{Wood & White Dresser Makeover}

Hey, y'all!  I have been very busy for about a week now since school started back.  I haven't had the chance to be my normal crafty self, so I don't have any awesome projects in the works right now.  I do have a project to share that you haven't seen yet.  A while back, I bought a dresser from my local Habitat Restore.

As you can see, I paid $50 for this old gal.  Because I could tell the dresser was older and had dovetailed drawer joints, I figured it was worth the $50.  I had been seeing wood tone and white dressers around the web, and I knew this dresser would be perfect for that treatment.  (I did the combo on my Sad to Fab Table Makeover, and I've wanted to do it again ever since.)  I started by stripping the drawers.

I used Citristrip for the first time on this project, and it was like unwrapping a present when I scraped the paint off and saw the beautiful wood underneath!

Of course after I stripped the drawers, I gave them a good sanding.  I then stained them with a dark stain and sealed with with a few coats of Polycrylic.  Next I had to work on the body of the dresser that had a few more problems that I originally realized.  You see, I see old furniture through my makeover-maven rose-colored safety glasses, and I don't always take the time to notice problems.  That happened with this dresser.

The top layer of wood--I guess you'd call it the veneer even though this piece is wood--was missing in places.  I thought I could just patch those places, but upon closer inspection, I realized that the veneer was loose in quite a few places.  My dad and I decided the best thing to do would be to peel all the veneer off the top.

We replaced the veneer with a thin sheet of plywood and then I sanded the entire body of the dresser.  I sprayed it with a coat of Kilz primer and a few coats of white Krylon spray paint.  The last step of the makeover was to find new hardware for the drawers.

I posted this pic on Instagram (@PitterandGlink) when I was trying to decide which handles to buy.  I ended up buying both, but I decided to use the mercury glass ones on this dresser.  I think they were the perfect finishing touch.

I am in LOVE with the dark wood paired with the crisp white paint!

I want to makeover every piece of furniture now with a dark wood and white finish, but I'm trying to practice self-restraint.

I have actually had this dresser finished for a long time.  I took these final pictures a while back, but I didn't really like them.  Since I haven't had time to do any new projects lately, I decided that I'd just go ahead and use them so I could share this project with you.  I guess Pinterest puts a lot of pressure on bloggers to have "Pinterest perfect" photos, but even though I don't consider these final pics Pinterest perfect, I think they adequately show you just how much different the dresser looks now.  

So I'm curious: what cool furniture finishes have you seen on the web lately that you'd like to try out?  

{My Favorite Bloggers: Apple Chalkboard Frame}

Hey, y'all!  One of the BEST things about blogging is the friends that you make along the way.  It's rare that people who don't have blogs understand how you can have friends that you've never even met before, but I have soooo many friends whom I love dearly that I have yet to meet in real life.  (I hope that changes one day!)  These friends are there to answer blogging questions, offer support during tough times, and are so encouraging.  I'd like to introduce you to some of these bloggy buddies of mine...

From left to right, top down:

Kristen from One Tough Mother; Sky from Creative Captial B; Marilyn from 4 You with Love; Tara from Suburble; Bethany from Pitter and Glink; Melanie from It Happens in a Blink; Kara from Petal to Picots; ChiWei from One Dog Woof; Sarah from Repeat Crafter Me; Kadie from 7 Alive; Nancy from Small Things with Love; and Amy from One Artsy Mama.

We decided it would be lots of fun to team up once a month and create projects based on a theme.  This month's theme is APPLES.  It was fun coming up with my project, but even more fun to see the creative projects the other ladies made.  As a teacher, I always equate apples in August with school, but some of these ladies totally thought outside the box.  Check it out:

After you've checked out my project, head over and check out some of these other great APPLE projects.  The links are all listed at the bottom of this post.

Now on to my apple post!  I almost ran out of time to create a project this month with an apple theme.  After Back to School Week last week, I was almost appled out, but two days before the projects were due, I thought of this idea, and I'm so glad I did.  Check out my Apple Chalkboard Frame!

