From Uptight to Outasight!

So, I had this huge dresser I got at a garage sale about 7 years ago for $75. It was very traditional, old fashioned looking with a cream colored paint, gold accents and really elaborate, big, brass drawer handles, the likes of which you only see on time worn furniture, very fussy and....uptight. Pretty, but not my style. The pulls were perfectly functional though, and I didn't see the need to spend money to replace them. Over the years I have painted this dresser many times....first a chalky marine blue, next a beautiful forest/kelly green, I think it was orange at one point... every time just using the drawer pulls it originally came with, spray painted out of course. This was all waaay before I even knew blogging existed, so I regret there are no before pics! Oh how many projects I have un-documented.....Blogger, if only you and I had met years ago! Anyway, back to the subject..... In recent history, I had assigned the dresser to my daughters room and painted it pink to go with the rest of the room. I had had it with those big drawer pulls, however, and decided to finally replace them. I didn't want to spend a lot of money, but it seemed everything I liked was going to end up costing more than I paid for the dresser itself! I really liked these handles

but at close to $10 a piece, it wasn't gonna happen. ($10 x 10 pulls = $100...not crazy expensive, but more than my budget allowed for)

 I thought two smaller pulls side by side might work, but same story....($5 a piece x 20 = $100) Betcha didn't know I was a math wiz! ;-)

I really didn't have much luck finding anything I liked in my price range, so I gave up for the time being. A few weeks went by and one day I was cleaning out my craft supplies when I happened upon a big bag of glass beads I had forgotten about. They were all sparkly and shiny and in shades of purple, pink and silver....They reminded me of the glass drawer pulls I wanted.....I got an idea! I decided to make my own dresser pulls using the beads and some wire! So cheap and easy...I already had all the supplies and I didn't need to worry about the spacing between the holes for the pulls...add or subtract a bead or two until you have the right length. Just string the beads onto the wire ( I had 14 guage) and thread the wire through the holes. Easy!

On the backside, twist the wire like you would a twistie tie and thread the end back towards the front, but not all the way through. This prevents the wire ends from catching on clothing and such.

We are in process of moving, so this shot was taken on the moving truck!

The great thing about it is, you can change out the bead color to match any paint job and it is so easy! Sure the wire bends a little now and then, but it doesn't even matter! The beads do a good job of keeping things mostly where they need to be...they won't, however, keep little girls clothes off the floor! I just think it looks so pretty and sparkly and adds such a fun, unexpected element to the classic lines of the dresser....it's outasight! Think about this option the next time you're in the market for drawer pulls! Hope you enjoyed your visit today and if you did, please consider following. I'm trying to reach 100 followers and would really appreciate your help! it's free and easy, just like many of the projects you will see here! Thanks!

 

Also, going on over at Faith, Trust and Pixie Dust, Michelle is hosting her first linky party! Make sure to stop over and check out all the links!

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