Project 1: One Step Closer!

I finished sanding the dresser & drawers today. I have to be honest, I had some help yesterday. The kids were outside playing after snack so I sat down to work on the dresser. Turns out the girls were fascinated with the whole sanding process. So I let them each have a turn. Yep, I capitalized on child labor (does it really count if they were begging to help?!). They did a pretty great job! Probably because they each stood in one place and sanded for several minutes at a time. :)

So, I finished sanding and tonight (after letting Goober watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse in her room & turning on the old, but still useful baby monitor) I headed back out to the garage to start painting. Yes, painting!! The first coat is done, on the dresser at least. The drawers still needed a little time for the putty to dry, so I'll be able to paint them tomorrow. I am so excited and I really like the color. It's fun. Not a bad buy for clearance at Wal-mart, that's for sure! 

I added some pics so you can see the color. And tell me what you think, of course!

Project 1: Slowly but surely & another project already?!

It's taking me a lot longer to work on this dresser than I originally planned. Turns out, when you have an almost 3 year old who has to be in near constant contact with you-it's hard to get the work done. I finally convinced her to sit in a chair yesterday to watch me while I worked. It helped that Brandon was blowing up her swimming pool at the same time. Double the entertainment, right?!

But, the dresser is as stripped  as it's going to get and even partially hand sanded. I'm borrowing an electric sander from my Dad. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring it home with me after our visit on Saturday. Ugh. Positive side to all that hand sanding? Awesome muscles!

Finally moved it upstairs and into the garage.

Note the stickers? Those were ridiculously hard to take off. Took a lot of elbow grease that's for sure!

Stripped and sanded! Kind of.

I also bought a bedside table over the weekend through craigslist. It's needs work and lot of TLC but I love it and can't wait to get started on it! I'm hoping if I like (or love) the color of the dresser, I'll be able to use it on the nightstand. Then I'd have semi coordinated pieces. Unless another color catches my eye first. I'm thinking a nice pale green would be amazing, too.

My brother told me I'm a little old lady because I like the detail work. Not true-I'm just awesome!

I love the cabinet style!! No more drawers!

It really  needs some work, but I'm super excited!

 I knew it would only be a matter of time before I found yet another project to add to my list!

Hmmm, my list keeps growing...

I have added a 6th project to my journey of creativity. I received this steamer trunk as a gift from my grandparents for my high school graduation. I had always wanted one (I'm slightly fascinated with all things old & awesome) and this one was perfect. I've had it for 10 years (can you believe I graduated high school 10 years ago? Where in the world has time gone?!) and can't wait to actually be able to use the inside for more than storage of old textbooks.

My awesome steamer trunk, completely refinished on the outside.

 Now here's a pic of the inside. Not so refinished. I've always meant to do something with it, but never gave myself the time or credit for doing so. Now I'm adding to my list the refinishing of the inside of my steamer trunk.

Ignore the piles of books. The inside lining is falling apart. I'm hoping to find something cute & old fashiony to line it with. And build a removable shelf with smaller compartments to hold whatever.

So, my list has grown (as I'm sure it will continue to do). There so much I want to do that deciding is kind of difficult. Eventually, I'm sure that every project I want to tackle will end up on this list.

Stay tuned for before, during and after pics of each project I attempt!

Project 1: I'm ready to go!

Looks like I'm one step closer to starting my first refinishing project!

This is the dresser I'll be refinishing. Old school, covered in stickers, good times. I thought about replacing the handles, but instead I'll be keeping them and refinishing them as well. 

This is the paint color. We'll see how it goes. I love it, but you just never know how it'll turn out until it's done. 

I'm hoping to get the stripping process started tomorrow night after work. Eeeeek!

Where to begin...

I've been inspired by several things lately. Friends who are going through a rough time, but still enjoying life. Friends whose creativity is awe inspiring. And friends who are just living the life they were blessed with.

And I realized that there is a lot in life I have to be thankful for. A healthy family. A husband who happens to be my best friend. Friends who make me laugh. An amazing house to live in. The chance to stay home with my daughter. I'm pretty stinking lucky.

Because I am so lucky & because my friends are so inspiring, I've decided to start doing the things I enjoy most AND to start trying new things I've never done before. No more sitting around saying "I wish I could do this." or "I wish I was more creative". If I don't do things now, I'll never do them in the future.  And I want to learn new ways to be creative. I guess you could say this is kind of like my bucket list of creativity for the rest of the year.

Here is the list of goals that I'd like to make a reality:

1. Refinish the dresser in the basement. It's just sitting there, ugly and covered in stickers. I'm going to turn it into something beautiful and amazing. I'd also, at some point, love to buy old furniture, refinish it, and then use it to furnish our bedrooms. But one step at a time.
2. Write a book. Not anything fancy. I'm mainly fascinated with relationships, love and happily ever afters. I want to make some of the characters that live inside my head come to life on paper (or the equivalent of paper, right here on my laptop).
3. Make a quilt. Preferably one similar too, but not the same as, Lily's blanky (which was my blanky when I was little). That way, our next child (whenever it happens) will also have a comforting piece of my heart to keep with them.
4. Make a hobo-style cable knit purse. I have the yarn. I have the needles. I just haven't made myself do it. Yet.
5. Create Lily's photo books for years 2 & 3. It's my goal to have one capturing every year of Lily's life. So far, I have one for my pregnancy with Lily and one for her first year (up until her first birthday). I'd like to catch up with this before it gets completely out of control. It's my favorite way to "scrapbook".

That's 5 pretty nice sized, creatively inclined projects. I think I can do it. And I decided to blog about my adventures in creative learning! I don't know if people will read it. Or if people will even care. But I"m hoping to learn a lot. Not only about creative techniques, but about myself. So many times, I've quit in the middle of something because I'm convinced I'm really not good enough. Well, this blog is a way to remind me that I am, indeed, good enough! And if that can help inspire even one person to believe in themselves, to start/complete something they've always wanted to do? Then I will have been as inspiring to them as my friends are to me.

So, thanks for all the inspiration!