silver leafed mirrors

i silver leafed some mirrors for a client a while back and they turned out awesome!

they started out gold...which was all wrong for our space.

they ended sliver leafed. pretty cool, huh?!

you can see the two mirrors(notice the reflection of the second mirror in the first mirror) in the above shot. one mirror is hung above each, his and hers vanity.

here are some detail shots:

 this is the mirror above the wife's area

silver leaf is hard to beat. you can make it crack, smooth, lacquer it, glaze it. it's so versatile and sophisticated.

 and this is the mirror above the husband's area

 again, you can see both mirrors in the above shot.

 i also like that silver leafing a piece allows an aged/vintage feel, without any sanding or distressing. to me, that is what helps silver leafing keep its sophisticated edge. 

have you ever attempted silver leafing anything?

hacienda chic bathroom

i recently had a blast working on a hacienda chic bathroom. i had the walls painted a warm copper color and then applied a faux finish to make the walls look like terra cotta. i also refinished the vanity to resemble mexican tiles. this was a fun one!

do you like the hacienda chic style?

DIY framed chalkboard

for christmas this year, my sister wanted a framed chalk board. this project is simple and fun to have around.

 

ready to make your own?

first you need to select your frame. i wanted one with a bunch of detail.

next select the color of your frame, or leave it as is. i wanted to paint this frame purple, since that is abbe's favorite color.

next spray paint the frame. you'll want to prime it with a latex spray primer first. the best advice i give when spray painting is to paint very thin even coats. i also recommend working outside and wearing a mask.

be sure not to put down a drop cloth so that your grass can be forever primed with a touch of plum...your husband will love that! :)

next have a sheet of masonite cut to fit inside your frame. i had this done at home depot. 

after that, paint the masonite with chalkboard paint. then slide it into place inside the frame. don't forget to make sure that the chalkboard side is facing the correct side of the finished frame.

here is a simple tip, that i think is the most beneficial tip of the tutorial. rather than gluing the masonite into place, tack it into place with small tack nails. this supports the board much better.

then write away!

enjoy making your own framed chalkboard.

Recurring Dream

do you have any recurring dreams? as i've said before, i'm a vivid dreamer. i also dream often. i have had several recurring dreams through different seasons of my life.

since getting engaged, quite a while back, one of them always has to do with this guy.

(jeff with his beloved family bichon, buddy)

i have this dream in some fashion every so often.

last night it went like this. i dreamed that we were in school, and i had bangs, and we were invited to go to hungary on a mission trip.

to get to go, we had to sell cucumbers to raise support:). 

in my dream, jeff and i are not married, and don't know each other very well...that part is always the same. in the dream, i walk past a picnic style lunch table and see jeff sitting there.

i know instantly he is the man i want to marry BUT i'm pretty sure he isn't interested(clearly a dream...just kidding:))

i decide to ask jeff to build a website to help me sell cucumbers so that i can go on the trip and to gage his interest in going on the trip.

anyway, the dream goes on and on, always a bit differently. in this particular dream i also hung out with my high school tennis buddy, ellen! hi ellen!

here's the thing that almost always happens the same. the end of the dream comes, and i realize i am married to that guy that i am so attracted and drawn to.

married!

what fun!

i love this dream...it reminds me that i love being married. i genuinely love it. there are definitely moments where we choose our flesh, and selfishness wins...those moments are hard. really hard. there are also many moments when we put God first, enjoy each other, rather than expecting one to complete the other, and it's pretty fun. a picture of what's to come.

*wedding photo by taylor jackson*

Hallway Make OVer

our hallway used to look like this:

 the hallway door had a dead bolt on it...strange! we felt like the solid wood door to the hallway made the house feel smaller and disjointed.

just removing the door was a step in the right direction(along with the newly stained wood floors)

we scored this beauty for $25 at ReStore

this was actually our first purchase for our first house!

i painted it green and put in a fun hallway runner.

we still need to pick up a glass door handle for the door. we are also adding a little length to the door so that it isn't so short. i'm sure we will also hang a fun fixture in the hallway, and eventually hang stuff on the walls...who knows, maybe i'll even do a fun wall treatment down the hallway.