January

This year we have church at 9:00 a.m.  For the first time in my life it is Heavenly to be at church that early.  The new time works so well for us with our busy little girl.  Plus I'm in Nursery so not only do I work with one toddler through church but I work with a room full.  Last year we had church at 1:00 and taking care of a bunch of toddlers into the late afternoon when they were tired and restless got a little crazy.  Like I said, the new time is much better.

Last week we had a long awaited event happen.  We got rid of the very last binky.  Finally.  Done.  Gone.  Unlike the binky we are still in one piece.  I still can't believe it.  She had a binky for every single night of her life since she started using one at one month old.  It was a blessing and a curse.  As she got older it was becoming more of a burden than anything.  In the last year I started noticing that her teeth were getting out of alignment because of her binky and in the last month she has had a rash on her lower lip, also from the binky.

As much as I wanted to get rid of the binky this girl was 100% attached to it.  It was like her lifeline.  But that day HAD to come.

Like I said, we did it last week and although there were some tears shed and a couple of terrible bedtimes that took place it has gone surprisingly smooth.  I think she is about used to life without the binky and that is like a dream come true!

So I began a new project this past week!  It was something I've been planning for a long time.  Last year my mother-in-law was getting rid of this dresser and so I snagged it and stuck it in storage until a later date when I would whip it into something beautiful.

That time finally came and off to the hardware store I went.  (Multiple times).

I lightly sanded the piece and prepared it for paint.  After debating over a world of paint colors I finally chose this beautiful blue.  I don't even know the brand or the name of the color, I just saw it and loved it and gave it to the paint guy.

I really wanted to use Chalk Paint but it was pretty expensive and so I found out via Pinterest how to make my own!  You just mix a little bit of Plaster of Paris with some water, add it to your paint and wa la!  Chalk paint.

 After painting two coats and allowing it to dry I started the distressing.  (I loved that part of the project).

 I sanded until my arm fell off but it was worth it.

 Here Mercedes joined me for some of her own painting.  (Toddler paint desk courtesy of Grandma Tammy).

 After the distressing was finished the next step was to wipe a stain over it to make it look "aged."

 My hands were terribly sticky during the staining so I didn't take any good "during" pictures.

And here is the finished product with the stain!

 I had originally planned to rub and polish it with furniture wax but I tested it last night on one of the corners and it wiped the stain right off!  I quickly rubbed it off and rubbed on a little more stain and thankfully got it looking back to the way it was but now I'm not sure what I'll do about a finish.  That is still to be decided.

 Here is the finished product with the hardware.  I am very happy with how it turned out!  When we move we will use this as our T.V. stand and media storage.  We're going to put hinges on the top drawer so that the front will drop down and that is where we will have our Blu-ray player.  I plan on painting the inside drawers a really nice color or using mod-podge to paste in fun fabric.

Here is a quick summary of the project:

 This project was really fun to do and I can't wait to do another piece of furniture!

More to come later...

Bye!