DIY Monday: Dresser to Bathroom Vanity? Part 3: The Big Finish!

If you read Part 2 of this series you'll see that I had a foot to replace on my vanity. The vanity was also full of dings that I wanted to fill in before painting the piece. Since I needed an open back for the pipes to go through, I pulled the back off of the vanity. I used spackling compound just as I would for a wall to fill in the gouges and holes. Just as you would with a wall, I waited for it to dry and then gave it a light sanding to smooth out the ridge.

I then lightly sanded down the whole piece to give the paint something to grab. Anytime you're painting a piece of furniture like this that has a finish on it (especially anything with a shine) it's a good idea to sand it down before you paint. It makes little tiny ridges for the paint to stick to instead of just a shiny surface on which the paint will streak or bead up. When you're finished sanding, run a cloth over the piece to get off what you've just sanded. Just to be safe, I also run over the piece with a tack cloth. A tack cloth is a cloth that's got sticky stuff on it made especially for this purpose. You can find it in the paint section of your home improvement store. The piece has to be clean before you paint it or you'll end up with little grainy bits in your paint instead of a smooth surface.

Before I painted the drawers, I wanted to replace the French Provincial handles with glass pulls. This required my filling the two holes required for the handles and drilling a single hole in the center of where the handle had been for the single pull. It's easier to do this before painting so you don't mar your paint and you can paint over the filled holes.

I used a shiny, oil based, outdoor paint on this piece because I wanted it to shine and wanted it to hold up to water. It is, after all, a bathroom vanity! I suggest, however, if you use an oil based paint, you get a set of brushes and rollers especially for this project as well as a pair of throw away gloves.

As I've said before, I like to be careful of the environment, but using turpentine to clean out a roller is almost impossible. Cleaning a paint brush is easier, but still difficult. For that reason, I usually use a wooden handled brush (cheap) and a roller I can throw away when I'm finished with the job. I start early in the day, cover my brush, roller and paint tray with plastic so it won't dry out, and then put on a second coat later in the day after the first coat has had time to cure (no longer tacky to the touch).

After two coats of paint, I checked for places I missed. Because there were so many cracks and angles on this piece, I really had to look at it from different angles to make sure all the brown was covered. Some opt to do some light sanding of the edges to let the brown underneath shine through for a more primitive look. I prefer the shiny opaque look!

Once the second coat dried, I then applied a coat of Deft to the top. And this is where my trouble began. Listen closely my friends for I am about to impart a piece of knowledge that will save you many hours and quite possibly your sanity. Never, NEVER use a latex paint over an oil-based paint. Never.

Now I know not to do this. I've known not to do this for most of my life because my Mama said, "Honey, never, NEVER use a latex paint over an oil-based paint." And I listened to my Mama and never did it... until now. I had just finished coating the entire top when I noticed the crackling, buckling and bubbling had started to occur. And THEN, I realized my mistake.

Many hours of stripping, sanding and repainting later, the vanity was ready to be installed. Since your "guts" will be different from my "guts" I won't get into how to hook up the pipes on the vanity. Every piece will be different and require creative problem solving on your part. I will say, however, you should set your sinks on the vanity and look at the placement before you cut your holes into the top.

In our case, we set the vessel sinks on top, measured from the side of the vanity to the base of the sink on both sides and in the front to make sure they were evenly placed. (Yes, this was during the sanding phase and before the repainting phase.) Once we were sure of placement, I marked the drain hole on the top of the dresser with a pen. We removed the sinks, drilled the holes and installed the sinks with the drains, hooked up the water pipes.

And then we stood back and admired our beautiful new vanity!

Weekend Wanderings: Shenandoah National Park

About an hour and a half from the hustle and bustle of DC is an oasis of mountains, running brooks, waterfalls, wildlife and oh so many flowers. This oasis is Shenandoah National Park. And it's a place where you can literally watch the hawks making lazy circles in the sky... (name that tune!).

There is an entrance fee to enter the park, but the wonders you can see are worth the minimal fee for a car load of friends or family. There are books written on the many miles of hiking trails and lookouts to help you plan your trip. I prefer to just spontaneously escape to the mountains for a leisurely drive, stop at the lodge for lunch and stop when we see something beautiful. You can also take a picnic lunch or take a guided Ranger tour. There's a schedule of events available Online for more information.

The wildflowers begin to bloom in the early Spring and bloom into the Fall. Flowers such as Butterfly weed, violets, trillium, pink lady's slippers, mountain laurel, touch-me-nots, goldenrod and asters grow in profusion along the roads and trails. Hiking paths reveal fairy glens where sun peeks through the tree tops to pattern the forest floor. And the stones in the bottom of the brooks can look like copper coins glistening in the sun.

Make no mistake, this is a national park with wildlife and you should always be careful of the animals who make the park their home. We saw a baby bear once and scrambled out quickly before mama bear realized we were there! I just chalk it up to a little extra excitement for the price of admission.

Foodie Friday: Cutting up a fresh pineapple

This post is compliments of Mama who believes that many people waste a lot of their pineapple and wanted to pass along a couple tricks.

First you should cut up the top and bottom of the fruit. Then, you should start cutting the skin just past the green part - making sure to get all the green off. What should be left is lots of yellow with little bits of brown that are called pineapple eyes. I've read that these eyes were once flowers that bloomed on the pineapple spike!

