The trade

I caught the crafting bug {again}. I guess I always have the bug, it just goes dormant for a while. And it's all Pinterest's fault. Seriously. There are just so many cute things I want to build and paint and eat.

 {I say "eat" because I don't want to cook them. I want someone to cook them for me}

 

If you know me, you know I am the worst at budgeting and saving. Money burns a hole in my pocket. Then I see something I want but don't have the moolah for it so I try to steal borrow it from another budget. That usually don't fly with the hubs so I go without or he gives in because he doesn't want to hear me complain about how I never have any money. Either outcome is followed by guilt because I can't seem to hold on to my money. For the record, I am working on it and getting better :)

 

Back to Pinterest, I saw this blog post fell in love with the dresser-turned-t.v. stand look.

 

 

I wanted, needed, this in my family room :) But cheap, second hand 9 drawer dressers that are in good condition are hard to come by. It was looking like I would spend around $50. Plus paint/primer roller, brush, etc. It was just too much. So I gave up.

 

Until....

 

 

THIS happened.

 

This is a Kindle Fire after it goes through the washing machine. The hubs was washing our bed sheets (I love you babe!!) and my kindle was somewhere in them. So into the washer it went with the sheets and came out nice and clean...and broken. He said he would replace it for me, I even tried to convince him to upgrade me to an iPad (HA!)

But then it came to me, why don't I just take the money and use it for my dresser-turned-t.v. stand project?!?

 

BRILLIANT!

 

Now since I was getting all this money, I wanted to stretch it as far as possible. So I decided to use my girl's dresser (that I just repainted last month) and make some topiarys to go on top.

 

I made the topiarys first, following the tutorial found here .

 

 

I already had these planters. I got them for $1 in the Walmart clearance section. They had fake ferns in them but they pulled out easily and I just left the foam in.

 

 

The materials I used were silk flowers (I used two different kinds; from Michael's and Garden Ridge), a bundle of brown reeds from Garden Ridge, craft moss, and two foam balls.

 

There were 3 long reeds in the bundle I bought, so I cut them in half and then cut them to the size I wanted. Then I stuck them in the jar.

 I broke down the silk flowers and stuck them in the green foam balls. I didn't have enough to completely cover the ball, so there are some bare spots on the bottom. Then I stuck the reeds in the ball and hot glued them in place. 

 

 

I LOVE how they turned out.

 

Here is what they look like on the old t.v. stand. Why didn't I dust before I took this picture?! Embarrassing! But you get the idea.

 

And now you can see why I needed a new t.v. stand. Don't get me wrong. This little guy is going to hang around for a makeover of his own. After all, he was the product of a lot of hard work by the hubs. But I will leave that for another post.

 

 

 

 

Now for the dresser. Here is what it looked like before...kind of.

Since then it has been painted brown to match the girls room.

 

 

 

 

I took out the top three drawers and drilled holes in the back for the cords.

I am really proud of this picture because I used the hubs drill and jigsaw ALL. BY. MYSELF.

 

 

 

 

I also cut three boards make shelves where the drawers used to be. And here is the semi-finished product. I still need to paint it and get new hardware but I am really excited about it!

 

 

Stay tuned for the end result!