I was able to take out the glass, then use spray paint primer, then oil rubbed bronze spray paint to finish it off.

Vase

This vase was $2.00 and had the price tag on the bottom was from Target for $15.00

There was nothing wrong with the blue, but I just wanted it to be white.

So I used white primer, then white spray paint to make the change. 

Photo Boxes

These aren't actually from the thrift store, just gathered over the last few years and none of them match.

So same thing, white primer and white spray paint. 

My mom bought me this sideboard from a local online classified. She bartered her way down to $30, and this was my birthday present last month. The listing was only up 5 minutes and she snagged it.  When she was picking it up that night, the seller said he'd got over 40 more calls after she called about it. So you know your mom loves you when she'll drive over 30 miles to buy you some junk for your birthday. Actually, it's not too junky, it was in pretty good condition.

1. Strip

So the first step was to remove the hardware and strip the top.  I use a chemical wood stripper that breaks down  the polyurethane so you can just scrape it off.  After it was all scraped off, I poured mineral spirits on the top and scrubbed it with a scouring pad to get rid of the chemical stripper.  I also have a grout brush for the routed edges.  

2. Sand

I was using new hardware, so you can see the white holes in the drawers that have been filled with wood filler.

I started sanding the drawer fronts and body of the sideboard, but didn't do much because I hate sanding and I'm lazy, and was painting everything and decided it wasn't necessary. 

But I did sand the top, because I wasn't painting the top, but planning on staining it.

Despite hating sanding, it went pretty quick.  I sanded like you're supposed to, starting with 60 grit to get out the deep gouges and sand any last spots of old varnish.  

Then went to 100 grit, a round of 150 grit and finally 220 grit to make things really smooth and just raw wood.

3. Prime

I decided to prime first.  I used oil based primer for durability and primed the front of the drawers and the body of the sideboard.

**I use a small sponge roller for painting furniture.  It goes on smoother than a brush, and they are small enough you can use it on the majority of the furniture, and just fill in the cracks and edges with a brush.

4. Stain

I chose to stain the top straight Cherry.  One coat of Minwax Cherry stain was dark enough for me.  With stain you just paint it on with a brush, let it soak up to 15 min, then wipe it off with clean dry cloths.  I just cut up old nasty shirts I was going to throw away, or mis-matched lonely socks work well too. 

5. Paint

I used the same paint as the shelf backing: Behr's Waterscape in flat.

I painted two coats, having to wait 4 hours between to let it dry. 

6. Glaze

This is my least favorite part.  I think it's easier when you distress the furniture and then just use the same wood stain to age it.  But I didn't want the distress in this case, so I went with the glazing technique.

I mixed acrylic craft paint in burnt umber into glaze.  Using a paint brush, you paint a thin coat of glaze then wipe away anything you don't want.  So on these door fronts the glaze is thickest in the grooves.  The rest of the surfaces is just a thin wash of vertical wiping.   Maybe because I'm kind of a slob, I have a hard time making the glazing look uniform.  But then I keep going assuming no one's going to be looking that close.

7. Polyurethane

I only did one coat on the blue glazed body and drawer fronts of semi-gloss polyurethane.  But for the stained wood top, I did two coats, sanding in between like the can says, even though I hate sanding again when I'm almost done with the whole project.

8. Hardware

I decided to use more modern hardware than the flowery big handles it came with.  I bought the cheap $1.20 brass pulls from Lowes again, like I did on this dresser.  I don't like brass, so I refinished the handles.  It's super easy: just spray with spray paint primer, then 2 coats of spray paint in Nickle.  

Then you have to re-drill holes in all the drawer fronts for the new hardware.  This can be a major pain to measure over and over to center the holes, then have the holes the correct distance apart.

So this is my trick that made it quick and I didn't measure anything.

I first make a paper template by poking holes for the distance between the screws on the handle.

Then on the actual drawers, I used the old holes for my guide on centering the handles. These holes were filled really poorly, and so you can really see them, but the new handles covered them so I didn't care.

So I just lined up my paper template right between the old holes, and drilled away.   Obviously not a perfect technique, you can see these holes I drilled weren't perfectly between the old holes.  But all the holes were the correct distance apart to screw the handles on, and overall they were centered. 

Makes it quick and easy!

So now we have a place to store all our CDs, movies, and other things.  Because this is actually a sideboard/ buffet, the one drawer has dividers for silverware, and that is where we keep the remotes.

1. Primed

spray paint--white primer. 

2. Paint yellow

None of the spray paints were the right color.

So I  found a paint color I liked, but didn't want to buy a whole quart of latex paint for a few accent items, so I ended up just using acrylic craft paint and a sponge brush. 

The lamps ended up being brighter than I had wanted, so I added a brown glaze.

I put a drop of brown acrylic paint in a glossy glaze, and it just added a slight brown to take the bright yellow down a notch, trying to get in the mustard realm rather than banana.

Here's the difference.

The left lamp has the glaze. 

I got the 2 lamp shades at Ikea for $10 each.  

My first addition of yellow to my house and so far I like it.

Anyway, I taped over 10 paint cards on my wall and they were there for a week while I was narrowing them down.

Some things I wasn't going to or couldn't change.

Like our neutral khaki couches or neutral carpet.

Or the wall paint.

When we bought the house, the family room looked like this on one side:

We painted the doors/ trim white, and the walls a neutral: Glidden White Sand.

So I've got some projects brewing, already have finished adding the shelving backing some color with the Behr waterscape.  So hopefully this will all turn out alright.  Once again, I'm trying to use colors I normally wouldn't (like the yellow jacket), going with mustard as the accent color.  My comfort colors are greens, blues, and red.  So I decided I should do something different in this room and I'm awkwardly getting used to the idea of some yellowish mustard accents.  Still taking the safe side, as accents are easily changed if I end up not being able to handle the yellow. 

4. Sew Seams

Working from your center seam to the edges, sew your other seams.  You can decide how wide you want your seams.  The narrower the seams, the softer the finished chenille will be.  For this scarf 1/2" seamed too big, and 1/4" apart seamed like a lot of seams to sew.  So I went in the middle and sewed my seams 3/8" apart.  To guide, I have this  gauge that attaches to my presser foot that helped me keep them even. 

Once you get to the edge, stop when you have 1/4" to 3/8" on the edge.  My layers got a little off in places, so I did have to trim the edges in areas to make them even from the last seam.

I also used the blue contrasting thread on these. 

5. Cut Your Strips

To make the chenille, you cut between your seams.

**So you could add more layers than just 5, but make sure it's an odd number for your total to have the center layer to hold it all together.

To cut all the little trenches between your seams, you can use scissors.

I got this Olfa Chenille Cutter for my birthday last month. It's a cool little blade, you can watch this video here to see all it's options.

So once I'd already started each slit carefully with scissors, I could just shred through them quite fast with my little Olfa blade.

6. Make Fringe

If you want fringe, decide how long you want them, and sew across each end.  I put a piece of masking tape on the top to help hold the cut layers the flat.  I made my fringe 3.5" long.

Then cut through the center layer, up to your sew line.

7. Wash

Now all you have to do is wash your scarf, and it should start fraying up into soft layers.

Because my sheet was 50% polyester, 50% cotton, a single wash didn't fluff/ fray much.  So I took a bristled hair brush and brushed the scarf, and it helped soften the chenille.

Time also helps soften the edges with use, and future washings.

FINISHED!

Seemed like a great way to upcycle something vintage, and have a unique, soft scarf.

Too bad I didn't make this in time so you could get some going for Christmas gifts!

I'm kind of getting things done last minute here.