One man's junk...

... can be bought for about a dollar at various locations and then turned into something really cool.  Yep.  Really cool.

For as long as I can remember, I've wanted something like this in my bedroom:

via

Though this one's nice, too:

(just a little too glam for my bedroom design style)

But vanities, you may know, are not cheap.  Lots of moolah for a new, modern one.  Sometimes even MORE money for a vintage one in nice shape.  Even the vanities at the thrift store that I could fix up were MUCH more than I was willing to spend.  

Then I spied an old desk at a thrift store.  It was the perfect small size for my small master bedroom and I really liked the curvy shape.

And it was pretty much a hot mess.  BUT it was only 5 dollars.  I took a chance and bought it, though I had no idea if I'd ever find a vanity chair and mirror of the same vintage/style.

For months I checked thrift stores to no avail.  Until one day, I was at a rummage sale with my sister and encountered this:

Which most people (understandably) walked by without a second glance.  However, when I looked, the clouds parted and angels sang.  I ran to, scooped it up and slapped down my 2 bucks.

I still couldn't find a mirror, but I set about fixing up the desk and chair with faith that the right mirror was out there somewhere.

Here's the chair before:

I took it apart, cleaned it, used Krylon Bright White in Satin finish on the metal, got some upholstery fabric on clearance at Hobby Lobby, used my staple gun and glue gun to get the upholstery on the cushions, and put it all back together.

And here's the finished chair:

The desk took some work.  Here it is in its glorious before:

I took the handles off (though, truthfully I really like them now... my taste has changed a bit).  I pulled out the drawer and took out the floral sticky paper.  This revealed holes in the drawer.  SO.  I washed everything down, used some wood filler to fill in one of the holes left from each handle (I was replacing them with knobs so I only needed one hole each), used spackle to fill in small holes and cracks, used some very thin balsa type wood and a staple gun to attach it over the existing drawer bottom, sprayed it all down with Krylon Bright White in Satin finish and put the new knobs in.  Phew.

And there it sat in my room, by the window, without a mirror.  Totally unfinished.  For EVER. Like two years.

When it became clear we were going to be moving a baby crib in the bedroom and I'd have to rearrange a bit, I decided it was time to kick the mirror search into high gear!
I checked thrift stores, rummage sales, consignment stores, places I never went... then, when re-checking my favorite thrift store, I found this gem:

It was $10, BUT, it was half price Monday!!  I got it for $5!  I cleaned it up really well, filled in the cracks around the frame with spackle, restrung a wire on the back and sprayed it - you guessed it - Krylon Bright White in Satin finish.  I wasn't completely sure I was sold on the big bow on top...

Then I hung it up.  And it all came together...

And THAT is how you create your own vanity from inexpensive pieces.

One desk - $5
One chair - $2
One mirror - $5
One mug rack turned necklace holder - $2
One candle holder turned bracelet holder - $1
(You can see the post about the jewelry organization here)

Ta-Da!

Step one in getting our bedroom ready to share with the baby... Now, to finish that task.  Even though he's already here.

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When I say "we" I mean "he".

Remember this picture from my Christmas summary post?

You know, the one where mini was less than enthused about the gift I bled, sweated and cried over for about a month before it was finished?  Yeah, that.

In her defense, she had the flu.  Now that she's better, she loves it.  (I swear.)

So this is the post where I show you what it looked like before I took a saw/hammer/drill/electric screwdriver/paint to it.  The post where I tell you how I took it from the $10 I spent at a garage sale:

To the beautiful, modern kitchen it is today:

Yes, that's right.  I'm doing it.  I'm showing you way too many pictures.  I'm giving you the whole before and after.  Why?  Because, doggone, I'm proud of this baby.  I don't work with power tools a ton.  And this required the whole shebang.  This is something I've been wanting to do since I pinned this bad boy:

                                                                            Source: martawrites.com via Kimberly on Pinterest

And I finally did it!  With COPIOUS amounts of help from my daddio.  Just throwing that in there.  So I think I'm entitled.  The good news is you won't have to scroll through a ton of "during" pics, because I was in a mad scramble to finish this for Christmas and didn't take any "during" pictures.  Just,

And  I also think it's unlikely you'll find a little cupboard EXACTLY like this one (definitely made in the 60's by the way) so why do a whole tutorial, right?

Instead, I figured I'd show you a bunch of "after" photos and explain how things came together, in case you're making a kitchen and need ideas/tricks.  Ready?

Phew!  Tiring just looking at it.  So let's take a little cake break, ok?

Much better.  Especially since I didn't make those, just bought them at the target dollar section.  Now, on with the show.

Let it be said, I am no power tool expert here.  And I had a lot of help.  Did I mention that?  Moving right along... The first thing we did was focus on the front of the kitchen.  I wanted the oven door to open like an oven door - makes sense, right?  So I removed the doors.  I would have reused them, but they weren't the right size for the opening when turned on their sides.  So we measured the space around the top shelf and cut a wood plank (I think it was a 4x4?) I had laying around in my garage.  We used very small flat hinges and attached three along the bottom (could have gotten away with two, but we played it safe).  We then used a screwdriver to reattach all the magnets/metal plates that were used in the original kitchen to keep the doors closed.  There is one on each side along the top edge.  We screwed in 4 small eyes and used a pliers to open them and attach the two chains.  Then we just cut a scrap piece of wood into a little strip and screwed it to the front for a handle.

