sale for next to nothing!!) and made each of my labels for the organizer, a sticker and adhered them to my drawers.

I used the larger label template for the drawers as my labels for all my other organizers.  Some of them I hole punched and attached with twine and others I made them into stickers.  

Photo storage boxes are another inexpensive organizing option.  They come in a variety of colors, prints, and sizes and I wait for them to go on sale for less than $2 a box before purchasing them.  You can find them at your local craft store in the scrapbooking department.  I created a table in an Excel document with the height and width of each label.  Then, I printed them on scrapbook paper and cut them to fit into the slot.

One way, I got a bit further in my organization, is to write on an index card what items are in the box. Then I take a couple of small pieces of plasti-tak and adhere it the inside of the lid.  This is extremely helpful if I can't quite remember what items are in the box.  I can quickly look at my list and know if I'm in the right one!!

Canning jars are yet another simple and cheap way to organize.  My mom has quite the jar collection, so she let me have a dozen to organize my buttons.  I have inherited both my grandmother and great grandmother's buttons.  I had them all in a large glass jar that I would have to dump out to find the few buttons I would need for a project.  Now they are much more accessible.  I have used them in a variety of ways over the years and was ready to get them somewhat organized.  One night, while watching a movie with the family, I worked on sorting the buttons into the canning jars.  I replaced the seals of the jars with a piece of chalkboard paper and labeled each jar with a chalk marker.

Next Craft Room Project will be about  my work space!!  Stay tuned!!

Craft Room - Project #1 - Storage Armoire

For the last year, I've been working on creating a small craft room.  My main piece of storage for my craft room is an armoire that a friend gave to me.  It sat in my garage for about a year, before I finally pulled it out to paint it.

The armoire was part of a nursery set that was in a white finish.  I started the project, by disassembling the armoire - taking off the hardware, drawers, and backing.   I gave the wood a thorough sanding and washed it down. After letting the armoire dry, I primed and let it dry.  Next, I applied a coat of paint in a gorgeous robin egg blue color.

A friend of mine, Rachel Ropp of Revamp & Revive gave me the paint.  She has been a great resource for all my painting projects.  This paint was a mis-tint (one of Rachel's secret weapons!!)  Even though the paint was a satin, she told me that if I seal it with a polyurethane, then it doesn't matter what paint finish I used.

The original armoire had drawers at the bottom for storage.  I didn't want drawers, so I had my husband built two simple shelves out of scrap wood and I painted them a fun lime green color.  I followed the same steps as I did with the armoire.

After letting the paint thoroughly dried, I lightly sanded the armoire again, washed it down, and let it dry.  Then, I painted a second coat of paint.  Once it was completely dried, I took the belt sander and sanded the entire armoire.  This time, I roughed up the wood, by pressing the sander harder in spots and taking the paint finish down to the bare wood.  I paid attention to corners, edges, and ridges.  Next, I washed down the armoire, once again.

I love furniture that looks old and lived with.  I've rarely had a brand new piece of furniture and when I have, I dread the day that it gets its first knick or ding, so why not make it that way from the beginning!!

Then I pulled out a secret weapon - oil-based glaze in a dark chocolate brown. Applying glaze definitely has a learning curve, so I started with the doors to get the hang of it.  I found a pair of plastic gloves, a small cheap paint brush, and a few lint free rags.  Working in a small area, I brushed on a light coating of the glaze and then quickly took a rag to wipe it into and off the painted surface.  The glaze is extremely runny, so plan accordingly.  Like with the sanding, I paid attention to the corners, edges, and ridges.  I repeated this step over the entire armoire.  Glazing takes the longest time because of the two steps to the process, but the results are AMAZING!!

Glazing completely changes the look your paint.  It softens the color and ages the finish beautifully.  You can also decide how much of a glaze you want.  If I wanted to, I could have just glazed the doors and edges and not the entire surface.  I did not glaze the lime green shelves.

After all the pieces of the armoire are dry, the last step was to seal.  I close a clear polyurethane that I had on hand.  Sealing it with a polyurethane will protect your pieces from damage from unexpected bumps and spills. I put on two coats of poly, letting the armoire dry for at least 24 hours between coats.

Then I put the armoire back together again!!  Compared to all the other steps, this was a breeze!!  I replaced the wooden doorknobs with a couple of pink glass knobs I purchased at Michael's for a whooping .25 each!!  When I spotted them, I picked up several in the three color options they had and I've used them for several projects.

When I do a project like this, I try to use what I already have on hand or keep it as inexpensive as possible.  I already had some of the paint, poly, and glaze.  I was gifted the armoire and the robin egg blue paint and we used scrap wood for the shelves.  The only purchase were my two doorknobs!!

Taking on a project like this takes quite a bit of time, but I would usually get up early, put on a coat of paint and then do another, during afternoon nap.

Stayed tune for a few more Craft Room projects!! I'm already working on my next one - Organization Options.

And Away We Go. . . .

I've toyed with the idea of writing a blog for a little over a year now.  I've always been a planner.  I like to have things all figured out.  I like to know what I'm getting myself into. So for a year now, I've been researching, planning, following blogs, and pinning away on Pinterest, trying to figure out the blogging world.

I've been struggling to figure out my niche - what's going to set me apart from all the blogs out there, but I've concluded I don't really have a niche. I don't have one or two things I want my blog to focus on.  I love too many things - I love crafting, thrifting, God, movies, fashion, scrapbooking, books, repurposing, food, travel, fitness, entertaining, and photography.  I might think that is a lengthy list, but I could have added several other items!!

I want my blog to be a way to express myself.  I love creating, whether it with paper, photos, or fashion.  Being able to create energizes me.  I have finally figured out that when I'm not able to be creative in some form, I start to shut down.  It's time for me to just be me!!

I chose the name A Pocket Full of Violets for a few reasons.  1- I love violets - they are my favorite flower (thanks Anne of Green Gables!!).  2 - If we are blessed with another daughter, I want to name her Violet.  3 - I also have tons of ideas I want to share with you - my pockets are filled to the brim :).  4 - Just like a pocket full of lovely little violets always makes me smile, I hope that this blog will bring a smile to your face as well.