Painted Mirror

After hours of trying to put my blog together, I finally gave up. And then realized, I didn't blog, which was the main reason I logged on in the first place. With this freakishly weird weather we are having, my older 4 are in school and my younger 2 are still snuggled in their beds. Cold weather and these over energized kids of mine, don't get along.

So on to my post. This mirror is one in a set of 9. It was one of the first DIY projects that the Mr and I jumped into. I think it was back in 2003 and I was so taken by Christopher Lowell and all his DIY projects that he made look so easy peasy. About 30 minutes into this mirror project and I was ready to crack... literally. Luckily for me, the Mr is used to me getting frustrated half way through projects because I can be a bit picky when it comes to my own work. He finished the half that I no longer had the patience for. I was assigned painting duty for the rest of the evening. Anyhow. This is the mirror we started with. The vinyl was added a couple of years ago. Anyone that knows me.. knows how much I L.O.V.E that stuff! And since we're talking about vinyl, I have to add, Silly Vinyl Design has some really great ideas on her blog and some really great prices. So check her out!

Sorry for the terrible picture.

I taped wax paper over the mirror to avoid getting spray paint on it. but if you do happen to get some residue you can use a little water and a razor blade to get it off. I sprayed it with

Let it dry for an hour and then rubbed some black paint to give it some character. And this is the finished product.

Happy Monday!

Altered Pattern

This is the pattern we started with. My girls love anything Hannah Montana. Although I didn't really like any of the styles on this pattern, I did kinda, sort of, like the dress and thought I could just change it up a bit. This is the dress that we chose, and the alterations I made to the pattern.
And here is the finished product! It actually took my a couple of hours to do. I had to try and figure out how to put the yoke(top middle part) together and then the ruffles took me FORE-V-E-R. And I added some ties to the side. But I'm happy with the finished product! This was my "practice" dress and I just used some leftover fabric from my mom. Thanks mom!

Cake Mix Cookies

For FHE we select one of the older children to conduct and be in charge of dessert. So when we go over our weekly menu they have to know what they want to make. This started out with simple desserts, and now, I think my children need a reality check. They need to realize that I am NOT a pastry chef. And that these wonderful concoctions that they see on Food Network and my favorite baking sites are out of my league! Crazy kids! So this Monday they requested that we make, not buy, ice cream sandwiches. Luckily for them I have a quick and easy recipe or else they would get the "mom doesn't know how to make that" lecture, again. lol. So for you mothers out there that are facing the same dilemma, here's a recipe!


Ingredients:
1 cake mix(any flavor)
1/2 cup of melted butter
1 egg


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients at low speed until dry ingredients are moistened and dough is thoroughly mixed. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls 2" apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 9-12 minutes. Cool two minutes on cookie sheets, then remove to wire racks to cool.


Then just add a scoop of your favorite ice cream. Some of our favorites are devils food cake and vanilla or strawberry OR rocky road ice cream. Yum!

Jewelry Tree/Accesory Tree

Plato said that necessity is the mother of invention.. well this isn't really an invention, more like a necessity! Ha!
My girls have reached that age where they aren't really into the clippy thing. They are more into headbands, and ribbons. So this
would be mostly useless to them. They needed something that could pull double duty for hair accessories and jewelry. I don't know why the word jewelry sounded so grown up. Not just to me, they thought it did too. Especially when I suggested a jewelry tree. As if that weren't bad enough, I showed them a picture and their facial expressions said it all. "Ewwww mom... what is that!"
So I had to come up with something so I could redeem myself. I had to try and melded the two above into one and it had to be appealing to my little (picky) girls.
And that is how The Accessory Tree was born! Or grown?! Yeah. I know. The name is sooo not the business. Oh well. I hope you like it as much as they did.




We started off with a 2x3 piece of mdf and the MR had it cut down to size.

Then we spray painted it with Krylon Ocean Breeze.


So this is the surface we started with

then we added the vinyl which I purchased at JoAnn's and got 50% off.







Then added the drawer pulls as hangers.

I have yet to add a couple more on the tree and then a row at the base of the tree.
And TADA!! This is the final product!

*DISCLAIMER* The picture is of poor quality due to the inhalation of the spray paint fumes... please pardon the semi crooked picture.

Finished

4 down and 2 more to go. Is it going to end? Nope, I still have to get the table done. The fabric in the photo is light, I couldn't get my camera to adjust to the the light. Anyhow, if you are looking for good quality upholstry or home decor fabric, hit up Home Fabrics. LOVE that place! This past weekend I probably got a total of 3 hours of sleep.. at least it felt that way. We put up some curtains... I'll post those pics later. I'm enjoying this nice weather and am thinking I might refinish my daughters day bed. It's a great piece... and I got it free! If you have a freecycle group in your area... sign up!! I'm always on the lookout for a bargain, but there are some things I will not budge on lol.

Girly girls + beading

I remember growing up in a house full of girls... and even though I was a tomboy, Sundays, I was required to get "girl'd" up. There was not a shortage of jewelry or cute hair accesories. I have 2 girls and I don't even want to know what my parents spent on accesories! So with my 2 I'm alway looking for clearanced bracelets, necklaces, hair clips, or any accessory. As they get older I want them to be able to express themselves and explore their creativity.. sometimes I feel that I over shadow them when it comes to that. Anyhow, I love beading! I love that you can create your own piece and most times it's 50%-80% cheaper than what you pay retail. So Saturday we headed out to the bead store and I let my girls pick their beads and a charm. They love a lot of the same things and so you will see them dressed the same A LOT. We came away with the bag of beads shown above. I put them togther and they absolutely adore their bracelets. As they get older, I really should LET them do it lol. I'm working on that. but here is the finished product. I'm working on making some hair accesories this week. I've got to find something to do while they are in school and our pool isn't open yet :( Happy Monday!

hippity {hop}

Treats for my primary class. Happy Easter ya'll!