DIY Distressing Night Stand.

I've been wanting a nightstand for a while...But every time I went to Marshall's or TJ Max to take a look at what they had, it was way beyond my price point...One day my husband & I went to Goodwill to look for a lamp plug we can add to one of our decorative Christmas Houses, and came across this beautiful nightstand that seemed far too outdated rocking out its Vintage Maple Wood look. So we decided to buy it, and give it new life! My DH sanded it down, then we stained the top & painted the bottom white...I wanted the distressed look, so we went ahead and distressed it together! And here it is, the finished product! I am totally in love with it, and so glad we decided to make it a project that we'll never forget!

I Love My Stained Top, Painted Bottom Night stand.
It's not hard to achieve this look just take the steps mentioned below...

1.Sand your all wood furniture piece.
2.Tape undesired edges that you wouldn't want to stain, so you have a clean even piece without stain getting into your (paint) area...
3.Stain the top of your nightstand with your stain color of choice. We did about 8 layers, and after trial and error we figure out that brushing the stain on, then wiping off with an old t-shirt worked best for us.
4.Paint the rest of the nightstand.
5.Spray paint your hardware if you wish to, ours were previously gold.
6. Start distressing the areas you'd think would get wear on a vintage piece...Or wherever you'd like the distressing to be for that matter...
7. Brush the stain on a back and forth or up and down motion once or twice, then immediately wipe off to get that rugged look pictured...
8. Your choice weather to add a clear coat or not...We chose not to, since I liked the kinda flat satin look. We had purchased a satin finish top coat but test drove it on a switch wood cover and didn't end up liking it. Even though it said Satin, it was still too shiny...We might go back to the store and get a Matte finish clear coat.

Items You'll Need:

-plus gloves, if you have any & 200 grit sanding paper for distressing, and sanding between staining coats.

Before & After Pictures

Sand your all wood furniture piece.

Stain your wood.

Brush the stain on, then wipe off with a cloth or old t-shirt. Repeat until you achieve desired light/dark shade.

Spray paint Hardware & Paint the Rest of Nightstand.

 

 Before & After Distressing.

Enjoy Your Piece! I would love to see pictures once you're done! Happy Distressing! :D

Hooked on Crafts

Being a stay at home mom without my child at home for half the day has had me twirling my fingers here and there. My munchkin started school this year, and although I still have my Mommy duties to account for, I still end up with the desire to have something to nurture. And well since I'm not good at keeping plants, and other living species alive other than my own flesh and blood (aside from husband) ;) lol Well...I reverted to my own crafty self, again...With time on my hands now I have started to make these beautiful fishing lures that were inspired as a gift for Fathers Day! And may I say, boy how I've missed being crafty and picking up a project here and there!

Now I enjoy hand stamping personalized messages letter by letter to craft a unique gift, your loved one will enjoy! Aside from making these customizable lures... I've also created keychains out of them to remind that Fishing Idol in your life how much they mean to you, or you to them. I hope you continue to walk on this path with me and watch me grow, as I continue to craft and add more to my boutique on Etsy. If you're interested in any of my projects that I will be posting in the future feel free to inquire about them here, or head on over to my Etsy shop I may have what you're looking for. Thank You & God Bless!

Xochilt's Boutique

Banana Bread

I've been craving sweet bread forever now...Not to mention I haven't baked in forever....So I decided to make banana bread today. I followed my Kitchen Aid Mixer recipe for this banana bread. Here is the recipe:

Banana Nut Bread


1/2 Cup Shortening
1/2 Cup Sugar
2 Eggs
1 3/4 Cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 Cup (2 medium) mashed ripe banana
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans


place shortening and sugar in mixer bowl. Attach bowl and flat beater to mixer. Turn to speed 6 and beat about 1 minute Stop and scrape bowl Continuing on speed 6, beat about 1 minute longer. Add eggs. Turn to speed 4 and beat about 30 seconds. Stop and scrape bowl. Turn to speed 6 and beat about 1 1/2 mins.


Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a separate bowl Add half of our mixture and half of mashed banana to mixer bowl. Turn to stir speed and mix about 30 sec. Add remaining flour and banana. Continuing on stir speed, mix about 30 seconds. Stop and scrape bowl. Add walnuts. Continuing  on stir speed, mis about 15 sec. 


Pour mixture into a greased and floured 9x5x3-inch baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 40 to 45 mins. Cool 5 mins in pan. Remove from pan and cool completely on wire rack. 


Yield: 16 servings (16 slices)
Per serving: About 157 cal, 3gpro, 21g carb, 7g fat, 27mg chol, 131mg sod.


Enjoy!

Bible Book Cover Tutorial

I've had these Designer Fabric samples for quite some times now. For a while I wanted a cover for my bible,but wasn't too thrilled about the designs I seen out there. Not to mention some were on the pricey side. So I decided to come home and google,"Bible Book Cover Tutorial." I came across Honey Scrap's Blog that had a simple and cute bible cover. She made hers out of a pillow case, I made mine out of the fabric samples. So I asked her if I could replicate her tutorial on my blog. Mine is a little different of course since my pieces are a lot smaller, and believe my bible is as well.  So here is the tutorial I'm replicating from her blog. My instructions will be for samples of fabric you get from the Designer Sample Fabric books. Usually these pieces measure 28.3"Vertically & 17.9" Horizontally. This is my first project tutorial so bear with me. If you do have any questions don't hesitate to ask.

1.Pick your pieces of fabric. If using the fabric samples I choose four. Plus two other pieces of off white fabric from a hamper basket that I no longer needed. 

2.Measure your bible, by opening it and cutting 3/4'ths around it. Since I have the fabric samples I placed them both together and cut on the edges of the book. Then I got a hamper cloth bag I didn't use anymore to get my two plain rectangles. I also cut 3/4'ths around, these I will use to sew the decorative fabric on top of. (+)It makes the cover more sturdy.

 3. If using your fabric samples there should be 4 pieces.

 4. Iron Along the longest edge 1/2". Then fold the same side over another 1/2" and iron, then sew with a straight stitch.Do this to all 4 of  your pieces.

4.This is what they should look like after...

(For the side pocket I forgot to take a picture. Get another one of your four pieces and fold it on the longer edge 1/2" iron then fold another 1" and sew with a straight stitch,leave it aside.)

 5. Place both of the previous edge sewn pieces on the plain long rectangle piece of fabric. With the raw edges matching.

6.Place another decorative piece in the middle or leave the design from the longer rectangle in the back. 

 7. Sew along the inner hemmed edges. 

  It should look like this after. Place your pocket on either side, and line up the inner hemmed so that there is 1" outside the larger fold facing the outside. Sew it down the side with the smaller fold. 

 8. Embroider if you'd like....

 9.For the straps cut them as long as you'd like,plus 1" and double with the width you want plus 1/4". I cut my strips from the remaining fabric.

 10. Fold your strips in half lengthwise and sew up one side with a 1/4" seam. Flip right side out, iron flat, and top stitch each side of the strap


 with a 1/8" seam.

 11. Assemble your other side by putting the other side rectangles on the bigger one,then place your straps raw edges meeting. 

Pin them.

12.Place the other piece on top right sides meeting. Pin it and sew  along 1/4". Make sure to leave a hole to turn it right side up.

 13. Turn it right side up, and sew along the whole right side up 1/4".

If you have any questions leave me a message.Like I said this is my first project tutorial.