Wednesday 28 September 2011

Edit me: Week 20

Ouch! This one hurt. The picture is so darn cute to start with and as with all baby / children photographs I am acutely aware that this is someones adored child and that my idea of a good edit may be their idea of an insult. Eek!

Luckily I have been stuck in doors all day waiting for a delivery - you know the kind, anytime between 12pm & 6pm and we'll phone when on the way! - so I'd been grumpily patiently waiting for said delivery to arrive when I happened across this weeks edit.

Once again I just couldn't decide what to do with it so I googled ideas - as you do - and if I wanted to turn this adorable baby into Shrek, or give her google eyes or even wanted to plant her in a barrel I had a plethora of tutorials before my eyes.
Not gonna happen though.

So I guess you wanna see this adorable cutie courtesy of Kala at 'The Wishful Lamb' - here you go then.

This is the SOOC

Told ya, little cutie pie ain't she!

And here is my edit

Now I know I should have catalogued the steps I took for this but believe me I have done so many different things and started over that I have completely lost track of what I did.
I opened it in CS5 though - I know that much! As for the rest of the edit well it's vague but I cropped the image a tad, boosted the colours before then desaturating it (actually don't know why I did that but it seemed to help).
I then played around with the tones somewhere (sorry don't remember where) until I got a Sepia type look and then messed with the highlights, shadows etc until I got what I wanted.
Next I added a 5 pixel border in Black ( I tried a multitude of different colours for that before deciding on Black - how original)
Then I added the text 'twinkle, twinkle little star' and then finally I used the colour fill tool to add colour back to the flower.

Like I said there were many many steps to this edit, many of them deleted and I could have used shorter and easier paths along the way but this edit was basically playing and deleting until I got what I wanted.

I also need to thank Branson from 'My Reflection of Something' for not only hosting these edits but for hosting a gorgeous blog too.



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Sunday 25 September 2011

From yuk to Plum

So, I've been working on revamping old furniture for our new bedroom and I've just finished the second to last piece - just one more piece to go.
The colour theme is cream and Plum but you'll  have to take my word for that as the photos are showing more of a White/Purple theme.
This last piece was a dodgy old set of drawers I happened upon in a charity shop for £20. I loved it straight away but dithered about paying £20 and so walked away from it. All that night I regretted it and so the next day my very patient husband took me back to the town so I could snap it up - a well made six drawer set for £20, what was I thinking of walking away!
So this is the drawer set as it was


Yup, typical old fashioned grotty brown set of drawers straight from the sixties. The handles were bad enough (plasticky by the way) but just look at those awful ball feet and they weren't easy to get off either.
But get em off I did followed quickly by those awful handles *TOP TIP - number the drawers in sequence as you remove them, it makes replacing them sooooooo much easier * and then I set about sanding the whole thing down mainly to get a decent surface for the paint to key to.
The surface was in a good condition considering its age and the fact that it's probably seen alot of movement over time, just a few surface scratches that needed a bit of filler.
During that process I decided I didn't like the legs of this piece - even without the ugly ball feet - and so I   added a plinth to  the front. I wasn't too worried about the sides having a plinth because once it's in its final position (an alcove) it won't be seen.
Enter the Dewalt cutter - yes, the fun part!
I drew the pattern I wanted on some paper and then transferred it to the MDF and cut it out.
Gave it a really good sand down and then screwed it to the bottom of the drawers (using good old countersunk plasterboard screws). Next I filled over the top of the screws with wood filler and once dry sanded it all down till smooth.
BUT I then decided I didn't like the pattern I had just cut out. These drawers are very rectangular and the new handles I'd chosen were square so why on earth did I do such a poncy curved pattern! Oh well, I left it and just hoped it would grow on me - it hasn't!


