Golden Mirror!

Thrifty UpCycle

I've shared my love of "junkin" as I call it...visiting thrift stores, antique stores, Habitat Humanity ReStores.  I'm always looking for a few things but they must be fairly inexpensive..that means once I buy it and fix it up it should be cheaper than anything I can buy already done or just better period.  That's the THRILL for me...making an item into something fabulous on the CHEAP.  

We call that a "thrifty upcycle"...so you are basically recycling and renewing an item..and saving money...and helping Mother Earth.

I got this beauty for $10 at a junk store in Purcellville while visiting my buddy Marti last week.

I love the size and the ironwork in the frame of this mirror.  I knew it would be even more

beautiful with some metallics added...really make it SHINE!

So I taped off the mirror well and set it up in my Spray Box...a UPS box split open on one side.

Its rustic but it works well...don't knock it ;)

This mirror only took 3 coats of the Rust-o-leum Aged Bronze Spray.

I didn't go with Gold because it just was TOO...TOO much know what I mean?

Too gold and shiny for where I wanted to put it anywho.

And this is that mirror now...beautifully metallic in Aged Bronze and fits in with all my other accessories!

This is my foyer table area and I've been looking for something to hang here for the longest time.

I used to have a floral picture but I got sick of it and gave it away...I don't have a pic of that sorry.

But my demilune table from Ethan Allen has bronzed/gold paint in it and I picked that up with my lamp, picture frame, urn and Metallic Pumpkins (that I made HERE).

I didn't want anything overpowering for this space, something pretty and that reflected the beautiful

light we get in the front of the house.  This mirror was perfect!

And for a total of $14 ($10 mirror + $4 spray paint) I think I got a good deal!!

Just to compare look at these similar mirrors for much, much more...makes me even happier with mine:

$199 at Lamps Plus

$129 at FleaPop

$50 at Etsy

Have you transformed a thrifty buy lately?


I'm entering this into the following linky parties:

The Hankful House (get your diy on)
Domestic Superhero 
Transformation Thursday

Funky Junky Interiors - Party Junk

Metallic Fall Accents!

I love the colors of Fall...gorgeous rusts, reds, oranges, and golds...beautiful!

And I like to add some sparkle, bling and metallics into my decorating as well.

So I needed some metallic pumpkins for my foyer table.

I looked around and the ones I saw were either too big or not the right metallic.

So what do you do?  You make your own.

CONVERSATION IN MY HOUSE:

This is my daughter looking at something in a magazine or store: "Mom, I love these...aren't they pretty?"

Mom (me) answers "Yup, but I can make it cheaper and better!"

Daughter:  {rolls her eyes}

BUT ITS TRUE...you can usually make it cheaper and better and perfect for your space or taste.

And I have a bunch of projects coming to prove it ;)

So I got some pumpkins...$2 for these 5 mini pumpkins.

Now if you find mini plastic pumpkins, those would work too...I couldn't find any

so I went with the real thing.  I taped off the stems because I wanted those to look real.

But you could paint them as well...that's up to you!

(if you go real, clean them off & dry well before painting)

Linking this to Stone Gable's Tutorials & Tips Linky Party

And I bought two cans of Metallic Rust-o-leum Spray Paint

in "Aged Bronze" and "Hammered Copper" at Lowes.

Above shows the hammered copper...it dries to a textured finish which I like.

Total of $11 for both cans of paint and I used maybe a 1/4 of each can.

(so lots left for other fun projects)

I had to spray them a few times to coat...use thin coats each time so you don't get yucky drips.

This is my foyer area...more on that in the next post and some other things I made.

My demilune table is from Ethan Allen...its one of my fave pieces of furniture..we've had it for about 10 years.

I went with a gold, copper and aged bronze mix...warm colors that mix and match well.

The frame ($4) and copper urn ($8) are from HomeGoods.

Aren't they purty?  I love the pretty shine and warm colors...much less harsh than

the usual pumpkin orange.  I love that they match the gems in my frame too.

Shiny, Pretty, Metallic...yup I love 'em!