To make this, you need a wooden frame.

I bought mine from Walmart, but they sell them at any craft store.  To begin, paint your frame with chalkboard paint.

Follow the directions on the bottle of paint to make sure you wait enough time between coats.  (I always paint at least two coats when using chalkboard paint.)  The paint directions will also tell you how long you have to wait for the paint to cure before you can use the chalkboard surface.  While you're waiting, you can create the fun little apple.

You'll need a hammer, small nails, and an apple template.  (I simply drew an apple on some white paper, but you can do a Google image search if you don't trust your drawing skills.)  Cut your apple template out and hammer nails around it.  Then you simply knot apple-colored embroidery floss around the nails and wrap the thread around the nails to create the apple.  (I put a little bit of No-Fray on all the knots to make sure they don't come untied.)  I then conditioned my chalkboard surface and my frame was complete.

I love that I can write on the frame, and I think the little apple is the perfect touch to what would otherwise be a boring chalkboard frame.

I'm going to use this frame on my classroom door to make sure people know my room number, so I created a little "Room 100" image in PicMonkey and printed it out.  Yes, my room number is already above my door, but for some reason, people never see it, and on top of that, they always think I'm a student.  Sometimes people have the most bewildered looks when walking into my classroom...

Hopefully this cute little frame will help with the back-to-school confusion a little.  And speaking of back-to-school, today is my first day back at school.  Say a little prayer for me...  I hope I don't fall off the face of the earth for a couple of weeks, but the first week or two back to school is usually the most hectic, stressful time of the year for me, and I sometimes don't have time to blog a lot.
Don't forget before you leave to check out these other APPLE projects from some of my favorite bloggers!

{18 Fanciful & Fun Lampshades on Hometalk}

Hey, y'all!  If you're a regular follower of my blog, you know that I LOVE makeovers, and one of my favorite items to makeover is a lamp. With lamps, there are SO MANY possibilities when it comes to giving them a new look.  The easiest way to makeover a lamp is by spray painting it, but decorating or revamping the lamp's shade is really what can take a lamp makeover from "Oh, that's nice" to "Oh my gosh!  I love your lamp!"  A great place to find lamp makeovers or furniture makeovers or room makeovers or really anything to do with home and garden is Hometalk.  On Hometalk, you can share your own makeover and decor ideas, clip ideas to boards, and ask questions.  I recently joined Hometalk when I realized what a neat, useful site it is.  (You can find me HERE.)  I uploaded one of my lamp makeovers, and I was so excited when I was contacted by Hometalk about making a clipboard.  Per their request, I made a clipboard full of Fanciful and Fun DIY Lampshades that you can find {Here}.  Just look at them!

Of all my lampshade makeovers, my DIY Chicken Wire Lampshade is my favorite.

  On Hometalk, I found some other great ideas like this DIY Monogram Lampshade from Dagmar's Home.

And this lampshade from Uncommon Designs that was made over with pom poms and scrapbook paper.

There are lots of other great lampshade ideas on my clipboard.  You can find them {HERE}.  What's your favorite lampshade makeover idea that you've seen lately?

{Back to School Week Recap}

Hey, y'all!  Thanks so much for all your support during Back to School Week.  

I hope that at least one of my posts was helpful and/or useful for you.  I wanted to do a little recap today just in case you missed anything during the week, so here goes...
Day One:

$75 Erin Condren Gift Card Giveaway--Make sure you've entered!  The giveaway ends August 12th at midnight.

Printable Calendar
Day Two:

Free Teacher's Note Printables

Free Printable Student Schedules
Day Three:

Sharpie Doodled Clipboard
Day Four:

Glittered Dollar Store Stapler

20 Awesome Back to School Ideas
Day Five:

DIY Perpetual Calendar

Helpful Advice for First Year Teachers
Once again, thanks for all your support.  Enjoy your Saturday!

