Framing a Mirror

(Before and After of my entire bathroom redo found here.)

Framing the mirror was not all that difficult.  First, I measured around the mirror.  Next, I hammered door shims into the wall around the mirror so that there was a level surface to attach the molding.

Yep, I'm in my jammies...I do some of my best work in my jammies....  ;)

Then, I measured the molding and cut the appropriate 45 degree angles with a miter saw, then stained and polyurethaned.

Now, like a lot of ugly old builder grade mirrors, ours was attached to the wall with brackets, which meant the molding wouldn't sit completely flush against the mirror.  So I figured out where the brackets would be against the back side of the molding (using the highly technical method of holding the molding in place, then lifting the edge and trying to peer in there while also sticking a marker in there to mark the edges), and drilled a few holes (NOT ALL THE WAY THROUGH, BE CAREFUL!)

and finished it off with a utility knife.

So then, the molding fit nice and flat against the mirror.  With some construction adhesive (careful here, folks, not to much or it will come oozing out under the edges)

and a few well-placed wire brads, the molding was in place.

Next, wood filler in the corners and the nail holes.

Let it dry, then dab on some stain with a Q tip.  Wait for that to dry, and see how it looks, then top 'er off with a little poly (NOT with a Q tip this time!).

And Voilà!!!  C'est magnifique!

 And much cheaper than buying a big ole framed mirror! :)

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Painting the bathroom faucet

(Before and After of my entire bathroom redo found here.)
UPDATE: It's  been almost nine months since I painted this faucet, and I'm delighted to say that it has held up beautifully, even with our hard water.  There are a couple tiny chips on the drain assembly, but that would be my husband's fault for prying it up with his fingernails when it got stuck once!  The faucet itself has not a scratch.

Replacing a faucet is EXPENSIVE.  And you want to make sure you get a good one...and THAT's what made me decide I'd try the paint route.
I've seen people who have painted their faucets with some success.  The biggest turn off for me (other than durability concerns) was all the precise taping.

I hate taping.

So I decided just to take out my faucet and drain assembly and spray paint them in the garage!  Thank you, YouTube.

It's a pick your poison kind of situation.  It definitely took me just as long to remove the faucet and drain assembly as it would have to tape.  But I just felt I could do a better paint job with the faucet off.

Once I had removed the faucet, I scraped off all the old caulk and cleaned it thoroughly.

Then I put on some gloves and started scuffing it up with some steel wool.  Unfortunately, the steel wool I had was super fine, so it wasn't doing the best job.  So instead I grabbed a Scotch-Brite heavy duty sponge and used that.  It did a lovely job of scuffing it up.

And then, I started spraying.  With primer.  I used some Rustoleum I had lying around from when I did our custom house numbers.  REMEMBER, folks, lots of thin coats.

Next, the oil rubbed bronze spray paint.  Krylon Brushed Metallic. 

Then I used some of the leftover Sophisticated Finishes copper metallic surfacer from my lamp redo to add some copper highlights.  I used a make-up sponge, and just lightly whisked it over the areas I wanted to highlight.

And the topcoat!  I used Krylon Matte Finish.  Again, lots of THIN coats.  Lots. I was aiming for the most durability possible.

And then it was time to put it back in.

My biggest concern with durability was cleaning it.  I don't know if it could hold up to being scrubbed.  So my solution is to prevent the problem before it starts.  I wipe the faucet and drain assembly down with a Clorox wipe every night.  So far, so good!
I love it!  And for less than 10 bucks, I'm happy!!!

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Bathroom Redo

I'm so excited to show y'all the VAST improvement of my main bathroom!
Let's get to it!

Before:

Yes, that is me in the my bathrobe with my needy daughter clinging to my legs...

After:

 
 
(I have separate posts for how to paint the faucet, how to frame the mirror, and the miscellaneous tidbits of the redo)
I took down all the hardware, the light fixture, and the shower curtain rod & rings, painted them oil-rubbed bronze and added copper highlights.  I uninstalled the faucet and drain assembly and painted that as well (and used about a million layers of top coat).  I added a beautiful frame to the plain old mirror.  I got new towels (thank you IKEA) and shower curtain, framed some 8X8 prints from my time in Eastern Europe, and, OF COURSE, painted and stenciled.


A little while ago, Cutting Edge Stencils contacted me to see if I would be interested in doing a product review and a GIVEAWAY.  Um, YES!!!  I'd been thinking of redoing that bathroom, and stenciling had crossed my mind, so this offer just sealed the deal!  After browsing all their beautiful stencils, I settled on their Paisley Allover stencil.  I kinda have a bit of a love affair with paisley.  And when I saw that GORGEOUS stencil, I couldn't resist.

Now, I did choose one of the trickiest stencils, and definitely one of the trickiest walls (I had to stencil around the shower insert, the toilet, the cabinet, the mirror, the lighting wires and mounting screw...).  But the stencil came with very clear illustrated instructions, and Cutting Edge has some terrific video tutorials:

I felt more than prepared to tackle my project!  I had it done in less than a day, and I'm thrilled with how it turned out.  Stunning, right?  :)

Giveaway closed

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And My Wedding is Scrapped...

Guess what I finished yesterday!!!  75 total pages of digitally scrapped wedding photos.  Took me about 8 days of hard core scrapping, but I made the deadline on my Groupon!  My poor neglected family.  Now that I've resurfaced, I need to clean my house and get groceries so I can feed my family!  AND I'll be finishing up my latest project, which involves that sponsor I mentioned, as well as a giveaway from them!  Be excited!