I should note that when placing the eyes for the chain, you will need to indent them from the edges on the door piece - NOT line them up perfectly level with the eyes above.  This way, when you close the door, the chain will not get all bunched up and in the way - very frustrating for little hands. 

We left the bottom shelf as it was for open shelving.  The inside of the oven is currently storing food.  Maybe someday we'll build her a fridge, huh Dad?

At this point, I informed my dad that the kitchen absolutely MUST, and I mean MUST, have a window with a curtain.  I already knew what fabric from my stash to use.  I just had to figure out how to get a window in there.  Turned out, my suggestion of nailing on some boards and drilling some holes, then inserting a dowel was, actually, the right one.  Who would have thought?  So that's pretty much exactly what we did.  

Just make sure you remember to sand the whole kitchen first, then paint the whole kitchen before you put up the dowel with the curtain.  We actually measured and drilled the large holes, then screwed in the two side pieces and left it like that until we were ready to paint.  Then we painted and placed the curtain.  Luckily, we drilled our holes to the perfect size and didn't need to use screws OR wood glue.

Next, we focused on the top.  I sanded it and painted, the "backsplash" area too.  I used epoxy putty (specifically, this stuff:

) to glue down the paint can lids for the burners.  I probably could have fit four down, but #1, I kind of wanted some "counter space" and #2, two was all we could get for free.  So it's a European style stovetop.  Then we (and by we I definitely mean my dad at this point, since I'm still scared of saws.  Have to get over that sometime...) sawed the circle for the sink.  You should have seen us with the string and the pencil trying to draw a perfect circle with just the right diameter so the lip on the metal bowl I used would hit perfectly in place... we had to get mr out in the garage to help us with some math and in the end I just eyeballed it and hit it dead on.  Booyah!  Anyway, we used a jig saw for that.  We drilled the holes for the faucet while we were at it.  Then we inserted the faucet (which I got at the restore for three dollars and it might be my favorite part aside from the curtain).  Then we used the same epoxy putty as before around the lip of the metal bowl and pushed the sink in.

You can see in the 4th picture there, how the sink sits down into the oven, but not too far.  I bought no less than THREE metal bowls before I finally "gave up", then went to the thrift store and low and behold found the perfect size.  Sigh.

So now is when I did paint touch-ups, taped some things off and added a few paint details. I wish I'd thought to paint the dowel before inserting it, but at least it's generally covered.

I spray painted two of the four existing knobs silver and screwed them back in.  Then I screwed in a little silver handle where the other two knobs were below the sink for a hand towel to hang.  The last thing was to add a few hooks to the side for potholders and such.

Mini got a pots and pans set from Oma and Opa for Christmas and a little "kitchenaid" mixer from the mr and I - since the kitchenaid is my very favorite kitchen appliance.  Better than the fridge, I tell ya!  The potholders came with the sets, so I didn't make any of those.  BUT, when I am not frantically setting up space heaters so the paint will dry in time for me to throw a blanket over it so it can be "unwrapped" in an hour, I have plans to make some accessories.  You know, apron, oven mitt, dishtowel, etc.

I did whip these up quick with some crystal light containers and duct tape:

Easy shmeezy utensil holders!  I happen to think they're pretty great, which is cool since they took about 2 minutes to make, cost me ZERO dollars and have lids to keep everything tidy.

I also managed to whip up this little cookie kit for mini, which was another christmas present:

Tutorial to come!

So far she has some pizza from Aunt Al, some cupcakes and cake from tarjay, some felt cookies and some wooden cookies and wooden donuts from Aunt Al as well.  I think she has the main food groups covered, but I'll try to work on adding to the menu just for fun.

Also to come, hopefully shortly, a tutorial for this guy:

Don't know why it's a "guy" when it's pink and has a bow, but whatev.

Aren't you glad I'm done subjecting you to photos of this kitchen?

For now.

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I like to pretend it was my grandma.

I admit this is a bit of a departure from my usual post.

But I couldn't help posting about this adorable dress.

You may have seen it first on my tea table and stools post (an upcycled project we really love!)

I wish I knew more about this adorable crocheted dress.  I found it at a thrift store and bought it for 50 cents.  Yep.  50 cents.  Who gives away a hand crocheted dress in this lovely shade of cool minty green for only 50 cents??  Not that I was complaining.  I actually bought it when I was pregnant with mini - which violates every thrifting rule, namely don't buy ahead - if they can't use it now, don't get it.  But I couldn't resist.

This dress has a story.  Somebody lovingly crocheted each stitch.  Then they wove the perfect white ribbon through the neck and waistline.  They may have gently folded and placed it in a box before wrapping it in special paper.  Then they presented it to one very special and lucky little cutie pie.
Somewhere along the line, the story was lost and the dress was donated without a second thought.  But I like to think that somehow mini is helping the legacy of this handmade item live on. 

We pair it with a turquoise and purple sundress underneath and I love the way the ruffle pokes out the bottom.

I like to pretend my own cute little grandma made it.  Just as she made me countless pair of crocheted house shoes when she was alive.

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