DIY Upcycled Cabinet Door

I'm always looking for random pieces of furniture, home goods that I can remake into something else, or just odds and ends that I think I can do something with. This weekend there were ohh, about 650 community garage sales in just a 5 mile radius of me. Okay, so that may be a slight exaggeration ;) Anyway, this house had these cabinet doors they were selling. There were your typical kitchen cabinet size doors for $2, and some really large ones for $3. I decided I could do something with one of the standard size ones, so I bought one. Now--if you know me AT ALL, you know that I'm very inpatient, so I had to get on this project ASAP. This is what I decided to do with it--this is what it looked like when I bought it:

First, I wiped it off, and spray painted it black. Why did I choose black? Honestly, because it was the only color I had on hand, and I wanted to do it right then. I told you--I'm inpatient. :D

After that, I distressed the paint job. You don't have to do this, but I like the look of it--so I did. 

You don't have to do inside the trim, because you'll cover that up later. 

This is what I used to distress the wood with. There are many ways you can do that, and people use many different things. Sometimes I sand it, other times I use this. I wanted a lot of paint off of it today, so this was the best. 

Here is what you'll need for the next step: fabric, scissors, a measuring tape, mod podge (I make my own: 1 part Elmer's glue to 1 part water), and a brush. 

Measure and cut the fabric to fit inside the trim.

Next, I brushed mod podge all over the inside of the trim, straight on the wood. While it is still wet, lay the fabric evenly. Make sure you smooth out all the bubbles. You don't have to, but I brushed mod podge on top of the fabric as well. 

After that, you'll want to wait until the mod podge is completely dry. I waited overnight. The next day, I took it out to spray a clear coat over all of it. I hot glued 2 clothespins to the fabric to hold pictures. I attached some lace ribbon to the back, and backed it with felt. If you don't like the ribbon look--I saw a cool thing on Pinterest where you can nail a pop tab on the back of it, so that you can hang it by a nail like a regular frame.  Wah-lah--here is the end result. 

I really love it, and I haven't really seen anything like it. This project was super cheap too. I had all of the supplies on hand except for the fabric (I was dying for this chevron fabric.) But if you had nothing, and you had to buy it all, it would cost roughly...$10. And it took me no time at all! 

I ended up going back to the same garage sale the next day and bought 1 more this size, and one of the huge doors. I have something already planned for those as well--but that will be for later ;) 

And The Winners Are...

Thank you everyone who participated in the contest. Thank you vendors, for donating your product. Thank you customers, for taking your time to do this. Having said that, drumroll please!


1. Winner of *Cozy Covers* by Rachel's prize:
Angelic


2. Winner of Reeb Photo's prize:
Bev_Tompary


3. Winner of Amanda Haynie Photography's prize:
Leticia


4. Winner of Bella Moda's prize:
JBush1171


5. Winner of Handmade by Heather's prize:
GinaD


6. Winner of Kamber's Thirty-One: 
Brittany Kaye


7. Winner of Shaklee with the Bauers:
Amy Kalk


Winners~ it's your responsibility to contact the businesses to claim your prize. If the vendor does not hear from you within 48 hours, another winner will be chosen! Thanks everyone! <3

Giveaway!

Here you go, guys--finally! Some awesome vendors have joined me in this giveaway. You can win prizes from any of these. Here are the rules:

1. Become a follower of my blog. (Sign in, and actually become a follower!) 

2. Like my facebook fanpage: https://www.facebook.com/CozyCoversbyRachel

3. Like the fanpages listed below. It would be nice to write on their wall too, let them know I sent you, and to thank them for their donation. :)

4. Comment on this blog to let me know you did all of the above. 

Here's how it works:

It's easy. Do all of the above. Wednesday evening, I'll tally up all the comments, and go right on over to random.org. I'll choose a winner that way, one winner for each of the prizes. I will make sure the person chosen has followed all the steps listed above. If a non-local person is chosen for a local prize, I'll choose another. I will announce the winners here on my blog Wednesday evening. If a winner doesn't respond within 48 hours, I will choose another. It is the winner's responsibility to contact the vendor. 

Any questions? Y'all ready? 

1. Prize from *Cozy Covers* by Rachel: $20 shop credit, good towards anything, not to be combined with any other offer. 

https://www.facebook.com/CozyCoversbyRachel 

2. Prize from Reeb Photo (locals only): free mini session, with a free 8x10, 5x7, and 8 wallets. 

https://www.facebook.com/ReebPhoto 

3. Prize from Amanda Haynie Photography (locals only): free mini session.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Amanda-Haynie-Photography/136452799709758?ref=ts 

4. Prize from Bella Moda Indy: $15 shop credit good toward anything in the store. 

https://www.facebook.com/Bella.Moda.Fashion 

5. Prize from Handmade by Heather: $25 credit good toward anything, and a trio of bohemian headbands.

https://www.facebook.com/HandmadebyHeather1 

6. Prize from Kamber's Thirty One: free Cinch Tote.

www.facebook.com/kambersthirtyonegifts 

7. Prize from Shaklee with the Bauers: free Basic H.

https://www.facebook.com/Bauer.Shaklee 

Refinishing fun

I love refinishing furniture. It's easy, and it makes me feel accomplished. I did one last night that I *love*. It was a night stand in this old furniture set that we've had sitting around forever. I'll post step by step of what I did. 
Here it is when we got it (for free, of course!)