{Back to School Week: Helpful Advice for First Year Teachers}

     Hey, y'all!  I'm sad to say that after this post, Back to School Week is over besides a recap that I'll post tomorrow.  This last post is actually for a Facebook fan who is just starting her teaching career.  She asked for any advice I could give.  

     Well, I have advice to give, but I have LOTS of teacher friends too, so I requested on my personal Facebook page that my teacher friends give their advice as well.  I've compiled it all together in this post, and I hope it's helpful for a few teachers.

    You might have read all the latest pedagogy books, watched all the latest gurus' videos, and went to all the education classes you could possibly go to in college, but just be aware that not everything is going to be perfect that first day and probably not any day after that.  That's the nature of teaching.  You might talk too fast one period and finish too early, and the next period you might slow everything down and not get finished.  You might forget to say THE most important piece of information you were supposed to say.  It's okay.  Teaching is a constant learning process.  Isn't that ironic?

     If you've met any teachers that had your students last year, you've probably already heard all about Little Johnny.  "Little Johnny was so bad for me."  "I feel so bad that you are going to have Little Johnny your first year."  "You might as well go ahead and have some discipline slips written with Little Johnny's name on them."  I'm not saying your colleague is lying.  Little Johnny might have been the worse student she ever had, BUT that doesn't mean he'll be the worst student you'll ever have.  Have you ever met someone that you didn't get along with because your personalities didn't "mesh" well?  That happens with students and teachers.  Little Johnny and your colleague might have had personalities that just didn't mesh or maybe she let Little Johnny know what "buttons" he could push to annoy or anger her and he took advantage of that.  So on the first day of school, don't go ahead and label Little Johnny a problem child.  Some of my favorite students have been students that other teachers thought were problem children.  For whatever reasons, those students liked me, and we always got along.  And you know what?  Little Johnny might end up being a problem child for you too, but don't give him that label before he earns it.  ;)  

     As with anything in life, you're going to have bad days in the teaching profession.  You'll have a day when nothing seems to be going right.  You might have lessons planned that just don't work.  You might have a "run-in" with a student.  Or your principal might point out something you need to work on when you thought you did everything perfectly when he was observing you.  It's okay to have a bad day.  Just don't let yesterday's bad stuff mess up today.  Part two of yesterday's lesson plan that you were planning on doing today?  Just rework your lesson plan today.  Try something different.  Your students won't know if you don't go exactly by what you have written down in your lesson plan.  That student you had a run-in with yesterday?  Don't treat her any differently today.  You'll be surprised how the student will react when you don't treat her like she has the plague today.  And what your principal told you to work on?  Just work on it.  I have never met a perfect teacher.  We all have room for improvement.  If you start getting bogged down with yesterday's failures and altercations, your job is going to become something you dislike, and no one wants to go to a job everyday that she dislikes.

     We've all been there.  We start our first year of teaching.  We can't use a test or quiz from the book because we're super teachers, and that just won't do.  We MUST make everything from scratch because no one can teach like we can.  We were BORN to do this....every bit of it...from scratch.  Yeah, that lasts about a week if that long, and you'll realize quickly that there's not enough time in the day to make everything from scratch.  And what's even worse is that you'll realize you don't know the answer to everything.  One of the things I believe from the very bottom of my heart is that your best resource as a teacher is the veteran teacher next door or down the hallway.  From my experience, those teachers will be willing to share lesson ideas, worksheets, tests, quizzes, and answers to those questions you can't answer.  And on those days when you want to quit teaching because you've had enough...it's too hard...that teacher can put things into perspective for you and give you the encouragement you need.       That's my advice.  I'm not an expert by any means, but that's what I've learned along the way.  Here's the advice my Facebook friends shared.
"Always have a back-up because nothing goes as planned!"--Leigh

"My former principal told me to write all the stories down because it will be an adventure.... And my advice: don't stress. What I learned my first year was the main thing is to show the students you truly care for them because that is what they will remember the most....."--April

