Old Dresser = Entertainment Center!!!

BEFORE

 

 

AFTER!!!

 

 

Want to make something that adds that spark of color to your living room?  Find yourself an old "ugly" dresser!  It doesn't have to be one exactly like the one I found.  Just make sure it fits the space where you want to put it and get down to business with your imagination and tools.

 

1.  Find a dresser made of solid WOOD.  No particle board, tile, plastic, or other random stuff.  The one I found was only $60 and is WAY heavy.

 

2.  Decide on which drawers (if any) you are going to pull out and keep out for your DVD player and game consoles.

 

3.  Find some cute knobs or drawer pulls, if the ones on your old dresser are not your style.  I found mine at Hobby Lobby.  If you go to Hobby Lobby, make sure to wait until they are all on their 50% sale. 

 

4.  Pull out all the drawers, take out the runners where the drawers will no longer be, and take off the drawer pulls/knobs.  If your new pulls/knobs don't match up with the holes from the old pulls/knobs, use wood filler and fill in the old holes.  Make sure to scrape off the access with a putty knife! 

 

5.  After the wood filler is dry, sand down everything.  Make sure to be careful around the carved out details!  You don't want to break anything off or have the details/corners too flat or rounded. 

 

6.  Pick your paint!  This is the fun part.  You can do any color that you want!  I was going to go with a yellow or a mint color, but then found this teal and just could not pass it up.  We used an air compressor with an attachable spray paint gun, but you can use a paint brush if you do not have an air compressor.  They both work the same.  And as you can see, we chose to stain the top instead of painting it, but you can do whatever you wish.

*Wait for it to dry and then do a second coat of paint*

 

7.  Let the paint dry for a day.  Now it is time to "paint on" the sealant.  You can use either paste wax or a Polyacrylic sealer.  Either one will work just fine.  We painted on the sealant, let it dry for a day, and then applied a second coat.  We let it sit and "dry" in our garage for about a week and then brought it into the house.

 

Wala!  It is finished!  Add the TV and the other gadgets and you have yourself a super cute entertainment center.   



Play Kitchen

BEFORE

 

 

AFTER

 

This cute little kitchen was made for my sweet little Emryn for Christmas by my husband and I.  After searching and searching for the perfect old entertainment center, I came across this beauty only for $20.  All wood and was just the right size.  To some the entertainment center was just a piece of junk taking up space, but I saw a masterpiece in the making!  I still have yet to hang the damask curtains in the "window", but all in all it is still amazing.  Don't you think?

 

Ever get sick of those dinky little plastic kitchens you see being sold for a lot of money at the stores?  Those little kitchens your kids will outgrow by the time they actually want to play with it, so why not make something a little bigger that will last? 

 

I'm not going to go into detail of how we went about redoing the entertainment center into this kitchen.  That would take FOREVER.  I will tell you this, it took a lot of time, energy and imagination.

 

The "fridge" has magnetic metal sheeting on the front.  How cool is that?!  And inside it has multiple shelves so she can fit all her play food in.  The oven does have a metal oven rack in the center and the door falls forward like a normal oven.  The sink is made out of a big bowl I found at the DI.  And the faucet and oven knobs are all real, so she can turn them and they will not break off!

 

If you would like to know more info on how we made this, just email me at pacificpanda@gmail.com and I will try my best to answer all of your questions.

 

 

 

 

Dry Erase Menu Board

This is THE easiest project I have yet done and it didn't take much time at all!  One trip to Hobby Lobby and I was set to do this project. 

What You Need:
* Large Picture Frame w/Glass
* Scrapbook Paper
* Bold Sticky Letters from the scrapbook/sticker section
* Scissors
* Glue Stick
* Dry Erase Marker(s)
Optional Items:
* Stamp that says "Family" along with stamp ink
* Brown (or other color) "chalk" paint for distressing
* Brads
* Any other embellishments you may want to add!  Remember, they have to fit under the glass of the frame.  Nothing too bold.

This menu board is pretty self-explanatory from the picture.  All you really need to know is...
1.  Use the cardboard in the frame to paste your scrapbook paper (you may need to cut this accordingly to fit your frame). 
2.  Lay out your letters how you would like them.
3.  Add any and all other embellishments you would like to.
4.  Put it all together with the glass in front and you've got yourself a cute menu board that cleans easily week after week with just a damp paper towel!

Large & Cheap Wall Pics

 

What You Will Need:

 

*Engineering Prints

*Insulation Foam Board

*Acid Free Spray Glue (I used Photo Mount)

*White or Black Paint - for those of you wishing to paint the sides instead of do a "canvas wrap"- DO NOT USE SPRAY PAINT!!!

*Exacto Knife

*Large Plastic Table Cloth

*Clean Microfiber Cloth

*Poster No-Damage Wall Hangers

 

I first saw this idea on Pinterest and thought I would put my own spin on it and give it a try.  Using the photos from our pics taken last year by a family friend, I used photo editing to crop and size the pics to the size I wanted for my wall(s).  This took the most time, because I didn't know exactly which photos I wanted to use.  After cropping the photos as such, I made a copy of them onto my flash drive and made a note of the sizes I wanted.  I then took a trip over to our local Staples, where I asked for the pictures to be printed as Engineering Prints.  Please note that Engineering Prints are NOT photo quality and are similar to newspaper.  They also cannot make them in color, so before taking your photos to be printed by them turn them to black and white!  For the four photos it was about $14... about $3.50 per print.  I then drove on over to our local Lowes and bought one of their large pieces of blue insulation foam.  This was about $11 and can be cheaper or more expensive depending on the foam you buy.  The more expensive stuff is firmer and makes a nicer cut, which I definitely think is worth the extra money in the long run.  Once home, you will want to do this outside or in the garage.  If planning to do this inside, make sure you have a large enough work space and an old plastic table cloth underneath you so nothing gets ruined from the spray glue.

 

Now lets get started... 

1. Lay the photo out on the insulation foam board and measure where you would like it to go.  If you want to wrap your photo around the edges for that "wrapped canvas look" make sure to leave at least three inches of overhang.  If you rather paint the edges and not have it wrapped, just skip to #3.

2. Cut out your foam board with the exacto knife.  You will want to go slowly and make some shallow cuts at first and then go deeper with the second and third cuts until the foam board gives way.  If you are painting, cut carefully with the line of your picture.

3. Line up your picture and then carefully spray the foam board with your spray glue.  Make sure to not go too heavy on the spray glue, or it will seep through to your picture and cause a mess and bubbles.

4. Carefully and slowly, roll out your picture.  Using a clean microfiber cloth, softly smooth out the picture onto the insulation board until it is all glued down and smooth.

5.  If you are painting the edges, skip back up to #2 and then proceed to 5B. 
A) For those of you wrapping your photos, you will want to use your best gift wrapping experience.  Try to get the edges laying flat and wrap the photo around the board to the back.  Once you have the desired creases and know which way you are folding things, spray glue around the edge of the back of the board and start pressing down your photo until all the edges are flat and your photos are complete and ready to hang.
B) Painters!  DO NOT USE SPRAY PAINT!  Spray paint will eat the foam board and you will not only have a big mess, but you will have to go buy more foam and start the project all over!  Okay, now paint the edges by hand.  This is the most time consuming, but once it is finished it looks SO nice.  You will need to be careful and do a few coats, but once you are done let it dry and walla!  Your pics are ready to hang on the wall.

6.  To hang these, all it takes are the poster no damage wall hangers.  You can find them at Walmart, Target, or K-Mart.  Follow the directions on the packaging and hang where you desire.