It had already been stripped, which made it pretty easy for me. It has this weird piece of tile something or other on top of it too. 

So first, I just got some $.96 white spray paint from Walmart. Quality, folks. I sprayed about 3 coats on it. Let it dry about 5 minutes in between each coat. 

After that, I took a fine grade sandpaper to it to distress it a little bit. Not too much though. 

After that dried, I wanted to do something with that weird tile piece on top. So I got went through my gazillion fabrics and found one I liked, and cut it to fit the top. 

I got a sponge brush, my mod podge. Yes, I make my own mod podge. It's super easy, and way cheaper, and works just as good. Just mix 1/2-2/3 part Elmer's glue to 1/2 part water. Shake it up, and you have mod podge. SO. I just brushed some podge over the tile piece evenly, and laid the fabric across it. I also podged on top of it as well. Be sure to get all the edges good as well. This will need to dry overnight. The next day, you're ready for the next step. 

Spray the fabric with a couple coats of polyurethane clear coat. That will dry fairly quickly too. I had to get a knob, because this one was a weird, ugly one that was just glued on. A drill through the drawer and a cheap knob fixed that problem. And you're done! 

Stand~ $0
Paint~ $1
Clear coat~ $3
Fabric ~ <$1
Mod Podge~ <$1
Sponge Brush~ $1
Knob~ $3
Sandpaper~ $2
Total~ $12 (most of which I already had on hand)
Total time~ about an hour
Before and after:

Craft fair craziness

Sorry y'all. I had to postpone the giveaway. I've been so crazy lately. It first started with a family emergency we had with my husband. We were in the hospital for 4 days. After lots of tests, time, energy, and tears, we finally found out he has a gluten allergy. This has been a CRAZY change in our lives. Our son has a nut allergy. While I thought that was difficult, that's NOTHING compared to a gluten-free diet. Store bought items are expensive. Restaurants either don't have it, have no clue what gluten even is, have 1-2 items, or are more expensive as well. We are learning to cope with it, and it is becoming easier day by day. He's doing good so far! 


We did take a mini getaway to Chicago to try to calm our lives down for a bit. A friend let us use a Groupon she got for this quaint hotel in the city that was ADORABLE. We took the city bus, walked the magnificient mile, ate at Chipotle (we don't have one of those close by, and it's super gluten-free!), and bought shoes and socks for a homeless guy. It was a good time, and a breath of fresh air. 


After I got back, a friend told me about a local craft fair. I'm all about doing those, but the thing was--it was in a week. And I had barely anything on hand. We also found out that a fellow mom friend of ours lost her 3 year old in his sleep, completely unexpectedly this week. We're putting together lots of fundraisers, auctions, etc. for it. 


SO--with the all the family craziness and preparation for the craft fair, I had to put off the giveaway. I'll start getting things together for it next week, I promise. :) Thank you guys for bearing with me <3 

Coming soon: Giveaway!

In hopes to give this blog a little jump start, I want to host a giveaway. I have a few vendors lined up, and am still looking for more. Of course, there will be some *Cozy Covers* love in it too <3 I love supporting small businesses, and I hope this will lead more people into supporting some that they may not have seen before.I'll gather some more vendors, and figure out the details, and post about it very soon!  

Introduction

Hi! I've been thinking for a few months now, that I wanted to start blogging. I want to let you in a little more to the more personal side of me. I want to show you some tips on how to wear some of my products. Also, who doesn't love a giveaway? With Facebook rules and such, I'd rather do that here now. 


SO! I'm Rachel. I'm the girl behind *Cozy Covers* by Rachel. I started the business in October 2010, making fleece tie blankets. It was the perfect timing for the blankets, being cold weather. They made (make) perfect Christmas gifts, so it took off pretty quickly. As the weather grew warmer, the blankets began to subside. When that happened, I started branching off into other things. I now do blankets still (custom), hair accessories, jewelry, picture frames, flip flops, magnets, wreaths, camera straps, and I'm sure there are other things I'm not remembering! It's kept me pretty busy, and I have you to thank for it. <3


A little bit about me. I'm married to an awesome man. We will have our 8 year anniversary this July. {I was married at 18!} He's my rock, honestly. We literally are each others best friends. We have one child together. He will be 4 this April. Right now, I do work very part time outside of the home. My place of employment has a schedule that allows me to work 2 mornings a week, when my son is sleeping, and I can be home during his waking hours. So I still consider myself a stay-at-home mom too. Well, I suppose with this, work-at-home mom would be more appropriate :) 


I love what I do. You guys have made this be so successful, and I can't thank you enough. I thank God all the time for allowing this. I have none other to thank.


I hope you guys enjoy my blog. I'm not particularly good with words, extremely funny, or clever, but I'll do my best. :) 


Here's to a fun-filled and successful future! I want to put together a blog giveaway with other vendors as well in the very near future. If you or anyone you know may be interested, let me know!

Here are a few pictures of our little family <3