In the meantime, I just want to share some of my favorite pages from my wedding album.  Click to make them bigger!

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Resolutionary

Ah, it's that time of year.  The time when we're all feeling ambitious and waxing eloquent.  I've been trying to take a step back, and evaluate the last year and decide what I want for 2012.  And I of course have come up with some resolutions of my own.  But really, most of those goals and hopes can be summed up with my new mantra for the year: More Doing.  (Yes, it should remind you of Home Depot, I may have borrowed it.)  Actually, it was originally Doing Before Blogging, but it's about so much more than blogging.  It should really be Doing Before Wasting Time on Social Media.  And by Doing, I mean Doing What's Important.  But I digress.  The point is, there's no predicting when you'll see me on here.  I still most definitely plan on blogging, make no mistake.  But in keeping with another goal of not continually biting off more than I can chew, I'm not going to be so busy with projects that I'm an overwhelmed stress case all the time.  I will blog!  But I will not hold myself to schedules or deadlines.  In short, I'm just going to live.  And then blog as I see fit.

But anyway, I have been VERY busy, and I DO have lots to blog...including a project using products from MY VERY FIRST SPONSOR, and a GIVEAWAY from said sponsor!  So stay tuned.  And I hope you will stay around...don't give up on me!  :)

Oh yeah, one thing more...I'm on one last strict deadline.  My last Groupon for Picaboo expires on the 12th.  So I am CRANKING out a 90 page photobook of my wedding (yes, 6+ years later, I'm getting to it).  And I'm pleased as punch with the page I just finished, so I thought I'd share:

(Click to make it bigger.)

See ya soon!

Merry Christmas to all!

Goodbye 'til January...

Yeah, I know, my blogging has been...well, nonexistent.  It's not that I don't have things to share, I do.  It's that I've been working my tail off to get all my projects done by the end of the year, the holidays are in full swing, and I've had migraine episodes with greater than normal frequency.  All in all, no time to blog.  So here's one more project as a grand send off  until January...when I'll tell you all about what I've been up to!  

This has been a long time coming.  I posted on my personal Facebook page the other day..."WELL. We closed on this house February 3rd. I've been planning on painting the garage doors, front door and adding shutters and a windowbox since we made our offer January 4th. And now, December 3rd, it is finally all done. Shutters and windowbox are up. And I totally love it!"

We used cedar fence slats, cut them to size, sanded them down a bit, painted them to match our newly painted garage doors, and screwed them into place.  Sounds easier than it was!  But either way, it was very inexpensive.  It took 3 of the 5.5 inch slats to make the window box...3 @ $1.87=$5.61.  12 total 3.5 inch slats for the shutters (6 per window)...12 @ $1.17=$14.04.  Not bad, eh?  Now, just because it makes me happy, before (i.e., what it looked like when we bought it) and after:

And with that, have a WONDERFUL holiday season!!!!!  I may pop in if I have a holiday related craft that is easy to blog about, but otherwise see y'all in January!

Linking up here:

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Book-Egg Christmas Ornaments

A little something for the tree I have in my living room window:

I want this tree to have a vintage homespun book look.  I spotted this egg wreath from Lemon Tree Creations and pinned it a couple months ago, thinking I could make something similar for Christmas ornaments.  It worked nicely.  I used old Easter eggs.  First, I drilled a hole in the top of the egg,

then modge podged some tiny scraps into the hole (using a toothpick helped).

Then took about 8 inches of ribbon, folded it in half and shoved the cut ends through the hole, again, using a toothpick.

Then carefully pulled the ribbon through to tie a knot in the end.

Then time for more modge podge!

I didn't follow Lemon Tree's tutorial at all (just looked at it for the first time today in fact), I just modge podged scraps from what had turned out to be a very vulgar book I picked up at a library bag sale 'cause the cover looked interesting (I had to be careful to make sure no curse words or words like crotch, sex kitten, etc., were showing!). 

I like 'em!  The Lemon Tree eggs definitely look cleaner, but since the text of the book I used was...well, disgraceful, the way I did it was probably better for my purposes!

Linking up here:

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An announcement, a tip and a sneak peek

I've been busy.  And obviously, blogging hasn't been a priority!  But I do have a few things to tell you about.

First off, I took a leap and I am now a Stampin' Up demonstrator.  I am really really excited about this.  I'm just getting started, but you can expect a lot more papercrafting ideas around here, as well as spotlights of my favorite products.  And if you are interested in Stampin' Up products, but don't have a demonstrator, I'd be happy to be yours!  Just click over to my website, and you can shop online.  And if you want to find my site any other time, you can click on the new button in my sidebar. :)

Next, for those of you on the brink of going digital with your scrapbooking, Costco has the newly released Adobe Photoshop Elements 10 for $49.99 now through the 27th, I believe.  This is a great deal, so great in fact, that I decided it was time to update (I've been operating with version 6)!

And last but not least, the major project that has been occupying so much of my spare time (which isn't much, when you have a 20 month old drama queen who thinks she needs to spend the whole day on your lap...hence why I've been so unproductive): My new gallery/collage wall!  It's not quite done, so here's a sneak peak to share with you until I finish it (hopefully the end of the week).

 Stay tuned for the grand reveal!