Saturday, August 31, 2013

anthro ordinal dresser knockoff

So at some point I saw this dresser either on anthropologie.com or pinterest.
and i fell in love.
i knew i could make it.
and others had made it too.
just google anthro numbered dresser images.
this has been a really long (almost 1 1/2 year) project.

i originally started this in the spring of 2012.
I started looking for dressers on craigslist and at the thrisft stores.
then i found a random $10 bill in my backyard
and spotted this dresser on craigslist for $10.
so, it was free :)


 everything seemed to be solid wood except there was a laminate top.
-
i sanded and sanded.
 then i handrew a handle cut out template
and used a jigsaw to cut it out
it was by no means perfect
but i kinda liked it
(in between sanding it and cutting the handles, we moved)
(so it sat untouched in the garage for months-maybe a year)



 then i stained it
i wasn't sure how it would turn out.
 and i primed the laminate top with this
 how did it end up this dark? who knows
but i loveeeeee it
 so i stained the whole thing


 then came time for the numbers
i printed them out on cardstock
then cut them out
then used that as a stencil
at first i tried to stick it on with adhesive spray
but then quickly scrapped that b/c it didnt really work and was messy.
I traced it with a ball point pen
then filled it in with craft paint
i saw some tutorial on this somewhere
and using the pen indents the wood a little
and makes a border so the paint doesnt bleed out.
i found that it worked well.
and didn't take that long.

 so the st is a little crooked.

 i already love it






 bahhhhh so awesome!



I knew i wanted something on the top...
so i for some reason thought stenciling was the key.



 it was too much.
 so i decided to follow some dang guide on pinterest to make your own chalk paint.
using plaster of paris and paint i got free from lowes...
it was so thick and gross... but it covered the design up a little.


 then i sanded to be able to see through it.
 to seal it, i used annie sloan dark wax
and actually liked this a lot better.
-
i debated poly'ing it, but decided against it
b/c i like the rustic look better
so for
$10-- dresser
$7 -- stain
$5 -- stencil
$0-- palm sander (owned)
$0 -- primer (owned)
$0 -- jigsaw (owned)
$0 -- craft paint (owned)
$0 -- brushes (owned)
$0 -- annie sloan dark wax (owned for a previous project)
-$10 -- found in yard
__________________
$12 and a lot of time
i get a cool dresser
original = $998

Monday, August 26, 2013

balloon dress

i made hazel another dress
but this photo shoot didn't really go that well :)
she was just too squirmy.





Thursday, August 22, 2013

ice cream dress

so, one of the patterns momma got me was the ice cream dress by oliver and s.
I love it so much and want to make it in every fabric!
it's super easy and super cute!

 a little pig wearing glasses on the button






so we're famous!
we went to FT to get something... don't know what...
and she was wearing her dress,
i mentioned casually gave many overt hints that they should take a pic of her
AND THEY DID!!  they even said they were gonna ask me before i said anything!
*i didn't plan to match her at all*
*I also hadn't taken a shower in a couple day*
*but the better pic was with me and hazel together*
here's the link to the web page