Before and After....The 10 Dollar Mirror

I found this cheapo mirror for ten dollars at the thrift store the other day.  I believe it goes on the back of a dresser?

I had an idea floating in my head, but it involved crown moulding.  I was terrified because I really had no idea how to cut crown moulding.  A few months back I googled a how-to and found an instructional video from This Old House that explained it so simply. I love PBS!  I am a "life-long learner!"

I chopped off the attatching legs for the dresser, and then I almost ruined it!  I stepped on it, and I heard the wood crack.  My mom always told me I was as graceful as a bull in a China shop.  I seem to have a clumsy issue. Really, my mom does tell me lovely things about myself too! :)

Anyway...I had to back the entire thing with 1x2's.  This actually made it look better by giving it a little more depth. So, it's a good thing I'm clumsy!

This is the scary part.  Look at the angle of the saw.  I believe you set the bottom at 34 1/2 and the top at 31 1/2?  I'll double check that later. You first cut one side for the side piece, then flip it over and cut again. It made a perfectly mitered piece.  The tricky part was figuring how to cut the other side and not ruin five dollars worth of crown moulding.

Look at that!  I like the mirror, but this was worth it learning how to do this!

I found this little scroll work piece and thought it might look nice on it.  It's unbelievable all the stuff I have stashed in my house.  My sister and I use to take our kids to the same preschool for two years and we would hit the craft and hardware stores intending to make stuff.  All of it is coming in handy now that I'm doing projects left and right.  The point is...I'm using it!

I glued and nailed on the moulding. I also attatched some extra small moulding on the inner rectangle.

Next came primer and paint.

I liked it in white and thought I might keep it that way, but it blended into the trim of my house. 

 So, I tried the ORB that everyone has talked about.

Why

am I the last one to know how great it is? 

I'm usually a couple years behind on everything...TV shows, movies....

 The spray was so even, and there's a slight flicker of copper in it. 

I highlighted with some acrylic copper paint to make the lines pop.

The pictures don't do it justice.  I had a hard time catching the light.

Not bad.  Now...I need a bench to go underneath. 

 Anyone have any ideas? :)

Linking to Domestically Speaking's Power of Paint PartyA  Soft Place to Land's DIY DayBetween Naps on the Porch, Metamorphosis MondayFunky Junk's Saturday Nite SpecialMiss Mustard Seed's Furniture Feature Friday 

Shaggy Quilted Hearts

 This is my kind of quilting.....sloppy!  No need for detail sewing. These hearts have a raw edge that you top stitch.

A few years ago, my mother in law (her name is Kathy) helped me make a sunflower wall hanging using this method.  I thought it would be fun to try with hearts. 

I didn't intend to make pillows, but as I was piecing them together the idea came to me.

  I had a ton of pink dyed and coffee stained filters left from my last project, so I used them with the fabric.  I love their texture! 

My topstitching was NOT 100% accurate, but that's alright!  Don't cringe Kathy! One day I'm going to spotlight her quilts.  They are AMAZING!   

I added a little tulle. Is that how you spell it?  Why oh why does blogger not have spellcheck?

Here's how you do it...if you want to try.

Sew them back together.

 I sewed and stuffed this pillow and sewed the extra two onto linen and put them into an old frame. 

Good sewing skills are not required! :)