Easy to do...and in ANY COLOR your lil' heart chooses too!

I'm painting up some white ones with a special treatment for my dining room...more on those soon!

So remember you don't have to have pumpkin orange, purple and black as your Halloween and Fall colors..mix it up and try something new.

Paint is cheap and makes a HUGE IMPACT even on something small like these pumpkins.

Its as simple as a spray paint in your fave color.  And they come in ALL kinds of colors now.

Some brands even offer a primer built in.  Lowes has a huge selection of pretty colors!

I can't even tell you how many projects are almost complete or finished that I have coming that take a simple can of spray paint.  I'm an ADDICT :)

This project got featured on:

Have You Spray Painted Anything Lately?
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I'm entering this into the following linky parties:

A Bowl Full of Lemons

Home Stories A to Z

Give Me The Goods Monday

Making the World Cuter

Savvy Southern Style

Create It Thursday

Thrifty Decor Chick

DIY Dreamer- From Dream to Reality

Inspire Me Please Weekend

Making Home Base

Practically Functional

Strut Your Stuff - Six Sisters Stuff

The Hankful House - Get Your DIY On

Southern Fried!

Corn done the SOUTHERN Way!!

Southern Fried Corn...you heard of it?

Nooo? Well you need to try it!!

Most people here in Virginia or my friends out west look at me oddly when I say 

I'm cooking this for dinner.  It is one of my FAVORITE ways to eat day old corn or cooked corn from the night before.  

YUMMO-licious!  

I grew up eating it and have NO idea where it originated but we love it!

I had a lot of of leftover cooked corn but you could use fresh corn as well in your dish.

You want to cut the corn off the cob as cleanly as possible.  Get every tasty kernel that you can!

I love this kitchen gadget from the Pampered Chef that scales the kernels off of corn quickly & easily.

Mine is quite a few years old so not sure if they still sell it...but if you find one and you eat a lot of corn...you need it ;)  Makes the job quick for ya!

Then gather your many supplies...lol!

Ingredients:

Ground Pepper

Butter 

(the real stuff if you are like me)

Kosher Salt

Optional: any other ingredients you choose

I like to keep it simple...nothing that over powers the sweet flavor of the corn.

Get all those kernels of corn in a saute pan, add 2 TBS of butter (to start),

sprinkle some Kosher Salt and Ground Pepper to taste and start cooking on Med/High Heat.

Your goal is to get the corn slightly crispy and brown...mmmmm all those little bits of goodness scraped from the pan.  Add more butter as needed.  I don't like to cook it too fast or on too high of heat...a slower cooking is better.  Scrape the corn from bottom of pan as needed and keep cooking!

Its a yummy side dish especially good with Barbecue Dishes!

So go on...get your Southern Fried apron on and try it!!
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I'm entering this into the following Linky Parties:

A Bowl Full of Lemons

Home Stories A to Z

Give Me The Goods Monday

Making the World Cuter

Nooks & Bitz!

My Fave Fallish Nooks in My House!

I have some nooks and vignettes in my house that I adore...yup I really love 'em.  I'm still working on redoing a few rooms, looking for the "perfect" object for a wall space in some rooms, ripping up carpet, painting...lots going on in my house.  And these vignettes are FALL inspired in colors and style.

But at least some things are DONE and pretty in my house to help make me feel better right?

So I'm focusing on a few of them today that are on my first floor, makes me feel better!

PS--all these pics taken with that new giftie my hubby got me, for no reason other than he loves me...what was it?
A NEW CANON REBEL T51...whoot whoot...so excited to learn more on how to use it but I'm loving it already :) I got the best hubby in the whole wide world!!

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Living Room

I collect old books...not any old books...they have to be special books....have a personal meaning to me.

I collect old Bobbsey Twins and Nancy Drew books...they were some of my faves growing up.

Or favorite subjects...I have a book called "Suzanne" that my mom found for me from the late 1800's.

I also collect old clocks like this one...all sizes and colors...but just have to be unique and old.

Like my other collections I don't have 500 of anything...I like a few of each scattered around my home.

