Raising Kids and Crafting Too: Sep 16, 2012

Let the adventure begin! I am so very excited to FINALLY get this blog up and running! But I’m even more excited that I will be able to start sharing my projects with everyone out there who is curious to see what goes on in that craft room of mine (believe it or not, it was actually a deciding factor in our recent home purchase! More to come on that later…). First, let me back up a little and introduce myself. My name is Dawn and I am a proud military wife and stay at home mother of two wonderful little boys. The oldest is two and half and the youngest is six months. They are my full time job! Where do I find time to craft you ask? Naptime! It is the most glorious time of the day.

Let’s see, I started crafting probably around the same time we all did, back in kindergarten when we turned milk boxes and macaroni noodles into beautiful new creations. Twenty some years later, I’m still doing it. I love just about anything to do with crafting. I scrapbook, I sew, I cross-stich, I repurpose, I up-cycle and I’m pretty sure I’m addicted to Pinterest. Learning new craft techniques and pushing my crafting abilities to it's full potential is quite possibly my new favorite pastime.

So that’s enough jabber for one day. On to the project that inspired me to start the "Raising Kids and Crafting Too" blog. A friend of mine (and amazing seamstress I might add) had gotten me stared on few sewing projects and I decided that standing at my kitchen counter with my sewing machine was no longer working for me. I had seen a beautiful sewing cabinet transformation done over at Hooked on Decorating, and wanted to give it a try myself. I began looking for an old sewing table, and came across this pretty little thing for quite a bargain.

I knew it had potential, but it needed a lot of love first. I took the entire desk apart and quickly learned that it had been through a fire and had a tremendous amount of smoke damage, among many other visual flaws. This meant it would be more work, but I was already in love with it and wasn’t about to give up. I gave it a good cleaning, a really, really, really, (did I say really) good sanding, stripped the varnish from the appliques and primed it up for a pretty new paint job. I chose a paint and primer in one for this project in a turquoise color, and gave it three coats, sanding in between. And then….., we moved the Louisiana, and project had to be put on hold for a few months.

Before and after sanding the table top, and after chemically stripping one of the drawers.

Before and after of cleaning and sanding the iron frame.

Back in the workshop, (now in hot, humid Louisiana) the sewing table didn’t make the move as well as we had hoped. The movers put a large scratch on the table top, and along the sides. I went with it though, and ended up distressing the piece a little more than I had originally planned. One of the drawers lost a knob, so I found one of a similar color that helped add a little bling and character to the piece. The stool I found for the table came from a tea shoppe in central California. It was hiding behind an old piano, dusty and scratched, but it was for sale! It was made in 1867, needed very little work, but definitely an upholstery upgrade!

Finally, drum roll please…..Here it is! All finished! What do y’all think?

Before I go, I have to give a great big shout-out and thank you to my blog role model and friend Courtney over at A Diamond in the Stuff. She has been a wonderful supporter of mine and a terrific sounding board. Not to mention she is a creative genius and you should totally go check out her stuff!

I hope you have enjoyed my first blog post and will return to see my many, many upcoming projects. I have some amazing things in my craft room just waiting to get on the blog! Thanks for stopping by!

Linked Up To:

A Diamond in the Stuff Tip Junkie

My Very First Blog Post

Let's Connect

Grab My Button

Featured On

Popular Posts

Followers

Blog Archive

Some of My Favorite Blogs

Blog Archive