DIY Ceiling Medallion Mirrors

I'm baa-aack! April is still going to be a busy month, as we're planning a two-week vacation in May, but I still hope to get a few projects done around here. Let's start with this one...

My mission lately has been to incorporate more color into our mostly-neutral home decor. The first baby step I took a couple of months ago was purchasing new throw pillows for our couch. I was really drawn to the variety of colors in this print. Don't you love it?

pillows from World Market

With a new color palette that I could now draw inspiration from, I decided some coordinating wall decor was in order. While walking through the lighting section in Menard's last week, I saw some ceiling medallions that reminded me of a project I'd seen in this book:

Motivated by this exciting new idea, I picked up three medallions (one 16", two 10") and headed to the spray paint aisle. I was in luck, because my favorite Rust-Oleum Painter's Touch spray paint was on sale for $2.99 (actually $1.99 each if you count the mail-in rebate offer)! I managed to find three colors that were a close match to those in my pillows.

Eden, Cinnamon, and Aubergine

Back at home, it took roughly 3 coats of each color to make sure I hadn't missed any of those tiny grooves. The result? Three bold & beautiful medallions!

How I love thee, spray paint!

Although it would have looked fine to hang them on the wall just like this, I wanted to take my project one step further. Those empty centers were just begging for some mirror action, so I found three 5" beveled-edge mirrors at Hobby Lobby and proceeded to glue them onto the front (using Glass Bond adhesive for slick surfaces). Finally, I still had to figure out a way to hang them. I already had some picture frame hangers on hand, so I just glued these onto the backside since the mirrors were pretty lightweight. The hardest part was waiting overnight for the glue to set to full strength.

Not too pretty, but who will ever see it?

I decided to hang my medallion mirrors on the wall in our entryway, replacing this ho-hum picture frame:

This space also flows into our living room, so you can see the pillows with coordinating colors when you walk in.

I'm diggin' the way this project turned out -- it was really easy and a relatively economical way to make unique wall decor. These would also look good if you had a variety of sizes in a staggered/random arrangement on the wall, but I could only find two sizes of this style, so I decided to line them up vertically.

(New pic taken after we painted all our walls gray!)

Now I just need to figure out what to put on that empty console table (something that won't compete with my new wall decor). I'd love to know what you think of this project! Were the mirrors a good addition?

COST:
Medallions: $20.69
Spray paint: $8.97
Mirrors: $8.97
Total: $38.63

NOTE:

Little House on the Corner is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

I'm still here!

Helloooo? Anyone out there?

In case you haven't noticed, I've been M.I.A for the past few weeks. Work and life in general has kept me too busy to do any fun projects, much less blog about them. I also haven't had time to visit other blogs, so I know I'm missing out on a lot of good stuff that other people are doing.

But don't worry (because I know you were). I'll be back!  I'm not sure when, but hopefully soon. Until then, happy blogging everyone!

Recipe of the Week: Delicious Trifle

Ok, so I haven't had a "Recipe of the Week" in, oh, a couple months. Oops. But it's back (at least for this week)!

We recently stumbled upon this recipe while searching for a wine & food pairing to bring to a party. According to the recipe, this "Delicious Trifle" pairs well with Apothic Red (which is a good bottle of wine for about $10-12).

I had actually never made any type of trifle before, but I took advantage of the excuse to go out and buy a trifle bowl, which I found at Walmart for only $7. Score!

Here's the recipe, via The Barrel Room:

Delicious Trifle
1 large angel food cake, cut in cubes
1 small package instant vanilla pudding
8 oz. sour cream
10 oz. frozen whipped topping
1 pint fresh strawberries
1 pint fresh blueberries
2 bananas, peeled and sliced
2 kiwis, peeled and sliced
1 peach, peeled and sliced
1 8 oz. can crushed pineapple, drained
 
In a bowl, mix pudding mix, sour cream, and fold into the whipped topping.
 
In a large glass bowl, place 1/2 of the cake cubes. Add half of the strawberries, blueberries, bananas, kiwis, peaches, and pineapple. Cover with half of the whipped topping mixture. Add a second layer in the same order. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Garnish with fruit from recipe or use mint leaves or edible flowers.

Notes: I made my angel food cake from a box mix and just tore it into pieces with my hands. But to save time you could buy one that's already baked (I saw them in the produce section next to strawberries). Also, this would be a great summertime recipe when all the fruits are in season and cheaper (I couldn't even find any peaches this time of year).

FYI - the original recipe doesn't have a picture with it. You're welcome.

Sure, it looks yummy, but did the Delicious Trifle live up to its name? You betcha! In fact, it could almost be called the Dangerously Delicious Trifle... it's so light and fluffy and fruity, you can eat a lot of it without realizing it. The trifle bowl makes a really pretty presentation too, so I'll definitely need to start trying more trifles!

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Linking up to:

What I Whipped Up Wednesday

Create and Share

Wow Us Wednesdays

Crafty Bottles

[Alternate post title: An excuse to drink more!]

So we've had an empty Disaronno bottle on our kitchen counter for the past few weeks. I didn't want to throw it out, although I'm not sure why. After my last bottle project from Christmas, I just knew there was probably some potential.

Yum.

