Changing a Mirror Frame and what to do with those big builder's mirrors.......

Do you live in a house that has one (or more) of those large builder's mirrors the entire wall of a bathroom? Are you like me and HATE them? Do you have any idea how expensive mirrors are? And better yet, do you know how easy it is to cut a mirror with a tiny (cheap) little tool?

Well, I have answers for you!!! You do have to be careful cutting mirrors and take precautions from getting cut on sharp edges - I do know from experience. If you are removing a mirror (or more) reuse it for a better, prettier purpose and save yourself some money.

In our last home I took down 2 of these large mirrors and made one into the very large mirror in our foyer. You can see it below.

Here is a close up of the frame, which is what this post is about today. Can you tell what material that is? Look closer....

It is anaglypta wallpaper painted with Rustoleum's Antiquing Copper kit (spray paint and antiquing gel)! Doesn't it look like metal?! I love this frame and it (unfortunately for us) stayed with the house when we sold it.

I had also made 2 smaller frames with more leftover mirror, but painted them differently. I never liked the color and I did a bad job with adhering the paper and it started buckling which made it look bad. Here are a few pictures of it before.

I decided to take the paper off and redo it , making certain to adhere it correctly using wallpaper paste. Here are a few shots of the back of my very simple frame, and of the new paper on before painting.

I did not have any of the copper spray paint left, and of course I was inpatient and wanted it done right away, so I found some gold spray paint to use instead of the copper. I very lightly sprayed the brown over it to just cut the gold down a little. Looking back, this step was probably not needed.

This is a photo of my supplies:

After spraying the paper and letting it dry I started with the antiquing gel. *** Remember, when putting a mirror on behind a frame, you have to finish a small section of the back edge because it actually will reflect in the mirror - and if you don't finish it you will see unpainted edges.... ****

Apply Gel liberally:

Wipe off with a damp rag or cloth. You keep wiping until you like the look:

Here you see the difference with the antiquing done, and not done yet.

Here is the mirror on the wall. I love the color change, but even more I love that it looks good - no more buckling paper - it looks like metal. Of course, I am not in love with it in here, but that is where it is staying for now.....

What have you done with your large builder's mirror? I have seen some cool projects on Pinterest and need some ideas for the boy's bath and our master bath in this house.

Thank you for reading, have a great weekend everyone!



Linking up with these fun blogs!: DIY Vintage Chick, The Pin Junkie, The Craft Dictator, Miss Mustard Seed

Painting a Gender Neutral Nursery

Happy Monday everyone. I hope your weekend was great and for those father's in your lives, hopefully they had a special day!

Our family spent the last week painting a nursery for a baby (not yesterday - I would not do that to Mr. Thrifty). Yes, I said family and I said baby! My little ones wanted to be involved and had a small paint can and small paint brushes and painted many stick figures on the walls (that were covered up with a roller). But we will always know they are there. Mr. Thrifty (he, he) is not a painter, and under instruction from me did a great good great job!

The first thing I had to do was pick colors. We won't find out the sex of the baby until delivery --- which could be an entire conversation on its own and I know people have very differing opinions on this ------ which is exactly how we did it with our other 2 children. Anyways.......paint colors......after painting samples on the walls I went with Pale Celery for the top of wall and Mountain Dew for the lower part of the walls. Both are Benjamin Moore colors and we used BM paint too (so superior to SW in my experience). The top color is pale yellow, and the bottom color is pale yellow green. I used shaped Frog Tape for the border between the two colors. It was expensive, but thankfully was on sale at ACE when I bought it, and it makes such an awesome edge with NO bleedthrough at....all.....

Of course it took me 90 minutes to put it up on the wall, using a level to keep everything straight.

Here are my supplies:

That little yellow thing in front of the paint can......... it is less than 2 dollars and you put it around the paint can lip and it eliminates spills on the can when you pour it into the roller tray etc.... I can't believe I never bought one before moving to our new house. I just wash it when done and keep reusing it and I love it!

This is the shaped tape on the wall (don't forget your level to keep it straight since ceilings are never completely level)

This shows the yellow above and unpainted below. You can see my samples painted on the wall in this shot.

Here you can see how I also used straight tape. This was above the window, where I will eventually have a boy or girl fabric valance and it will be hidden. I wanted to save the expensive shaped tape. I also used this tape in the door area, which is recessed. Basically because I was really tired of putting the shaped tape up!

The next few photos show how the room looks fully painted. I only have a crib and changing table so far. When we moved we sold or gave away ALL of our baby things! So I have to start over for this one.... The curtains will stay and I will paint the curtain rod and add a valance after the baby comes. I think these colors will look great with a bright pink, or a navy blue. I love the gauzy curtains from Ikea. I think they will look great with pom pom trim in either color.

