Mirror Mirror...

I'm blogging a lot this evening!  Okay, so here we have a very old vintage mirror.  I purchased it at a flea market for a dollar!  It was pretty ugly, the wood was chipped, and not in a shabby chic way at all, more like a "please help me" way!
I decided to shabby chic it a bit and I wanted to make the mirror look rustic.  I painted this all with acrylic paints, silver & gold antiquing paint and MS Crackle paint.  I have made modern mirrors appear antique in the past by using the "SILVERING GLASS" method but with my crazy late night crafting hours I don't like to use chemicals.  I will eventually blog about one of my mirrors done with silver nitrate, amonia, and more nasty chemicals!  We will wait until the windows can be open, or better yet...an outdoor craft idea!  For now, I will give you instructions on my safe method mirror!

 

Okay so basically like I said, this was brown, chipped, blah!

Here is what you need to make this very in expensive SHABBY-LICIOUS

mirror.  It's a great idea to always keep somewhat of a "stockpile" of paints and crafts if you love to be crafty, in the long run these projects will practically cost nothing!

WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

• an old mirror or a new one if you prefer.  I like restoring old pieces because the wood is usually better to work with...paint seeps in nicely, and I love indents.
• acrylic paint- white, ivory or ecru, black, dark brown
• varnish gloss
• silver/gold antiquing paint
• crackle paint
• razor blade
• embellishments
• cotton balls
• painters tape

HOW I DID IT:

• clean the frame with a lukewarm rag if it's old to remove dirt or grease.
•  I start with the mirror first!  make a palette of a small amount of your colors.
• take the cotton ball and dip in a color and pat it on the mirror.  You should pat it on a paper towel first.  We don't want obvious globs of paint.  Move on to a different color, and so on.  You can see I also used a bronze paint in the center, and this is where the silver & gold paint comes in to play.  
• When your mirror is dry and you are satisfied with it, give it 2 coats of gloss and let dry.
• When mirror is completely dry tape the edges with BLUE PAINTERS TAPE.
• Now start on your wood... paint with a flat brush and go from color to color.  I wipe the brush so I don't have a lot of watery streaks.  Get creative, you don't have to work exactly like I do.
• When your paint is dry, add a coat of crackle.  I use Martha Stewart brand, but any of them are fine.
• When the crackle is dry,  CAREFULLY take your razor blade and scratch the frame so that the paint comes off and the original wood is visible.  
• When finished dust it off, carefully peel off your tape from the mirror and give the whole piece a light coat of gloss!
• I added some embellishments because I'm totally gaudy, but you can skip that part if you like!

 I hope you enjoyed this craft.  If you do this craft, please feel free to post pics to share! Have fun!!

kitschy kitsch kitsch

Okay so I was very excited about this set of 4 cups & saucers!  I purchased them at an antique shop I go to about 3 months ago.  I packed them up in storage until my house in finished but luckily I found a photo I had taken of them!

Here you go...

 

I just adore them!  The color is the same exact color as the Tiffany Box...I had them side by side!

Something about them just reminds me of Old Hollywood Glam!  The date on the bottom says 1956.

They are in mint condition, the silver is almost like a mirror finish.  They were practically a steal at...

da da da... $1.29 per set!!!!!!  A total cost of $5.16

i love photo's

most times a photo tells a story, so here's one from my bella

when boys grow up...

I became a "boy" mom twice before becoming a "girl" mom.  As a little girl dreaming about becoming a mommy, only meant being a "girl" mommy!  It meant dress up and tea time, Barbie dolls and the Town House.  It didn't mean matchbox cars, hot wheels and Rescue Hero's.  When I had my boys, I didn't think tea time was totally out of the question.  Instead we played restaurant and went golfing in the living room.  We played dress up in mommy's clothing, in which I took so many photo's.  When we look at them, it's non-stop laughter and great memories.  I took better care of the hot wheels than I did my own toys as a child. Nature walks and collecting sticks, rocks and acorns became my favorite past time!  When my oldest son was 6 and my younger son 4, I became that "girl" mommy.  I feel as if I have the best of both worlds.  I have such a special and unique bond with each of my children and now my oldest is 11 and starting to venture out into the world.  There are friendships and this whole world that I am not included in, but it's okay!  I never thought it would sit well with me when he was growing up but I giggle when I hear him on the phone or when I see him interact with his friends.  Private jokes, innocent secrets about crushes and test grades.  I love seeing the smile on his face with his buddies, and hearing the belly laughs when on the phone.  It's these little things that once frightened me that make me happy each day! 

