Felt Flower Grapevine Wreath [DIY Craft]

I did it! I actually spotted something that looked like a project I could tackle and here it is...complete! Keep in mind it's my FIRST so go easy on me. I'm pretty darn proud of it. I stumbled upon this idea in blog land and found instructions for an easy "starter" method (I can't find the link to post for you, but if I stumble on it I'll add it). There are step-by-step instructions for these all over the internet and they all vary.

Let me know if you try it!

Project One: The Dresser

It's done! We're as happy as birds with a french fry {I saw that on Pinterest}. Anyhoo, our first "official" project has been completed and we're glad to have it out of the garage and placed happily at my office.

It started back in July when we went to the beach on vacation. Even while traveling I can sniff out a thrifty deal! We found this dresser at the Habitat Restore and they only wanted $15 for it!! Needless to say, we immediately loaded it up {luckily we traveled in the truck}. We picked it up on Monday and it rode around in our truck for the entire week of our trip. We're serious about a great deal.

For the most part it was in great shape. The backing was warped, two drawer bottoms needed replacing and the center cabinet door was broken....nothing that couldn't be fixed. Focus on the potential of the imperfect!

Here's the work getting started. Because there were some pretty deep gouges and scrapes, we decided to go with it and used chain to distress the top even more.

Now, our first "whoopsie" was our decision to stain it versus painting. Put simply....I HATED it. So we painted it instead. The worst part was going through all the trouble of sanding and prepping it for stain, only to use paint. Oh well...live and learn.

Here's a shot of it being primed {Zinsser BIN - awesomely quick drying} to cover up the stain. We had our primer tinted gray for ease in covering.

So, with the backing replaced, the drawer bottoms replaced and several other fix-it's taken care of....we added new pulls that we picked up in a contractors pack at Lowe's. I wanted to use the pretty clear acrylic knobs, but at $6 each, I couldn't justify the expense for a $15 piece of furniture. I did pick out a super pretty knob for the center door.

 Can I just say....I LOVE IT!!! It looks amazing in it's new space.

What do you think??!

{We must start somewhere} Huge Roadside Mirror

Okay. We're diving in! As we work to finish up a new project {the project we attribute as the inspiration for this entire new endeavor - more to come} we decided that we have many past projects that we can pull from to get this thang kicked off.

The amazing part is, we actually have pictures! Good thing I take random shots and save them. Don't laugh or pick at the quality of said photos {or don't admit it}, I'll never claim to be a photographer with a grand camera....well, not today anyway.

Soooo, not too awful long ago we found this big ole' mirror sitting in someone's front yard with a 'For Sale' sign on it. Initially, my friend Erin pointed it out and Jason and I went back and got it for her. Alas, she really didn't like it so it became ours. I'm pretty sure it weighs about that of a baby elephant!

Unfortunately, my crystal ball was broken and I couldn't foresee that we'd one day use these pics and projects to build a super fab DIY blog, therefore, I don't have an actual before-before. This will have to do. As you can see...it was fugly. It had this funky metallic thing going on and looked like someone had attempted to paint it themselves. Blech!

So, we pulled out the saw horses, taped it all up and grabbed our spray paint. {I wish I could remember what color} I was surprised by how much paint it took, ohmygoodness.

Here's a "during" shot, but we actually changed up the color after this coat.

Now, here's a shot of our living room wall way BEFORE the elephant mirror entered our lives. I think I just generally lacked inspiration for some reason.

And here is the wall AFTER the elephant mirror.....

MUCH better {I hope you agree}. Once we got the antique white mirror hung without the sheet rock falling off the wall from the weight and felt safe that it wouldn't fall on our heads and kill us instantly, we decided it was a bit stark, so....Jason being the clever guy he is, added a little bit of Minwax Mahogany stain with a rag to the corners and crevices. Just what it needed! That's why he's 'The Man'.

Whew! That beast is tied up! I mean the first real blog post, not the mirror...although we were glad to have that done as well so I could get my car back in the garage. Now it's out in the elements again as our new project sits in it's place.

Thanks for supporting our new adventure and I hope you'll visit us hourly a lot more. Oh! and PLEASE, please leave us a comment or ten. We're feeling a little vulnerable right now. Thanks!