An Antiqued Dresser for Christmas Plus a Handmade Nativity

Happy Friday!

Have you decorated for Christmas yet? I absolutely love decorating for Christmas and was excited to get started. So, a few days ago, my husband pulled all the tubs down from the attic for me and placed them in the garage.

And then…

I took a furniture painting detour;)

You see, I’ve been wanting to change the dresser in my entryway for something a bit narrower for awhile now. And as I was looking at the Christmas tubs in the garage, my eyes glanced over at the dresser I had bought at an estate sale last month to fix up and sell. Suddenly, “ding”, an idea hit. That dresser just might work. So I measured it and it was a perfect fit.

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Here’s how my antiqued dresser started…

 

And check out these drawer liners….whoo, looks like my grandma’s old couch….

This little gem was sitting in the garage at that estate sale. I spied it (plus another little side table) and couldn’t believe that nobody had bought it. I mean it’s solid wood, on casters, has awesome keyholes, and the half-off price was $40! The little side table came home with me, too, and I’ll show that one to you as soon as I fix it up.

For this antiqued dresser, I primed it first because it was a very reddish orange and that’s always a risk for bleed-through.

Then, I tried a new paint called Dixie Belle in the color Sand Bar. This paint went on like a dream! It was super smooth and covered amazingly well. I bought the 16 oz size and used way less than half of the jar. I’ll definitely use this paint brand again.

Next, I sanded it down to distress it. I distressed this piece more than I usually do because I wanted it to look quite aged.

Finally, I did some antiquing with glazes and added some new pulls from Hobby Lobby to get the final result.

And here’s what it looks like now…

I really like how the primer is showing through in the sanded down parts. It gives another color and adds to the aged look….

Christmas in the entryway:

Of course I did wheel it (seriously, all furniture should be on casters!) into my entryway and dressed it up for Christmas….

The antiqued dresser now holds a jar with some berry branches propped up on a very old dictionary. And I also hung this rolled sheet music wreath that I made a few years ago. In the center of the wreath, I placed a vintage brooch…

My nativity set:

But my all-time favorite and my most treasured Christmas decoration is my nativity scene. I searched for several years (with no luck) for a unique nativity set. Then a few years ago, my sons took a pottery class and made one for me!

I display it inside a small crate with some faux greens and battery operated lights. The angel gets a little adhesive mounting putty for extra security.

Isn’t it cute?

And one more shot of the antiqued dresser before and after…

I hope you have a great weekend and get lots of Christmas decorating done!

Related: See my recently completed French country Christmas mantel here.

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