I wasn't about to change it now though so I'm stuck with it!
Next the whole thing was primed as were the drawer fronts and sides followed by a light sand ready for painting.
And so to the painting: On the last piece I redesigned I 'discovered' painting with a sponge as opposed to a brush. I like the sponge finish because there are no annoying brush strokes, however this time I ran out of patience with it, it was taking too many coats just to get a cover so after 2 sponge coats I did a decent brush coat, lightly sanded between coats and then gave it  a final sponge coat.
I then gave everything 3 sponged coats of floor varnish because it'll probably get alot of knocks.
The drawers had the same treatment except for a different colour of paint obviously.
I then added the drawer pulls to the front - I had to buy these pulls though because I couldn't find 8 matching in my box of goodies (need 8 because I'm currently doing the matching wardrobe) and I managed to pick these up for 0.99 each. As they were silver coloured I had to  prime, spray and laquer them with the same colour car paint spray I had used on the other pieces of furniture.
I have to say that these pulls were really awkward to fix on. Underneath them they have a couple of pins that dig into the wood as they're screwed on from inside the drawer - a fab idea but it meant that I couldn't make adjustments to them to make them straight at the point of them being tight but loose enough to move (if you get me). I had to be spot on from the start which is difficult on your own.
Once that was sorted though I just had to get it indoors and put it all together.
*small problem* Despite me checking the running of the drawers at certain stages, when I got them indoors 2 of them wouldn't close (see the piccie). I was tempted to take it straight back out and sand them down but I suspect the wood has drawn in moisture from the air in the workshop - it's happened before- and therefore I've decided to leave it a week or so indoors and see if they shrink as they dry out.
Fingers crossed!
Anyways this is the finished deal:






Thanks for stopping by and taking a look.




This post is linked to

'Under the table and Dreaming' 
'The Shabby Nest'
'The Southern Institute'
'Chic on a shoestring decorating'
'Tip Junkie'
'Delightful order'
'Happy Hour Projects'

















Thursday 22 September 2011

Edit Me - week 19

Yet another cool image to get to grips with.
This weeks image was submitted by our guest judge this week, Deb from 'Deb Duty Photography', please take a couple of minutes to check out her blog and awesome images.

So without further ado here's the original image


and this is my Edit


I must be remembering how to use Creative Suite (finally) as this was a fairly quick one.
I opened the image in CS2 and created a new 'channel mixer' adjustment layer.
I then messed with the setting until I got the vibrant punchy tones I wanted. The first 2 setting were about +200 and +100 and the final two settings were approx -75 and -79.
Next I created a new text layer and added the text 'Autumn, the year's last, lovliest smile' and added a drop shadow via 'Blending options'. I also played with the drop shadow settings and distance until I got the effect I was after.
Finally I cropped the image to make the leaf less central and voila! Edited!

I have to thank the guest judge for this image. I usually like more active images as my imagination can be limited but I loved working with this one.
I did attempt a frosty ground and crispy leaf number but kinda didn't work out and so I had to rein myself back in - I get a tad too enthusiastic sometimes and go overboard.
So thank you to Deb and to Branson from 'My Reflection of Something' for co hosting these challenges.


Tuesday 20 September 2011

Love 'n' handmade silk flowers

It's the middle of September guys, where has this year gone? Did I sleep through the summer cos I sure as hell missed it!
Seriously we've hardly been able to string together one week of nice warm days over the last few months here in the Highlands. I am desperate for some warmth and with Xmas only round the corner I don't fancy my chances of getting any  - there's only so much these coastal views make up for - I need a holiday somewhere warm, preferably the Carribbean!

Anyway with the weather being so damp it's taking my furniture much longer to dry and cure. Unfortunately my workshop has but one piddly window and that faces North so we get no sun in there and the wind has blown in every direction except the one I need - typical.
I simply refuse to give up on the outdoor projects and stay indoors doing all manner of crafty goodness (remind me exactly why I am refusing this), I'm just having to learn a bit of patience (and 'a bit' is as far as I've gotten) and let nature take its course -though I am considering giving it a helping hand by wheeling a big dryer into the workshop. There's no way I can work like this for much longer.

Righto I must stop this whining.
I have at least managed to finish one project! yay! A tad small though and really should only have taken a day or so but with the damp air......... there I go whining again.

I found this cute 'Love' sign at our local  factory shop (local to me is 20 miles away) and whipped it up for £3 bargain!


The first thing I did was trace the letters onto some MDF, never know when I may need another one!
Initially I had planned to paint the back and decoupage the front of the letters in something to match our bedroom. In fact this was one of the rare times that I actually did  'plan', but in typical 'me' fashion I  changed my mind mid paint and completely deviated from the plan. And that is why I don't usually plan!
I painted it cream as per 'plan' and then sponged the edges as per' plan' ready to let it dry and decoupage it.
However, it looked like this


Yuk! This is the first thing I've ever sponged the edges of and so I wasn't really brave doing it but even so........
I them decided to paint it the purply plum colour I've used on other furniture for the bedroom and see what that looked like.
Once it had dried though I didn't like seeing the brush strokes in the paint so I started to gently sand it down - I say 'gently sand it' however when the sand paper you use is high grit it kinda defeats the purpose, but oh well.
As the edges became worn with the sanding I found I really liked the effect so decided to keep it that way.
This is what it looks like now




Not everyones cup of tea but I 'love' it!


