From Gold to Silver - silver leafing my mirror

I've had questions concerning the mirror I put in my recent Sweet Master Makeover HERE.  I wish I could tell you to go to a certain store and buy it but I got it at a yard sale last summer.  It was someone's medicine cabinet mirror that was turned into one that could hang on the wall!  I bought it for $5, wahoooo!

This mirror started out gold.  Not like, pretty, trendy gold, but a really ugly, dull gold.  I needed it to be shiny and silver.  In the past, I would have went and bought metallic silver spray paint and called it good.  But metallic silver spray paint doesn't give you that shiny luster of antique silver that I wanted.  So, I called up my friend Mandi because I am not very experienced in the spray paint department and she is a pro at re-purposing any and everything!  I told her what I wanted to do with this mirror and she told me without hesitation to use Silver Leafing!

What?  How am I a crafter/DIY-er and have never used silver leafing?  Holy cow. it is awesome!  After using it for the first time, I quickly learned that I could be addicted to the stuff.  It is really easy and makes a huge transformation on the project you're doing.

Here is a tutorial in a nutshell.

I went to Michael's and purchased Silver Leafing sheets, Metal Leaf Adhesive, Metal Leaf Spray Sealer, and Rub'nBuff - also tipped to me by Mandi.

You need to first make sure your surface is free from dust/dirt.

Next, you will brush on the adhesive to your surface.  Tip: if you are doing a large surface, start with maybe half so that the adhesive doesn't totally dry before you get to it with the leafing.  I did half of my mirror at first, then the second half.  You will wait about 30-40 minutes until the surface becomes tacky.

Then you will start leafing!  This is the fun and awesome part!  I love seeing how it works!  Simply place the paper on the surface and lightly brush with a clean, foam brush.  Peel the paper away and then with the clean brush dab the leafing on so that it becomes flat and flush.

As soon as you cover your whole thing with leafing, add a little Rub'nBuff on with your finger.  I don't suggest doing this to your whole surface as it will make it all dull and take away the luster.  Basically what Rub'nBuff will do is add some antiquing to it.  I suggest rubbing it into some of the crevices and corners, etc.  Tip: a little goes a long way!!

After you got it looking how you want, spray the sealer on to make it shiny!

I used almost a whole package on this entire mirror which I thought was great!  I even had enough left over to do the pear found in my room, also!  I love how it turned out and look forward to using Silver Leafing on a lot more things!  :)

Loving These...

I seriously love the blinged-out collared necklaces right now.  I found this one for only $12.99!  Check it out HERE. *Hurry, you can only buy this deal for one more day!

Speaking of blinged-out collars...these toddler dresses are to die for!  I am addicted to dressing my two girls alike right now and these are so perfect!  See them HERE. Deal ends in 2 days.

These darling Floral elastic belts go with so many outfits.  I actually own one and have been waiting to get new colors!  See them all HERE.  Deal ends in 2 days.

And how fun are these colorful Chevron Watches?!  Perfect for Summer, if you ask me.  See all the colors HERE.  Deal ends in 2 days.

All items are found at VeryJane.com, a daily deal site that is sure to have something that will catch your eye!

Teacher Appreciation Gift + Printables

I've told you over and over again about how much I love Caldrea's countertop spray.  Well, here is a teacher appreciation gift that you can give your teacher along with the cleaner spray (see why I love it HERE)

Obviously, you can use any cleaner spray you would like!

I gave this to Charli's teacher for Christmas, but I have altered it a bit so that you can do this for the end-of-year teacher appreciation gifts.  I made some tags available for download based on your son/daughter/(s)...

FREE PRINTABLES!!

From your girl

CLICK HERE 

From your boy

CLICK HERE

From your twins

CLICK HERE 

Yes, I even thought of those of you who have twins because there is a set of twins in Charli's preschool!  ...Enjoy!

Quick & Last Minute Mother's Day Gifts

Here are a few of my favorite things that you can add to your Mother's Day gift this year.

I have talked about this counter top cleaner before.  This is my favorite!  It makes your counter tops shine and is safe for granite.  It also makes your house smell super yummy!!  I love a lot of different scents, but you can see more why I love it HERE and go to their website HERE. 

If your mother is a Diet Coke fan, she will be sure to love the ingredients to a Dirty Diet Coke!  This is such a fun and unique gift idea.  See the recipe HERE.  You can also sub the Diet Coke out for Dr. Pepper if she likes DP!

I've said it once, I've said it twice, in fact, I've lost count on how many times I've told you about the Ikea Ofelia Blanket.  Please understand how much I love this blanket!!  This makes a great gift for so many reasons that you can read about HERE.  Find it on Ikea's website HERE.

Of course you cannot go wrong with something for mom to cuddle up in.  Minky Couture blankets are a must in every house hold.  In fact, I have a Minky Couture blanket in every room of my house!  Visit their site HERE to see all the fun and fabulous prints they have to choose from.

 There is no better gift than the gift of Relaxation as a mother.  Make your own bath remedies!  HERE are some recipes including an oat sugar scrub, milk bath, and herbal bath tea packets.

**SEE MY TOP 10 PICKS FOR MOTHER'S DAY GIFTS THAT YOU CAN MAKE YOURSELF HERE

10 Easy DIY Mother's Day Gifts

 I'm all about simple here on my blog.  I also think that simplicity can go along with gifts.  Sometime the most simple things are the most meaningful.  Here are some ideas that you can make for your mother this year that she will love.

Make this Anthro Inspired Tea Towel HERE.  If you don't sew, just use fabric glue!

