This year for Christmas, Izzy asked for two things. A desk and a bible. Not a baby bible or even a children's bible. But a regular bible "with lots of tiny words."
Yes, I may be raising a small Amish person.
But back to my Christmas story. Isabelle and her desk. It was the only thing she asked for from Santa.
I found this beast on Craigslist. It really is meant for a computer, but I thought that we could make it work.
But lime green was simply out of the question. This is a boy color.
I thought to myself, it can't be that hard to slap on a new paint color. And I read blogs. I read lots of blogs and some of those writers are naturally crafty. It can't be hard! So I went over some of their tutorials and got tips. That I'm going to combine into MY OWN TUTORIAL. And you don't even have to wait for it. BECAUSE YOU ARE ALREADY READING IT!
Step 1. Find the piece of furniture you want to redo. I opted to go through Craigslist. When you find the piece you want and come to an agreeable price with the seller, arrange for someone to go with you for pickup. This is two fold. One, you won't have to do all the heavy lifting alone. Two, you most likely won't get your head hacked off if you go in pairs. My hubby was out of town, so I talked my brother-in-law into going. And let me tell you, you can only imagine my nervous tic acting up as we drove further out to the middle of nowhere Firth, in the dark, to a vacant house to pick up this jewel. I'm sure he enjoyed the drive as I spent the majority of the time trying to decide what the probability was that we would end up being decapitated. The further out we got, the more I increased the odds. When a very pregnant woman greeted us, I lowered them a tad. Just a tad. I guess the most important part of this step is to live in order to complete the project.
Step 2. Read tutorials besides this one. This one will actually probably not be be good for much. But as you read through these additional tutorials, take into account that you are probably not as good as these people. This is not mentioned to bring you down. But I have to be honest. The people that write these blogs spend time doing the project and then additional time bragging up the project on the Internet. They must have low self esteem but a craftiness level that is so high it sustains them. But you can do it!
Step 3. All of the blogs recommend that you take the original finish off. But that sounded like a lot of work. And I don't like to touch sandpaper. So you need to find someone else to do it for you. So I cut a deal with my brother-in-law. He sanded it down and I agreed to sell his brand new iPhone 4 on Craigslist. Yes, I had to take an insufferable amount of emails from people named Truly Love and Edward McMahon and thirty other people who were all magically working oversees and wanted me to ship my "item" to Africa to they could inspect the condition. Do people still fall for that crap? Uuuuggg.
Step 4. Now that it has been sanded down, head to Home Depot. Park your cart in front of the painting section and wait for someone to walk by that looks like they know what they are doing. Preferably covered in paint because the odds they have actual life experience are much greater. Cambri watched Spongebob as we waited for our victim. When I found him, he recommended Floteral to keep the paint wet longer but then opted out of posing for a picture with us, so boo on that. Good advice though.
Step 5. Pick out the right refreshment while the hubby primes, paints and cover in polyurethane. I went for a purple rockstar. Yes I was worried about having to use the restroom an abnormal amount of times which would mean leaving my supervisory role but I went for it. It all worked out well as Chasey is naturally talented and I had lots of energy to run up and down the stairs. I also had a blueberry bagel but forgot to snap a pic. Such is life.
This is pretty much the end of the tutorial. I bet you are wondering why I haven't included a finished project picture. That's the point of doing a tutorial right? I would but it's all the way downstairs.
And I haven't had a rockstar today.
But Izzy LOVED it and was so grateful. Chase was a little dismayed that the big guy at the North Pole got all the credit.
He got over it. Merry belated Christmas all!
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