Two of my favorite toile chairs in my living room...never really sit in them..but they are darn purty ;)

I love all the beautiful sunlight I get in my living room and dining room.  The walls are a creamy yellow and they just glow during the day...makes me happy.  I love light!

Still looking for something on each side of my picture above the couch..seven years now and I'm STILL looking!  Hmmmppppfffffttt

These faux flowers sit on my coffee table...go faux or go home I say..especially when your cat likes to eat the real stuff.  The picture is of the kids when they were MUCH younger on one of our favorite hikes..I printed it out in sepia for a different look.

This little nook sits behind my family room and in front of my dining room (to left), foyer (to left) and living room (to right).  I've had that jelly cabinet forever and it holds candles, towels and toilet paper for the powder room...fancy schmancy supplies ya know!

And yes there are two of my rooster pictures...I love roosters...classy ones...and never a lot of them.

Don't want anyone thinkin' we live in a Rooster House ya know LOL!

No one really sits in these chairs either...I love chairs...even if they aren't being sat in.

What can I say :)

My current table vignette in my kitchen...because of my crazy cat Tucker I cannot do real flowers much.

He eats them...it isn't pretty..trust me...and I find it highly annoying :(

So I go faux...and this is what I have for the moment...its sure to change soon...I like to change it up regularly.  Yup that metal bowl in background is the cat bowl...I have to have it up high cuz' my doggies eat it..ugh.  Animals are so much fun right? right? RIGHT!?

This is another vignette in my kitchen...yup that's a rooster statue and rooster canister set..told you they sneak up on ya in my house ;)

I love warm colors too...they make me feel cozy and give a homey feeling..I love that.

Golds, dark reds, browns, rusts...yup right up my alley!

I have more cool colors in the upstairs and finished basement...but my main level I like warmth.

I want people to come in my house and feel at home, kick your feet up and have a glass of wine or Coke with me and just HANG OUT!

And here is a look into my dining room from the kitchen.

Its a disaster zone with paint swatches painted on walls (I finally picked a color), 

supplies on the table for new vignettes I'm considering and curtain fabric samples.

Oy Vey...slowly but surely said the turtle to the hare..and I'm listening!!

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I'm entering this into the following Linky Parties:

Savvy Southern Style
Strut Your Stuff Saturday- Six Sisters
Its Overflowing
Or So She Says
Your Home Based Mom
What's Cooking With Ruthie
Domestic Super Hero
Thrifty Decor Chick

Sugar Monster Fun!

Cute right?  Easy as a blink to make and cheap to make...a win/win!

I've made these in the past for the kids and their friends. I never made 100's to give away on Halloween just because where we live its NUTS with how many kids come by. That's wayyy too much work LOL!  But I would make these for a few of the kids besties or for sleepovers.

Supplies Needed:

-long, thin candy bars like Hershey bars

-a great craft glue (I like Best Glue Ever)

-Googly eyes

-Scotch Tape

-crepe streamers in colors (black, white, orange, green, etc)

-optional ink pads

I usually would buy my candy bars in huge packs at Costco..if you have lots to make its more economical. 

However our grocery store had a Buy 2-Get 1 Free Deal last week...so that worked for this project well.  Only thing I bought was google eyes (.89 cents) and candy bars ($3), the rest I had on hand.

Pick a candy bar and a colored crepe streamer to start with.

Obviously you can do this in many colors...use orange streamer for a pumpkin face...hot pink for a fun girly monster..whatever your mind dreams up!!

Tape the streamer onto the candy bar..doesn't really matter where...and then just wrap the candy bar as much as you'd like but make sure to wrap in different directions for a fun look.

I like to ink the edges of the crepe streamers to add a bit of dimension to them.

Easy Peasy..take an ink pad in your color of choice and rub around the edges as much as you'd like.

Dirty 'em up a bit!

Glue their eyeballs wherever you'd like...more than one pair if you want to go crazy with it :)

I like to tuck some of the eyes a bit under the streamer wrap too.  My green & black bar is my version of Frankenstein ahahaha, the black one is a Ninja and then some ghosties..but let your imagination SOARRRR and have fun with it!  