I turned to (what else?) my Pinterest boards for inspiration and found these in particular:

wine bottles

yarn-wrapped beer bottles

With these ideas in mind, I headed to Joann's and bought a roll of jute for $2.49. After soaking the bottle in hot water to get the label off, I settled in with my glue gun and began wrapping... and wrapping. I just glued at the corners every few rows or so, to keep it all in place.

About a half hour later, I ended up with this:

It seemed a little lonely by itself though, so I stole another random bottle/vase from a different room in the house and gave it a jute makeover too. I'm kinda diggin' them.

And I've still got plenty of jute to spare! Not bad for $2.49. So, what crafty things have you done with empty bottles?



Linking up to:

Weeekend Bloggy Reading @ Serenity Now

Lovely Crafty Weekend @ Lovely Crafty Home

http://www.ourdiydiaries.com/2012/01/fab-not-drab-party-and-features-fridays.html

Creative Bloggers' Party & Hop @ Homemaker on a Dime

Be Inspired @ Elizabeth & Co.

The Brassy & The Beautiful: Part 1

Sometimes you just have to ask yourself, Why the hell did it take me so long to do this??

Even though I gave our guest bathroom a makeover over a year ago and added an oil-rubbed bronze T.P holder and towel bar, I neglected to change out the cheap-o hardware on the vanity. So this weekend, I finally decided the time had come to say goodbye to the brass...

...and hello to these oil-rubbed bronze beauties!

4 pulls from Menard's: $15.28
Never having to look at cheap, brassy drawer pulls again: Priceless.

Now we just need to change out that silver faucet to match.... someday....

But back to the present and more realistic goals. Hopefully soon I'll be sharing Part 2: the master bathroom vanity makeover!

What are some small, easy changes you've made in your house that have made a BIG difference?

The Potential of Pallets

A few months ago, I stumbled upon a blog post that described how to make a free-standing shelf unit out of wood pallets. The 6 pallets were cut in half and stacked on top of each other, creating three large shelf openings. In this particular post, she put wicker baskets on the shelves. The reason I’m describing the project instead of just showing it is that I can’t find that blog anymore, and I must not have bookmarked it (or pinned it, since I wasn't on Pinterest at that time). So if this project sounds familiar to anyone, let me know where you’ve seen it!

The point I’m getting at is that this made me realize the potential of upcycling pallets to use as furniture or home decor, which I’d never really thought of before. Kind of an "industrial chic" look, or something to that effect. So ever since then, I’ve been slightly obsessed with the idea. Of course, Pinterest has only helped to fuel my obsession. Here are a few of my favorite repurposed pallet projects I’ve come across:

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Since I’m running out of room for any type of large furniture on the main floor of our house, I’m thinking that a pallet project could be in my future once our basement is finished. Now the question is… where’s a good place to snag some decent used pallets (for free of course)?

If you like these types of projects, check out my boards on Pinterest. And if you're a fellow pinner, let me know so I can follow you!

Scrub-A-Dub-Dub: DIY Sugar Scrub

This year, I was once again on a quest to give homemade gifts to my co-workers. (In case you weren't around last year, I had put together these gift baskets with some baked goodies and a crafty cinnamon stick candle.)

And now that I’ve discovered Pinterest, I’m not sure if it makes my quest easier (because there are so many great ideas out there) or harder (because there are TOO many great ideas to choose from!).

There was one gift idea in particular that I really wanted to try though: DIY sugar scrubs. I researched many different variations and recipes – all which sound amazing. I finally settled on this Coconut Sugar Scrub  that I found on Pinterest.

via A Pretty Life in the Suburbs

It consisted of two simple ingredients: granulated sugar and coconut oil. I decided to go with the Nutiva brand coconut oil, which is organic and unrefined (found at local health store - $7.99 for 15 oz.). This stuff is actually for cooking, but according to the label it can also be used for “luscious skincare and healthcare.”  Double duty - love it!

Based on a different recipe I had seen, I also decided to mix my plain granulated sugar with some raw sugar, also known as turbinado sugar (found at Walmart). It’s much coarser, and seemed to me like it would add nice texture and make a good exfoliant. (In my non-expert opinion, anyway.) So basically, you could eat this sugar scrub, although I'm not really sure I would want to.

With my three ingredients on hand, I mixed together 1 cup of granulated sugar, 1 cup of turbinado sugar, and 1 cup of the coconut oil (for a total sugar-to-coconut ratio of 2:1). NOTE:  I had to warm the coconut oil a little in the microwave to soften it up so it would stir better (it’s a solid at room temperature).

Once it was all mixed together to a nice “scrubby” consistency, I of course had to try a little bit out. It actually felt pretty good rubbing it around my hands, and the amount of oil wasn’t too overbearing. I rinsed well with warm water, dried my hands, and I do think they felt nice and soft afterward (and yes, they smelled just like coconut).

I spooned the mixture into the little airtight jars I had bought from Hobby Lobby, then decorated the jars with ribbon and a gift tag (made by laminating squares of single-sheet Christmas paper from Hob Lob).

Another side note: I had some leftover sugar scrub that I saved for myself in a different jar. After a couple of days, it seemed to get a little dry and crumbly, but I think that's just because the coconut oil hardens up. The oil will still distribute itself once you start rubbing it in your hands.

Are you giving any homemade gifts this Christmas?

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