I'm certainly not a "dumpster diver" but I do tend to keep an eye on the curbs of my neighborhood come the day before garbage day. Before you "gasp" or make your "gross" face, hear me out. You may start paying attention!

I found  this {not so} beauty on the curb while driving to my parent's house. I immediately fell for it's curves and keyholes. Of course, I had to admit to myself that it needed some work. I decided to drive just a few short blocksd to my parent's home and asked my dad to go check it out. {I was pregnant and wasn't going to try to move it at all.} He went and looked it over and then brought it back with him.

Someone had mistreated this lovely piece of furniture. There was a horrible, crackle finish painted on and plenty of water damage. My dad had to soak the drawers and clamp the wood to straighten it up so we could open and close the drawers.

 Once that was done, I was able to begin sanding off that ugly paint job.

Do you see the mess I was dealing with?

With sanding out of the way, I was able to paint this lady up and make her all pretty. I used Valspar paint in Colonial White for the exterior. {This was a flat finished paint. I'll explain why later.} Inside the drawers, I used Valspar's "Peacock" to bring a fun detail that makes this dresser mine.

{What? You don't watch The Nate Berkus Show? He loves this finishing detail.}

With painting out of the way, it was time to apply the antique glaze on the outside of the dresser.

The process is pretty simple. I just painted on the glaze and used an old, cut up t-shirt to wipe it off until I had the look I was going for. Keep in mind, if you choose to use antique glaze on a project of your own, go easy on the application. I was all "Woo Hoo! GLAZE!" when I started to paint it on and ended up spreading one small area's glaze across the entire top of the dresser. But I also found it easy to get into a good rhythm with the whole "Glaze on. Glaze off." song and dance.

Also, using a flat paint will work best with the glaze finish. I feel like it wears the glaze a bit better since it absorbs it almost.

 And I was pretty happy with my results!

I also chose to grab some glass knobs in place of the ones previously on the dresser. I think it dressed her up quite nicely. {Every fine lady likes a little bling, right?}

 In case you're wondering, this dresser lives in my living room, right under the wall mounted, flat screen TV. I use the drawers as storage for our TV remotes, DVD's, Coloring books for the kids, and Videos. The DVD Player, VCR, and Wii are parked underneath the dresser...on the floor. {Hey, it's bad enough I have a Wii bar on my dresser. lol}

I also have a few other things on my dresser that I'm quite proud of. {pictured below}

I found an old, dove tailed wood box with a latch closure at an antique shop and knew right away that I wanted to put it on top of my dresser. I use it to hide away my little ones' techy toys. They have their little readers and play lap-tops, and what-not in there. The idea is to keep the surface clean and still have it be a place that's meant for my family at the same time. It works very well!

I also have a rather unique candlestick sitting on top of the storage box. This is another antique store find and it actually isn't a candlestick at all. I found this great, vintage light fixture and knew I could fit a candle in it. I loved the old paint on it and left it "as is". Pretty neat, right?

Now that this project is done, I feel tempted to go a little "glaze crazy" around my house. I want to find some thrift items to paint up and glaze.

What about you? Have you ever rescued something from the curb?

**I have no relationship with or connection to either Valspar or Nate Berkus and receive nothing for this post. I'm just sharing what I used and where I drew inspiration from. Mmmkay?**

My Dresser Restore Project ~ Antique Glazing Tips!

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So I decided it was time to find something that was more "me" and scaled to my space.

I was on the hunt, high and low, for a steamer trunk or even an old, wooden chest to use. Everything I found that may work was out of my price range or had a curved top. {Curved top trunks can never, as pretty as they may be, find a new use as a coffee table if I can't place a coffee cup on it.}

Well, the other day I was talking about this with my parents and my mom said, "You wouldn't be interested in the crate box in the front room, would you?". This was something my dad found on the curb and was tucked against the wall, holding random things that didn't yet have a home.  I thought it would be too small but I thought I would give it a try. If it didn't work out, I could always give it back.

This crate had large patches of old wallpaper on it. After getting it home, my first order of business was to remove that old paper. Underneath, I found the crate was stamped! {I just love finding history like that}.

Long story short, I removed the paper by scraping it off, vacuumed out the inside to make it nice and clean, and used a wood cleaner to cut down on the build up on the crate's top. Inside, I threw in some cozy blankets, a few puzzles, my son's LeapFrog Tag reader, books, and map, a few of my own books, and a little basket for remotes and called it "done".