But remember to KISS...keep it simple so its fun and easy..and get your kids to help.  Mine "used" to help when they were younger...as teens, well...not so much anymore LOL!

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Entering this into the following Linky Parties:

Savvy Southern Style
A Bowl Full of Lemons
The DIY Dreamer
Strut Your Stuff Saturday- Six Sisters
Its Overflowing
Domestic Super Hero
Family Fun Friday

Recycled Fall Wreath DIY!

Its Fall Y'all!!

If you've been into any of your local craft stores you have probably seen or drooled over some of the beautiful fall wreaths hanging in the stores.  I know I have at least...but at $80+ its a bit much for me to spend.  And I'm always eyeballing things to see if its something I can easily make.  Sometimes its not worth the trouble and products you have to buy but I at least give it a thought.

And I knew I could make a fall wreath easily...I made this wreath in under 40 mins for under $15 on my kitchen counter with some new supplies and some that I already had on hand.  I used an old wreath that I had that was falling apart and I snipped out some pieces and blooms that I liked.

Wreath Recycling I like to call it!

And this is what I came up with...it will hang over my sink on my triple windows.

The grapevine wreath frame I already had as part of a "great buy" I got a year ago at JoAnns but you can buy them in different sizes and styles for under $12 with a coupon maybe even cheaper. Check around your stores and see what you can get.

I like to work in my kitchen...I have lots of counters and I can spread out...I like to be messy and lay everything out so I can see it.  Plus my studio was kinda in a mess...I was working on a papercraft project that you can see HERE...so there was no room LOL.

New Supplies I Bought:  2 Hydrangea Stems & 2 Sunflower Stems at 50% off plus a 25% coupon so it was a great price for both. Price was $12 for all 4.

What I Had On Hand:  floral wire, grapevine wreath, twine, 1 fall leaf garland, flowers from old wreath, and ribbon

RECYCLE TIP:  take apart old wreathes, bouquets or candle rings and take the parts that you want out of it..I save all these things in a large rubbermaid bin because I KNOW I will eventually use the bits & pieces..I KNOW IT :) It saves you when you want to do projects like this big time and its RECYCLING which we all know is a good thing!  Even thrift stores or yard sales are a good source for faux florals for cheap...I saw a huge candle ring floral arrangement at my thrift store for only $8 and it probably had $50 worth of flowers in it.  Or use dried flowers from your garden...I dry my hydrangeas every year in my garage and use them around the house but the ones I had clipped weren't quite ready so I resorted to these faux blooms this time.

I cut all my stems and garland into usable pieces and start tucking them into the wreath.

I like to move things around till I get them where they look best including the ribbon.

Then I flip the wreath over...very carefully...and start securing each of the stems to the back of the wreath. (pic is from phone sorry)

I wrap my floral wire around the stems very tightly and then secure them to the wreath frame the best that I can including my ribbon bow that I made myself with the Large Bow Easy.

I use wired ribbon for wreathes as its easy to ripple it and put it where you need it in a wreath...keeps its shape nicely too.

Once you have secured everything flip it back over and adjust as needed.

Then I use twine to add a hanger to the back that I can easily slip into my window seal to hang.

I find it extremely hard to take pics of things on windows...but I got a new Canon Rebel T51 from my hubby (thanks hubby) and I will be learning in my classes how to do this better.

But for now this is what I have for you...bear with me :)

The wreath hangs over my sink for fall...I don't like too much on my windows because it looks into the backyard and woods and I hate to spoil the view with lots of clutter.

And that's how easy it is....don't spend a ton of money on supplies...sniff around your supplies and garden and craft stuffs and pull it all together.  RECYCLE something!

Fall is sneaking into my decor daily...what is your favorite fall decor item in your home?
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I'm entering this into these linky parties:

No Minimalist Here
Making the World Cuter  
Give Me the Goods Monday
Monday Funday 
Get Your DIY On! (fall wreaths) 
Savvy Southern Style
A Bowl Full of Lemons
The DIY Dreamer