Love it...Oil Rubbed Bronze Spray Paint

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This product is too good to be true, plain and simple! It's Rust-oleum's Metallic spray paint in Oil Rubbed Bronze. Don't you just love that name? It's like Old World in a can.

So here's the mirror I started with. It had a silver distressed finish, but if you ask me it was more like distressingly drab. Ugh...this gray/silver had to go!

So I taped everything off, covering as much of the mirror as I could. I still left an 1/8th of an inch of the mirror exposed. Because the mirror was round, it was impossible to tape off perfectly.


Then I got to work spray painting in long even strokes 10 - 12 inches from the mirror. Amazingly, this spray paint went on like butter! Seriously, it didn't clump or spot and was just super easy to use.


The brown alone was pretty, but a little dark. It needed something more...

So I dry brushed on some gold craft paint of my daughters. No need to make an extra trip to the store...I always use what's on hand.


With a dry brush I painted it on, then wiped it off with a rag. This application allows the gold paint to settle into the cracks...giving the piece high lights and low lights.

Take note, I used the gold sparingly. With all this detail, and too much gold paint...it could have easily ended up looking like Elvis' mirror. Yikes....Elvis is not alive in our house!


So here's some of the paint that ended up on the mirror. This had to be removed. So I found a handy tool that was perfect for the job.

A paint can opener! Another example of how I like to use what's on hand. This tool worked perfectly and took the paint right off and didn't scratch the mirror either.

After that I used my finger, Mineral Spirits and a paper towel to remove any excess paint from the mirror.

And here it is finished! Doesn't it look just like Oil Rubbed Bronze? Well it gives the same feeling anyway. This piece now has a warmth and character that it didn't have before.


Rust-oleum's Metallic spray paint in Oil Rubbed Bronze...this stuffs too good to be true! Old World in a can? Now anything is possible.

I'm linking this post to DIY Day over at a Soft Place to Land...I love this day!

I'm also linking up to The DIY Show Off's Show and Tell Surprise Party...don't you love a good surprise party?

 

Honest Scrap Award!

Wow, Miss Mustard Seed from her blog, you guessed it, Mustard Seed Creations has awarded me the Honest Scrap Award! Ack...I love getting awards, thank you Miss Mustard Seed!

Here are the rules that must be followed upon receiving this award: 1) Say thank you and give a link to the presenter of the award.2) Share "10 Honest Things" about yourself.3) Present this award to 7 other blogs who you find wonderful and inspiring.4) Tell those 7 people they've been awarded the HONEST SCRAP award and inform them of these guidelines.

Hmmm...10 things about me, here goes nothing...

1. I married my high school sweetheart and soulmate.

2. My children are the most important thing in my life!

3. I once dove off a 10 meter diving platform.

4. I love to watch my son play baseball.

5. I love to watch my daughter be creative.

6. My favorite date night with the hubby is...staying in and cooking together.

7. I love white wine...especially in the summer.

8. Fall is my favorite time of the year.

9. I love blue cheese stuffed olives.

10. I wish I had more time to visit flea markets and thrift stores. :(

And the 7 wonderful blogs who deserve this award are:

1. Tattered Hydrangeas

2. Sylvia's Vintage Daughter

3. The Purple Pea

4. The Stories of A to Z

5. Cottage Elements

6. Forever Vintage

7. Embellished Bayou

So go check these fabulous gals out when you get the chance...you'll be glad you did!

Aged Wine Crates

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Did you know you can buy wine crates at Total Wine and other Wine stores for around $5.00? I didn't, until the hubby brought two crates home one day. "Five dollars each?" I said, "that's too good to be true!"

 So I put one above our Dining Room Hutch, and liked it...but the light color of the wood just wasn't working with the reds and warmer colors in the room. So I decided to age these crates, and give them instant warmth and character.

 And I did it with...MinWax Stain in Special Walnut.

 

 This project was so easy, just brush the stain on, and wipe off. Seriously folks, it doesn't get any easier than this! I repeated this until I found the color I was looking for.

Please note, stain pigments always settle to the bottom of a can. And for this project, I only needed the lightest amount of color. So I did not mix this stain prior to using.

 This one's still wet, but doesn't it already look older and warmer? The stain sinks into the wood and brings out the natural variations in the grain.  And here they are finished! Don't they look great? They have such character now and really look old and time worn!

Here's the other above my dining room hutch. These crates are perfect for accessorizing above armoires and hutches, even that odd space above kitchen cabinets!

So now you know...Wine crates only cost around $5.  Love that!

Yipee...Another Feature!

Yipee! She likes me...she really likes me! Well, she really likes my Diy moulding project that is!

So my heart was all a flutter yesterday when Lindsey from Better After contacted me via e-mail to let me know our moulding project was featured on her awesome blog! If there's one thing I love more than blogging...it's being featured on other people's blogs!

Lindsey's blog features the before and afters of anything revamped, renewed and redone! If you haven't checked it out yet, go there now...some of the before and afters really are amazing. Even kid 1 and kid 2 loved this site and just oooohed and ahhhhhed over the revamped projects posted.

Well, I've been busy with another fun and easy project involving wood that costs only $5 and stain. Hmmm...I bet your curious aren't ya? Here's another hint...it even offers great storage!

So check back in tomorrow to get the scoop on this super thrifty project, you won't believe what a great home accessory you can get for only $5!

Yeay...5 Things About Me!

Creative Home Expression's 5 Things You Didn't Know About...ME!



Wow...today I was featured over at Creative Home Expressions! Kathy has a weekly feature called...5 Things You Didn't Know About...and today I was the lucky girl! So head on over if you want to know more about me!



One of the five questions asked was "what's my favorite cocktail?". I'll give you a hint...one of them is in the picture above! Can you tell what it is? And another question asked was "who do I most admire?". I'll give you another hint...he's also in the picture above! Crazy huh? I knew we had the bar tender take this picture for a reason!

Seriously, Kathy's feature is a great way for us Blogger's to get to know one another, so drop me a note (or post a comment) when you get the chance and introduce yourself...I'd love to get to know you too!

Inspiration...Vintage Printables!

Did you know there are places on-line where you can print free art...right from your home computer?  Unbelievable! 

One of my favorite places to find FREE Botanical and Art Prints is Vintage Printables! This website offers FREE downloadable high resolution images of vintage prints. They have thousands in their public database and offer prints of Botanicals, Birds, Animals, Butterflies, Shells, Art Prints, and really anything Science and Natural History related.

I used 4 Vintage Printable prints here for our home office makeover and love em'!  And I've got my eye on some fabulous shell prints as well!

Be still my heart, those yellow birds are bee-eautiful! And wouldn't those shell prints look fab in a beach house?

These are such classic, timeless prints and framed as a group make a large focal point.

Yup, Vintage Printables...check em' out!

Inspirational Wednesday...Orange

Fall is the perfect time of year for the color Orange. It's bright and fun, yet looks great with the season's warmer autumnal tones as well. Here's some inspirational eye candy in honor of this perfect season...



Ahhh...love me some Pottery Barn, and love that orange rug!


I don't use fresh flowers very often, but isn't this sooo very pretty!



How fun is this? I can't imagine what it's like sleeping on a bed that swings? Love the Elephant Ears arrangement here...that's a cool idea! Check out myhomeideas.com for more great ideas.



This is fun and funky, and isn't the orange and purple a great color combination?

This orange is the perfect punch of color to an otherwise neutral room. And how cool are those chandeliers?

Wow...I could get used to a chic bedroom like this! Love the orange, love the black and white Art, love that headboard...love it all!


Happy Inspirational Wednesday!