This, my friends, is my new coffee table on its original casters and I love it.

It's much better than the $20 table from that "big box" furniture store. *nods head*

I Grew Weary Of My Coffee Table...

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This should actually be titled, "While the Hubster's away, the Mrs. will play." I actually purposed to do this project when he wasn't home so I could break into his tool box and hardware and complete the entire project without his butting in. Tee hee.

Anywho...

I'm a HUGE fan of turning old things new by finding different purposes for them and using my creativity to make it my own. This tutorial was inspired by something I found on Pinterest

*ahem* 

but only the Ball jar element of that inspiration was repeated in my creation.

Here's what I ended up with {and exactly what I wanted}.

Now, let me walk you through the process a bit. There are some tricks and curves along the way since I had to think this up on my own as I went. Scary? Not a bit. I knew what I wanted and I took it one step at a time to get there. 

I started with a piece of an old, picket fence. I love the weathered and worn look on wood and I didn't have to do anything to this piece since it was already weathered. What I needed to do though, was cut it down to size. I'll also take the chance to mention now the other elements that were added on for the finished product.

I had

• One Ball Jar {I prefer the blue color to the clear glass but, to each his/her own}
• One Ring Clamp {not "tightener thingy" as I refer to it}
• One Door Knob. {If you ask me, the older and crustier the better}
• Old Door Hardware with a keyhole {again, old and crusty = beautiful}
• Screws to fit the items you have
• An anchor for the wall

To figure out where to make my cut, I grabbed the pieces I would be attaching to the wood and marked {with a pencil} where they would go. Just do a simple line for the top and bottom of each part so you know your spacing is correct.

Grab your hand-saw! {I truly wish I had some power tools to make it easier but use what you have.}

I cut the bottom and used a bit of sandpaper to be sure there were no splinters to make their way into my towels or my kiddos' fingers.

Pay no attention to the holes made in this piece while it was acting as a fence. They're just part of its character now. 

This part was a bit tricky. If I had a better working space and better tools, I may have been able to drill a hole in the ring clamp. Since I couldn't, I moved the clamp toward the ribbed area and nailed it into place. {Yes, I know they're folded down. I wanted to be sure there was no wiggle room since the nails were so small.}

I {again} placed the Ball jar on the clamp to make sure my lines were correct before getting my doorknob hardware screwed down. All was well, so I attached the hardware into place. {I love the curves and chipped paint on this piece.}

With that in place, I could pre-drill a hole for the screw to hold the doorknob in place. *WORD TO THE WISE* Be sure you have a doorknob that will screw into place. I did not have this so I had to come up with another method to attach it.

Should you choose a doorknob similar to mine {square hole instead of a circle}, I came up with the idea to leave the large screw I drilled in the wood in place. Then, I found a much smaller screw and placed that, head first, into the base of the doorknob. {Be careful to not let it get away from you or you'll lose it in the doorknob.} I gingerly placed the knob with the small screw onto the large screw, held the back of the large screw in place with a screw driver, and screwed the doorknob on.

My crazy idea worked perfectly. That doorknob isn't moving. Even my dad said he would have done the same thing if he found himself in my position. And since he's a genius at "fix-it" stuff, I'm glad to know I did the right thing...and it was MY idea. lol

There's my completed towel holder. It's old and worn and I love it.

With that in place, it was time for me to anchor this puppy into the wall. There was a hold in the picket fence from it's previous home and I decided to use that hole rather than drilling another. I marked the wall, drilled a hole in it, placed the anchor in, and then screwed the wood onto the wall by lining up the screw to rest in the anchor.

No wiggles? No jiggles? Check.

Time to mount the Ball jar. This is a delicate process as it's dealing with a glass jar. No butterfingers allowed. ;)

After holding the jar in the clamp, I tightened the clamp as much as I could by hand and then used a screw driver. I was sure to really tighten it down. I didn't want this puppy to fall.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand, I'm done!

Here's the finished product minus the towel hanging and the toothbrushes/toothpaste placed in the jar.

I love you, power drill!

I am officially, and completely, a DIY gal.

Shabby Chic Toothbrush and Towel Holder DIY {tutorial}

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