Welcome in! For this project, I was inspired by my favorite place to get breakfast on Main Street: Carnation Cafe. If you’ve never been to Carnation Cafe, it’s a beautiful restaurant with lots of outdoor seating. Inside, there are tassel and stained glass adorned hanging lights, bold wallpaper, and warm wooden accents everywhere. Outside, you’ll see wrought iron fences, a little gazebo that houses a single table, and the defining red and white color scheme.
This project brings out those features in an adorable miniature dresser to keep all of your treasures or jewelry. You have the option of skipping the painting parts of the tutorial to make it a little easier. Here’s what we’ll be working with:
| Supplies List: | Tools List: |
|---|---|
| For Both Level 2 and 3 Versions: | |
| Mini Wooden Dresser | Small Precision Scissors |
| Embossed Flower Cardstock | Paper Slicer |
| Bold Red Patterned Cardstock | Ruler |
| Script Printed Cardstock | Spray Glue |
| Hobby Knife | |
| For Level 3: | |
| Acrylic Paints (All Primaries plus white) | Acrylic Paint Brushes |
| Printable Transparency Paper | |
| Wooden Sticks (about 1/4″ wide) |
Instructions
Measuring
Start off by measuring your Mini Dresser on the side and front/back.
Take your base Red Patterned Cardstock and make the appropriate marks on the blank side to fit around one side plus the front/back of your dresser. We’ll only be using 2 pieces of the red paper so it is more seamless. Typical cardstock size is 12″x12″ so you’ll probably only have to mark the height.
Prepping the Paper
Slice your paper to the right height!
Line your paper up to the edge of one of the dresser sides. Make sure it is flush.
Create a crease where the dresser corner is by marking where the corner hits your paper, then folding it on a flat surface. Leave about a 1/4″ over one edge and bend that small bit around the second corner of the dresser. This will be overlapped when you do the other side.
Gluing the Base
Grab your Spray Glue and a flattened out paper bag. Glue directly onto the side of the mini dresser and carefully place your paper on. You can peel the paper up slowly if you need to replace it. Be very thorough with corners!
For the front side of the mini dresser–the drawers should be removed–spray the backside of the paper thoroughly and press it down onto the wooden parts.
Only apply pressure where there is wood or you might crinkle your paper!
Cutting Out the Holes
Use a sharp Hobby Knife to feel where your edges are. Slice down into the dresser and cut along the edges so the drawer space is revealed.
Finishing the Base
Do the same thing for the rest of the dresser.
The top of the mini dresser should have the Script Cardstock paper as a base.
Layer on pieces of your red cardstock for some depth.
Embellishing with Embossed Paper
Find a pathway in your Embossed Paper and lightly draw where you want to cut with a pencil. Then cut it out. You should be able to follow the flower shapes.
Cut out different pieces and place them where you like them on each side of the dresser.
Glue down with spray glue (glue the backs of the embossed paper. Remember to be thorough with your edges).
Covering the Drawers
Next, we’ll be using the embossed paper for the little drawers and the script paper for the other two drawers.
Cut the embossed paper down to size and mark where the nob’s sides are on the back of the paper. Mark both its horizontal location and vertical. Long edge to long edge; short edge to short edge.
By drawing those lines, you’ll find how much space your nob is taking.
Cut a straight line to the center of your markings and cut out a circle.
Slip it over your nob and check the fit. Adjust as necessary.
Use the same method for the remaining drawers.
Before gluing down the paper, paint the nobs white.
When the paint is dry, spray glue your paper onto the drawers. Spraying onto the backs of the paper rather than the wood.
Extra Credit:
Paint different colored carnations onto the script paper.
Carnations are easy. All you have to do is start with some tiny squiggles and continue to make bigger squiggles around and around.
Tassels and Pearls
I found these tiny adhesive pearls and I thought they’d look so cute on the jewelry box.
To get even spacing without measuring, start by placing one pearl at each corner then find the middle of those pearls.
Place a pearl there and then find the center between that pearl and each corner pearl.
Repeat until you have the desired density of pearls. You can seriously just eyeball it and be okay!
Grab your Embroidery Floss and wrap 20 times around the widest part of your hand–about 4 inches.
Fold your floss in half over a single long strand and tie a knot to secure it. Keep the excess.
Wrap another long strand around the bundle–about 4 times–and knot it. Cut off the excess.
Wrap the long piece around the nob and knot in place. Cut off excess floss. Do it again for the other drawer.
Take your extra embossed paper and cut it out to fit the back of your dresser. Glue in place with spray glue.
Level 2 Done! Continue for Level 3s:
DIY Stained Glass
Take a piece of Printable Transparency Paper and cut it down to size. Be careful to hold it from the edges or it will ruin it with smudges and no way to clean it.
Gently find the rough side of the paper. You’ll want to do your painting on that side.
I used a paint pen, but it streaked a lot. I would recommend using a liner brush and black paint for this part.
Draw out your carnations. Again, carnations are made up of squiggles so you can definitely make these!
Put a base layer of paint down. I tried to add some gradients to this, but you have to work fast!
Finish up by thickly painting over everything in the correct colors. The black is already dried and in the foreground of your painting so don’t worry that this looks bad. You can check your progress by turning your painting around.
Cut some wood sticks to fit in the back of your mini dresser. You’ll need enough for 2 sets of frames.
Spray glue the sticks one at a time and fix your transparency paper to the sticks.
Once one frame is made, flip the transparency paper over and repeat.
Place your “stained glass” into the back. It should be snug so you don’t have to glue it.
You Made It!
Fantastic job, everyone! I hope you enjoyed this project! I think it captures Carnation Cafe perfectly. You can store all your little Disney trinkets inside and think about yummy food.
Thanks for making it all the way down here! Follow us on Instagram and Pinterest for more projects like this one. Please share with your Disney DIY loving friends and family, too! We’d really appreciate it.
All images on this website were taken by and belong to Main Street D.I.Y. If you wish to share an image, please give credit where credit is due! Send the people our way!
Main Street DIY 