Last week I gave you a little sneak peek in to what the first [of many]
Tutorial Tuesday's was going to be and now here it is the finished product!
Yes, I totally turned this
Stanley Mobile Work Center that I bought from
Home Depot for $30 bucks in to a rolling train (make-up) case. Here's the quick back story: my daughter is a competitive dancer (sort of like the t.v. series
Dance Moms but without the horrid drama...yeah we're cool like that) I became sick of carrying all my daughter's and my make-up and hair items with me every where. I have wanted a rolling train case for myself for a while but I just can't see spending on the upwards of $150 for it.....so ridic! Anyway, this thing has made my life so much easier, but it was totally ugly to bring with me everywhere. So, the stickers came off and new ones went on. It was
super* easy and here is how I did it:
*Disclaimer: the one sticker [see the picture of before I primed it] was a pain in the ass....next one I do, I am going to find an easier way to take this stupid thing off. Thank you Stanley for making it almost impossible to take your trademark off.
The top and bottom are connected by latches and if you remember there was a decal on the bottom half of the product that needed to be removed. If you forgot what it looked like see my post about it
here. Using a blow dryer, tweezers, and a scraper, I removed the decal. WARNING: this takes
a long time FOREVER!!!!! Once I removed the entire sticker this is what I was left with.
 |
| Before Priming |
Yuck! So I then got an abrasive sponge and Goo Gone and started scrubbing away until I got it to look like this.
Much, much better! I also needed to try to figure out how I was going to paint on plastic and then it occurred to me...they make plastic primer paint! So I armed myself with painters tape, newspaper, and some plastic primer (I used
Rust-Oleum). Since the primer came in a spray can I felt the need to really cover the whole thing.
 |
| Not sure why I am missing paper on the left side but I assure you I added some! |
I then sprayed the whole section with a light coat of primer. Just enough to cover it....you do not want to over do it!
While that dried (it took about 30 minutes), I worked on the decorations to the upper half. Now please keep in mind that this is for my daughter and although I was the handywoman she ultimately got to have the final say on what goes (I helped steer her in to a better direction).
I found a lot of "bling" like stickers that she loved from the craft store and Wal-Mart and placed them on different areas. I also found these awesome mirror letters! They were $.99 at Michaels!
But the faded in with the black coloring of the case. So I used good ol' puffy paint in hot pink & neon green and outlined them.
 |
| You can really see your reflection in them! Isn't it COOL! |
By the time I finished all the decorating of the upper half of the work center, the lower half was done. I used stencils and a hot pink acrylic paint to write out my daughters nickname "
Bird." It took about four coats, but I think that is b/c it was a glow in the dark paint.
I let that dry and then outlined it again with the neon green puffy paint and I was pretty much done. Birdy made some final touches with sparkling stars.
Here's what it looks like on the inside:
1. Turn-out tray for all hair accessories
2. Mini compartment to hold things like primer and face stuff
3. Pull out tray to hold eye shadows, liners, mascaras, and other face make-up
4. This is what it looks like when it's closed
5. Underneath houses palettes and other items
I'm an idiot and forgot to take a pic of the lower half but that houses all her sponge rollers, blow dryer, and other hair tools. BTW, not all of the items are my daughters, I have kind of taken it over b/c it is SO COOL! I believe I will be buying the bigger version of this and doing one just for me. Had I really put some more thought in it, I would have also attached the mirrored letters to the inside!
What do you guys think of the first
Tutorial Tuesday? How about a $30 rolling train case? AWESOME right!? What else would you like to see? Leave me comments or send me an email!