  Vintage Pillowcase Apron HERE

Maybe your mother has some vintage pillowcases made by her mother or grandmother?  This would be a meaningful gift!

 Easy Burlap Table Runners HERE

 Coasters from Terra Cotta Saucers HERE.  The possibilities are endless!

 Shirt Cuff Bracelet HERE.  Yes, make a darling cuff bracelet from a shirt!  This can also be a meaningful gift if you use a special blouse/shirt of your mother or grandmother.

 Cute and versatile Cake Stand made from Terra Cotta pots and Saucers HERE

 Package up some home made laundry detergent in a cute bag or container.  There is nothing that smells better and more fresh than home made laundry soap!  The recipe is HERE

 Revamp ordinary flip flops into extraordinary by adding ruffles, trims, etc.  Tutorial HERE

 Any mom/grandma can use a darling ruffled bag!  See the tutorial on this Ruffled Tote Bag HERE

Ombre Stick Frame.  Use paint stick stirrers from any paint store to make this Ombre Frame.  Tutorial HERE


 See some quick and last minute favorite thing items that you can give your mother HERE

How to Create Meaningful Gallery Ledges

So here are the gallery ledges that I just recently put up in my bedroom since doing my SWEET MASTER MAKEOVER.   I had my bro-in-law build me these shelves that we adapted from HERE.  I got all the white frames from Ikea, the blue ones from Hobby Lobby.

Just a brief background on my hubby and me.  We met in elementary and I had a huge crush on him.  Obviously he wasn't interested in girls at that age, but in Jr. High he took a liking to me and we have been keen on each other ever since!  We dated in high school, then he served an LDS mission, came home two years later and we got married!  :)  Needless to say, we have plenty of sentimental pictures, letters, movies stubs, etc.  I thought I would incorporate some of our meaningful items into our bedroom, particularly these gallery ledges.

Most of these pictures are not something I would normally display in my home, not because I'm ashamed of brace face in my 7th grade picture (okay, maybe so), but I'd rather display more recent pictures of us.  I must say, however, I just love this display of old pictures because they bring back so many memories and they remind us of our legacy together!

I really wanted to frame a sheet of music of our wedding song.  "You are the Love of My Life" by Jim Brickman, has so much meaning to us.  It was used in our wedding video, we danced our first dance as a married couple to it, and basically, this song describes our relationship to a T!  I just took some old sheet music and crumbled it in a ball so it was wrinkly.  I took some of my antiquing ink and rubbed a little here and there, then put it in my frame.  Next, I took a dry-erase marker and wrote the title of the song directly on the glass of the frame.  I love how it turned out and I also love that it's not permanent in the case I want to change it!

Now, as you can imagine, we have tons and tons of love letters starting from 7th grade up until now!  I thought I would make a simple bunting by cutting hearts out of a few of our letters and sewing them together.  I love the look of the different colored paper and ink that was used, it gives it a nice contrast.

Don't be afraid to pull out items from when you and your hubby were dating and incorporating them into your home.  In fact, make it a date night!  It was so fun to open up our boxes full of letters, pictures, and other momentos.  We had lots of good laughs over these things!  It's sad that they have been collecting dust over all these years but so nice to see them out in the light and in one of the focal points of our bedroom!

Fingerprints on the Refrigerator: A Mother's Reminder

A few days ago I needed a break.  I was ready to hop in the car and run away from my kids.  Nap time was in 15 minutes and I couldn't wait.  I was fumbling around in the kitchen in search of chocolate to ease the stress and I caught a glimpse of my stainless steel refrigerator covered in fingerprints.  This reminded me of a story I remember a few years prior and my day suddenly changed:

           My first daughter was 20 months old and I was 6 months pregnant with her sister.  It had been a long day as I was trying to deep-clean my whole house while attending to the needy 20 month old pulling on my pant leg.  I don't recall why I thought I needed to deep-clean the whole house that day, but I had to.  My husband was at work and wouldn't return home until later that night.  I remember thinking, "I just cannot wait until bedtime so I can finish cleaning this house without any interruptions."

           As mother's know, it literally takes all day, if not more to clean the house with kids, and once it's clean it doesn't stay clean.  By the time my daughter's bedtime rolled around I had managed to finish everything on my to-do list.  After I finished up, I hastily dressed her in her pajamas, brushed her teeth, read her a story, said prayers, then laid her down in her crib.  I gave her a quick goodnight kiss and left her room.  I shut the door, walked down the hall into my bedroom then plopped my big, pregnant self onto my comfy bed letting out a huge sigh of relief, "I did it!" I thought.  Just as I rolled my head over to rest my eyes I happened to glance at my black, freshly polished nightstand and spotted something so sweet and so special.  Smudged in the shine of the polish were ten little fingerprints on the very edge.  Tears started to form in my eyes not because my freshly polished furniture had smudges, but because I was reminded that the fingerprints were those of my sweet, innocent daughter who had longed for me all day.  My heart became changed, "Why had I put her second today?" I thought.  "She is the most important thing in my life and everything else can wait."

Those fingerprints left an imprint on my life and my heart that night.  I do not look at fingerprints the same as they remind me of my responsibiltiy and my privelege as a mother.  I left them there until they faded away on their own because I did not want to erase that sweet reminder.  I am a mother - and my house may take days to clean.  I am a mother - and my windows will have fingerprints on them, my walls will be smeared with boogers, my kitchen floor will be sticky.  Mothers, when you see fingerprints on your windows, fridge, or polished furniture, don't wipe them away.  Leave them there and embrace them to remind yourself that you have one of the greatest callings in life, being a mother.  One day those fingerprints will be gone, just remember that.