British Flag Dresser Paint Job

This project was so fun! I got this old dresser that needed a LOT of help. It had about 6 layers of paint. This was the good dry up paint. OH NO! It was gross yucky mushy paint. The worst kind! But hey that's what you get sometimes, right.

I was stupid this time and didn't get photos of the before. So let me paint this photo for you. Imagine a bright orange box with little bits of bright blue peaking through the pealing paint. Most of the draw pulls were missing and those that where left were broken.

First thing I did was remove ALL the paint. Right down to the wood. I did leave little bits of paint here and there. Due to the HIGH HEAT the paint melt under the sander. I had to break out the big guns and go with the drill attachments! It worked...finally. I now had a nice smooth surface to start the repaint.

First step was to put on a thin primer. Next step was to put on the design. Let me just say this, I'm a designer by trade and it did NOT come in handy this time. I really needed to think through all the color placement. It was not easy to be totally honest. Then comes the distressing...

Distressing to me has to be done with a purpose and not just messed up. Yes, true, there is some randomness that goes into distressing. But I like to go at it with a vision in mind. For me it works better than blind going at a piece with the sander. :-)

Once all my painting and vintage-ing was done I could work on my drawer pulls. I had a clear picture of what I wanted to do with these pulls. I LOVE LOVE making my own. At first I was going to cut them out with scroll saw but then I came across a old subway train sign. That inspired me to switch gears and create four famous "subway sign" words.

Final step is seal everything up. I HATE sticky latex paint. I hate it. Why because it's sticky. I truly believe in using a good quality paint. I also believe in sealing a project with a good quality clear. So that's what I did here. Nothing will keep a project from being "tacky proof" but these things do help a lot!

Here is the final project. You can see more images here.

NEW PRODUCT MONDAY: Overview of the DIY Party Kits

SITE UPDATE:
I've been away from my blog for a long, long time. Sorry! I needed to take a step back and rethink some things. Now I'm back and I have a new...hmmm...creative effort. I have no idea how it will go...if it will go at all but I'm going to give it my best shot.

NEW PRODUCT MONDAYS: Overview of the Party Kits
I've reopened my Etsy store. No more Lil Fatty dolls. The thought of picking up a brush and painting another one makes me sick. Literally! I made over 250 of those little guys in a very short period of time. I saw great success. It was a lot of fun. But I just can't do it any more...at least not yet! :-)

So my new Etsy store currently has DIY Party Kits, DIY Digital Scrapbook Paper, DIY Clip Art and other forms of Do-It-Yourself products.

Today I thought I'd post a little bit about the kits and what goes into them. If you want ALL the details...are want to buy a kit...head on over to my Etsy store.

Basically you get every thing you need to create a FATCATistic and stylish party. You print it...you trim it...you put it all together. It's one low cost. Which means if you need 8 cupcake toppers...print 8. If you need 800 print 800. The cost is always the same because you bought the art for your party.

Pretty simple, hey? Get ready to get your trim on though. I've printed and trim ALL the kits so far and let me tell you it can be work. However, it's great when it's done! So much fun.