Wizard of Oz Dresser

What kid doesn't love The Wizard of Oz? By the age of 10, I had the entire cassette tape (with songs and dialogue) memorized. I'd recite it on long road trips across various continents, driving the people in the car nuts! (Sorry guys). My daughter now loves the movie and her reaction to my skill of knowing the whole thing by heart is in stark contrast to my childhood experience because she readily accepts it and begs me to recite all the dialogue and sing all the songs. I LOVE IT. 

In my first few months of blogging, I came across this post over at Inspired by Charm, called "Ode to Oz." I have never forgotten it and still think it is one of the most clever ideas ever.  

source

Everything on this cupboard alludes to The Wizard of Oz. Perfection.

Ok, back to my dresser.

Down below you can see it peeking out of the corner in Ivy's room

Here's a head-on shot, totally under-exposed:

This dresser belonged to my aunt and she had it since she was 18 years old. We ended up with it after she moved back to the mainland and I promised her I would keep it in the family and in great condition. It worked in Ivy's room for a time, but the drawers were hard for her to open and she couldn't really reach the top ones. Also, what 4 year old needs 6 drawers for their clothing?

So I decided I was going to put it in my room. Some of the paint was chipping off and the gorgeous key holes had been painted right over, and it just needed some TLC and new life. So I started to peel back a little of the paint, and discovered we were dealing with 3 coats of paint!

Top layer: cream. 2nd layer: bright yellow. 3rd layer: forest green. 4th layer: solid wood.

This stuff did not want to come off. I fought it and fought it. Splinters, cuts, chemical burns, sore shoulders, you name it, I endured it to get down to the wood. I actually left a little bit of the green on it in places, and then dry brushed some off-white (shiloh) because I wanted it to show through under the black to give it depth. It was so fun to sand those key holes because they came out bright shiny gold.

For some reason I'm painting all our furniture black. Well, this is only the second piece I've done, but I'm a little obsessed. I've been using Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint in Typewriter. Here's a link to the other dresser I painted black: click here. I covered up the key hole with painter's tape and used a razor blade to cut perfectly around it so I could paint smoothly. Look at that workmanship!!

In comparison to the body of the piece, the drawers were a piece of cake. To get the 3 coats of paint off the body, I had to call in the authorities.  

My dad had out every tool he owns. I learned a lot about power tools that day.  

I discovered a little bondo/wood filler on the bottom right of the piece, but other than that it was pretty awesome all bare like that!

I dry brushed on a little more shiloh, on top of the splotchy green, then covered it all in black. 

The inside of the drawers needed some attention as they were rough and had some stains. I used clear shellac and some cute fabric to line the inside. I also painted the outside sides of the drawers in shiloh to give it a clean look when you opened and closed them. That white thing on the inside is washi tape covering the sharp end of the knobs so it doesn't tear my clothes. 

These knobs are the Green Faucet Metal Knobs from Hobby Lobby. On sale now for $2.99!

I used Miss Mustard Seed's Hemp Oil on the entire piece, then went over that with her Furniture Oil. I LOVE her Furniture Oil. I'm still getting used to the smell of the Hemp Oil. It's very earthy. :)

So here it is in our master bedroom. 

That black and white photo on the wall is from Urban Outfitters.

The pink Maui print is from Ashley Johnston Design.

It's at the foot of the bed, flanked by pieces of my husband's art, which we just moved in there. I have the Grey accent chair I blogged about here to the right of it. 

So, why call it "The Wizard of Oz" dresser? Here's my reasons:

1. The name "6 drawer dresser" is boring.

2. Those green knobs are something I could see Uncle Henry using on the farm

3. It came to me in a very mono-chromatic cream color, and it's now black, alluding to the first 17 minutes of the movie which are completely sepia toned.

4. Once I dug a little deeper I came across a layer of yellow paint: the Yellow Brick Road

5. The Yellow Brick Road led to the green layer of paint, the Emerald City

6. Once I went through all of that, we're back to the safety of our black and white sepia home.

And that's the story of my Wizard of Oz dresser.

One last tip. Per my husband's advice, I've been using a bar of soap to make sure my solid wood drawers go in and out with ease. It works like a charm. Anywhere on the drawers or on the body of the dresser that's going to slide wood to wood, you slide the soap along it. Make sure it's oil free. Scented is ok. :)

Aloha,

Rebecca

Return visit to Ululani's Hawaiian Shave Ice

Ivy & I have been back to Ululani's Hawaiian Shave Ice a couple of times since our last visit, and it is still soooooo good, and the staff is still soooooo friendly. I don't know what's in their employee training but the the way they talk to you, it feels like you've known them all your life, haha. 

 

 We took a look inside their new bakery section, "Sugar Beach Bake Shop," which wasn't in business when I wrote the last blog post, and it's so cute inside. 

Go check 'em out! It's becoming a regular weekend thing for Ivy & I. 

www.ululanisshaveice.com

Lahaina: 819 Front St. & 790 Front St.

Kihei: 61 S. Kihei Rd.

Kahului: 333 Dairy Rd.

(808) 877-3700

Aloha, Rebecca

GIVEAWAY: Twin Pieces Maui - 14 Carat Gold Filled Necklace

I'm so excited to be doing this giveaway with Twin Pieces Maui. Minti & Monica are the ladies behind Twin Pieces and I'm in love with the necklace they chose to give away. (Can I enter?) Click here to view the details on this piece.