And now I leave you with a photo I had taken today of my big guy!

little miss messy!

One of the things that I adore about my little girl is how she can be a princess in a tutu carefully deciding on which glittery shoe she should wear and the next minute she can be rough and tough. My daughter has discovered that the backyard at my grandparent's house is a great place to dig with her beach stuff. Her new obsession is digging holes and playing with dirt and I love it!  Here she is in action!

Our loving Pointers

there's nothing better than black & white polka dots! *CLICK FOR THE LARGER IMAGE 

10 apples up on top...

I am a tad bit tardy with this post regarding the birthday of the beloved and genius Dr. Seuss.  My children's school is very celebratory when it comes to this special birthday!  Grades k-2 wear their pj's to school and some of the teachers whip up some Green Eggs & Ham!  I must admit that "Green Eggs and Ham" was never my favorite Dr. Seuss book.  I took more of a liking to One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish and The Grinch who stole Christmas.

My youngest son grew extremely fond of Dr. Seuss books almost immediately.  As a baby he was intrigued by the colors of the covers, as a toddler he enjoyed the drawings inside, and as a kindergartener he enjoyed the riddles & rhymes.  His absolute favorite was "Ten Apples Up On Top".  The greatly appreciated Dr. Seuss collection is still very special, and he has since gifted it to our youngest.  <3 

Here he is enjoying one apple up on top!

“Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.”- Dr. Seuss

Shabby Craft: Shell Water Globe

As promised I have taken photos of my shell water globe project.  I tried to keep this as eco friendly as possible using as many natural resources as I could gather.  

What I used:

• Tall Duck Sauce Jar (or any jar you prefer) -cleaned and dried thoroughly
• Shells in various colors and sizes, mine were collected from beaches, but you can buy them at your local craft store as well
•  hot glue gun
• glitter
• stones
• pearls
• water
• twine
• raffia
• embellishments 

 The photos will basically show you the order of steps.

• take the lid from your jar and  slowly glue your stones leaving enough room for the lid to properly screw on.  *If you go to close to the edge it will not screw properly and will leak.  Build the stones up.
• After you are satisfied with the height of your stones you can start planning the design of your shells.  I went with a simple look, but you can create something more elaborate if you wish.  I glued the shell to the stones and then added a few more shells on that shell.  Now set that aside safely so it doesn't fall.
• Now it's time to add the fun stuff into your jar.  I used glitter, beads, small rocks that are used in fish tanks, small shells.  When you are happy with the amount of filling you can now add your liquid.  You can use any of the following liquids:

1. water
2. baby oil
3. mineral oil

• I used water, but oils will allow the sparkles to float longer.
• Fill  your jar leaving about an inch from the top.  Carefully turn your lid upside down, make sure all shells and stones are secure first.  Screw your lid on carefully making sure it's lined up correctly with  the grooves of the jar.  Screw it very tightly and carefully flip it over.
• Take your glue gun and glue around the seam where the lid and jar meet.  This will stop any water from leaking through.
• Now you want to cover up that nasty glue, so this is where you can get really creative.  I used twine and raffia, wrapping it and securing it with a bit of elmers glue.
• I added a metal embellishment of the letter "d" as a monogram style of our last name.
• You can now decorate the top of your lid.  I built it up using shells, but let your creativity flow.  

I hope that you enjoyed this craft.  More to come :)
I now leave you with images!