Antique Mirror Project

On the day I made my daughter's Hair Clip Frame, I went ahead and spray painted a few more things that I had hoped to hang on my daughter's wall one day.  One of those things was a vintage/antique (Note: I still don't know what term to use.  Any help on that would be greatly appreciated!) mirror that I found in my grandparents' garage the last time I was there.  I am sad to say I don't know the story behind it, but figured since it would be hanging in my daughter's room rather than collecting dust in the garage that my Nonnie (Rest her soul) wouldn't mind me taking it and spray painting it.

It is one of those cool mirrors that has the mercury spots starting to show and the frame itself is very ornate.  I did a quick search to see if I was destroying some precious piece by layering on a couple coats of bright paint, but came up empty handed.  So I went with the idea that it was better off being used and bright than "antiquely" original and left to collect dust.

Since it had been professionally framed, I couldn't remove the mirror for the paint process.  I went ahead and slid some paper under the frame in a gap between it and the mirror and taped it down.  I did the process a couple times for good measure.  Then I took it outside and sprayed away.  After a couple of coats, it turned out beautifully!  I am so pleased.

Here is the mirror with tape removed alongside the other projects of the day.  I am only sorry that I didn't snap a before to show you.

I have a few more things I am working on for the wall above my daughter's bed.  When it all comes together I will post a picture.  She will be 2 in a couple of months and has lived in a room with her brother since she was born.  I really wanted to get something in the room that was special for her - something that let her know that she wasn't just an afterthought.  A surprise - YES - but an afterthought - NO!  I bought a reproduction of an art piece when she was just a baby that has kind of inspired this.  It has some words on it that are taken  from this passage of scripture:

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Ephesians 3:17-19

So I pray that for not only my daughter, but for you today - That you may know the depth of the love of the Savior and be filled to the point of overflowing with this amazing God!

Hair Clip Frame

I've always envied those crafty bloggers who can see an old piece of furniture at a garage sale or a thrift store, snag it for an unheard-of price, slap some spray paint on it and turn it into something beautiful.  I don't have the knack for seeing something for what it could be.  Shoot, I don't even have the knack for finding garage sales that would sell anything I'd be interested in buying!  So you have to understand how big it is that I have a post for you today about something I found at a garage sale, spray painted and turned into something that I actually hung in my daughter's room.

I snagged this frame without glass at a garage sale for a quarter.  I could take you down my thought process... but I know you wouldn't be interested... so I'll spare you the details....let's just say that I came to the realization that this could become a place for me to store the little clips that I put in my daughter's hair to keep her crazy hair at bay.  So I gave in and went to pick up a few bottles of spray paint for projects that I've been wanting do.  Since this is my first tutorial of sorts, you'll have to forgive me for not having a full supplies picture or even getting pictures on my real camera.  Nonetheless, here's how it all went down:

::Supplies::
Frame
Felted Wool (I think? Got it at the White Elephant Sale)
Turquoise Ribbon (Left over from my sister's bridal shower)
Spray Paint
Spray Glue
Heavy Paper (mine was from a  cereal box I got out of the recycling)
Not Pictured: Tape, scissors, brads & a paper piercing tool

So here are some tips for the rookie crafter/spray painter
- When you wisely choose to cover the driveway before you paint, be sure that the cardboard (or whatever you use as a covering) is large enough and doesn't have holes in it.
- Try not to paint on a day where the high temperature is at the lowest in the range of good spray painting temperatures. Oops!

Anyway, after spraying my first coat on the frame, I started on the rest of the project.  I cut a piece of heavy paper to the size of the frame.  This was important to keep the felt from being too flimsy inside the frame.  I then cut the felt to just a bit larger than the paper and attached the felt to the paper with spray glue. (Side note: Spray glue is one of those things that you never really thought to buy, but once you have it, you find ways to use it on everything.  Be warned!)

Next, I measured out where I would want the ribbons to go.  If I had this to do over again, I would have temporarily taped them in place to avoid flipping them back and forth during the next step to make sure the placement was right.

In the end, I did wind up putting more ribbon toward the outer corners, but this is how it started.  Next, I began taping the pieces in place.  It is important to have them well taped because this will help anchor the ribbons once you add the weight of the clips.  I used clear tape, but I suppose you could use anything.  It doesn't look pretty, but really, you won't have to look at it... and honestly, I wasn't really into putting that much time into this project.

I placed the felt-covered board in the frame and was pretty happy with the results.  You can tell by the picture where I did end up adding extra ribbon in the outer corners.  

Now the last step you won't see until the final product picture, and that is the addition of buttons/brads/grommets.  I realized that in order to add anything with weight to the ribbons, they would need to be secured to the board on the front for stability.  I chose to add some of my Stampin' Up! mini brads with my paper piercing tool, because that is what I had.  Feel free to use an ice pick or pen to punch the holes if you want... or to add buttons instead of brads.  The choice is really yours and what you have lying around at the time.  I simply pierced through the ribbon everywhere it made an "X" with another ribbon and then placed a brad through the hole. Done!

Here is the finished project, hanging on the wall with some clips on it.  If you look close enough, you can see why you should spray paint on warmer rather than cooler days... but no biggie here!  I am pretty pleased with how it turned out.

Tres de Mayo Ruffles and Flags

Every year when Cinco de Mayo rolls around, we host a party for the college-aged students we work with.  This year, that party fell on the 3rd... hence a Tres de Mayo party!  And what good is any fiesta without decorations?!  I've been wanting to try these crepe paper ruffled streamers for a while and since we are on a major budget, I figured that this was a good time to use them.  And seriously, how much cheaper can it get than crepe paper?  The ones I bought were 2 rolls for $1 at the Dollar Tree.  I was hoping to grab some red, green & white for the 3 colored ruffles... but the store only had green and white.  Sometimes you've just gotta work with what you have, right?

I think the ruffles came out Ah-Mazing! I can't wait to make more!  But I've got to tell you something - we haven't even been in our new place 2 months and there are quite a few boxes to be unpacked, pictures to be hung and closets to be organized.  I really have no business decorating for holidays.  But every now and then, I just need to be creative.  Anyone else feel that way?  Those curtains in the background of this picture.... they are from Ikea and haven't been hemmed.  But I needed to put that aside to decorate for a Tres de Mayo party.

This mantle is covered with all the items that I don't have a place for, but don't want the kids to break.  It is also covered with the crepe paper ruffles I didn't have time to be making! Ha! Oh the irony!  That's the way it is sometimes, right?  Sometimes we need the simple, creative things.

Since I only had the green and white crepe paper, I knew I needed some red.  I pulled out the last few sheets of the red-hued scrapbook paper pack I had in the closet.  I cut the paper in 1 1/4" strips and cut each of those strips 6" long (i.e. half of a sheet of scrapbook-sized paper).  With my hot glue gun heated up, I folded the strips over some bakers twine and dropped on a dab of hot glue in the middle.

And there ya' have it!  Fiesta decor on a budget!  But budget doesn't stop there... these thing were made for reusing.  They need a way to be stored up for the next party.  The ruffles are pretty sturdy with the stitching running down the middle and roll up nice and neat.

The flags were another story.  Those things can get tangled to the point that makes you wish you had tossed them in the trash after the 1st time you used them.  I needed something to make storage much easier... and that's when I remembered the way my Grandma had stored all sorts of things in empty paper towel tubes.  

It may not look pretty, but it works... my silly little flags are all stored up for the next party.

Maybe the Fourth of July!