Excuse Me, Your Drawers Are Showing

As promised, here the details of a little dresser project I undertook this weekend. It was a fun diversion from packing.

We purchased this dresser from Craigslist over Memorial Day, and it sat in our room for 6+ months untouched...

Except for the clothes strewn on top of and around it.

Okay, I know that this picture is non-defensible, but we had wanted to refinish it with a darker stain before I moved my clothes into it. We talked to people about how to sand or strip the current stain without detaching the thin veneer, but after months of talking in circles, it was the thought of moving a dresser we don't need that finally got my butt in gear. So this weekend I decided to line the drawers (using Young House Love's tutorial) with paper I had saved from our wedding.

Here's the drawers before:

Here's the after:

And here's the secret weapon that made it all possible:

Using a sponge brush, I painted on a thin layer of Mod Podge (which I got at Michael's) on the bottom on the drawer. Then I fixed my pre-cut wrapping paper to the bottom of the drawer, smoothing it out from the center of one side towards the edges, and eventually to the other side. Yep, there are a few bubbles, but it's not too noticeable - especially with clothes on top. I learned that the thinner the layer of Mod Podge, the fewer the bubbles.

I let the paper dry overnight, and the next morning I applied a thin top coat of Mod Podge on top of the paper to seal it. I chose a satin finish, so the paper has a slight sheen that should be wipeable and protect it for years to come.

This was a pretty quick project with a big payoff that makes me happy every time I go to grab something from the dresser. I love the cheery little pops of the graphic paper (all Snow & Graham, for those paper product freaks like me) peeking out from under my clothes, particularly the green papers that remind me of our wedding.  The longest step was cutting the wrapping paper to fit the drawers and waiting for the Mod Podge to cure so I finally put the dresser to use.

I am the only one that saved wedding memorabilia? If not, how have you put it to use?