My workshop...

My husband thinks I should finish one project before I start another.  Haha!  Here is what I have in process right now.  Let's see...

I just got this dresser.  It's kind of a piece of crap and I shouldn't have got it.  Ugh...  Oh well, I have plans for making it less crappy.  It was only $20 and I'm just going to use stuff I already have.

Here is one of the drawers to the dresser.  Already primed.  And behind it is the base to a really cool table I got for $16.91 at a thrift store.  It was burlwood veneer but in bad shape so it's primed too.

Here is the bottom of the top to the table.  I had to get two cans of lacquer thinner to get the lacquer off the top so I can restain it.  I also had to soak and iron the edge of the top to get off some veneer trim that couldn't be saved.  So far it's been a lot of work.  But I think it will be worth it.

Here is the base to an old drop leaf table I got from my parents.  It's almost done but it takes a long time to do anything when I can only work when both kids are napping, at the same time.  Actually it's a miracle I get anything done!

Here is the top to the drop leaf table.  I had to sand it down, again, and stain it, again, yesterday because the stain was uneven.  Then last night I was priming the dresser and got splatters of primer on it.  No wonder it takes me so long. 

And here is what I'm most excited about, but have no idea what to do with yet.  The old cabinet.  It's really well built and big. 

It was once painted a dark green and then a light green  The outside looks like it was stripped down.  I love the color inside and wish the outside was still painted.  It's almost the same color as my t.v. cabinet.  It must have been the color to paint garage/garden storage cabinets. 

It doesn't have a back though so I'm not sure if I'll add one. 

Oh wait, here's another one.  Now this I really wish I hadn't got.  It was free on the side of the road so I couldn't resist.  It's an old library shelf.  I thought maybe I could turn it into something I could put the hutch mirror on (my other free and totally useless pickup).  But it would take a ton of work for something that would probably still look like junk.  So there it sits, outside our garage, probably annoying the neighbors. 

Oh, and this.  A shelf for Margaret's room.  I'm not sure what I'm doing with it.  Maybe it's done. 


So...only 7 things.

Redo redo

Well, I couldn't move on.  There's nothing more aggravating than working on a project that doesn't turn out the way you want it to.

So I redid it again. I had covered the batting with an off-white fabric before putting on the burlap since the burlap was such a loose weave that you could see the batting through it. I decided I liked the fabric better than the burlap so I just took off the burlap. I wanted to try the tufted look since I was considering making a tufted headboard for the guest room. Now I'm not. 



It was a huge headache getting the buttons together with the fabric tucked in.  Finally I got all 10 done.  Then as I was putting them on my 2 year old climbed on the cushion with his shoes on, which were covered in yellow playdoh.  As I was washing that out, the water slowly seeped across my fabric, erasing my carefully marked button spots. 

I should mention that I know nothing about using covered buttons. I thought using yarn would work.  On my second button I realized it wouldn't.  And apparently my buttons weren't very sturdy either.  The yarn broke and my button popped apart.  It was one of those days when I had to just go hold my 4 month old daughter to remind myself that everything was okay!

I tested my first button to see if it was still together well and, nope, the top popped right off. 

I probably should've given up at this point.  But instead I Gorilla Glued them all together, bought some upholstery thread and needles, and got them all in.  Once I had the right tools it was actually not that bad.  But not easy enough to want to do a headboard full of them. 

So...the finished project (for now).