Many people cut the fruit skin beyond these eyes, but that wastes quite a bit of the fruit. By cutting just beyond the green and then scooping out the eyes, you get more yummy goodness. So to get rid of those pesky eyes, pull out your potato peeler. The end of the peeler should have a pointed end. Dig that end into the side of one eye and rotate it so that you scoop out the entire eye.

Continue removing the eyes until they're all gone. Give the pineapple a quick rinse to clear all the little seeds and eyes from the fruit.

Then cut the entire fruit down the center from the top. Cut the remaining halves into quarters. Now it's time to get rid of the core. Hold the quarter piece in your hand and cutting away from yourself cut out the hard center of the fruit and discard it.









All that's left is to cut the remaining fruit into cubes and eat... or you can invite some friends over to share this traditional symbol of hospitality!

Inspiration Thursday! It started with a box...

A certain family member that I mention quite often has a collection of curio boxes. She started collecting them years ago, picking up new ones as she traveled the world. This artist caught my eye because of the boxes he and his wife make, but their songbirds really caught my heart.

They're made by a team called "Mullanium" - Jim and Tori Mullan - from Pompano Beach Florida. They make mixed media art - usually with "found objects" such as old watches, vintage toys and scientific instruments. The songbirds are made from decoys made in the 30s, 40s and 50s and are combined with other vintage items such as opera glasses, bocce balls and old camera parts.

Tori also makes jewelry in the same natural style. She combines silver, brass and copper to make pins, necklaces, bracelets, watches and earrings adorned with birds and bunnies or hearts and hands. Each is a wonderful piece of whimsy!

You can find Mullanium pieces in shops across the country or if you're lucky - like me - you'll be able to meet Tori or Jim in person as they travel the US doing shows!



**All photos property of Mullanium with the exception of the table with the box collection!

Vintage Wednesday: Celebrating Vintage Style

Last weekend we celebrated a very special event - my mother's 70th birthday. Because I tend to do flowers for events like this, the ladies who planned the event asked me to do the flowers. The problem with this is that I live 4 hours away and bringing 14 arrangements across the mountains presented a bit of a problem. So I came up with the idea of using potted perennial plants Mama could use in her garden later. But that didn't seem like quite enough for an event like this.

The ladies had also asked me to say a few words about my mother. Most of them have known her for 30 plus years, so to say something they hadn't heard or thought was a challenge. I came up with the idea of writing the story of her life in pieces. Each table was set with vintage and antique items that had something to do with the part of the story I was telling. For example, there was a table that told the story of her grandmother's influence on her life, another telling about her mother and yet another about her aunts. One table told the story of her brothers, and another told the story of how she met my father. Each was a little snapshot of what made her the woman she is today. And most everyone learned something they hadn't known about Mama before the party.

I am so thankful to the women who planned this party and honored to have contributed just a little piece to the celebration. Using vintage items to help tell the story was a lovely way to celebrate - vintage style.

Etsy Treasury: Country Wedding

This treasury was inspired by my friend E who gave me the inspiration.

Working Tuesday: Making something old new again

Several years ago I had a friend who was going to a wedding and needed a brown and pink piece of jewelry so I set about making something fun for her to wear. She changed outfits at the last minute, and I ended up with a pink and brown necklace. That was ok, because I really liked the pendant!

I've worn it a couple times, but I don't often wear the brown/pink combination. So I've decided to remake the whole thing. I tried to make it work with black and white pearls, but that didn't work. I'm gonna keep trying and will post a picture when I find just the right combination!

DIY Monday: Dresser to Bathroom Vanity? Part 2: The Fix

We found the dresser we wanted to use for our bathroom vanity. One of my "conditions" for the right piece, though, was that it had to be banged up enough that I could bear to paint it and cut holes in it to work in our bathroom. And this piece needed some TLC.

One of the lovely little feet was only half there. It needed repair. And I was just the girl to fix it!

First I turned to the Internet to find a molding compound that would make a mold of the foot that was still intact. I found something called Easy Mold Silicone Putty that was used for jewelry making, but I knew would work for this purpose. It's malleable for a few minutes and then takes about 30 minutes to "cure" or take it's final form. I shaped some of the putty around the remaining foot, left it to cure and then pulled off the finished mold.

I then took the mold to the missing foot and marked in the mold what was left in the foot. This gave me a measurement to follow when pouring my replacement foot. Since it was on an angle, I needed to tilt the mold so that the plaster would dry with a smooth surface at the right angle. I mixed some Plaster of Paris (from the paint section of my local home improvement store) and poured it into my mold. Since the mold is flexible silicon, I didn't worry about coating it with anything to make it release my form. If you look closely at the picture, you can see the black marks in the sides of the mold where I marked placement. I also placed the mold in a measuring cup to help tilt it in the correct position to dry at the right angle to attach the foot.

Once the plaster was cured (per the instructions on the box), I pulled it from the mold and fitted it to the foot of the dresser. There were a couple places that had to be gently filed down (with a metal nail file) for the fit to be perfect. Once I was satisfied with the fit, I then put a bit of liquid nails onto the plaster piece and fitted it to the existing leg. I left it alone to give it time to cure and then took some paintable caulk and filled in the seam where the two pieces joined, smoothing it with my fingers. Since I used oil paint on the piece to finish it, I didn't worry about sealing the plaster before painting. If, however, you are using latex paint, you should seal the plaster with a primer before painting.

Next up, preparing to paint...