mirror mirror

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. We took full advantage of the warm weather, by getting a head start on some landscaping, having a bonfire to toast mallow's and even taking a walk. Even as busy we were outside, I still found some time to add to my mural of mirrors.

From bottom left to right: oval- Ikea, large rectangle -wedding gift from Chad, small square- Tj Maxx, small sunburst- Gift from Chad via Family Dollar, gold rectangle- inherited from Chad's great grandfather, large sunburst DIY see below.

My smaller sunburst mirror has looked so lonely for the past two years, so I have been on the lookout for a while. Not wanting to pay the rather large price (I haven't found one for less than $150) I finally gave in and joined the bandwagon of makers of sunburst mirrors out of shims. 

I realize that there are a plethora of DIY's out there but since I did make it I will give you the details.

You'll need:

appx. 275 shims half shorter than the others

one 14" mirror 

Gorilla Glue

one can of spray paint.

picture hanging bracket

1.bundle the shims together in groups of 7-9 shims. 

2.Then arrange bundles together in a circle so that it looks pleasing to you.

Using hot glue attach each of the shims to one another. 

Then attach entire ring of shims to a piece of cardboard using Gorilla Glue. Obviously I was being fancy while gluing my shims (notice my pinky.)

Once glue has dried glue mirror onto shims using gorilla glue. 

Screw picture hanging bracket and hang on wall.

Total cost: $25 for shims (home depot), $6 mirror (Zurchers), $3 spray paint = $34 for everything. Cha-ching!

closet

Just like every Monday it seems, I have a pile of things I need to do. Laundry I didn't get  to over the weekend, yet another clean through of the house and thanks to a wonderful weekend of thrifting (why doesn't the spell check dictionary recognize the word thrifting as an actual word, I need to have a talk with Webster) with my Sister/Mother in law, I now have a heap items to add to my closet. Only a problem in the sense that I am in serious need of a closet re haul. I have almost no space left and I have made a promise to myself to absolutely not expand into Chads 1/3 of the closet. To he honest though I have already taken half of August's closet, the hall closet, under the bed and several bins in the garage.  I have searched for ways to make the most of the space but everything I have found seems to only take away space.

Like this

and this (who really has six pair of shoes)

This is my current closet. 

I know what you are thinking wasted space on the top and no shelving on the bottom. Well get ready because while I am almost always in the mood for a project, this warm weather gives Chad home improvement fever. In no time at all I will have a more functional closet...fingers crossed. Do you think I should ask him to convert one of our bedrooms into this...

Okay maybe that is pushing it... for now. If you have any bright ideas send them my way. Leave a comment or you can always e-mail me myvdecor@gmail.com.

Bedding

Our bedroom is the last room in the house to receive any decorating attention from yours truly. Even our bathrooms look better than this room. It is not that I don't want to have a change I am just having an EXTREMELY hard time committing to anything. The biggest thing holding me back is my current bed and dresser combo. I don't hate them, but I certainly don't love them or even like them...tolerate is a good word. I think I have made a breakthrough out of the  rut I am currently in though with this bedding.

(Jaipur Bedding by Echo)

It is a start. I paired it with a Dwell Studio for Target Duvet. As you can see from the picture that I am having a hard time even committing to a lampshade, and another side table. 

And up next...a headboard. Stay tuned and have a happy weekend! Oh and We just posted our Spring line up for Bijou Market! Check it out here

DIY polka dot jeans

Is anyone else obsessing over these? 

I knew I had to have them, unfortunately the price tag doesn't agree with my pocketbook.  After a somewhat long Google session, and only finding some horrible looking options from hsn.com in my price range (I don't want to talk about it) I knew I had to do something. Solution... Craft session with Emily of course.

Here is our step by step guide

You will need:

-one pair denim

- new pencil with and eraser

-acrylic paint

-washable marker

Everyone has at least one pair of colored jeans that just don't make it out of the closet often enough. I have this pair of grey denim from F21 that I never wear, and I thought polka dots would be a refreshing change.

After much debating we settled on just eyeballing the dots. We did however decide to pre-mark where the dots would go with a washable marker. We used a diamond pattern. 

Using the eraser end of a new pencil we "stamped" dots onto the pants using a diamond pattern.

Dry the front with a hair dryer before you flip the jeans and stamp the other side.

And there you have it, I have given new life to my drab feeling jeans.

Emily turned up the volume on a pair of emerald green jeans, click here to see more.

Who says you can't look great on a budget. And I always love an outfit that will save me hundreds. This project cost me $0 since I already owned the jeans, but for under $20 there are lots of bright color options.  Good Luck!

Cookies

I had the most amazing cookie once. It had chocolate chips, coconut flakes and pecans. To say that I obsessed over this particular recipe would be an understatement. Five years and dozens of attempts but I finally came up with a recipe that is as close to the original cookie as I can get. Here is the recipe for

Rashelle's Crazy Lady Cookie Recipe.

Preheat oven to 375.
1cup softened butter                                2 eggs
1 cup white sugar                                    2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup brown sugar                                  2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder                      2 cups rolled oats
1/2 teaspoon baking soda                       2 cups coconut flakes
 1 cup nuts (I use pecans)                       1 cup chocolate chips (I use semi- sweet)

In a mixing bowl beat softened butter for 30 secs until it is light and fluffy. Then add sugars, baking soda and powder. When combined add egg and vanilla. Add flour, rolled oats, coconut, nuts, and chocolate chips. Drop onto cookie sheet and bake for 9 min. Transfer to rack and let cool.


That is it. Try it out and see if you like them. Oh and let me know how they turned out.

take a note

I make lists, lots and lots of lists.  I don't know how some people can get through life without them. Maybe some people are blessed, but for me if I don't write it down with my own hand, my brain will NOT remember it.

My lists are not glamorous at all. Lots of scribbles on lined paper in a notebook. As you can see one of the kids always gets a hold of my list and decides to add a few "notes" of there own. I have wanted a solution to my ugly list problem for a while now and Modern Palm came to my rescue. Their line of notepads are as functional as they are wonderful to look at.

I have tried so many versions in the past with high hopes, only to be disappointed. Usually from lack of room to write, but this notepad gives me plenty of space, and I am going to take it one step further to make this the notepad of my dreams by adding a big, fat magnet on the back so that my clutter will disappear from my counter and be neatly stored hanging from my fridge.

Modern Palm has some great finds. Take a look and if you spend $150 you get free shipping. Bonus, I am always a sucker for free shipping.