Summer Starts

It is over! I finished my first year of teaching! What a year it has been. It is definitely a whirlwind of emotions being a teacher. Some days you think "Hey, I am not cut out for this. Nobody understood problem solving today." Other days it is like, "Wow! Everyone really caught on to cause and effect. I should do this forever!" 

Ups and downs. 

It is only when you take a look back to the beginning of the year and see how far they have come that you realize you really do make a difference.

 I find myself in a really weird place this summer. I have had a job ever since I was 15 years old. This summer will be the first summer that I don't have a job. I have been looking forward to it and dreading it at the same time. I have been so excited to tackle some projects I have been wanting to work on, but I worry that when those are done I will be bored out of my mind. Maybe this blog will keep me on my toes.

My first projects this summer were some furniture re-dos. 

The Dresser

I was so excited to get started I jumped right in and didn't take a before picture of the dresser which is really truly sad, because it was in terrible shape. Think hideous white paint peeling with old lady leaf stencil. We bought it over a year ago and I have been using it ever since thinking to myself that one day it would be beautiful.
And now it is...

First, I had to strip off all the old paint using a paint stripper. I tried a few different kinds but I have to say CitriStrip was my favorite. It didn't have a chemical odor (smelled orange-y and delicious) and it worked much better than the spray on kind. Learn from my mistakes and just buy one jug of the paint on kind.

    

After stripping and scraping all the paint off, I painted the dresser mossy green and brown.

I have this thing for mismatched knobs. I just think it is so aesthetically pleasing to see something new on each drawer. I tried to keep with the same type of finish, but different designs. Each knob cost about $1.30 at Home Depot. (Hobby Lobby's knobs are all more expensive, even on a 50% off sale. Trust me, we checked.)

        These ones are my favorite, they looked very Celtic to me.

Here they are up close! 

The Desk

The desk was a KSL find. It is solid oak with dovetail joints and it only cost us $50. Honestly, I am not super thrilled about how this one turned out. I stripped and stained the whole thing dark to start with. I hated it so much. It looked so much more old. So, I re-stripped it the next day and painted it New Age Blue. (Which looks an awful lot like glorified periwinkle). I do like that the paint and stain together makes it look a little different. It is kinda hipster. I mostly like that I can be done with the project for now after all the hours put into it. I guess you can't be super happy with all re-do's.

Now What?

So here I am now, six days in to summer with my two giant projects done. I mostly think about my classroom next year and what I can do differently every spare minute of the day. However, I want a little summer break! Any ideas for new projects before I start Operation Apartment De-Clutter? That one doesn't quite sound as fun.