Most of you know that we recently moved into a brand new home, every bit of it built by my husband with as much help as myself, Stacey & Leanne could muster and I really wanted as much of the inside to be hand made or renovated by myself as possible - my contribution if you like!
When it came to our bedroom I had bought the bed linen months in advance - a range called 'Rosina' by Catherine Lansfield - I fell in love with this range for 2 reasons - 1), it's sooooooo pweety and 2),Rosina is my middle name.
Anyway when it came to the curtains I wanted to stay within the same design range because there are too many variations of 'Plum' and I wanted to ensure the curtains matched. Problem was that for full lengths curtains I was looking at alot of money for two windows, so I decided I'd buy one set of curtains at 90" x 90" giving me the full length I wanted but would also be able to halve each curtain therefore giving me two pairs of full length, lined curtains (and saving a packet).
But I was halfway through sewing up the final curtain when I realised I'd only have one set of tiebacks - duh!
Having never made tiebacks before I was dubious about trying but I had some cream fabric that matched the cream in the curtains beautifully and actually managed to produce 4 tiebacks.
This left me  looking at the lovely Plum satin type material that the  original tiebacks were made of and trying to come up with something I could make that would enhance the new tie backs I'd made.

Ta da!

Fiddly but definitely doable and worth it.
I cut each tie back into 4 strips and singed one of the raw edges over a candle. This not only seals the raw edge from fraying but gives it that darker edge too, plus singeing with candles is reeeeally therapuetic.
I then ran the other edge of each piece up the sewing machine on a long straight stitch and then gathered the strip by pulling on the end of the thread, as each flower uses two strips I gathered the one to be used first a little tighter as it would form the centre of the flower.
I wrapped the first strip round a piece of wire, gathering it as I went and added pleats or folds as necessary and then the second strip was added much more loosely. Once at the end I wrapped it tightly with masking tape and took it off the wire. I then added another strip of cream in the same fashion as the others because I wanted a bigger flower than I was getting with just the Plum strips.
Once I had fluffed each flower to my liking I attached them to the tiebacks  by cutting a slit in the top piece of fabric (these tiebacks are 2 layered) next to the hook and inserted the taped end of the flower and set it in there using 'Fixsal' glue.



These tiebacks really do look lovely and for a first attempt I'm really chuffed with them.

Now I shall give you a little peek at what I'm working on at the moment:
I fell in love with this chest of drawers at a charity shop in town. Going for £20 I was too tight fisted to buy it at the time but soon regreted it and talked hubby into taking me back the next day to buy it.
I spent the entire journey there praying no one had bought it and kicking myself for not snapping up in the first place.



Don't like the handles or those plastic feet but it's well built and is going to look fabulous with a transformation.

A few days later in the same charity shop (a rarity for me as I hardly ever go out let alone into town) I spotted a side unit. Bit funky looking and I hate the sliding glass doors but I know exactly what I want to do with it and where it's going to go. well actually I bought it for the dining room but it's now going in the living room - once it's been transformed of course!


And only £5!

I've been wanting to make a couple of coat hooks for a while now and what I really wanted was some Iron hooks mounted onto wood but the cost of iron hooks is ridiculous, especially for a back hallway never to be seen. So for £1 each I got these


Ugly huh? Have some faith though, they're gonna look great!

I'm also working on a really old wardrobe which has so far in this current makeover changed colour 4 times - no wonder it's taking so long. But there's been good reason for it and I will share the whole sorry saga with you once it's finished.
Plus I'll introduce you to Lita - be prepared to be cutified by her cutiness.

Thanks for popping by and come back soon.


xx

This post is linked to

'Tip Junkie - Tip Me Tusday'
'not just a housewife'
'Ginger Snap Crafts'
'I'm Topsy Turvy'
'Funky Polka Dot Giraffe'
'Nifty Thrifty things' 
'The Creative Institute' 
'JAQS studio'

Sunday 18 September 2011

Nick of Time - Tim Downs. Book review




"now listen," Alena said, "I've seen you pick maggots off a two week old corpse without even turning up your nose"
With a statement like that in the first sentence I couldn't help but be hooked on this book.
A chuckle a minute from the first page, Tims Downs novel draws you in from the off and keeps you there, engrossed and second duessing what's unfolding before your eyes.

