Chalk Painted dresser with a stencil

Last year I got this dresser from a woman who was down sizing.  It's old and definitely shows it's age. The top was peeling and part of the hardware is missing.  I thought this would be a great piece to try chalk paint.  I let it sit for awhile out in the garage. That's where my projects await me.

I was looking thru some blogs that I follow and got my inspiration from Red Hen Home (www.redhenhome.blogspot.com).

On the front of her blog was this table top picture and once I saw it,  I then started with my dresser.
I peeled the top off ,  went to Home Depot and bought a sheet of some nice 1/2 inch wood.  I put the new top on with liquid nails and let it dry overnight.  I went online and searched for the stencil on that table from Korrie's  blog. I found it , printed it out on my printer and pieced it together.  I sanded the top of the dresser and got it ready for paint.  I used  the same color paint that is on the walls in the den.  I added some water and baking soda to the paint making it into chalk paint.
The next morning I sanded it down with some 240 grit sandpaper and wiped it down with a damp cloth.

I thought of using mod podge to apply the stencil , but my last mod podge project didn't come out with the look that I wanted.  I wanted something more permanent for this anyway.  I placed the stencil on the top of dresser with it right side facing up. I took a fine point sharpie marker and traced the stencil lightly staying inside the lines very carefully.
I removed the stencil and hand painted the outline from the stencil with brown paint. I let it dry and then I applied a coat of wax using a clean rag.  The wax I used was Howard Feed-n-Wax beeswax with orange.
Let the wax dry and buffed it out with another clean rag.

                                   I didn't have a specific place that I wanted to place the dresser.

I eliminated some baskets of my son's crayons , play-doh, coloring books ,  markers  etc. and filled the middle and bottom drawer with his  ' stuff ' .   The dresser is now located in the den and one of the first things you see when you walk in our house. We never use our front door because the door to the den is right next to it .  When the new addition is added on , the front door is going to eventually be eliminated.
It's great because the drawers are so heavy and my son can't open them .   He can't access markers , chalk and crayons without being supervised.   He had fun with sidewalk chalk one day while I went into the bathroom.

He had chalk everywhere .  It was in his hair , his ear and up his arms.  I think he wanted to chalk the truck next .  Aren't they so adorable at 2 yrs. old.  I stood there and took about 10 pictures to show him when he's older.  He didn't even know I was standing there.   He must take after me with creating.   Thankfully the chalk just wiped right off.

Since I did the dresser , I decided to makeover the entire room.  I added board and batten , painted the upper part of the wall darker, painted the ceiling and moved a bunch of things around. I just need to paint another coat of white on the board and batten. I will show you this room makeover  when I'm finished.