Acid Mirror

When I saw this acid mirror from The Idea Room, I fell head over heels! Check hers out, it's beeeeautiful! I couldn't find a mirror that size and I was unsure of what MY results would be so when I saw this mirror for less than $3 at Rescued Treasures I thought it would be a good trial mirror. Little did I know it would turn out FABULOUS!I'm not typing a tutorial because you can check out her directions as well as a link in her post with details on the muriatic acid step.

I couldn't get my mirror out, so I taped paper on it to cover it up while painting the frame.

After that I used a piece of fabric from what I already had. I love this teal damask print!

Last, I cut the vinyl lettering out with my Silhouette. I LOVE it!!

Amy from the Idea Room said it was one of her favorite projects, and I have to say I agree!

It's hard to take pictures of a mirror without reflections messing with it, but it looks even better in person.

I've got my eyes out for a larger, cheap mirror! :) Thanks for the great idea, Amy!

Linking up to Best DIY projects of June at Beneath My Heart and Tatertots and Jello's Weekend Wrap-Up Party.

Girls Room Update

I noticed a few days ago {while watching the girls put on a princess fashion show, using their bed as a stage} that I haven't done anything to their room...ever! I'm ashamed to say that their name letters were still hanging in the same places on the walls as when there was a crib and twin bed in here! They looked TOTALLY out of place! They like to share a bed so that they're not alone at night. Fine by us! That means we have been getting ALL of our sleep for years! I moved the bed to the opposite wall it was on and added a headboard.

There was a set of two shutters at ReStore {two sets hinged together, with four panels total} that would have been perfect! They were tall enough that I could have just stood them up behind the bed. I took them up to the front to see how much they were...$25 each!! Nope! No way I'm spending fifty bucks on a headboard for a kids room! I went back and found two of these shutters. They were the perfect length for the queen bed, if I laid them on their side. They were $15 each. Still more than I wanted to spend, but twenty dollars cheaper than the other ones, and I REALLY wanted shutters! I painted them both with two coats of white paint.

We've had this pink, 3 bin sorter for years, but the dress up clothes have been camping out on the floor forever! Driving me c-r-a-z-y! I built this addition to it using 2 boards and a dowel rod! I tested it out to make sure it fit before painting it and securing. it.

I used my Silhouette and vinyl to put their names over their side of the bed and cut out "Royal Princesses". I also moved their old castles so that they can each put their little treasures in the one by their side. Kids always want to sleep with little trinkets that can get lost. Now they have a place to put it.

I hung the shutters by hammering in a sawtooth picture hanger on each end. First I hung the bottom one, and then hung the top one so that it's sitting on top of the bottom one perfectly. The slats on the shutters are opposites, because if I put them the same way there is a difference in the width of the top board and the bottom board.

This dollhouse has been on the floor since we bought it at a thrift store over a year ago. It had hangers on it, but I never bothered to hang it. Today I hung it above the little kids table and chair.

I moved the castle hanging basket to an area where I had room for it. The book sling has been there for awhile. I hung up some pictures that have been laying around and that the girls love.

I finished the dress up closet this morning. I gave it two coats of pink spray paint.

I had some brackets in our "junk basket" of odds and ends and they worked perfectly. I also used wood glue to give it some extra strength.

I kept the curtains the same because I love them. These were made by my sister in law for my niece when she was a teenager still living at home. Now she's married and gone so the curtains got passed down to us. The lighting in this room is horrible but it's a shimmery periwinkle fabric.It has beads hanging down from the trim.

I made a pennant for the shutters to tie in with the big ones stretching across the room. I love it so far! We're going to go tomorrow to look for a long mirror at a thrift store to go by the dress up area. I would also love to change the regular old light fixture to one of those chandeliers with the clear crystals hanging down. I think that would be perfect for a princess room!

Taste of Orange Blossom {Dillon Chicken & Shrimp}

Last night we took the whole family to OBJ to celebrate TWO birthdays: my husband, and mother in law. Last night the special was Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Prawns! We ordered it, but it was SO popular that they were already sold out! They must of been gooood! You'll probably see them on the blog in the upcoming weeks if they were that popular! ;) SO...I took pictures of something I've never blogged about! Both of my brother-in-laws ordered the Dillon Chicken & Shrimp. Check it out!It's chicken or shrimp (or both) lightly sauteed in olive oil and kicked up with some spices!

