More fun with mirrors.

I think I'm addicted to mirrors and their possibilities. I love finding old things and turning them into something else.

This mirror is heavy. Very solid. And brown just wasn't working for me. But, we always see potential around here. Especially in thrift stores.

Normally, I would just remove the mirror like I did with the turquoise mirror a few months ago. But this one was a beast to remove. So, I just covered it with newspaper and taped it off, making sure a bit of the tape went between the gap (which was very, very small) between the mirror and the frame so no paint would leak through onto the mirror. Because that just means the paint that leaks will get reflected, too! So, I very carefully made sure that tape was under that gap to prevent this. I also primed it with spray primer, but that wasn't getting into the ornate carvings. So, I brushed it with the black paint so I could mash the paint into the grooves. My brush didn't thank me for it, but it got the paint to cover it. It took two coats, even over the primer. Lots of nooks and crannies.

We mounted it with two heavy duty wall anchors that will hold 200 lbs. Yeah, a little much, but I just wanted to make sure it wasn't going to pull off the wall. The mirror only weights 27 lbs. But, better safe than sorry. Screws are cheap security.

Here's my entry way now. It sits right across from the coat rack and bench, making a nice place for taking off shoes and unloading coats and checking yourself out to make sure you don't have any food in your teeth. Have a happy day!

Coat Rack

Remember these?

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They are now on this:



Well, at least the glass door knobs are. Here are some progress pictures.



I adhered wrapping paper to the front of the wood and painted the edges and the top shelf piece black.



Getting the glass knobs on was actually a challenge because they are antique. Which means they are not on the "interchangeable parts" spectrum and you can't find modern screws to fit them. Which also means I didn't want to permanently glue them onto the shelf and ruin them. Instead, we wrapped the closest size screw in electrical tape to beef up the screw a bit and then screwed the knob onto it. This actually became very sturdy and will still allow us to unscrew the knobs eventually if we (I) decide to use the knobs for something else. Like a door.





Kind of fun on the blue wall. (The color on the wall is called "Winter in Paris" by Behr.)



Tada!

Valentines paper hearts

I know Valentine's is over, but I wanted to share these. These paper hearts are made from patterns off of Martha Stewart Paper heart bon bons. But, of course, I changed them a bit. The three large hearts can hold candy and fun prizes, (careful, they tip!) and the smaller hearts are just ornamental. But they both use the same pattern.



The small hearts are neat because they are 3D and kind of like a mobile. Instead of punching the hole through just two folds as it says to do in the pattern, punch the hole in all four folds so it's through the center. You'll get the idea. Just fun.

Valentines for school

We had 54 valentines to give at school this year. Yes, that is just one child's list. So, this picture isn't even all of the valentine's we made. But it's a good representation.



And being on a budget, I needed something inexpensive and quick, but hopefully still cute. Don't we all need something like that? So, here's what we came up with:


Just some pretty scrapbook paper (heavy kind, so it was sturdy paper), a printer, scissors, and a lollipop. We printed words onto the 8 1/2 x 11 paper, then, by folding the paper down the center of the words, cut out completely imperfect heart shapes around the words. We got 6 to fit onto one sheet of paper.


Cut slits above and below the words and poked the sucker in.



Same idea with this one, but no hearts to cut out and it used up the scraps of the 12 x 12 paper I had cut into 8 1/2 x 11. The "o" has a center hole cut out by a hole punch. A bigger punch might've been better. But it's what we had.



My favorite one is just the heart one. Made a ton and for only $2, because I only had to buy the lollipops. SWEET!