To handpaint or stencil, that is the question...

Once upon a booth, there was a dresser... It never sold. 😢
When a piece doesn't sell, it's kind of like a puppy not being adopted. 

But I couldn't give up on my dresser! I fell in love with her serpentine curved drawers, the beautiful wood, & the original caster wheels. (Every good piece has caster wheels!) So I scoured Pinterest looking for ideas to dress her up without painting her completely. I searched for 'two tone dressers', 'natural wood drawers', 'antique lowboys' & convinced myself I could jazz her up while leaving some gorgeous wood to peep thru. Here are some ideas that popped up:

 

http://missmustardseed.com/2011/04/cherry-blossom-dresser/

  http://thepaintedwillows.blogspot.com/p/before.html

 http://shabby2uniquelychic.blogspot.com/2013/04/mahogany-lowboy-dresser.html
 

I ended up with an idea from Miss Mustard Seed, the queen of milk paint.
Have you seen these designs floating around the Pinterest world? I love love love how it ties the paint together, yet lets some of the wood break thru. It's really a perfect compromise for someone who appreciates antique, but loves to paint. It is to me at least, AND apparently to Miss Mustard Seed herself!

http://missmustardseed.com/2012/07/hardware/

Now I hate to steal an idea, but I tried stenciling a previous project & was not impressed.
You have to deal with bleed thru, then paint reapplication & lining up the edges perfectly...enough to send me into an OCD mess. The dresser actually turned out pretty cute, but I would prefer not to do this again any time soon.

Here is my first attempt at a stenciled dresser, all pretty in pink.

And here is my before pic of the dresser that didn't sell. 

Poor baby...

So one day I said to myself, "Let's do this! Let's draw on a dresser!"  

And I did, because there is no stopping me once I get an idea in my head.

My research suggested using chalk first, THEN painting over top.

I'm not a fan of classic chalk so I used my chalk pen, which is really more of a marker. 

My husband was eyeballing me the whole process. You know, that look that says you're doing this all wrong. And hey, I wasn't too sure about it either. But when he finally said, "How is that paint going to stick over the chalk pen?" I replied, "It just will. I know what I'm doing. I saw this on Pinterest, k?"

And this is how she turned out ⇓

I am no artist, let me make that clear. But I'm really happy with how she looks.

As you can see, I made some very professional looking swirlies there 😄 I just swooshed my brush to add leaves to the vines, then added a bird formation 'V' in the center because 'negative space'. 

See, I remember some stuff from Bob Ross.   

What do ya think?

Are you on board with hand-painting furniture or are you gonna stick with stencils?

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!!!

I bet you're tired of hearing that by now, and this is only day 5.

While most people are vowing to exercise more, eat healthier, quit drinking or go on more adventures... I just want to get this baby out of me & I can not wait to reach for that first margarita! 
What can I say, I guess I'm an underachiever 😋

2016 was a good year for me considering I had a baby, got knocked up again for the 4th time, & still continued painting furniture whenever I had the chance. Oh, you didn't know any of that? Probably because I was a slacker & completely forgot to update this blog. (I'll add that to my resolutions list too.)

Here's a little rewind of my 2016 top posts to speed us along to the present. 

Bye Bye 2016!