Mirror, Mirror

Happy Thanksgiving week all!  I am thankful for each and every one of you who stop by my little corner or the internet and support me and my blog.  I hope everyone gets to enjoy some time with family and loved ones this week. 

But before the cranberry fluff coma I am fully preparing to enter into in a few days, I wanted to share a little project I finished up this week with all of you.  I think it goes without saying that I can get a lil crafty from time to time.  However, my crafty side is typically limited to finding ways to trick my husband into rubbing my feet or watching the latest Twilight movie in theaters. 

This week, however, I pulled out the Martha Stewart in me once again and gave an antique mirror in my garage a little makeover.  About a month ago, husband and I, along with our parents travelled up to a huge antique show near Cincinnati and my mom bought a giant mirror while she was there.  As it turned out, there wasn't enough room for it in her car, so in our truck it went and in my garage it sat. 

After a few weeks of housing it in our garage, I decided the mirror now belonged to me and I got to work on making it a usable piece for our living room.  I painted the frame a blue color that matched fabric in our throw pillows and picked up some stencil letters and frosted glass spray paint and went to town.  A little brown glaze over the bright blue, gave it more of a rustic look I was going for.

The mirror before.

I put painters tape around the edge and then cut open trader joe's paper bags to cover the glass while I spray painted the frame.

We measured and centered the letters and then cut a hole in the paper bags to make room for them.  We had to wait until they dried and then move the duplicate letters.

The finished product with our fall decor up.  I had a different mirror there before but this one looked so much better!

I bit the bullet and put up some of my Christmas decor on Saturday.  I love my new mirror!

So there you have it!  I am getting craftier by the day!  I debated a bit on what words to put on the mirror and thought about doing our last name or monogram, but decided against it.  As the focal point in the room, I wanted the mirror to really say something which is why I felt like "blessed" was the perfect word for the mirror.

I am feeling particularly blessed this holiday season for a wonderful husband, family I adore, and a great career.  What are you feeling blessed for right now?

Our Kitchen...Then & Now

It's amazing what one can accomplish in a year, isn't it?  I've mentioned in several posts over the last year that we've been working on a lot of home improvement projects, and I am finally ready to share some of them with you!  First up is our kitchen. 

A year ago around this time, I was prepping to move in with the boy, and may or may not have uttered the words "Over my dead body will I move in with floors like that and walls that color."  Okay I may not have said those exact words...but I sure was thinking them.  After months of agonizing over paint colors and floor samples, we finally made some decisions and got started on transforming the boy's bachelor pad into an actual home.

Before we did anything...here everything is pushed into the center while we prep for paint.

Old light fixture and all out liquor piled onto the kitchen table...is this a single man's house or what?  Notice the wall is taped off for paint!

 A closer up picture of the counters before...this was for a superbowl party a couple years ago.

 A transitional picture of the kitchen...we got rid of the horrible peel and stick flooring and painted the walls...and obviously changed the decor a bit too :)

Another transition...after our cabinet restoration!  This was a total pain in the ass, but absolutely worth it!!

 During our countertop restoration...the messiest thing ever!

 The final product....for now anyways.  Still hoping to get a window treatment above the sink and new appliances.

 Backsplash completed!  Plus 101 Ways to Cook Southern Cookbook on display.

 We painted and recovered the seats on the old barstools too.  I have a feeling a new fabric and different color on the chairs are in the future once again for these chairs.

 Our bar!  One of my favorite furniture finds! 

 A yard sale find from our neighborhood!  $50 for the table and 4 chairs.  We painted the 4 chairs and table legs along with 2 chairs I already had.  We sanded down the top and re-stained it to a darker, prettier wood.  I love it!

An absolute steal from Craigs List.  Bought the Hutch and Matching table for $500 (brand new) and sold the table for $300.  Probably a $1000 piece at least, and we got it brand new for only $200!

So, what do you think of our progress?  We worked really hard to stay within our budget and be resourceful!  Plus, we know we will only be in this house for a few years.  We would have loved to invest in brand new granite counter tops and stainless steel appliances, but it just didn't make sense for us to put that kind of money into this particular home.  We love what we've done so far. 

 

For anyone who is curious, we used Rustoleum Transformations for the countertop and cabinet renovation.  Our cabinet color is Linen, with the glaze, and our counters are Java Chip!  I highly recommend this project for a complete transformation.  We did the counters and cabinets for less than $500 total. 

 

Happy hump day y'all!

 

 



 

Call me Martha...Stewart, that is.

For the last two months, I have had this unnerving feeling like something is wrong.  It started the week of the wedding and it has been getting stronger and stronger ever since then.  For 8 weeks now, I have been trying to pinpoint what it is that is making me feel this way...like I'm inadequate. I guess I thought more would change once I was married.  I thought I would feel different.  Instead I have this nagging feeling that keeps me up at night.  Between the blogs I read and the instagram pictures, and the world of social media...I am faced with a daily reminder of the empty hole in my life....

I don't craft.

There I said it.  I know you're probably gasping in horror at your computer screen right now.  I get it.  I have pinterest.  I have a home.  I have a Michaels, Hobby Lobby, and Garden Ridge in a 20 mile radius.  But I am a crafting failure...and there seems to be no excuse for this.  So this past weekend, in an attempt to tame the feelings of shame that I wake up with every morning, I set out on a mission to make...something.  With my own two hands.  From crafty things.  Like paint and wood, and hot glue. 

So with my inspiration in hand, I made the trek up to Michaels to pick up all the things I needed to make a front door wreath for fall.  I'll admit, my visit to Michaels got a little hairy at times.  I don't know the aisles there like I do at liquor barn.  After circling the store at least 8 times, I finally had to ask where the plain twig wreaths were.  It took me another 30 minutes to find the glue guns, but not before I rolled my own shopping cart over my baby toe and watched it bleed all down my foot and shoe and leave a little trail through the store. 

An hour after entering the store I left, battle wounds and all, ready to go home and revel in my newfound craftiness.  I could picture it all the way home...my creations all over pinterest, and my own crafty blog.  Eat your heart our Martha Stewart.  Eat your heart out Lettered Cottage.  You ain't got shit on me!

Okay, maybe my my thoughts got a little ahead of me.  But I did have all the overpriced plastic flowers and glue to make a wreath for the front door.  I laid my supplies out and poured a glass of wine and got started.

My inspiration for my wreath...

 



After an hour of gluing, painting, and burning myself with the glue gun, I finally finished my wreath just in time to hang in on the front door before the boy came home from work. 

I'm a crafty minx, I am.  I added my own little flourish with our "D" and I have to say I'm quite impressed with myself.  It doesn't look exactly like the inspiration picture, but who gives a toss?  It looks just lovely on my front door...I just know any minute now someone is going to come knocking with a freshly made pie...because that's what crafty women do for other crafty women (so I've heard). 

Anywho...now that I've got all the basic materials, I sense more projects in my future.  Stay tuned for home made stockings, hand painted ornaments, and glitter dipped candle-holders come Christmas.  Well, maybe.