Mirror Makeover Fail

This gold mirror has been in my family for a while.  I mean, it's not heirloom or anything, but it was on the wall in our home since I was about 10.  Then my parents moved to a new home about 8 years ago and didn't want it.  I have had in my apartment since.  With the move to a new apartment, I have gone with a modern, casual decor, and the gold doesn't really work with the space anymore.  So I decided to paint.  And failed.

There it is, all taped up and ready to go!  I bought a blue paint to try to match our backsplash and/or curtains...

You will see the blue color is almost gray.  So that was the look I was going for.  The paint I bought was beautiful and I really do love it, just not on the mirror.

While this pic was taken at night, I think the flash on the camera shows you  the true color

 You can see from the picture that the blue/gray color in the curtains, which is what I was going for, doesn't match the blue at all.  Now, I am not trying to be all matchy-matchy and get them perfect, but I think the hue is all wrong.  Oh well!  Live and learn.  I will have to try to find a way to fix it.  I have some leftover silver paint which I may try to lightly cover, but I think I should just resolved by repainting :(

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Shabby Chic Coat Rack

Over the summer, my parents' neighbor was throwing out a mirror that had cracked during the east coast earthquake. I saw the top of the mirror out by the trash and knew I could do something with it.  

Here is the original piece.

 There were edges on each side which I sawed off and then sanded down.

Using a saw is not as hard as I thought! Woohoo.

Smooth as a baby butt! I then painted white and distressed.

I then added hooks to the bottom. I drilled holes and screwed the hooks in.

Then I measured a few inches from the sides and top so I could add the metal hook which will hold the mason jars.  The mason jars are held up my a hose clamp which I attached to the metal hook and then tightened the hose clamp screw to ensure it wouldn't fall.

this is the hose clamp screw I was referring to

Then I added flowers and hung!  Here's the final product.

Surprise Party Invites

I am throwing a surprise party. And no, I won't say for who ;) I blurred all the pictures, even the menu, since I don't want this person to get any ideas.

Here's the invite...

and the envelope label.

And here is the finished product!

I mounted the 4.5x6.5 invite to gray 5x7 cardstock. I have glue dots, but of course forgot to use them!  I used regular clear craft glue.

And the finished envelope.  I hand-cut the label off of regular printer paper.  If I was smart, I would have used adhesive paper, but I knew I was only doing about 15 invites, so I didn't bother.

I also still have to print the menu and some labels for favors, etc. 

I think I sufficiently blurred all these pictures so this person has no idea :)

Flower & Chain Necklace

As I mentioned on Monday, I have completed a few DIY projects, but have been so busy with work and our 1st home (we're in contract but there are so many things left to do!).  Here is one of the things I worked on over the weekend.

I saw this necklace on Pinterest (exact retail price unknown, but it was listed between $100-$200) and knew I could replicate.  

Unfortunately I couldn't find flowers that were identical to these. I could have ordered some online, but I was at Michael's and am inpatient.  In any case, I found similar flowers for $1.99.  I glued each flower to a piece of black felt ($0.99).  Once the glue was dry, I cut off the extra pieces of felt so you could not see it behind the flowers.  I then sewed the felt to the end of gold chain ($3.99) and attached a clasp.  That's it!  Easy as pie!  And all for under $7.  I may, if I can find pure white large flowers, swap these out.  If I 'upgrade' I will be sure to post.

the picture quality makes the flowers look really yellow

Chalkboard Wine Glasses & Wine Tags

Hey all!  Hope everyone had a nice holiday weekend.  I was a busy bee this weekend and am going to share one of the three projects I worked on.  I made customized wine glasses using chalkboard paint and wine tags using earring findings.  As you have seen from my other posts, I have used chalboard paint before and still have about 3/4 a can left.  So I am trying to find new ways to use it.  Here is the final product!

First thing first.  I bought wine glasses at Pier One.  They were on sale for $1.87 each.

Then I taped out the area to be spraypainted with painter's tape.  I first thought about doing the entire glass, but then I worried about putting my mouth on the paint as I drink.  So I decided to do a square for initials.

I covered the rest of the glass with newspaper and started spraypainting.

When I pealed off the painter's tape on the first glass, it was perfect.  The second one wasn't so perfect.  But I took a razor and removed excess paint on the sides and smoothed out the edges.

For the wine tags, I used hoop earring findings and threw on some beads and one charm.  These were things that I already had laying around the house.

When I was done, I cut the post so it wasn't sticking out.

That's it!  I erased the chalkboard a few times with a damp cloth, but ended up going with a 'J' inital on each.  Now, I think I deserve some wine :)