Goodwill hunting...

Every so often I pop into my local Goodwill to check out their latest treasures. Recently, I snagged a brand new red metal toolbox for $7.99 for the purpose of storing some art supplies.

 First I spray painted it turquoise, but then I changed my color scheme and instead Mod Podged a local city map all over it (with my house location on the lid).

My newly covered toolbox works great with the whole "map motif" I have going in my craft room.

What I learned from this project:
1. How did I not know about Mod Podge until now? It's my new favorite thing.
2. Maps are usually a nice substantial weight for projects like this - some paper is too flimsy and could tear easily.
3. Maps can also be a little trickier to work with since the paper is thicker.
4. Oh, just use whatever paper you like - you'll figure it out and make it work.

Evolution of a dresser...

 A small dresser that I bought years ago at a garage sale for only $10 has proven to be quite the workhorse. It was just an inexpensive piece of furniture (but at least it was solid wood). When I bought it, it was pale blue (not the color I wanted), so I repainted it white and used it in a sewing room to store random stuff. But that was in the days before I understood the value of priming first and so a lot of the paint chipped off quickly (rookie mistake).

Just as well, since a few years later I sanded off all the paint that was still clinging to it, and painted it with a kind of rustic Scandinavian country design (good lord, what tortured decorating phase was I going through then?) 


Then I experimented with vertical stripes...     

not my best effort, so that got painted over

quickly. No photos remain of that disaster.

Next up, I went through my shabby chic period and painted it green with some distressed stenciling on the top surface.

When I moved to my current house, the little

dresser was banished to the basement for a

couple of years and stuffed with office supplies.


Most recently I went back to basics and painted it satin black and added some ceramic knobs that I found at Pier One. But the knobs were the wrong color, so I bought some cheap nail polish in the blue color I wanted and just gave them a manicure! It now serves as a handy bedside table in my guestroom.
               

What I learned from this (these) projects:

1. Painting stripes on a dresser isn't hard...painting them well, is.

2. Nail polish is an easier alternative to paint on small ceramic knobs since it's thicker (covers better) and dries so quickly.

3. I was about to post this dresser back on CL when I thought...why get rid of something so versatile? This is the fourth room I've used it in. Who know where I'll use it again?