bead – A Smith of All Trades

Revamped antique dresser

August 22, 2014August 22, 2014 Jessica Smith

I grew up with this antique dresser always somewhere in my house. Ever have an affinity for something just because you grew up with it? Well, that’s how I feel about this dresser. It’s not quite my style, but I love it nonetheless. With four drawers, each with their own keyhole, and a beautiful curve — this piece is exactly what comes to my mind when I think of an antique dresser. My dresser comes with an added bonus — a small teal bead that me and my sisters stuck in one of the keyholes. We could easily remove the bead, but it has become sort of sentimental through the year — like, oh, is that the dresser with the bead stuck in it?

Anyway, long story short, my mom and step dad had the dresser at their hose for years. Over the years, it somehow made its way into the garage and became a storage chest for nails, screws and the like. Needless to say, it got a little bit beat up.

The top really needed some love. With a crack 1/3 the way through it and all sorts of nastiness to the finish, it was crying for some help.

But let’s rewind….

Before I could tackle any of this, I had to clean this puppy up.

Talk about some serious spider webs.

OK, back to the restoration.

I pulled out my walnut restor-a-finish and a new bottle of mahogany finish and mixed the two together. The dresser was an in-between color, so I figured a mix would be the best option.

Before I started the application of the restor-a-finish, I first wiped down the whole dresser, removed the drawers and took off the hardware.

You can really see the color variation in the finish in this next picture, especially underneath where the hardware goes. You might also notice some doggy paws keeping me company.

I also filled the crack in the top of the dresser using Elmer’s wood filler.

Once that dried, I sanded it smooth.

Then, I got to restoring. Using gloves and a ventilator mask for safety, I started applying the restor-a-finish to the whole dresser. All you have to do is put it on with a paper towel and let it soak in. In 20 minutes, wipe the finish back off. I did this twice, although that probably isn’t necessary. When that was dry, I simply added some feed-n-wax to the piece. You use the same method for the wax — wipe it on with a paper towel, then in 20 minutes remove it again.

And that’s it! I reattached the hardware and put the drawers back in.

Check out that top! All sorts of fancy and nice.

Here’s another shot. You can see there are still scratches in the top, but they don’t stand out anymore because of the treatment done. If you wanted the scratches out completely, you’d have to sand down the stop, which would remove the original finish of the piece. It’s a toss-up. The scratches don’t bother me, so I opted to let them stay with the original finish of the piece.

Ready for the whole thing?

BEFORE:

AFTER:

It has such a nice color to it again!

This dresser is a perfect example of not needing to paint old furniture. Don’t get me wrong — I love a painted piece of furniture, but I hate to see beautiful antiques covered with paint because people aren’t aware of their other options!

My mom and stepdad will be sad they let it go. Now I need to figure out where it will live in my house. I am thinking it will go in our guest room and that we could use it as a future changing table for future babies. That seems to be a popular trend these days, anyway. Wouldn’t this be adorable in a little girl’s room? Of course it would, that’s why my mom got it for her three daughters 🙂

BONUS:

I don’t usually share outtakes from my projects and photo shoots, but Remmy was all over me for this project. I guess when his momma is outside, he’s gonna be glued to her side.

Remmy in project — Here he is in his cone of shame. Don’t worry, he’s OK. He just irritated his paw and wouldn’t leave it alone.

Rem2 — Don’t worry, Rem. I wanted to take your picture, not one of the dresser.

Rem1 — Staring contest. I won, he got bored.

Rem3 — Oh, were you trying to take a picture? My bad…

Christmas, Craft Projects, DIY GIFT GUIDE, Gift Idea, Holiday, Jewelry, Quick and Easy Crafts, Wine Crafts

DIY GIFT GUIDE: Wine Cork Necklace

December 5, 2013December 3, 2013 Jessica Smith

Day 5! This project is so versatile, depending on the corks you save. From a dark brown cork to a stark black cork to a lighter neutral cork, this necklace can turn out so many different ways.

I know I do a lot of wine cork projects, but I really love this one.

Supplies:

Cork
Drill
Wire
Beads
Chain

Steps:

Drill a hole straight through your cork, top down.
Bend the wire in half and place a single bead on one strand. This acts as a stopper so the remaining beads don’t fall off.
Place other beads onto both wires, feeding both wires through the same end of the bead.
Bend the top of the wire and insert the bent wires through the cork. By bending a small part at the top in half, this allows the wires to go more smoothly through the cork.
Once the wires are through, place beads on the other end.
Twist both wires into a loop, then secure the wires by twisting them around the base of the loop.
Thread chain through the loop and secure both ends with a jump ring. If you’d prefer a shorter chain, attach a clasp to each end instead.

I like this black necklace because you don’t realize what it is immediately.

My favorite is a necklace I made out of a cork from one of my favorite wines. It has an armored knight riding a horse and it is SO COOL.

Really, I like them all.

What do you think? Would you wear it? I brought them to my craft fair thinking people would eat them up, but no one bought any. Who knows. I apparently haven’t a clue about my market haha.

Christmas, Craft Projects, Holiday, Wine Crafts

Wine Cork Rudoplhs

November 19, 2013November 26, 2013 Jessica Smith

OMG OMG OMG OMG. ~~A CRAFT POST.~~ A CHRISTMAS CRAFT POST!!!!!

Holy smokes, she’s back! Yup, this craft blogger has some crafts to show you! I mentioned a few posts back that I have ben focusing lately on getting healthy and losing weight — well, I am more than 30 lbs down (Thank goodness! Chubby me was tired of being chubby!) and feel like I have a much better grasp on the balance between eating, exercising and all other fun activities like CRAFTS!

Enter Rudolph the wine cork reindeer!

To make this freakin’ adorable ornament, first start with a cork. I like the corks that aren’t true corks. They have a layer of skin (almost) to them that makes this project easier than if you were to use a true cork.

Drill through the cork — don’t go top to bottom, rather drill through the side of the cork, somewhat near the top. This will be the heigh of your antlers.

Cut a long piece of malleable brown wire and fold it in half. Stick the wire through your drilled hole, sending the folded end through the cork first. I learned the hard way that it is much more difficult to get your wire through your cork if the sharp end leads the way.

Your cork should sit in the middle of your wire.

Next, it’s time to form your antlers. I folded the wire about 1.5 inches from the base and twisted the wire until it touched the cork. Then, with the extra wire I wrapped back up the twisted portion and did this again. I ended up with three-pronged antlers, with the extra wire wrapping down along the base of each. Do this on both sides.

Once the antlers were on, I screwed an eye hook into the top of the cork to make this an ornament.

Time for the eyes and nose!

Here’s where your cork having “skin” is important. I took a nail and pressed it through the skin of the cork as an appropriate eye level for rudolph. It went in at one point and came out another — these entry/exit points are where the wire will enter and exit.

Once you create your hole and feed your wire through, add see beads for eyes. Get them as close to the cork as possible, then wrap wire around the base of each eye to secure them to the cork.

One eye!

Two eyes!

I used this exact same process for the nose. I tried to make the entry and exit points closer together when feeding the nail through the cork since the nose didn’t need no be spaced far apart like the eyes. I used beads and bells on different ornaments, but each one needs to be secured to the cork by wrapping the wire around the base.

The final step is to add a ribbon! Voila! Rudolph the Red-Nosed Wine Cork!

Cork Rudy is hanging on my mini tree in my office. Yes, I’ve started decorating already 🙂

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