Thursday, March 28, 2013

TREE OF LIFE Fenner Auction Dresser



This post is a sponsored post or  uses affiliate links to help you find the products I trust and love


Good Morning my Beauties!
I hope you are ready for this Post.
It is FULL of  lots and lots of  pictures
and tons of information about the reason my niece and I do these
pieces for Fenner Nature Center.

The upcoming Auction is for the EARTH DAY EXTRAVAGANZA.
I thought, what better to celebrate Earth Day than with the
TREE OF LIFE,
all the while RESCUING a tree that was made into a dresser that was going to
be thrown into a landfill.
I have been wanting to do a "tree of life" piece for a while and when the
opportunity presented itself for another Fenner Nature Center Auction
I knew it was meant to be.

This is the rescued dresser. We had planed on using
another dresser but time did not allow us
to not only FIX the dresser to the point of being usable,
and to paint it. So I just traded one dresser for another.

This is my Niece Katherine and I getting ready to get started on our
Auction dresser. We had sanded and prepped the whole thing
to get ready to paint.

We mixed up our CeCe Caldwell's all natural clay based paint
to the colors we wanted for the piece and got to work.



Katie drying the drawers in front of the furnace
Scientifically measuring for our center

Here we are working hard on getting the dresser base coated so we can begin the fun part.
You can see our very scientific way of making our template for our center piece.
We were laughing walking around trying to find 2 round objects so make our circle for the center
of our tree. A Weber grill lid and round tray saved the day!

Now we could start filling in our circle with paint.

and then changing it cause it was tooo dark...


Now the really fun part. Free hand drawing on our TREE OF LIFE!

Making a mess as usual.

Katherine had a great Idea as usual to add a pop of stripes to the side of the dresser
to bring the sides together with the yellow on the front...
So while I worked on striping...

She worked on shading..

Then I worked on highlights.

Here she is in all of her GLORY.
Waxed and distressed and full of life!

I couldn't be happier with how it turned out and how something once again,
headed for a landfill was transformed and brought back, like a tree that goes dormant in the winter,
it comes back more BEAUTIFUL than ever in the spring.

Just in time for the AUCTION.

A huge thank you to my Niece, the smart and BEAUTIFUL Katie Woodhams,
who believes in me enough to work on these wonderful projects
for such a great cause.

The SPRING SOCIAL at Fenner Nature Center
an Earth Day Afternoon Fundraiser!
 Lansing, MI –
Beginning at 3:15pm until dusk, on Earth Day 2013, Saturday, April 20th , Fenner Conservancy, the nonprofit that manages the Fenner Nature Center, in partnership with the City of Lansing, will host their SPRING SOCIAL.  This fundraising affair will take place at Fenner Nature Center, following the Earth Day Extravaganza event there.
Tickets for this fundraiser are $50, and the event will include:
•Live music
•Cash bar and buffet-style dinner
•Live and silent auctions
•A keynote address by Margaret Holtschlag, Michigan Teacher of the Year and finalist for National Teacher of the Year in 2000
(More details coming soon!)
Tickets may be purchased online at, www.mynaturecenter.org, by phone, 517 483-4224, or in person, at Fenner Nature Center, located at 2020 E. Mt. Hope Ave. in Lansing.  (At the corner of Mt. Hope Ave. and Aurelius Rd.) 
These Earth Day events at Fenner are an opportunity for families, individuals and groups to experience this urban oasis and Earth Day in the midst of nature.  For more information visit www.mynaturecenter.org.
Attendees are encouraged to ride their bikes and park in the Mid-MEAC Bike Valet in order to reduce their carbon footprint!