I have many mutual friends with Minti & Monica, but I really didn't get to know them until they enrolled their daughters in my ballet/tap class, (Minti has twins in my class, Monica has a daughter in my class). When I went to their website and read the story of how their business came to be, I learned a little more about these two amazing women and Twin Pieces:

"Our story began in 2010, when we both traveled across the Pacific Ocean with our own families and five other team members to an extremely remote island called Siargao. There, we served the poverty stricken community through education, art and service. Two of the ladies that traveled on our team from Maui shared a mission to teach the local women how to make jewelry so that they could have another source of income. We were both on this mission team to serve, and while doing so, we also learned the art of jewelry-making alongside the Siargao women." 

(source: http://www.twinpiecesmaui.com)

The best part is that 10% of their profits go back to Hope for the Island, Siargao. 

Please visit www.hopefortheisland.org to learn more about this ministry in the Philippines.

There are 9 ways you can earn entries to the giveaway, so please wait for the Rafflecopter form to load below (it takes a moment) and start entering! Ends Wednesday at mid-night.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Enjoy! Aloha, Rebecca

Friday 4

Some great finds on Instagram this week:

@coffee_collective

@arielealasko

@lizmariegalvan

@arianelizabeth

Check 'em out! I'm glad I did. 

Aloha, Rebecca

Gungor Songs

As a dance teacher & choreographer, I spend HOURS on Spotify and iTunes scoping out music for work. Every semester I need new music. And I have quite the criteria: 

1. It's gotta be hip, but not "too-Top-40-overplayed" hip. 

2. It's gotta have appropriate lyrics/content. I teach students age 3 up to age... well, older than me... and I play these songs at home and in the car to prep, so Ivy is hearing them all the time. Not only do I refrain from swearing, but what they're talking about is super important to me too. Sorry K$sha, you just don't make the cut, unless I feel like cutting out every other word (which I'll admit, I've done). 

3. I have to like it! Nothing is worse than going to work every day listening to music you hate. Why would anyone do that?

Yesterday in Advanced Contemporary/Choreography class, my students informed me that I have the best music. (Ugh, thank goodness I got approval from those teenagers!) They were all, "Can you just send us your playlist?" So, students, here it is. Here's what we're dancing to, and what songs I absolutely love this month:

Bonfire Heart - James Blunt

Love Alone Is Worth The Fight - Switchfoot

Gale Song - The Lumineers

Five Hundred Miles - Justin Timberlake, Carey Mulligan & Stark Sands

The Spectacular Now soundtrack

Blue - Beyonce

Who We Are - Imagine Dragons

We Own It - Fast & Furious 6 (I cut it all up, though)

Yesternite - Gungor

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty Soundtrack

Angkor - D-Operation Drop

Dust to Dust - The Civil Wars

Enjoy!

On another note, I just really like the band Gungor. Here's my playlist of songs I like from them:

Beautiful Things

Yesternite

When Death Dies

The Fall

This Is Not The End

I'm sure there are more. Not only do they have a great sound, but they also have such poetic, impacting lyrics:

Feel free to pin these images, share them, whatevs. And go check out some of those songs. You won't be sorry!

Aloha, Rebecca

Friday 4

Friday 4 to follow on Instagram:

@alyciamealy - a friend of mine from Kauai who makes awesome dream catchers

@lottajansdotter - gorgeous designs on fabric and paper

@sophiegracemaui - Maui based jeweler who has more style in her pinkie finger than most of us do in our whole lives

@salvagepublic - really cool shots of Hawaii and clothing

Check 'em out!

Aloha, Rebecca

Refurbished Antique Dresser

 We've been trying to buy a house for almost a year now. That's another story.

While on a walk-thru of a potential home, we took a look in the garage, and it was full of all sorts of vintage goodness. It looked like the owners were continuing to have garage sales until the home sold. My eyes went straight to this dresser. I spotted it and told the listing agent I wanted it. It had a $30 price tag on it, but I didn't take it home with me. A few days later (which happened to be a few days before Christmas) my husband went to see the house, and somehow, someone convinced him to bring this home to me. I was so excited! We didn't end up putting an offer in on the house, but I'm stoked on this find in the process!!

Everyone kept asking me for a "before" photo. I had to do some sleuthing and finally zoomed in and found this in the background of another shot. It's just good old solid wood, and looks hand-made with its simple design. It came with glass knobs, and I just replaced the screws that went down the middle because they were rusty and disintegrating. 

I knew immediately that I wanted to paint it black, but not solid black. It needed character and depth. I thought Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint in "typewriter" would be best. I dry brushed a little bit of "shiloh" (off-white) onto the entire thing first, then did the black over it. 

 I love the character of the markings on the raw wood. 

The wood was really rustic and rough, so the depth of the wood and paint colors came out really neat.

It's topped with Miss Mustard Seed Hemp Oil for furniture, and her Furniture Wax. It was my first time using the hemp oil, and at first I didn't like it when I used a cloth to apply it. I later used a brush to apply it on another piece and it looked a lot better. 

  I painted the sides of the drawers in shiloh, because I felt like it needed a slightly finished look on the sides. I left the insides bare wood.

Ivy & I ended up doing a mini photo shoot in front of the dresser with a bunch of stuff from my Etsy shop. Here she is modeling the Sea Shell Head Band, available in my Etsy shop. 

Here's the Arrow Bunting: 

Here's the Farmhouse Scallop Bunting:

After going back and forth for a few days, I finally convinced Kit to let me keep it in exchange for selling my Vintage Vanity. It's actually for his clothes... so I don't know what the fuss was all about. I take that back. I know what the fuss is all about. I have furniture everywhere. I need to sell it! If you're local, check out my furniture and buy it!

A good friend of mine is moving to San Francisco and I made this doily bunting as a going away present. I strung it out on the dresser, and the pics came out so neat. 

Here's some song lyrics from the Broadway Musical "Wicked" that I think are so fitting:

Aloha, Rebecca