jolly snowmen

Next up is my entry way, and these jolly snowmen are the first thing you see when you enter my house. Some are ornaments... the large wooden one in the center was made for me years ago by my sister in law Dianne, and the majority of them are reproductions of snowmen Christmas decorations from years gone by (as are the bottle brush trees, which I love). I am hoping to add to this collection each year.

This large pear-shaped guy is by far my favorite. How can you look at him and not be happy? From the tip of his polka dot party hat, to his little tree and blue party coat with it's puff buttons, he just makes me smile :)

This more traditional snowman with his real twig broomstick and his humorous hat (held above him by a spring) stands proudly on a pedestal and looks at the world with his eyes and mouth made of - what else? - coal.

I adore this very old fashioned Mrs. and Mr. Snowman couple made out of pipe cleaners! Someone took a lot of time and care to add all the detail to them - their hats and bows and glitter, their little coal button eyes & mouths and her buttons, their scarves, foliage, and his candy cane and her pearl. So darling, I just love them :)

This view is kind of from an odd angle, but I wanted you to see all my sweet snow flakes hanging on the ceiling!

My "MOD" version of a Christmas tree: most of my coffee table books stacked with a poinsettia plant at the top! The Apartment Therapy blog would be oh so proud ;) Just please forgive my awful cement floor - aargh......... 

I loved how this photo turned out, so I'm going to close with it for today. I hope you are all taking time to ENJOY your holiday preparations and the season itself. More of my pics coming soon - and some other fun things too :)

mirror, mirror

Remember the LOOK mirror in my entry way? It has undergone a few transformations already. Alas, it has just recently completed a huge metamorphosis! Look how wonderful the new version turned out! Using all black and white scrap book paper, and large plastic buttons, it sets a completely different tone - yet still remains interesting and unique and fun. I LOVE IT!

It wasn't hard to get all the candy wrappers and the rope off, but as you can see, I had some sanding to do to get the Mod Podge residue off, and try to make a smooth surface once again. 

I used my electric sander to get through the layers of Mod Podge, but it was rough on other areas. And little did I know I was a bit too careless with it - I actually sanded some of the mirror itself, which of course made some marks that will always show :( AARGH! This mirror has been through a lot, so some of the lumps and bumps refused to give in. After wiping it all down, I ended up spray painting the frame white once again, to make it as uniform as possible before starting the main part of my project. 

I am not usually much of a black & white person where decor is concerned, so this is a departure for me. Everyone knows I adore color, color, and more color :) But I also know that black and white rests the eye and gives it a place to focus, especially when using a lot of color. So I thought a black & white entry way might be a good effect in a home, particularly before introducing visitors to a lot of color.

I ended up choosing 6 or 7 different black and white patterns of scrap book paper that I liked, which was more than enough to cover the large frame. I wanted more than just a flat surface though, so this time I chose buttons as my textural element. That worked well because some of my papers resembled fabric, like houndstooth and damask. I wanted to keep it simple but I tend to like large accents, so I lucked out finding a package of black & white buttons, some of which were actually quite large. 

I basically cut the paper into a patchwork type pattern using my paper cutter. There was really no planning, other than making sure all the paper was equally divided and had a good balance. Similar to when I made this TRAY. I glued them to the frame with Mod Podge of course, and then coated the entire frame with Mod Podge when all of them were in place.  

I hot glued the buttons on, alternating black & white, large & small, where the edges and corners of the papers met.

I AM VERY HAPPY WITH HOW IT TURNED OUT! 

Attempting a Tutorial (stop laughing)

This is my teeeeeeny tiny entry way. I love my entry way, and if you must know, it loves me back because it welcomes me home at least 29 times a day. As you can see, I have a somewhat unique mirror on the wall (and yes, it's reflecting a wall of albums. remember albums?). The mirror screams "LOOK!", which is hard to ignore. I have been asked many times how I made it. I know. But I really have. I don't remember "LOOK!" candy bars - I must have been watching "Unwrapped" on the FoodNetwork. I do remember thinking those bright red wrappers would make such a cleaver mirror frame though, because DUH. So here is the shortest tutorial ever:
First you have to go to Home Goods or a similar store and find a good sized, nicely shaped mirror that has been knocked around a bit too much and is subsequently on clearance. I think this one was around $30. Then you go on eBay and "win" something like 3 dozen "Look!" bars. Yes, really. Unwrap all the bars carefully, because obviously you're going to USE the wrappers. But don't - I repeat DON'T - eat the candy bars. They are seriously AWFUL. And they'll pull out at least one of your adult teeth. So give them to all your kid's friends.

This mirror used approximately 32 wrappers. Now comes the easy/fun part. Using a bottle of Mod Podge and a craft sponge, coat the entire frame with the Mod Podge goo. If you don't know what this is, it's an adhesive AND a shiny top coat. And you can't be a real crafter without Mod Podge. Now you start laying all the wrappers on the mirror frame so they fit as smoothly as possible. *I wish I had staggered the two rows in more of a brick pattern, but OH WELL. Get everything how you like it and then brush on another coat of Mod Podge goo to set the wrappers and give them a nice shiny finish. After everything was dry, I took some black rope, and using my hot glue gun, I edged the outside of the mirror, and wound it on top of the wrappers too, just to add a bit more interest and some dimension/texture. CUTENESS.