Wooden Blocks Makeover

Somewhere along the line I was given this block set on a wagon. At the time they were already in rough-ish shape so now that I am finally getting around to redoing them, they are in serious need of some help.

(Whole set not shown)

I started by peeling as much of the paper off as possible, my 3 year old had fun helping with this part :)

Then I submerged a few blocks at a time in hot water. This softened the remaining paper and allowed me to scrape off the wet paper and glue really easily. It took some time but they each came clean.

I found a few rough spots in the wood so I sanded those areas. 

Here they all are ready to be stained!

To prepare the wagon, I removed the rope handle and taped the wheels. 

I chose to stain the wood pieces in this project to try and hide the imperfections in the wood. 

Once it had dried I painted the bottom of the wagon with acrylic TURQUOISE (shocker) paint. 

I also painted the underside with grey acrylic paint. Once it had all dried I gave the whole thing 2 coats of clear spray paint. 

For the blocks, I made a template and cut squares from scrapbook paper. 

I wanted the wood to be visible so I made the squares a bit smaller than the sides of the blocks.

I attached my patterned squares to the blocks with a glue stick, making sure every edge is covered so you won't get air bubbles later. 

Here are my blocks all covered! Each side then gets two coats of matte Hodgepodge, I just used a small paint brush to do this. 

Finally I attached a ribbon to pull the wagon, secured with a knot and some hot glue. I threaded a wooden bead onto the ribbon to make a bit of a handle. I secured with a dot of hot glue and then sewed a few stitches across the seam.

Now they are modern, colourful and they even match the new nursery ;)

Distressed Rocking Chair

One of the things I knew I wanted from the beginning, for Baby #2's nursery, was an awesome rocking chair. With Brinley I had a glider and although it was comfy it just took up way too much space. The nursery in our home is on the smaller side so I went looking for a wooden rocking chair that would be comfy but that was a much better size. I found this chair on VarageSale for $50. It had a tiny creak on one side but my husband fixed that with a screw. It is really comfy and nice to sit in but man did I hate the colour!

After giving it a good sanding I picked out furniture paint in "Scooter" and got to work. Here it is after the last coat:

Now as much as I love this colour it is just too much turquoise! I know, I really can't believe I am saying that 😳. I decided that all it needed was, what every piece of furniture needs, DISTRESSING!!!!! I have an obsession with distressed things so this was going to be fun! And it was.

I finished off the chair with a few coats of clear coat in order to protect the distressed wood parts. And here is the finished product in all its glory!

I love how it turned out! I cannot wait for baby to get here so we can rock together ❤️. This is one of the last big projects for the new nursery. It feels so good checking things off the list!

IKEA Tray Makeover

I have had this IKEA tray since my husband and I's first apartment together. I got it at a great price from the AS-IS section at IKEA because it was a display item. It has been used for many different things throughout the years but it finally got the makeover it desperately needed.

I taped off the sides and gave the bottom a couple coats of furniture paint. Then I marked my pattern by using a gold sharpie while tracing the quatrefoil stencil I made. Once it was marked I went back over and painted the lines with gold acrylic paint. After it had dried completely I gave the painted bottom a final coat of clear sealent to protect it. 

Now that it is finally beautiful, I decided to make a little hot beverage station. I found these great little jars at Dollarama and after adding a few coats of chalkboard paint, they are perfect for storing my tea collection!! Here is our little coffee/tea tray all set up in the kitchen.

(This is a project I did before Christmas, hence the candy canes)

My husband actually loves having this little dedicated area with everything he needs at arms reach. Another makeover success!!

Dipped in Gold Utensil Holders

We have way too many cooking utensils and not enough drawer space so when I stumbled across these guys at Target for $5 each, I had to snatch them up! I got them home and tried them out only to be slightly disappointed. They were pretty plain and I didn't like being able to see all the mismatched utensil handles at the bottom (yes I have a problem). So I taped  them up and spray painted the bottoms GOLD! 

Here they after they dried and I removed the tape and paper. I love that "dipped" look and the gold brings out the accents in my kitchen!

IKEA Bookshelf Upgrade

We have had these two IKEA bookshelves floating from room to room and they eventually ended up in our spare bedroom. I decided to keep them when I cleared the room to start the new baby's nursery since the wood colour matches the crib and change table. The unfortunate thing about these bookcases is how unsturdy they are with their white plastic-y backs. I redid the back of another bookshelf in fabric and loved the way it turned out so I decided on that route to give these ugly shelves an upgrade. 

I pulled the backs off them both and had my husband cut new backs from 1/8 inch hardboard. 

I arranged the fabric ensuring it fit (because of the fabric I chose I had to cut  the piece in half and match the pattern before attaching lengthwise in order to make it fit). I had planned to use a spray adhesive but my pregnancy brain caused me to forget to buy some so I just used a bit of hot glue to secure the edges keeping the fabric tight. Then I trimmed the excess fabric off and it was ready to be reassembled! Once both backings were covered and trimmed, I attached the backs to the shelf frame with small flat-head nails. 

Now the shelves fit the nursery decor much better and are much more stable than before. 

Magic Caramel!

This preggo has been seriously craving some sweets!! My Pinterest curiousity got the better of me and I gave this magic caramel stuff a try. 

What you need:

-can of condensed milk

-crockpot

First remove the label from the can and place on its side in the crockpot. Then fill crockpot with water so the can is fully covered. Then leave it to cook for at least 8 hours (may vary depending on the crockpot). After all the waiting, remove the can from the water and let cool COMPLETELY. This is important for the right texture, even though if you're anything like me I was dying to see what it looked like inside! 

Voila! The final product!! Well worth the wait. 

Brinley and I tried it out this afternoon with Granny Smith apples and it was AMAZING!!!!

This stuff is thick and creamy and soo good. This will be a new staple in our house for ice cream, desserts, fruit; the ideas are endless! 

Enjoy!