Tiffany Blue Mirror & a Christmas Tree

You may remember this. It is my wicked stepmother's mirror, mirror on the wall.
It is now reincarnated and named "Tiffany Blue." I got a comment a while back from Julie saying I needed to post some pics of my "eek to chic" mirror project. So, voila! The above pic is what my front room looks like right now. I wanted a white, gold and silver tree this year, promising not to buy anything to make it happen. And true to the challenge, all white, silver and gold tree all from stuff I already had.
Entry way at Thanksgiving.
Just some detail of the frame. It's fun for now. But I'll probably get bored. Yet again! And it will be brought back to life in some new color that matches my mood.

cake plates

I've wanted to do this project since this summer when my MIL and I saw it at a fancy boutique in Utah. This is my not-so-fancy version with dollar-store plates and glasses and some glass glue. That's it.
The plates we saw at the boutique were on silver bases with fancy china on top. So, it has tons of possibilities.
If you want to see some that are just fantastic, go see what my friend Holly did with this project! Oh, if I could just think like that! Good stuff, Maynard!

Aspen Window Painting

So, I got bored again. We have this huge window for a front door. For Halloween, it was a jack-o-lantern. When I took it down, we were back to living in a fish bowl. So I bought privacy window film (called "frosted glass") and put it on the window. It was great in creating privacy and still letting in tons of light. But it was boring. Just a solid block of frosted glass. That's when I got this idea that a little bird told me. I painted the window film. The pic above is what the finished product looks like from outside at night.
These next few pics are of the progress. I used a paint pen to draw on the main idea.
You can see that better here.
Then I used acrylic craft paint and a foam brush to paint in the aspen trees. Got this done in a few hours. The picture below is the finished painting from the inside of the house. We have a pretty grey day outside, so it's a pretty dark pic. But it added a ton of interest to the plain frosted glass. The red bird is a cardinal that I free-handed and cut out of red paper. Didn't want to paint that!
The cool thing is that when I get bored of this (bound to happen), the paint washes off the window film! Ha Ha! Then more crazy ideas and window murals can start popping up any time I feel like it! The fun never ends! (I just wonder if people might start driving by just to see what's in the window of the crazy lady's house.)

I got a new Camera!

So I finally got a new camera. Happiness. Now I just have to figure out all the buttons.

Below is a pic of the chalkboard I made. And the next few shots are some fun stuff with my camera.

These two pictures are kind of fun. You see the leaf in the top pic? That's right in front of me when I took the picture. I stayed in the same spot and used the zoom on the camera and took the picture of the same stop sign that you see in the background of the top pic.
Kind of fun being able to zoom like that with just a point 'n shoot. So far, I'm happy.

Bench and Bookshelf

I need a new camera. BAD! But, I managed to get these pics. This bench was a recovering project. The cream in the fabric matches the cream in the wood. But before I recovered it, I dipped the fabric in linseed oil and made it an oilcloth so it could withstand the rigors of the kitchen table. Then I stapled the heck out of it on the the original cover. Fun, fun. By the way, anyone who wants to make oilcloth, it takes at least a week for the cloth to dry. But it's very durable after. (Even though it still smells like linseed oil.)

And this bookshelf is what my hubby and son made for my daughter's bedroom. (Which is coming along quite nicely! If I ever get a camera again, I'll be sure to post.) But this shelf is something I wanted very badly for her room. I wanted a reading corner (still needs seating there) that would also look nice. So, the shelf is actually 4 ft wide x 6 ft tall so it could display all her beautiful children's books. The art on the covers of those books is so fun and often gorgeous, I always felt it a shame to just show the spines of the books. So we made it big enough to be a display shelf as well as a book shelf. I can't tell you how nice it is. Perk 1, she reads more (which means we all read more). Perk 2, she keeps her books cleaned up (don't know why this helps her do it, but it does. No complaints there!) Perk 3, I get a functional piece of wall art and the books don't hide. I'm thinking a bean bag chair or two would do the reading niche trick. Any suggestions?

more living room project materials

I have collected a few more bones for the living room. We'll see how this goes. The green velvet chair was a $10 yard sale find. And the beige beast below, a $5 find. I promise it will be recovered and, most likely, painted. But the caning is good on both chairs, the velvet is in flawless condition on chair number 1, and the comfort level on beige-ey boy is a 10.

I just need some great flashy fabric and good paint and I think I resurrect the beige-man.

Suitcases, I think I'll use them for an end table that holds games. Got some good brainstorms for that one. And casters!
And the final project: (what am I saying! Nothing is ever final!) Snow White's wicked stepmother's mirror! Oh, this thing is cool. Don't know where it goes yet, maybe you could give me some pointers? And it is absolutely in the category of "I can be any color" if needed. Gold doesn't have to stay. So, help anyone?

More living room pics

Here are more pics of my living room that's got potential. But that's all it's got. And a couch and a bird painting, of course. All you creative brains out there, help!



This wall is the same wall the couch is on (first picture). It is opposite of the fireplace wall.

Vintage modern stuff

I really like it. Could I go this way?

The photo is by Tim Walker photography. Here's the url: http://www.urbanlifestyledecor.com/2009/04/home-couture-european-eclectic.html. Beautiful.

So it's been forever and I have a new couch

What would you do with this couch? And this painting? These are the bones of my new living room. I know this blog has been in the "dead blog" log for the past five months, but I'm thinking of beginning a resurrection of sorts for the blog. I don't know if anyone ever reads this anymore, but if you do, I'd love some input on what to do with this and the room. Thanks for checking back. See you soon.

Easter basket improv

So, we went up to visit my sister for Easter and I forgot to get baskets. I remembered everything else. And since Easter is on Sunday and I didn't want to go buy something on Sunday, I improvised. No surprise. Here they are: Easter baskets out of cereal boxes! We used Trix and Waffle Crisp and Captain Crunch. Yum! I'm sure they could've looked better, but I was in a hurry and they played the part just fine.

Paper Easter Basket

My son wanted to make Easter decorations today. This is one of the projects he and all of us made: Easter baskets out of paper. You know, the kind you make in 1st grade where you fold the paper into 16 equal squares, cut the corners to fold in and glue them up to make the box. I used brads to fasten the handle to the basket. I wish the photos turned out better. Fun little project.

little wallets-pocket size

About 6 months ago, my little tiny wallet broke. It was really the size of a business card holder, but it fit credit cards and cash very nicely right in my pocket. And since I hate carrying a purse, I really missed having just that little pocekt-size wallet. I looked for a replacement, but all the wallets I found had buckles and zippers and snaps-things that would hurt to sit on and things that wouldn't sit in a pocket so well.

So, I improvised. I made one up. Using the old broken wallet as a pattern, I cut out scrapbook paper, contact paper, and fabric. I glued the scrapbook paper to the fabric. Then I covered the paper with contact paper. I trimmed, then sewed the edges. It didn't take too long, and I still have the original one I made 6 months or so ago.  I was so pleased with it's size and durability that I made one for each of my sisters. These are very easy to make and can be customized. In the picture below, you'll see the new ones I made for my sisters and one from a Trader Joe's bag. Talk about recycling! You could use bags, scrapbook paper, wrapping paper, the fun never ends!! These pocket size wallets are still holding up! Fun little project.

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