Secretary Desk ReDo and Sneek Peek at Baby Shower

Laura's baby shower is just 4 days away, and I've been prepping for weeks. If you remember, I found this desk at a garage sale last month for $15. At the time I wasn't sure what to do with her, then I decided she would look great, painted in cream, and used as a little check-in for the shower. I think it's nice to have guests fill out an envelop to make thank you cards easier for the honoree, and this will work perfectly. First, I removed all the insides, then did some major repairs. You can see in the before picture that some of the wood was missing. It did have a few of the broken off pieces, but I had to do some major wood filling. After lots of sanding, priming and painting. Here's the shell of the desk ready to go.
When I started painting the insides of the desk I noticed a red stain coming through the primer- I had used Kilz, oil based primer because it is the best-It blocks stains, odors, etc. However, I couldn't believe after 2 coats of primer the red still came through. Here's what it looked like on one of the small drawers...
I had to leave the project for a few days- mostly due to frustration. When I returned to it, I thought I'd experiment by using a water based Kilz primer product. After 2 coats, it worked. I shabbied it up a bit and here's the final result...This is the check-in for the shower and a little sneek peek at the colors and theme (can you figure it out?) Here she is all closed up.

Did you notice those beautiful glass knobs? If you remember they were something I picked up free. You can read about that Here. A closer look...

I'm not sure what I'll do with her after the shower (might be a craigslist item to add to the challenge total - what do you think she's worth?) but I think she will make the perfect statement at the shower. Hope you had a great weekend. Tomorrow I'll be posting my swap items and garage sale finds- It was a sweet week! Love, Kelly

Linking Up to:

Make your Monday at Twice Remembered

Make it for Monday at Cottage instincts

Metamorphasis Monday at Between Naps on the porch

Do it Yourself Day at A soft Place to Land

Talented Tuesday at My Frugal Family

Trash to Treasure Tuesday at Reinvented

Strut your Stuff Thursday at Somewhat Simple

Furniture feature friday at Miss Mustard Seed’s

Vintage Thingie Thursday at Colorado Lady