DIY Furniture Make Over

A dresser into a changing table

I'm dubbing it "Make it-Monday" here at Midwest Girl as a designated day to post all my favorite DIYs. So for the first official 'Make it-Monday' project I'm bringing you an easy up-cycle technique you can use to create the perfect changing table for your baby out of an old dresser or use the idea to make over any of your worn but loved furniture pieces for an updated, fresh look!

We had an old dresser from the 70's I found in a little shop that I took the back mirror off of and painted black to make into a coffee bar which we have used and enjoyed for a few years. As you can see below it was pretty worn and battered from several moves.  

I removed the wheels on the bottom, because as convenient as it was to have a rolling bar, I didn't want baby going anywhere during a diaper change! Depending on the type of finish you have on your furniture you might need to sand everything down to get a clean application that will stay. Remove all drawers or moveable pieces and paint them separately so nothing will stick together. I invested in a white paint that was both paint and primer (great for less coats) and that was wipeable for easy cleaning.  

I gave everything a thick two coats and let dry for a full day. The bottom set of drawers look like they are two but really it's just one deep drawer. I didn't want up to six drawer pulls for one drawer, I thought it was a bit excessive, so I used wood filler to cover the bottom row of holes. Follow the directions and let sit as long as needed. Sand down smooth then paint over and viola, no more holes!

I picked up an array of drawer pulls at Hobby Lobby and Lowes. I wanted it to look shabby chic, so I went with an assortment of crystal, white, pink and turquoise to match the rest of her room. And I decided to get all single drawer pulls instead of any of the traditional 'handle' pulls.

Helpful Hint: Can't find ones you like or that match your room? I bought some plain knobs and pasted on fabric that was used elsewhere in her room with mode podge for an exact match!

And there you have it, an old coffee bar getting a brand new look and a great new purpose!

Happy Make It-Monday!

Wizard of Oz

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Photo: Oscar Blog

This Saturday will mark the 75th anniversary of the all-time classic movie 'Wizard of Oz' and it can't help but stir up some feelings of nostalgia and a twinge of home sickness for my home state- Kansas. With a new baby just weeks away from arriving it is times like these I wish I had a pair of handy ruby red slippers I could click together to get me home to see my family and friends. 

Here are the top 5 things I Miss About Kansas:

1. Family- first and foremost I miss the days I could walk over to my parents house or hop in a car and be at my sisters in 30 minutes or even my grandparent's place in 3 short hours. Now that I'm half way across the country I desperately miss being able to pop over just to say "hi".
2. Commute- In NY you can grab a bus, a train, the metro, about 50 different cab companies, a taxi, a cycle rickshaw or face the crowded streets to get just about anywhere- which is great but you undoubtably are forced to face delays, waiting in lines, grumpy commuters and flocks of slow tourists, I miss the days where you can hop in your car parked conveniently in your own driveway and be anywhere in 15 minutes.
3. A Yard- Not only has it been an adjustment for taking the dogs out to a patch of pavement (both for them and us) but I miss being able to enjoy soaking up the sun on the warm summer days outside in the privacy of your own home. The relaxing, quiet has been replaced with stoop sitting and watching passer bys and chatting with neighbors. 
4. Parking- Finding a parking spot anywhere near your destination is like spotting a unicorn, it is mysterious, magical and an overall unobtainable thing; and this is only after you've managed to decipher the mile long list of parking signs (Can park here on the second Tuesday of an even month between 2:00-5:00 but only if your car is the perfect shade of periwinkle). When the coveted unicorn sighting falls through the inevitable pricey parking garages are sure to clean out half your budget for the day. Oh Kansas and your blocks and blocks of parking dedicated to each building or store, half of which are always empty, how I will never take you for granted again.
5. Prices- The city has everything you could ever need or want and about a million different places that not only offer it but will probably deliver it too, but you pay for it. Everyone has to make rent including businesses and it's reflected in their prices. Sometimes it's hard not to think about what we could afford back in Kansas for the prices we pay here. 

As much as I love my new home here there will always be things and people, of course, that I miss and won't be able to be replaced from my old one. My mother sent me this adorable collection of Itty Bittys by Hallmark with all the Wizard of Oz characters so we can share a bit of Kansas with our baby girl.


 Here are some of the cute little characters for sale through Amazon!

DIY Baby Mobile

an easy DIY for the nursery!

One of the crazy and fun symptoms of pregnancy is that urgency and the undeniable need to nest. Luckily for myself and moms-to-be everywhere getting the nursery together is one of the best parts of pregnancy. Additionally it allowed me to scratch that DIY itch as well! So here is step-by-step instructions on one of my latest projects.

Here's What You'll Need:

• A small loom or hoop
• scissors
• scrap fabrics in colours of your choice
• a piece of felt in colour of your choice
• glue gun
• ribbon
• extra trinkets you may want to include

Let's Get Started:

1. Start with your loom, hot glue the ribbon to a point, wrap it around on itself to make it extra secure then glue it straight across to the other side to cut the circle in half. Repeat this step again cutting the circle in half again to create a taunt ribbon + where you will be able to hang it from the ceiling later.
   
2. Next cut all your desired fabrics and the felt into circles. These will be made into your flowers. I made all mine the same size about 1.5" circles, but you can make them varied if you wish. You will need one felt circle and 4 fabric circles to make one flower.
3. Put a dot of hot glue in the center of a felt circle. Fold a fabric circle in half and stick on one half of the circle, fold a second piece of fabric in half and do the same to the other side. Press and let dry. 
4. Move the fabric corners out of the way and put another dot of glue close to the center, adding a third folded piece of fabric to it. Repeat on the opposite side. Press and let dry. Your fabric flower is complete, "fluff" to get the full effect. Repeat for as many flowers as you want!
5. Next tie ribbon onto the loom cutting at varying lengths. Hot glue the felt to the bottom of each ribbon so the flower faces outward. (You can also glue a matching flower to the back of this to have a more 3D or full flower effect)
   
6. I glued extra flowers higher up on the same ribbons at varying heights. I wanted mine to have an ombre effect going from white to pink to turquoise so I glue accordingly, but you can mix it up however you want! You can also tie on keys or other trinkets to add to your mobile, just make sure any beads or pearls are very secure because they could pose as a choking hazard if they came lose!

Just tie another ribbon to the cross on top and hang from your baby's nursery ceiling!

Stay tuned for more easy DIY projects