Upcycled Transformation

Every fall our chuch has it annual parish festival. It is our biggest fundraiser of the year, and it is next Saturday.

Many years ago I started a "silent auction" as part of this event.  Calling local businesses and other parishioners asking for donations and organizing the entire event.  I am no longer in charge of it (by choice!) but I always dontate something to it, 

Here is my donation for this year...

 


It started out as these bits and pieces... 

... an old school desk that was originally in our parish school.  The school sold these for $5 each a few years back.  My neighbor was done with hers, she put it in her trash - and I took it! 

I am not too proud to take something out of the trash for a good cause!

... this stool, that I picked up at a local thrift store for $1 yesterday.  It was covered in rust and quite dirty, but I saw it had potential as a chair for my little desk.

... metal desk accessories, I found at Dollar Tree for... you guessed it... $1 each.

... some regular yellow pencils I covered with oragami paper (had both of those things too!) based on this tutorial I found Omiyage's blog (you can check it out here) ...

... some cute school supplies,
... a couple cans of spray paint (half of which I already had in my stash!)...

... some buttons and magnets (once again, I already had these too!) to use to hang paper and what-not from the metal sides of the desk...

... some ric rac around the bottom of the legs (had it)...

 ... and some fabric and batting (guess what... I had those already too!)...

Total out of pocket cost for this project:  $19!

I think it turned out quite cute!  

I hope that it will find a home and bring in some much needed cash to our church and school!  

 

What little girl wouldn't love doing her homework at this?

Chair Before and After

I got this pair of chairs a while back. I decided today that they would be perfect for our office update. A couple cans of black and white spray paint, a little red craft paint, some sandpaper and a fabric remnant.

  Easy as pie! Quite a difference, don't you think?!

A Sneak Peak at My New Bathroom Mirror!

I have completed the mirror for our bathroom re-do.  The mastic needs to cure for 48 hours before it can be hung.  

I can't wait another 24 hours!!!.

This project is extra special because it went from purely a vision in my head to a reality.

You will have to wait until it is hung to see the full piece in all its glory!!  

Sorry!

Come back on Monday - it should be hung by then...

This post is being shared on Miss Mustard Seeds Furniture Friday Linky Party

Office Space Redesign - Again...

Every time I think I have my office plan finished, Ana at KnockoffWood posts some new furniture plans, and things I thought that were beyond my budget suddenly become do-able, and I keep changing what I want!!!

If you have never been to Ana's blog, then you must check it out!  She designs plans for "knock off" furniture from places such as Pottery Barn, Ballard Designs, West Elm, etc... and posts the plans, material lists, sometimes even exact cutting plans on her blog FREE!!!

And now is an even better time to check her out as she is having a giveaway!!!  If you go to her site, and enter her giveaway, please note in your comment that you hear about her from me - then maybe we can both win!!!  She is having a giveaway to celebrate 1,000,000 blog hits since the start of her blog 3 months ago - as a fellow blogger I can only image that many hits - way to go Ana!!!

So, my center worktable that I blogged about here will be redesigned (slightly smaller) to accomodate two of these...

(image from potterybarn.com)

...that hubby and I will be making - only without the drawers - I just want shelves where the drawers are - at least for now - maybe later I will decide I want or need the drawers and we can make them then.

(image from knockoffwood.blogspot.com)

She has the plans for the basic bookshelf (the secretary pictured above is just 2 stacked on top of each other, with drawers inserted, and a drop down desk) on her site now.  They will fit perfectly on either side of a floor to almost-ceiling window on one wall of our dining room/office.

Now, before she posts another "must have piece" I'd better get to Lowe's and get the supplies I need for these. 

Assuming I don't change my mind another dozen times, I will post pictures of my progress in making these for you when I get them started.

Center Room Worktable/Partners Desk Plans - Pottery Barn Knockoff!!!

I have been working on several projects around the house since the beginning of the year.  The first is my main floor bathroom that I blogged about here, is almost complete, and I will update you on it when it is done. 

My second project is our home office.  About 3 years ago, we gave up or designated den/office so that our two girls could each have their own rooms.  We moved the office to the least used room in the house, our dining room.  We never had nice matched organized furniture in our office, which didn't really matter, because no one was ever really in there except my hubby and myself.  But now that it has been moved to one of the most visible rooms in our home, it is driving me crazy.

We want a large worktable in the middle of the room where we each have our own space, but can take over the others when needed for big projects for ourselves or when the kids have school projects that need a lot of space.  Also something that could double as a dining table (add a table cloth) when needed.  I found this at Pottery Barn Teens and love it, with the exception of four things.

 Picture from Pottery Barn Teens

• We only needed space for 2, 
• We want it in black,
• The square size would not fit right in our rectangular dining room space,
• and THE PRICE!!! - $1,599!!!

So being crafty, creative, and cheap I decided to take their idea and make it work for us.  Here is my drawing...

I know it is kind of hard to see, but I will post more pictures as it comes to life...

Here is a picture of the file cabinets we are using for the bases...

 

I found them, of all places, at K-mart!  For $29 each!  They are MDF, but pretty solid for "assemble it yourself furniture" and even have thick MDF backs (not the carboard tack on back that most have).  I never go to Kmart, but was at Menards the other day getting some stuff for my bathroom project and just had a whim to go across the street and see what they had, and I found these.  They were even black like we wanted!  SCORE!!!

The top will be 4'x 6'  3/4" MDF also painted black, but it will also have 2 drop leaves of each of the long sides that are 1' wide each (thus using the entire 4'x8' sheet, but not taking up too much space in the room when the extra length is not needed!!!  I get the best ideas at 11:30 pm while laying in bed trying to sleep!

I got the idea for the movable table/desk divider last night while laying in bed, and will post more on that as it comes together - it is really one of those things that is easier to describe when you see it!  But just suffice it to say it is Genius, and I already have the main piece I need to make it!

Well, I have 2 more of those file cabinets to put together, so I'd better get to it!  I hope you enjoyed this peak into my creative mind!

This post is being shared on Miss Mustard Seeds - Furniture Feature Friday! DIY Day at ASPTL, and  PB Knock-Off Party