"Over plan. Some students can complete assignments quickly. Call parents immediately when there is misbehavior in the classroom. I feel it sets the tone and boundaries within your classroom. Be over-organized. Don't be afraid to ask a teacher any question. Say what you mean and mean what you say. Especially with regards to discipline."--Michelle

"Ok, this might sound irrelevant but if you've ever graded papers at midnight and had 3 or 4 without a name then you would understand....I have my students highlight their name (specific color for each class) before they turn it in. After 20 years of teaching...this was my first year I didn't have a problem with 'no name' papers. I keep a container beside my turn-in basket with highlighter for each class."--Lisa

"Get parents involved! I always had a parent helper sign up sheet that would go out at the beginning 0f the year. I had help with my small reading groups, make and takes, grading, class parties, you name it! Oh! And I posted a 'giving tree' with paper apples on my door. Each apple had suggested supplies parents could donate to our classroom."--Kara

"Don't take yourself too seriously. It is OK to say you don't know the answer but you will find the answer. Keep a log/calendar/etc. and document any communications with parents, teachers, etc. Your mind will be too full of 'stuff' to remember conversations. Also, use one binder or notebook for all faculty meetings and inservice notes."--Donna

"Middle and high school teachers: (1.) Make a file for any papers/forms/tests/projects/curriculum documents, etc. that you may want to use again in the future. Organize these files in a file cabinet. If you are organized, then planning lessons becomes easier. (2.) In each class, pick out a 'bouncer'--a student whom you can trust to 'have your back' and help you calm down unruly students. This helping student is usually easy to spot in the first few days of class: he or she is the one who smiles and wants to help but just needs some encouragement. (3.) Invest in school supplies during the back-to-school sales and make these supplies available to students on a pay-as-you-go or free basis based upon the student's situation. (4.) I solved the NO Pencil problem with my high school classes: students could borrow from one another or buy a new mechanical pencil from me for 25 cents. Students always came up with a quarter whether from their own pockets or borrowed from someone else. After years of lending pencils and never getting them back for re-use, this solved the problem."--Sue

     I hope all this information is helpful for someone out there!  I've really enjoyed back to School Week.  Thanks to everyone who followed along.  If you missed anything this week, you can find it {HERE}.

{Back to School Week: DIY Perpetual Calendar}

Hey, y'all!  Welcome to the last day of Back to School Week here at Pitter and Glink.  This morning, I want to share the tutorial for a fun DIY project that I look forward to hanging in my classroom: my DIY Perpetual Calendar.

I must admit that I had to Google what the name of this type of calendar is, and if you didn't know either, then we both learned something during Back to School Week, which I think is very appropriate. Anyway, to make this I started with a chipboard shape that I bought from Hobby Lobby.

I traced the shape on a piece of 12x12 scrapbook paper.

I cut out the traced shape.

Then adhered it to the chipboard shape with Mod Podge.

I then used E-6000 to glue three magnetic clips on the top of the shape.  I only used magnetic clips because they were all I could find at Walmart when I went, but they actually worked really well because of the flat backs.

To make the months and numbers for dates, I started by cutting twenty-six rectangles from coordinating scrapbook paper.  I then used my Silhouette to cut the names of the months, numbers 0-3 (for the first number of a date), and numbers 0-9 (for the second number of a date) from card stock.

I taped and glued each rectangle to the back of another rectangle and then glued a month on each side.  I did the same thing with the numbers.  

 In the end I had six rectangles with a month on each side, two rectangles with a number (0-3) on each side, and five rectangles with a number (0-9) on each side.  Then all that was left was clipping the months and numbers on the chipboard shape.

Since I don't always remember to write the date on the board at school, I figure I can hang the calendar in my room and put a first period student in charge of changing the date each day.

The students will always know the date now, and I'll have something pretty in my classroom to look at.  I'll be back this afternoon for one more post, but in the meantime if you've missed any of my Back to School Week posts, you can catch up {HERE}.