Yet Another Painted Dresser

Last week I showed you Hubby's dresser re-do. This week I would like to share my dresser. I bought my dresser off craigslist for $50. Both of the dressers are in the same bedroom so I wanted the style to match without being matchy-matchy. I kept the same idea of white, wood and green accents. This dresser was a bit more of a challenge because even after sanding it down quite a bit, the original stain kept showing through. I eventually made my own chalk paint by using 1 cup paint to 1/2 cup baking soda. So easy! It is definitely a more rough paint but it uses less coats and after two coats the original red stain stopped coming through. I stained the top in the same stain as Hubby's dresser and proceeded to paint a flower on the front. This dresser seems more girlie than Hubbys striped dresser. I am done painting dressers for a while. I have a gorgeous oak dresser in the other bedroom, but am not going to touch it. After having dressers in the middle of the living room while I was working on them, its super nice to have the floor space back. I am working on making the bedroom more retreat like. The painted dressers help tremendously!

New (Used) Mower

I have never been so excited about a old mower before!  We have been attempting to use our push reel mower on our property.  This mower would be ideal if our grass wasnt so tall.  However our grass is way too tall and thick for the poor little mower.  Since our budget is incredibly tight, we thought we wouldn't be able to afford a new mower until a few more paychecks.  The thought of the grass getting even longer and taller was killing me.  So I turned to good old craigslist again and searched for a mower.  I knew we needed a self propelled model (our front yard is a hill).  Eventually we will need to get a riding mower (most likely used on craigslist) but for now a push mower will be fine.  There were only a few within our budget, but I managed to score exactly what we needed for only $80.  The key to craigslist I have found, is to be willing to pick it up right away.  I usually offer less on the condition that I can come right now.  If I want them to hold something for me usually I will pay the asking price.  This mower was on craigslist for $100 and I paid $80.  Never hurts to ask!  So now begins the hard part of actually mowing.  We started around the garden boxes, so that the lawn would not be so inviting to ticks.  We will move on to the front yard as soon as we are satisfied with the back/garden.  My arms, back and legs are aching but I am so excited!