Keep following to see the progress on this room. The final reveal will be sometime after October, which is when this thumper baby is due to arrive.

Thank you for reading and see you soon!

Last Minute Teacher Gift

Well, school is out on Thursday, so that means I made a teacher gift on Monday. Yes......that is how I roll lately. Does it count that I have been thinking about it for weeks? I mean...... I knew what I was going to make, I just had to actually make it.

Here is just a quick little post about a gift for my oldest son's teacher (you could make this for anyone, or for yourself).

I love making handmade gifts. My son's teacher likes the color purple, so I looked through my fabric stash. I found this pretty fabric with purple(ish) flowers and a coordinating material for the lining. I made my pouch 10" X 8" and filled it with some of her favorite things.

** I did iron it again after seeing this last photo **

The tutorial used is from the awesome blog www.dana-made-it.com. You can get the tutorial from Dana's website by clicking here. If you have not visited her blog, and like to sew, you must go see her. I have made many of her bags and many of her children's clothes via her tutorials. Her tutorials are very easy to follow and she has the cutest things! I have made many different sizes of these pouches, including with key chain tab, ruffles, etc. Endless possibilities.

I did not even have to buy a zipper for this project. I had thrown away some outdoor pillows that were beyond faded recently. They did not hit the trash can though until I had ripped out the zippers from both pillows! Those things will last forever.

Hello Summer!!!

Planked Wall in our 1/2 bath

Happy Monday! Unfortunately, this is not a reveal post! I still have work to do for that post!!!

I had so much fun planking the wall in the kitchen that I did it in another room too! My half bath is downstairs and was lacking some serious personality. It is so small that you can't really decorate it, so I decided to plank the lower portion of the wall. It is around the corner from the other wall I did, so I just kept the same height on the wainscot. I used the same wood and I used the same trim I used in the kitchen to cap it off.

You have seen this picture before with the kitchen post. The door frame you see on the left in the photo below, is the door to the bathroom.

I also used the same paint (on the wainscot) as in the kitchen, as it is the trim paint in the entire house as well. To start the transformation, I painted the top part of the wall first. I chose a slate grey blue color that coordinated with the curtains in the family room. It is Earl Grey by SW. It is a little darker than my usual choices, but I have read that it is okay to go for dark and drama in a 1/2 bath (and I was hoping the white wainscott would balance it out). Anyways, I love it! I did not paint all the way to the ceiling since I am planning to add crown in here. I already have it, just need to get it installed. I'll add it to the ever growing list....

This time, I was much more careful when sanding the edges of the boards. There are a few that were installed in the kitchen that were not sanded well and it looked bad when installed and it was difficult to sand after they are nailed to the wall.

Here are some pics during and just after install of planks.

I had to get tricky around the plumbing for the toilet and sink. I decided to use a board on either side and used a jig saw to cut out around the pipes. The sleeve, when pushed back against the wall, hides the cuts.

The only wall in this bath that does not have full boards is this back wall. Hopefully because the joints are behind the sink and toilet, they will not be that noticeable.

After install I used wood filler to fill the nail gun holes in the wood. I used caulk at the joint between the chair rail and the wall, and in the corners and where the chair rail meets in the corners. It never fails to impress me how a little (inexpensive) caulking can make such a huge difference in how your project looks. Even before paint!

Before Caulk / Wood Filler:

After Caulk/ Wood Filler:

This project lasted a little longer that I would have liked for 2 reasons. First my parents visited for 2 weeks so I was less motivated to do projects like this. Both my mom and dad helped us to start and finish other projects, but I was not into getting this done. Secondly, our floors are being replaced (very bad install job and something got all over them after install and before we moved in) which means the pedestal sink and toilet will be taken out.......which means I will have much easier access to the area behind the toilet and can put the planks up right across the wall where the pedestal sink meets the wall while it is removed. When they put the sink back up they can just put it back over the planking! (and they can fix the poorly aligned plumbing - who wants to see plumbing peeking out from behind the pedestal base.....) Whoo Hoo!

Here are all the photos. This room does not have a window, so it is difficult to take photos in here. I hope you can tell how much this has improved the look in here. The last thing I need to do (after finishing the back wall) is find something for over the toilet. If you recall from a recent post, I built a shelf for this spot, but it was too big, so it went elsewhere. I have not decided if I am just going to install narrow shelves, or hang baskets or something else. For now, the extra TP will be stored in a basket on the floor. Any ideas? What has worked for you?

Thank you for reading. I will do a final reveal once the back wall is done (I already have all the boards cut and ready to install).

Please come back soon!


I'm linking up with these lovely blogs:
Thrifty Decor Chick
Between Naps on the Porch
The Dedicated House