Fenner Nature Center Hosts
the 2nd annual Earth Day Extravaganza
*and Spring Social!
WHO:   Fenner Nature Center!
WHAT:  The Fenner team will be hosting their second Earth Day Extravaganza, in collaboration with the Michigan State University Fisheries and Wildlife Club, and The Nature Conservancy.     This free event is an opportunity for families, individuals and groups to experience this urban oasis and EARTH DAY in the midst of nature!
April 20th,  7am - 3pm, these activities will be offered for FREE family Earth Day fun:
·         bird banding
·         reptile and amphibian surveys
·         pond-dipping for tiny aquatic creatures
·         Wildflower identification hikes, and more.
Visitors can also assist with habitat restoration efforts throughout the day.
Activities will include:
·         Trail maintenance
·         Working in the newly restored Butterfly Garden
·         Removal of invasive plant species (including the 2013 Garlic Mustard Pull Challenge!)
·         Prairie restoration, and more.
The Nature Conservancy, a Sponsor and Partner again this year, will be conducting the
“Picnic for the Earth.” From 11:30am-1:30pm the Nature Conservancy will offer a global Earth Day picnic/outdoor lunch for foodies and families to enjoy sustainable lunches in nature! 
WHERE:  Fenner Nature Center, located at 2020 E. Mt. Hope Ave. in Lansing. 517 483-4224 www.mynaturecenter.org
WHEN: Saturday, April 20th, 2013
WHY: To celebrate the conservation of nature by engaging in Earth Day activities!
Schedule of Earth Day Extravaganza Activities:
Mist Netting – 7:00 am – 9:00 am
Guided Bird Walk – 9:00 am – 10:00 am
Wildflower Identification Hike – 9:30 am – 10:30 am; 1:30 pm – 2:30 pm
Small Mammal Trapping – 9:30 am – 10:30 am
Garlic Mustard Pull Challenge – 9:00 am – 3:00 pm
Pond Dipping – 11:00 am – 3: 00 pm
Picnic for the Earth – 11:30am -1:30pm
Herpetological Survey – 12:30pm-2:30pm
*Spring Social Fundraiser – 3:15pm-dusk  *[In the afternoon, on April 20th, Fenner Conservancy, the nonprofit that manages the nature center, in partnership with the City of Lansing, will host their Spring Social.
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25 comments:

Unknown said...

Cool piece! Luv the stripes!

Peace,
Debbie

Unknown said...

Very very cool!

NanaDiana said...

Wow- That is amazing. A LOT of work for the makeover but so worth it- xo Diana

Sumaya at Evocative Vintage said...

Beauty with a meaning! I love this! Great pairing, great piece!;)

Gypsy Heart said...

Beautiful! You two make a great team.

xo
Pat

Shannon Fox said...

Wow! How did you top last year? You guys are such a super duo. It's a beauty just like you both are, inside and out!!!!

srpprcrftr said...

Great job ladies. For an exceptional cause also. Think putting the stripes on the sides really make it look even better with the tree on front. Saving an old chest is just a beginning, one by one.














Unknown said...

Absolutely gorgeous! Such talent!

lynn cockrell said...

What a beautiful painted piece. The tree is wonderful!

Unknown said...

Love what you did to this dresser - and what a great cause!!!
visiting from Coastal Charm,
Hugs,
Suzan

Chelsea @ Married Filing Jointly said...

This is gorgeous! I would love you to link this up at Give Me the Goods Monday linky party :
http://www.marriedfiling-jointly.com/2013/04/give-me-goods-linky-party-2.html

~Chelsea @ Married Filing Jointly

Kathryn J Cain said...

my favorite and I see art jeans are in the family

Cher-Ann Texter said...

Wow! That is really beautiful! Stopping by from the Beneath My Heart March linky party!

Cher @ Designs by Studio C
http://designsbystudioc.com

Holly Lefevre said...

You are amazing! This is gorgeous...and guess what my Spotlight Selectors picked you to be featured again this week!

Kerryanne @ Shabby Art Boutique said...

Thanks for linking up at Shabbilicious Friday this week Karin. I really enjoyed this post.

Unknown said...

Very creative! Great job!

Be Colorful Coastal said...

Such a fun piece and so representative of the organization. I agree with a lot of the other readers that I also love the stripes. Thanks for sharing on BeColorful.
p

Jeanette said...

What an amazing transformation! I'm pinning this for later Pinspiration!

andi filante said...

This is so beautiful! Congrats on a job well done!

-andi

Tried and Twisted said...

Gorgeous what a lovely design and work of art!
Sara

Four Marrs and One Venus said...

Umm.. did you make this for me? Because I Want it! Like..holy awesome..!!!

Unknown said...

WOW! It's gorgeous! I love trees (I even have one in my blog header) so I totally love it! Visiting from Tatertots and Jello-- hope you'll stop by! :)

-Bonnie @ Revolutionaries
www.revolutionariesblog.com

Jocie@TheBetterHalf said...

wow, karin! this is really amazing! and i loved all the pix!!

MaytagNMom said...

Hi Karin :) I thought I'd already commented on your amazing dresser you are doing for the charity auction- shame on me, I haven't! (Maybe it was on your FB page under my other ID?) I even shared it with Sarah (DD), when she was asking if I'd ever seen a "tree" painted on a dresser- so I showed her YOURS!

Lovin' it and you have a kind heart that I'm happy to know in blogland!

Thanks for sharing with us, and it's always great to see creative minds at work. :)

Visiting from Overflowing With Creativity@ It's Overflowing's linky party
Smiles,
Suz @MaytagNMom
NW Illinois
~~My Current Project At The Party~~

Jocie@TheBetterHalf said...

yay - featuring you tonight! :)