Trash or Treasure?

Last year, my husband went to drop off the trash at the local collection center (in the south, we call it the dump), and came back with one of the ugliest pieces of furniture I've ever seen. It was a bench/pew, painted hunter green with a huge floral-covered piece glued to it. I immediately asked him what he was planning to do with this hunk of junk. He said he was hoping we could refinish it and keep it. I rolled my eyes. Really?
Well, it sat in our garage for a couple of months. Then one day I decided to try and do something with it. I knew I didn't want it in our house, but I thought it may have potential as a reading bench for my classroom. I already had a red/black theme in my room with my bookshelves and book bins, so I went to Hobby Lobby to see what I could find to decorate the bench to match my theme. I bought some scrapbooking paper, Mod Podge, and black paint and set to work. In about a week's time (and a lot of glue-scraping and sanding!!), this is what became of the ugly green bench:

Once the bench was finished, I decided to paint a corner cabinet that once belonged to my grandmother. I didn't have a place for it in our new house, so I thought it would be cute (and useful for storage) in my classroom as well. Here's the finished cabinet:

I eventually painted a stool and door sign to match:

I love these pieces! And to think it all started with a trip to the dump!