Eating low carb? This dish is served on a big pile of green beans and mushrooms sauteed in sesame oil, and topped off with onions! Well, I guess there's bread, but that just gives you the option to cheat on your diet. ;) We all need the option, right?

Since we were celebrating birthdays you know we weren't leaving without dessert! Okay, we NEVER leave OBJ without dessert, but this time it had candles on it! Ha ha!

My mother in law chose the special Warm Apricot Tart topped with Apricot Sorbet! I told her to order it because I knew she would LOVE it...I was right!

Brandon is a straight shooting dessert guy, he's no-frills. So no matter how much I urged him to order the Chocolate Trauma, he only wanted chocolate ice cream by itself. Which actually was fine, because I have dreams of their homemade chocolate ice cream. Seriously.

Thanks for making a night of celebration SO tasty, OBJ! ;) Check 'em out here!

Chevron Tote Bag

I had a couple of white canvas tote bags left over from Cami's party. I decided to paint a chevron bag. A girl can never have too many tote bags! ;)First, I used the Silhouette software to cut the design out of a scrap piece of vinyl.

I used fabric paint (NOT the puffy bottles) and a stencil brush. I put a piece of cardboard inside the bag to keep any paint from bleeding through. Better safe than sorry!

I centered the vinyl on the bag and pressed it down as best I could.

Then I stenciled the paint on.

I removed the vinyl while it was still wet.

It bled through under some cracks, but that's ok. Adds character, and it's just for me. ;)

I let it dry completely. Actually, I let it dry overnight because I needed to go out and buy the turquoise paint. I cut a J out and stenciled it on the same way.

Last, I made some rosettes and hot glued them on the bag.

Ugh...I accidentally uploaded the same picture twice and blogger won't let me remove it! Oh well! Now I have a cute chevron tote bag!

Framed Chalkboards

I'm going to do something different and show you the "after" pictures first, then the "before". I didn't take pictures of the steps, but it's SO simple! For this one with a canvas painting, I simply painted over it with 4-5 coats of chalkboard paint, letting it dry in between coats. Since this is only going to be used for decor, not a functional everyday use, I don't mind that it's canvas instead of a hard board. Here is the next set. On this one, I cut off the brown paper backing and bent back the big staples holding the print and glass inside. I threw away the glass and since this board was completely smooth, I used it to paint the chalkboard on directly. I spray painted the frame Heirloom White. I am SO tempted to paint a red frame, but since these are my first large chalkboards, I wanted ones that could match more parties.

There you go... super easy and inexpensive! One little jar of chalkboard paint has lasted me over a year, from my first chalkboards!

Thrifty Frames

This morning I hit up Rescued Treasures in search of some large frames that I could transform into chalkboards for the upcoming wedding/parties I'm doing. I've seen a lot on pinterest that got me inspired. I love the detail of this old one. Cost=$9.88

This long one was $12.96. I think those will both make great chalkboards once I paint them!

This deal I found for myself and am keeping as-is! I have been looking for a long skinny frame for my frame wall for months and this one was $14.96! It is SO heavy! I LOVE the detail on it!

Upcycled Tray! {Old cabinet door}

My friend sent me a link to a blog post a couple of months ago on how to turn an old cabinet door into a tray! Of course, now I can't find the link in my saved file or bookmarks, so I'm just gonna show you how to do it... Start out with a cabinet door. This one was dark {not pretty, think ugly 70's style finish} wood and I bought it for 2 or 3 dollars at ReStore. They have a big pile of cabinet doors. The only thing is a lot of doors are not symmetrical and they would look funny as a tray. Do you know what I mean? They have a scalloped design on the what would be the top part of the cabinet if you were looking at it vertically, the way it's meant to be.

I also found two matching handles for fifty cents each at ReStore. They have a few little bins full of knobs and pulls to dig through.

I liked these black, hammered ones.

Simply screw in your handles on each side. Mine also had a hole in the center where I had to remove an existing knob when I bought it.

I used my Silhouette to cut out some black vinyl, which covers the hole and jazzes it up. :) I can change the vinyl easily to fit different occasions/parties. Total cost= about $4!