Vintage Doll's Pram

For those of you that really know me, you know how much I love vintage baby items, especially prams.  I actually have a real pram that was used for my kids and will be used for future grandkids so when I found this old children's dolls pram at a garage sale for $20 I just had to have it.  It was in relatively good shape, a few scratches, dents and rust so I took it home and took it apart to clean it up.

It had a broken spring and the others were very loose so I purchased new springs and had to have my husband attach them as it was extremely difficult to pry the metal apart.

The fun part for me was taking apart the apron and the hood and re-creating it in newer fabric.  I couldn't find any vinyl that I liked so I purchased some cotton fabric along with some iron-on clear vinyl fabric and made my own waterproof fabric.

I made the apron a little bit larger than the original as I wanted the rain shield to cover most of the pram's opening.

I purchased some 1.5" foam and cut it to fit the bottom of the pram for a mattress then I used the remainder of the fabric to cover the mattress and make a little pillow.

And of course, a pram of mine could not go without one of my signature baby blankets so I created a small doll's blanket embroidering the same design as on the fabric.

I love my refurbished vintage doll's pram and can't wait for a future grand-daughter to have fun playing with it.

D.I.Y. Office Furniture

Do It Yourself...... I'm really not one for throwing things away, I can see the potential and try and make them new again.  Sometimes it works out great and other times it's an epic fail.  Happy to say these were a keeper.

I found this old two-drawer metal filing cabinet at a garage sale a couple of months ago so I snagged it for my daughter who needs one for her office.

It was in pretty good shape, a few scratches on the top, but no dents.  I bought a can of black and a can of red spray paint and scoured up the entire cabinet with a sander so that the paint would adhere a bit better.

I removed the drawers and taped over the handles.  Spray painted them with 3 coats of the black spray paint.  Let each coat dry thoroughly before adding another coat (approximately 2 hours in the sun).

I sprayed the cabinet with one layer of grey primer before painting it with 3 coats of the red spray paint.

I really love how it turned out and it was so easy to do.  I have a couple more in MY office that could use a facelift!

After I put the drawers back in, it just seemed like it was missing something, so I cut out the vinyl lettering with my Cricut machine using the "Printing Press" cartridge. 

I think it will look great in my daughter's office.  But..... you can't have a new filing cabinet without a new desk chair to match so I took this old steno chair from the basement.  This chair was destined for  the dump all because the seat was stained...... 

So... I removed the seat and recovered it in a much cleaner and brighter indoor/outdoor fabric, and it's perfect!

Restoring Old Side Tables

I've had these two tall side tables in my basement for years so I decided to bring them new life.

It was simple, really...... I bought a can of Benjamin Moore brown paint with primer and after sanding down the tables I painted them with a roller and a brush.
I had some 12"x12" canvas fabric squares so I decided to Mod Podge them to the top of the tables.

 Just cover the back of the canvas with a layer of Mod Podge.

 Make sure you use a brayer and roll out all the air bubbles.

 Then paint a thin layer of Mod Podge over top of the entire table top to protect the table from spills.

 I think they turned out pretty good.

Bulletin Board Makeover

I recently found this Ikea metal bulletin board at a garage sale for $3 complete with 6 magnets.
It was a little plain so I decided to dress it up a little so my daughter could use it in her house.
I cleaned it up with a scouring pad,  and used some paper cake tray doilies as masks and spray painted black over-top of the masks.  I removed the masks (very carefully) and, voila, you have a permanent design on the bulletin board.
Easy peazy and it looks great hanging in my daughter's house.