Monday, October 10, 2011

Repurposed Drawers Project

My mom found these drawers  for me at a thrift shop- I think they were $3 each?  I love the carving on the front, as well as the hardware.  Because I like the way they look when they are stacked, I decided to play off of that, and add words to the sides.



If you can trace, you can do this.  I decided I wanted my words to relate to one another...so I chose faith, hope, and love.  I also considered doing numbers with numerals on one side and the spelled out numbers on the other side of the drawers.....Numbering things is so popular right now, I decided to stay away from that option.

Once I decided on my words, I typed them out and played with fonts and sizes.  When I found something I liked, I'd print out the first page to make sure it would fit on the side of my drawer.


Then, I raided Max's crayon stash for a light color, which I used to color on the opposite side of the page.


After doing this, in order to find the middle of the word, I folded the page in half so the outer edge of the first letter and the outer edge of the last letter meet.




After finding the center point of the drawer side, I lined them up and  taped them to the side of the drawers. 


I then used an ink pen to trace the letters, making sure that the crayon was transferring onto the wood.  This is the method I used in our old house to paint the Emily Dickinson quote in the sunroom.



I then used white craft paint and a small paint brush (use smaller than you think you'll need, I also think brushes with stiffer bristles make it easier to control the paint) to color in the lines.  I bet you could use a paint pen, but I haven't tried it and actually, I prefer paint/brush method.  Silly me, I forgot to take a picture of the drawers before I distressed them.  I distressed all of the sides of the drawer using a hand sander and coarse sand paper.   I accidentally over-distressed some of the letters, so I just touched up the light areas.  Once dry, I sanded with a little piece of fine sand paper.



I was trying to wrangle toddlers and keep them from destroying anything, as well as take pictures, so needless to say, they are a little rough.



I decided to have the fronts of the drawers alternate ends, thinking it would make it more interesting looking.
  

I also thought some dried flowers sticking out might be pretty- like maybe some lavender.  And instead of jars on top, I thought of doing candles, a pile of pine cones or evens some little books.  I think it's something that could be changed with the season. 



If you can't tell from the pictures, I staggered the drawers so they could be stacked without falling over.





I also think that anything that you could stack could be substituted...boxes, books, chunks of wood.
Right now, I'm also in the middle of painting a chest, which I can hopefully share later this week.  I'm also working on this chest of drawers- I got all of the spray paint sanded off today, but it will be a couple weeks before it will be finished because it needs some love....and a new top. 

I'd love for you to check back in a couple days to see how my chest turns out (I'm pretty interested to find out myself!)

I linked to these wonderful blogs:


  HookingupwithHoH Transformation Thursday  
http://www.thethriftyhome.com  Photobucket   

homework     Photobucket  Tip Junkie handmade projects  Tutorials and Tips   The Girl Creative  Sumo's Sweet Stuff   Boogieboard Cottage Photobucket
take care -

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22 comments:

6th Grade said...

totally cool! love, love that font!

here from the girl creative!

amy

Town and Country Gals said...

Erin,
those drawers are so cute! I can't seem to resist a cool box or drawer! The words on the sides turned out perfct, looks really good.
Thanks for stopping by and leaving such a sweet comment! Will be back to visit, looking forward to seeing what else you are working on!
Rebecca

Patricia said...

Hi Erin!

I have some good news for you. You've been awarded The Versatile Blogger Award! I'm new to your blog and loving it. You can find out more about it by going to: http://cropacabana.blogspot.com/2011/10/versatile-blogger.html

Have a great Day!

Patricia

The Polka Dot Closet said...

Wow, Mom did a good job!! Those old sewing drawers were quite the prize and hard to find! Love what you did with them, they are great for storage

Carol

Unknown said...

Hi Erin. I love salvaged items and these are wonderful. Great job. I saw them on Wow me Wed.

Have a great day...Tracy :)
I'm your new follower. I hope you'll stop by and follow me too.

Sibylle said...

looks really nice!

Lauren @ My Wonderfully Made said...

This is just the greatest idea! I'm pinning this for sure -- not sure where or how I'm going to use it but I really want to find a place to!

Coffee Mom said...

I would not have thought to arrange drawers that way - absolutely lovely!! Love the words you chose. Great inspiration, thanks for sharing!

Anonymous said...

Cute idea! I love salvaging stuff life drawers. Come by and check out my blog and you will see all my salvaged goodies.

Benita

Sharon, aka Bootersmom03 said...

Love the drawers! I'm a new follower via The Shabby Creek Cottage and can't wait to see the chest you are working on!

Robin Johnson said...

What a great way to use them. I love it.

Rosemary@villabarnes said...

Great idea, and nicely displayed.

Heaven's Walk said...

Luv the transfer method you used! Crayons! lol! Great idea! Your boxes turned out so cute! :)

xoox laurie

Kammy's Korner said...

I've been seeing such neat ideas for drawers lately! Great job!! Would love for you to share this post over at Trash To Treasure Tuesdays on the Korner! Thanks!! http://kammyskorner.blogspot.com/2011/10/trash-to-treasure-tuesday-link-party-2.html

very merry vintage style said...

These are gorgeous! Thanks for the detail on how you put the letters on. Thanks so much for linking to Share the Love Wednesday! Hope you'll be back this week!
Mary

Christina said...

Wow, this is just amazing! I love how you did the transfer too.

Fantastic centerpiece!!! Thanks so much for sharing.

Take care,
Christina
designingbynumbers.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

What a genius idea! Thank you for the tracing tip, I love it! I too will be pinning this! :)

AntiqueChase said...

OMG you're killing me. this is so cute. Glad I found you when you found me!!! :)

erin said...

test

Laura @ Our Prairie Home said...

Oh my gosh! I love this! Found you through Kammy's Korner and now I'm following. And I love how you transferred the letters. What a great idea! So much easier than what I was doing! I am definitely using this method from now on.

Deborah March said...

So shabbily BEAUTIFUL! I'm always looking for new image and font transfer methods...thanks for this!

Karima said...

Saw you on linky party, what a great idea they look fab! Your newest follower, Karima
www.karimascrafts.com

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