This was my first novel by Tim Downs and based on this read I would definitely be interested in reading more of his work.

Nick of time is a pretty fast paced piece of fiction based on the rather far fetched lives of Nick & Alena.
Days before they are due to marry Nick, the 'bug man' -a forensic entomologist- is called away for a meeting with fellow experts in the bug and / or death field. Whilst away a situation arises that means Nick cannot return home and risks missing his own wedding.
On Nicks dissappearence Alena takes her best tracking dogs and sets off to locate him but what she finds is not exactly what she bargained for and is in no way predictable to the reader.
Overall I found this an enjoyable read however I do have a few caveats about certain aspects of the storyline - Nicks sense of humour,for one,(or lack of it) is funny to begin with but rapidly becomes unrealistic and a tad annoying.
Also alena's seemingly ninja trained canines had me rolling my eyes and thinking "oh come on!" more than once.
Get past those foibles though and the story is great and once I had got over the shock of the ending as it unravelled I thought it was a genius idea. It was unpredictable (so don't even try) and a change from most other novels.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

Thursday 15 September 2011

I'm lurving this - Edit me : week 18 : Ferris wheel.

">I've had so much fun with this weeks photo, provided by Kathryn of 'our tiny big life'.
I really wanted to do something fun with such a fun picture and at first wanted to turn it into a night time shot with the wheel and lights all lit up, however I just couldn't get my head round it so I decided that turning it into a jigsaw would be just dandy!

Here's the original shot

and here's my jigsaw

I spent a fair while on this image as making jigsaws is apparantly harder than you'd think! However I'll try to dilute the steps down a little or else this will take pages and pages.
First I opened the image in CS2 and created a background copy.
I didn't touch the colour etc  as I felt the colours were vivid and accurate enough already for what I wanted.
Next I created a new layer and filled the background white.
Then I opened the Filter box, went to texturiser and opened the Puzzle filter (this had to be imported from the Filters file in the Photoshop folder in the guts of my system (getting confusing huh!)
Once I had the Puzzle filter on the screen I dabbled with the controls to get the largest pieces I could and set the light to 'top right'.
Next the really cool part. I decided I'd like to remove some of the pieces altogether but also set some aside on top of the puzzle to look like an unfinished puzzle.
So I selected the Pen tool and traced the outline of one piece, then accepted the cut out, clicked on new layer - layer via cut and renamed the layer piece 1.
I then hit CTRL & T to transform the piece and be able to move it to the side, rotate it etc. Next go to layer style and drop shadow and change the dials until you get what you're looking for - I basically had Opacity @ 80, angle 160 and the others at whatever took my fancy (though try to keep each piece the same).
To delete each piece I again used the pen tool to select the piece and hit delete.
Each piece of the puzzle that was moved (not deleted) has it's own layer.
Finally flatten the image.

And that was basically it though it took me a couple of hours.
I have to thank Kathryn for such a great image. I was dissapointed with myself with last weeks entry and could have kicked myself for even entering it. Whatever possessed me to turn an interesting farmhouse into a boring, bog standard nothing by removing the most interesting part of it is still beyond me, however I've loved this weeks challenge a whole heap, so Thank you Kathryn!


Check out: 'EDIT ME, WEEK 18'. for all other entries and a fabulous website 'My reflection of something'.

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Angry Julie Monday





Featured On The  Crafty Nest


The Shabby Nest

Tuesday 13 September 2011

The Final Summit: A Quest to Find the One Principle That Will Save Humanity


Book Title: The Final Summit.
Author:  Andy Andrews.

Join David Ponder and a cast of historically important figures as they race against the clock to discover the secret to restoring civilization to the correct path. To fail the quest will mean a 'start over' for the Earth and it's inhabitants and with the 'last start over' being 'The Flood' David Ponder, Erik Erikson, Winston Churchill, Joan of Arc and Anne Frank (to name a few) have the fate of mankind on their shoulders.

The Final Summit is the sequel to 'The Time Traveler's gift' but don't let that put you off this book, it is very easy to pick up the life of David Ponder from page one and this book had me hooked from the off.
David Ponder is a time traveler of the otherworldly kind, as opposed the scientific kind. He is escorted on his most important meeting with other past travelers by the Archangel Gabriel, a meeting in  an otherworldly realm where the fate of mankind is determined by the aforementioned historical figures for which they have 5 chances to discover the right path. Will they manage it?

