DIY Vanity Honey Oak Transformation

I DIYed the vanity in Mark's bathroom and transformed from Honey Oak Yuck into something Dark and Wonderful! We tore out all our old oak cabinets in the kitchen a few years ago but this vanity didn't make it into the remodel budget. It has been on my summer list of things to do ever since.

I didn't get a photo taken before Mark had the door removed. Here is another piece of the old Honey Oak that was EVERYWHERE in our house when be bought it 1996! It was the height of style in 1985 when the house was built, not so much by 1996, and horribly outdated in 2014!  Despite not loving it when we moved in  I learned to just live with it.

This was a pretty quick project. Mark took the doors off on Thursday and we put it all back together on Sunday. If you are interested in doing something similar you will need some supplies.

Supplies I used

Palm sander

Sanding pads

Gloves

Tack cloth

Black indoor paint 

Paint brushes (one 2 inch and one smaller brush for details and close to walls)

Tarp

The first thing we did was remove the doors and sink panel. I tried to strip them but all the curved surfaces around the trim pieces didn't come clean. I then got out my palm sander and sanded them. I didn't go crazy here just roughed up the varnish. 

Next, we sanded the face of the vanity in the bathroom. We hung a piece of tarp up to trap the dust into as small of a space as possible. 

Then, I used blue painters tape and taped off the counter and the walls. I wiped off the doors and face of the vanity with a tack cloth. If you have never used a tack cloth before I HIGHLY recommend buying one. I used a wet cloth in the past but it just doesn't work as well. 

Next, I painted two coats on the face pieces and two coats on the doors. 

Finally, we waited for it to dry and put it all back together. 

We had new carpet installed as well and I LOVE how this looks now! The honey oak is gone! This bathroom looks like it belongs in 2014! 

DIY Refinished 1960's Desk

I refinished a desk that belonged to the Glassett family sine the early 1960's. I truly did this on my own or DIY! It is very stressful refinishing furiture that belonged to the in-laws! I am happy with the results but learned a lot, as usual, along the way.

I didn't take a picture before I started but there are two dressers that have the same finish and it was a set purchased for my husband and his brother when they were just little boys.

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I used a chemical stripper and sanded both the desk and drawers. It was a lot of work since this is an older piece of furniture. In hind sight I wish I had done even more sanding. After three days of working on this my arm and right hand were sore and I had to move on. 

I stained the whole thing three different times and could have done one more. I was out of energy for this project and varnished it. I filled in the holes where the original hardware was but I am NOT happy with the way the stain took on those spots. Still can't decide what to do. I am using the desk now without and handles or drawer pullls. Such is the life of a DIY'er!

Upcycled Window Blind Trim

I found an old piece of trim in the basement and upcycled it into a lesson plan board. I got the idea after seeing a menu planner board on Pinterest that is for sale on Etsy.  I immediately thought it would be a great lesson plan board.

I often bury or misplace my lesson plan book in the course of the day. This year I will be teaching six periods of  Reading and I know the same kind of chaos will plague me! My plan is to write some breif notes about my lesson on these cards. I can take the card off quickly if I need to refer to it during class and it has a specific spot to return it to when I am finished. Students can also look at the board instead of asking me what we are doing in class. 

Inspiration for Lesson Plan board

For this project you will need:

1 board

Alphabet stickers

5 cup hooks

5 Binder Clips

Index Cards

Below is a picture of the piece of trim I used. It fell off the blind and the plastic piece that held it on was broken. Since I have a window topper covering the top part of the blinds I don't care about this piece of trim. I chose it becasue it is already painted and ready to use. Any scrap piece of wood would work. This is just what I had available. 

Window Blind Trim 

Cup Hooks Added to trim

 Once I had my board I needed to figure out  where I wanted the hooks placed. Mark helped me with this because math is not my strong suit. He pre-drilled the holes to prevent the wood from splitting. It takes a few extra minutes but it is worth it. This trim is really thin and I was sure it would crack if the holes were not pre drilled.

After the hools were in place I added the days of the week. I used a really old set of alphabet stickers from my stash. I learned a trick a few years ago from my friend Kathy. Stick the letters onto a piece of plastic before putting them on the project. Place the stickers so about 1/2 of each letter is off the plastic. (I keep blank pieces of plastic from packages of stickers or double sided tape for this purpose.) This allows me to line up the letters and get the placement just right on the project. I then placed the stickers above each cup hook. It isn't perfect but I works for me. I wanted to add some rub-on flowers but I didn't plan out space for that I don't have the space for it. Something to consider if I ever make another one!

DIY Jewlery Organizer from a Picture Frame

I needed this jewlery organizer 

a long time ago! 

Usually my earrings are a big ol' mess all over my dressser. My husband complains about the cluttered look and it has been impossible to dust.
I used an old picture frame, eyelet, white cup hooks, and thumb tacks to make this wonderful organier.The frame is pretty big because I make jewery and so does my Mom and sisters. I have a lot of earrings.
I have seen several DIY organizers on Pintrest and my Daughter-in-law makes a hair accsesory organizer. Picture frames are the common denominator in all the organizers. Many have screen or wires to hang the jewlery from. I have found that my earrings  tarnish very quickly when in contact with metal. I was thinking I would use thin ribbon. Then I had a brillant idea. EYELET! That was it.  I jumped out of bed got dressed and ran downstrirs and dug out all my old pictures.

(This room is going to get new paint and new carpet by August 5th. This is all part of a larger makeover for the bedrooms in our house. More on that later.) Below is a list of supplies used and some instructions.

Supplies
Picture frame
Pliers
butter knife
Eyelet or lace
Thumb tacks
Cup Hooks


This is my old picture stash. Quite a collection! I wasn't sure which frame I wanted so I pulled all the pictures apart and then selected the biggest one! Not too suprising.





Most picture frames look like the one below. Bend the prongs up that hold the back and glass in. Throw the back and glass away or, if you are like me, keep both  for some unknown project in the future. I believe there is a name for this I call it recycling, my husband calls it horading!



Once you have selected a frame. Get out your eyelet or lace. I actually used some of both. Again, I just went to my sewing room and got out a baggie full of lace and eyelet. Most is from making baby blankets for my boys. My baby will turn 26 in September. I am telling you I never throw anything away!
Next, I measured and cut the lace and eyelet. I didn't get very precise on measurements. I started in about the middle and added one row about two inches above the middle row and another two inches below the middle. I continued like that until I got to the top.
Finally, I added te earrings and quickly discovered that the lace and eyelet needed to be much tighter. I took off all the earrings and adjusted all the rows. My suggestion is to pull them really tight from the begining. I would also suggest using 100% cotton eyelet. Polyester stretches a lot. If you look in the picture you can see some droopy rows, they are polyester. I MIGHT replace them. So far it hasn't bothered me. Sometimes things like that irritate me, but this doesn't seem to at this point.
The last thing is to hang up your frame. As I mentioned this room is going to get painted and so Mark refused to hang my organizier up properly. I don't blame him. no sense doing something twice.

I am going to make a smaller version of this for the night stand. I seem to crawl into bed with earrings on a lot. Once, a long time ago, a diamond earring fell in the garbage can next to my bed. I didn't realize it until after the garbage was taken out and the city picked up the trash! I cried for a long time that day!

A unexpected result of this new organizer, I found so many lost earrings. I had about six or seven different little cups and containers for my earrings before the organizer. As I emplied each container and hung up the earrings I found lots of misplaced earrings. Good thing I never throw anything away. See,  it is good to recycle.