Melodie from 
liked my monogrammed mirrorand it inspired to ‘save’ one she had given to her. She inspired me right back. Here are some of her DIY projects:
I have been searching for a large mirror for our foyer since *before* we moved into the house. Much to my dismay, Mr. Mel hates mirrors (say wha?!) so he was zero help, and many of the ones I found were way beyond my budget or too glammy for Mr. Mel’s taste.
Then, just when I had given up, my dad offered me a rather, uhm, interesting bronze-y, gothic-y, filigree-y mirror my parents received as a wedding gift 35 YEARS AGO! It’s been collecting dust in their basement for years. My response to him was a very enthousiastic, “Yeh, I’d love to take it off your hands!”. Followed by a hesitant, “…that is, if you don’t mind me going at it with a can of spray paint”. Thankfully, my dad has always been a fan of my rather *creative* decorating solutions and didn’t have a problem with the mirror getting a facelift.
Here’s the mirror before (a tad too Liberace for my taste):
I used Rust-Oleum Paint for Plastics in Shell White for this project. Because it’s meant for outdoor patio furniture, I got to skip the primer step…it’s an all-in-one product that has great coverage. I also did some glazing on it to bring out some of the details.
Next I made myself a monogram (inspired by this post at The DIY Showoff). To create a stencil, I printed off the letters I wanted on plain paper, traced it onto sheets of window cling I had hanging around, and cut the letters out with an exacto knife. I placed the stencil on the mirror and sprayed them with Krylon Frosted Glass Finish. My first attempt = epic fail. The window cling shrunk when the frosting touched it, smearing the frosting spray across the surface. Not. Good. The second time around I made a stencil from cardstock, sprayed it with readjustable stencil spray and placed it on the mirror. This, too, was a miserable failure, the frosting seemed to pool around the edges and formed this yucky crust and the adhesive spray left a sticky mess all over the mirror which I had to attempt to remove using nail polish remover and a q-tip…not fun. Finally, I made a stencil from, of all things, shelf contact paper and it worked like a charm! SUCCESS!
I am so happy to be able to use this mirror in my foyer. It’s a great connection to my parents and I can’t wait for them to see it.
Isn’t it fantastic?!
Here is the breakdown of costs for this project:
$ 0 for the mirror
$ 7 for spray paint
$ 0 for frosting (leftovers I found in my craft cart – go figure)
$ 11 for stencil adhesive
$ 0 for glaze
$ 1 for contact paper (gotta love the dollar store!)
Total Cost = $19
Thanks for sharing Melodie! I think it’s GORGEOUS! Great job! So, while I was checking out her mirror, I snooped around on her blog and came up with MORE of Melodie’s awesomeness. A DIY label gets me every time. Click the links for more details including cost breakdown and tutorials:
UP UP UP – Stairway Wall Before
Photo Gallery After
Before
A sterile cold bathroom warms up:
I couldn’t help myself. Mr. Mel and I just hated how cold and sterile our main floor bathroom looked. The room was painted Benjamin Moore Limesickle, a colour we love, but it was just too plain. I took a brush and roller to it this weekend, and painted the back wall Benjamin Moore Brown Sugar and we love how it turned out. It’s so much warmer! Yay!
Side note: Scotch brand painter’s tape is possibly the *worst* painter’s tape I have ever used. Bleh, garbage!
Before:
WOW! So much creativity all in one blog! LOVE it! Thanks Mel!
I was able to find this lovely old gal at a local antique shop.
I think my husband thought that I had finally gone off the deep end.
I just saw character and charm in this nice old cart – and also a new coffee table for the family room.
The top of the cart was weathered beyond hope, so we had to remove all the old boards. We were able to find some similar old boards to replace them with.
After some revamping (wheel adjustments to level the table, sanding, staining, painting and stenciling) – this is how she turned out.
Think how many times these wheels have turned over the years.
The antique dealer told us the cart came from the ‘Harry Stoller Company’ (one of the old shoe factories in Haverhill, Mass). It just so happens that my husband had been in that old mill building 5 years ago and probably passed right by this old cart. I stenciled the name on both sides to add a bit more history.
I placed a few simple things on top and we now have a lovely ‘new/old’ coffee table. My husband says he likes it now that it’s done. My kids don’t really see the beauty of it, but maybe someday……