A great read that is captivating from the start. The historical figures are a genius idea and the story behind each historical figure will have you googling them to find out if the information really could be true - it is!
A book that will certainly make you question certain aspects of your own life and that of the world collectively.

Go get it, you'll love it.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Saturday 10 September 2011

Cube seat all covered and matching - just how I like it!

Remember the dressing table I made from the old computer station - 'this one'?
And remember the matching seat I promised was on its way?

Well here it is, a cube seat:-


The best bit is that it was so easy to make and cost me nothing more than my time.

So if you'd like to find out how I did it then continue reading, if not then feel free to check out my other posts, links or leave a comment or two, I love to get them and always try to reply.

Alrighty, the cube seat was made from a small chest of drawers I had kept when moving from the old place into our new home. The drawers and the runners had already been salvaged and used in the 'Computer desk to dressing table' project so the basic skeleton was all that was left of it and I have to say that for a cheap piece of old Argos furniture it was suprisingly well made, though very beaten up:-


Originally I was going to take those awful Grey plastic feet off the bottom but then I decided they'd make less of an indent on the bedroom carpet than the wood frame would so they stayed on.
The frame as it stood was too tall for what I needed so I took it apart, cleaned each piece and then measured the height I wanted on the long side pieces and went at them with my Dewalt Jigsaw (Ladies, if you don't already use power tools make a point of trying them out. My OH has always encouraged me to use them and I wouldn't be without them now).



The top and bottom pieces of wood had a bowed effect to them so I had to cut them both straight with the Dewalt Jigsaw to give me straight edges.
I then reassembled the pieces using all the original fixings. As I said this was suprisingly well made. It was easy to dismantle and easy to put back together.
Finally I cut the backboard to fit the new dimensions (only the height of the piece had changed) and used the original tacks to fix it back on.



That's how simple the construction was. I wasn't worried about sanding the piece or painting it because it's going to be covered.
Next to get it indoors and get out my fabulous sewing machine:-


I love this sewing machine. My OH bought it for me after I'd watched it for several months on 'Ideal world'. It'a Silver Viscount 9300e and to me it's the bee's knees. I've never spent quite so much on a sewing machine but this bit of kit is well worth every penny!

Anyway, I digress, I didn't have to hunt around searching for and choosing fabric because I knew exactly which fabric I was going to use.
The base cover was a simple cotton fabric in a very pale Cream colour and the cushion cover would be a lovely Plum Satin type fabric I had purchased from EBay to make these 'Roman Blinds' for my bedroom.

As much as I love sewing I am not the most patient of sewers. If I know a project is going to take a few days then I can take my time no probs but if I know a project is a quickie then I tend to not be as careful as I should be and my biggest, biggest downfall is that I hardly ever pre plan (a condition I must rid myself of).
I basically measured the top (yep, actually used a tape measure ) and cut a square to fit making sure to add a 1/2" seam allowance to all sides.
Then I measured the sides, cut the squares and added 1/2" seam allowance. For some reason it has dawned on me literally while writing this blog that I didn't need to cut and sew individual squares for the sides - DUH!!!!! It would have been so much easier to have sewn one entire piece to the top fabric! I can't believe I did it the way I did!!

Anyway I did it the hard way but after adding a hem to the side pieces (something I didn't allow for in the measurement because I didn't preplan), I sewed it to the top piece and voila - a cover for the cube seat.
Now for the cushion: Well I used what was left of a body pillow for the cushion itself (I say what was left because I've gradually stripped it over time) and made an envelope cover for it.
I have to admit that this part included no measuring, I simply placed the cushion on the fabric and kind of guessed where to sew - didn't even use a pin!
I'm guessing that sewing a double hem to the envelope parts without pinning and/or ironing first is not the way to go however I folded as I went and hey ho, it's ruddy straight if I do say so myself!
So that's it, my cube seat and cushion made from the skeleton of an old set of drawers:-


This is it all tucked away. Just to prove it fits! and those drawers on the dresser, they're the ones salvaged from the piece I made this cube seat from. Cool eh!

And here's Oakley my 'Charlie Bear' posing and checking it out:


I heart Charlie Bears!

