UpCycled Dictionary Dresser

One of my passions is upcycling (Upcycling is the process of converting waste materials or useless products into new materials or products of better quality or for better environmental value.) I like to call it my therapy! I have completed several projects over the past year and now with homecoming behind us hopefully I can post a few!

I am not very good at creating "how to's" or "tutorials" but hopefully you can gain inspiration from some of my projects. I will be adding tips, tricks and information on products I love along the way. Last but not least I am NOT a photographer. (Just had to throw that out there in case you didn't notice!)

My latest project was a dresser I upcycled for my daughter who will be leaving for college in a few months and will be majoring in English. Being in need of extra storage at the time I inherited this dresser about eight years ago from a friend who had no need for it.  It is solid wood and very well built just not very attractive.

Dresser Before

UpCycle Dictionary Dresser I began by sanding and cleaning well.  (And removing those gorgeous drawer pulls!)  I then used two coats of flat black paint only on the base of the dresser. 

I have on old dictionary my dad used when he was in school so I tore the pages out and decoupaged them on the drawer fronts. Once everything was dry I used a product, on the entire piece, I came across at the home improvement store. Rust-oleum Ultimate Polyurethane in Matte Finish. LOVE IT!!! So I used two coats of that.

Then added black metal drawer pulls. Once completed I did not like how the bottom four drawers seemed to "run together" there is nothing dividing them like the top drawer.  So I glued on a piece of grosgrain ribbon at the bottom of the middle drawers.

Close up of one of the drawers

And the finished product!

Dictionary Dresser After

Up Cycle

Sophomore Mum-Two School Mum

Sophomore Mum

Now for the mum I made for my sophomore. Again she is a "girly girl" so we had to add some different ribbon and this year she wanted leopard print. She is still dating a boy from another school so we went with half his colors and half hers.

Sophomore Mum Topper

For the topper she wanted her initial so we painted it red and glued on rhinestones. All of the picks (including peacock feathers) came from the Christmas section at the craft store. We alternated red (her color) and blue(his color) tulle around the flower and accented it with leopard print ribbon.

Streamers

For the streamers one side is hers and the others is his. We added small leopard print bows to the streamers and made bows from volleyball and baseball ribbon on either side. The red boa came from the dollar store and I used silver christmas garland on his side and attached some snapshots to it.

Finished Two School Mum

SENIOR MUM-Homecoming Time AGAIN!!

Senior Mum

Mums and Garter are completed and TODAY is the DAY!! I think I will start by posting my Senior Mum. Cannot believe this is the last time I will make my oldest a mum. I was fine until I was cleaning up all my mum stuff the other day and found some leftover "Class of 2014" ribbon. Yes, I started balling. It finally hit me, I just completed my last mum for her.

Finished Senior Mum

Senior Mum Topper

I used white tulle around the outside, thick gold ribbon for the loops and smaller gold ribbon for the strips. The picture is just a snapshot from Prom last year printed in black & white off my laser printer. The white picks came from the wedding area at the craft store, the gold picks from Christmas section and the hearts from the homecoming section. I "dressed up" the standard plastic senior charm with rhinestones and gold stars. The "C W" were already sparkle white from the craft store.

Senior Mum Streamers

Now for the streamers...This is where I really tried to personalize it!  She has been in newspaper for all four years so for the names I used chip board newsprint letters I found at the craft store. One of their favorite places is the zoo so above the names I have their favorite animal. The small "beach items" on the right are to remind her of Spring Break last year when he asked her to prom.  Of course more black and white pictures. The garland is Christmas garland I found at dollar tree!

And Lights

And yes, I had to add lights! Just used two strands of the LED lights, one on each side. I wrapped the lights around the garland and glued the on off switch to the hanger loop on either side  so she could easily reach the switch.