Aging like a 27 year old fine wine

BEHOLD

The birthday gift of all birthday gifts.
The most incredible thing a crafter could ever ask for:

Cricut Explore Air
...of course I had to have the gold one

I wish I could put into words how excited I am to be the proud, new owner of this machine, but there just aren't any that could do my feelings justice. This just made my design possibilities essentially limitless. The Air was a no brainer - HELLO, built in bluetooth.

Goodbye to my Cricut Expression 2. I bid you farewell, old friend.

I actually might keep it; I'm undecided.

I also decided to go ahead and invest in the 12x24 cutting mat, as it was on sale at JoAnn for 40% off! Let me tell you, I don't know why I've never owned one before. Do yourself a favor and pick one of these up ASAP.

I haven't started dabbling in the markers that work in the Cricut Explore yet, but I have watched a few YouTube videos on markers that are compatible, so I have an idea of what to buy. I think I'm leaning towards the Recollection markers but if you have a better suggestion feel free to chime in!

For my first project, I made a simple monogram for my laptop case using vinyl.

I must say, the versatility of Design Space is really impressive. I do however, wish it was an App for my MacBook instead of having to use the website. Guess I'll have to get an iPad Pro so I can use the app on the larger screen instead of just using my iPhone 6 Plus *wink wink*.

I also got to make a couple of crafts for one of my mom's coworkers 40th birthday. Using a birthday gift to make birthday gifts, oh the irony.

This is just a simple Dollar Tree poster board with "forty & fabulous" cut out using the Always in my Heart font, from dafont.com, on ombre (the hairstylist in me wasn't to use this word, but I'm pretty sure it's not right when referring to paper - oh well) card stock. I wanted to do more with it but time wasn't my friend.

NOTE: Did I mention how obsessed I now am with dafont.com?! You can find almost any font you want on there. Even fonts you didn't know you wanted. You can thank me later for that one :)

"Your work desk is so beautiful and organized" .. said no one that has ever visited my office.

Okay, this one is just to brag a little. Nothing was made on the Cricut, but it's still adorable. The tin bucket base and gourmet lollipops both came from the Dollar Tree - you can't beat that. I got the styrofoam cake pop ball to stick the lollipops in from JoAnn (with a 40% off coupon, of course). The "40 sucks" is my handwriting on some card stock I already had.

This is another Dollar Tree poster board craft. I've seen these made with chalkboards all over the internet but I thought this way would be a little easier. I wasn't that happy with the way this one came out. All because I picked the marker that shits out during the first line of writing.. right smack in the MIDDLE of the board. Other than that, it's acceptable.

A little cubical decorations and the surprise was all set. She LOVED it, but who wouldn't.
Happy 40th Birthday Audrey.

... Until the next time I'm dabblin' DIY.

Drab Table Turned Chic TV Stand

I have to admit, I'm pretty proud of this one. I recently decided to dabble in some furniture repurposing and I thought it was the perfect way to start the blog!

We've always had this crappy coffee table. I say crappy only because I've beat the shit out of it over years. But in it's defense, it's solid wood and held up exceptionally well considering. Here it is:

Yes, Paisley insists on being a part of everything. Literally.

This bad boy has been the bearer of everything from crafts to a 75 gallon fish tank. You name it, this table has withstood it. Now with that being said, this table was handed down from my Grandma, to my mom, and now I'm claiming it as my own. As you can see, she's in pretty rough shape. But no fear... not for long! I knew it would make me the perfect TV stand for that new 50 inch that I got for Christmas.

Let's get this party started!

Step One: Strip it down

Remove all of the hardware, the doors and those ugly shelves on the sides. Of course, I did this step without snapping a picture pre-sanding, but who knew I'd start documenting this a couple of weeks later.

Step Two: Sand 

Sand for hours. Your fingers will be numb and you'll never want to sand again, but it will be beautiful  and worth it! I used my orbital sander with 60 grit sandpaper to begin with. This easily got off all of the old stain and finish, although I went through at least 10 sanding disks. No worry though, I got a 50 pack at Home Depot for less than $20. I then went back over it with 220 grit to make sure the surface was nice and smooth and ready for wood filler and primer.

For the doors, I knew manual sanding was not an option for my laziness time frame. So instead, I used Citristrip stripping gel to get the finish off and make it ready for the paint.

I only used the stripper on the two doors that would be on the front of the stand and I left the back two doors out of the stripping process since they'd never be seen anyway (I knew they'd still look good, they just wouldn't be as perfect as the front). I then gave all 4 doors a light sanding with a 120 grit sanding block.

As you can see, I opted to not sand (or paint) inside the cabinets where the doors would be closed 99% of the time. Just seemed like a waste of time and I had already been sanding for what felt like forever. I knew I could make it work.

Step Three: Filler

Once I wiped the table down pretty well, I filled all of the holes in, from removing the side shelves, with Elmers wood filler. Once it was dry I sanded down those areas really well until it was a smooth surface.

TIP: After wood filling and sanding, run your fingers over the surface of the project with your eyes closed. If you can't tell where it starts, ends or where the hole was then you've succeeded. If need be just sand more or add a little more filler and repeat the process.

Step Four: PAINTING!

.... finally

For the doors of the now stand, I used Krylon Chalky Finish spray paint in Classic White. I got this at Michael's and was able to use a 50% off coupon to purchase it so it was less than $5 for the can! There were too many nooks and crannies on these doors, so this spray paint was the perfect option. Since I was using chalk paint on these, priming wasn't a necessary step.

3 light coats on the doors was all it took to get them covered and looking good.

Next, I applied the first coat of MinWax PolyShades (stain and polyurethane in 1 step) in Espresso with a Wooster Pro White China Bristle flat paint brush.  I then applied my first coat of primer, Valspar High Hiding Primer.

Since this was my first project that I would be weathering, I went ahead and applied a little MinWax stain to a small back test area of the table. However, this primer was far too porous. Instead of spreading out when it was wiped with the microfiber cloth, it sunk right into the paint and made a big grey spot. Not good! After seeing this I decided to apply an oil based primer, Zinsser Cover Stain Primer and Stain Blocker to be specific. This did the trick and lesson learned (don't make the same mistake - use the oil based primer to begin with).

Step Five: Weathering

 Between dark wax, antiquing glaze and stains I was so overwhelmed. After much debate and many YouTube videos I decided on what I was going to use to distress; MinWax Wood Finish Stain in Classic Gray (271).

As mentioned before, this was my first time weathering furniture, so for safe measure, I decided to begin with the doors. I used a cheap 1 inch foam brush from Michael's to apply the stain and immediately began wiping with a cloth, working in small sections, with the grain of the wood.

This is the first door that I completed and I was happy with the way it turned out so I then repeated the same steps for the last three doors and the table itself.

Here is a close up of the bottom shelf after being weathered.

And here it is with the weathering complete and the final coat of MinWax Polyshades on the top (still wet obviously). Excuse my mess but I'm in the middle of doing updates in my craft room and didn't think I'd be posting these pictures on a public blog.

I found some shelf liner in the craft room and new it would be the perfect solution to those inside cabinets that I decided to do nothing with.

Genius, I know :)

Step Six: Assemble

The easiest part! I put the doors back on and installed the new knobs. I went with clear acrylic knobs that I already had laying around that house from an old project.

That's it; assembly complete. Now to stand back and admire the "new" TV stand.

Per usual, Paisley with the mandatory photo appearance.

And there she is folks, in all of her glory.

Thank you for checking out the blog and spending a little time with me. I hope I was able to help you out and guide you on your furniture refinish or repurpose. Let me know if you have any questions.

... Until the next time I'm dabblin' DIY.