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Tuesday 6 September 2011

Furniture makeover - Computer desk to Dressing table

It's no big secret that I love furniture makeovers. I'm relatively new to it - well VERY new actually! - but I'm addicted already.
That 'makeover' mindset is now well and truly ingrained and I see every piece of furniture as a potential for creativity - whether it be a bland boring piece needing some funk or an old piece needing some TLC! and funk! lol.

This makeover came about because I needed a dressing table for my new bedroom and being the thrifty crafter I am I just couldn't bring myself to buy one - at £200 for something half nice I figured nah! - enter this old computer desk that was just plain awful......


See, awful isn't it! Almost as bad as my work area I hear you scream! Well in my defence I have a builder for a husband and so I have to take whatever inch of space I manage to pilfer in his workshops. Though you would think a 60ft workshop would leave little ole me just a teeny bit clear huh!
Anyway, a cheap and tacky bit of furniture is never going to be transformed into a stunningly marvelous piece of kit is it, I mean chipboard covered veneer is not Oak no matter how much you may wish it!
So here is what I managed to turn it into:


And I love it, despite it looking a bit like dolls house furniture.

So how did I do it?

Well first I scrabbled about for a bit of space to work in, then I took it all apart and left just the sides, the top and a panel across the back.


I then added an internal partition as I was aiming to put some drawers in it from an old small chest of drawers I've saved.
It was then sanded, sanded and sanded again.
I filled every hole (and there were plenty) with a good filler - well whatever filler I could find actually - and then left it to dry for 24hrs. It was then sanded again and filled again and left to dry again and then finally sanded again - phew!


All ready now for the best part - painting.
Normally I would use a brush however I've decided I don't like the brush stroke effect and I don't want to lather the layers on. Several thin layers would be better than a couple of thick marshmallowy layers.
Not having a sponge brush to hand I dived under the sink and came out victoriously waving a Jumbo size car washing sponge to the befuddled, confused looks of my non crafty family.
I cut the sponge up and painted. You know what a child looks like after finger painting, well I had it everywhere but the effect on the table was much better than a brush so alls good!
Each coat was left to dry and then I gave it several coats of Satin floor varnish, again with the sponge, it's a much better finish. I guess Floor varnish may not be every crafters choice of sealant but I figured if it's good enough for floors then it's good enough for this.
I then positioned and secured the drawer runners taken from the old chest of drawers I mentioned before and quickly decided that it's not something I'll ever be in a hurry to try again. This piece of work came veeeery close to being hammered, kicked and all other manner of not nice things!
Those plastic runners were a nightmare! But I soldiered on and prevailed. yay!
Next I had to decide what drawer handles to use:


Which to use, which to use?
I opted for the flower pulls. Obviously they looked a bit ropey and needed some work  so I primed, sprayed and laquered them with ........ car spray paint. Yup, car spray paint!
My car happens to be an off white colour and I'd purchased primer, paint and laquer for a rear wheel arch, which never got done so I figured why not!
Waste not, want not! As my mum used to say!


Just a wee note: Spray painting is addictive - you were warned!

The drawer fronts were painted the same plum colour as I used on a cabinet for the end of my bed, check it out 'here' and then sprayed with the laquer purely because I was getting too impatient to wait for varnish to dry. (Do many of you find that you get a bit impatient and dare I say it - lackadaisical - toward the end? You just want that piece finished).
The finished effect is pretty darned good anyway!  BTW the drawer front s look blotchy on the photo but they're really not, it's just the flash bounce.


That done it was all put together.
But a dressing table without a mirror is not much good really is it so I spray painted my wooden mirror with the car sprays and then attached it to the table with a couple of lengths of 2x1 attached to the back of the dresser and bolted through the mirror.

Ta da!

The vase and the basket on my Dressing table were a real find. Usually i won't buy such things and I've been dabbling with the idea of making a fabric basket however a recent trip to 'Homebase' revealed these bargains - £3 for the basket - a bit bigger than I would have liked but good quality and a lovely lining.
£2 for the vase - what else can I say, Bargain!! Maybe needs a single stem flower added to it though.


So there you have it. A crabby old computer desk that would have hit the fire heap morphed into a Dressing table.

This blog is linked to:-

Tip Junkie handmade projects


'Gingersnaps' wow me Wednesday

Beyond The Picket Fence

The Southern Institute




'Miss Mustard Seed'
'The shabby Nest' 
'It's a Hodgepodge life'


COMING SOON.

A stool to match the dressing table. Made from the chest of drawers that I salvaged the drawers from for the above dressing table.

And a relic of a wardrobe gets a revamp.