Silhouette Art

I have seen DIY silhouettes all over blogland and have been itching to make my own. The tutorials I have seen involved taking a photo, cutting it out and coloring the back with a black marker. That probably would have been easier and faster but I decided to take a different route so I could put the photos back in the albums I took them from. My first step was to search my photo albums to find profile pictures. Here are two of my daughter that I decided to use:

I taped them, one at a time, to a window (it was a nice rainy day craft).

Then I taped a sheet of printer paper on top and traced the profile. I had to improvise a little with the top of her head for this one since it was cut off in the photo.

Next, I taped black cardstock onto the back.

...and held it up to the light to make sure the profile fit and didn't overlap any of the holes on the edge.
Then I cut it out

I was lucky in that the frame I put my silhouettes in came with inserts that are white on the back. I just flipped the inserts over and used double sided tape to stick the silhouettes to them. If your frame didn't come with an insert that is the color you want for the background, you can use either the glass or the backing of the frame to trace the right size on the paper you want to use.

Then I repeated the process with the photo of my daughter standing up and one of my husband and I on our wedding day. My hubby bought me this awesome frame set one year for my birthday. The fourth frame is very small so I drew a bird silhouette to go in there. I am very happy with how it turned out and that it cost me $0 because I already had everything I needed!

Fireplace Makeover: Part 3

This was the final part of our fire place makeover (until we can rip out the whole thing - including the red tiles on the floor - and replace it with a gas insert). If you want to see what I did in the first two parts, you can go here and here. Overall, this makeover cost me less than $25.

As a little reminder, this is the lovely before:



And here is the after:

Yes. It is the same fireplace!

The final step was the faux stone finish to cover up the maroon-ish formica. I used three cans of Krylon "Make It Stone!" textured spray paint in obsidian color. Each can did one coat.

The slowest part of the whole makeover was taping and "newspapering" everything I didn't want stone-ized. It took me an hour to do that part and about 10 minutes for each coat with dry time in between.



A close up of the "stone":


Another after shot that includes more of our living room:


I am so happy with this transformation!!

I am linking up to Transformation Tuesday at


and
and


and
Before and After Party at:


and
Decorating Dilemmas at Serenity Now

I wanna win $50 for CabinetKnob.com!

Do you?

If so, visit CentsationalGirl by Wednesday, October 21st at 8 p.m. PST.

Visit www.cabinetknob.com to see their products.

I wanna win an iTouch!!

I am hoping to win an iTouch from Living Locurto.
You can enter to win one too at the link above.

Fireplace Makeover Part II

Since, it was rainy and in the 40s today, I decided opening all the windows for ventilation while I sprayed the faux stone finish on the fireplace would not be prudent. Instead, I painted the glaring white mantel and trim work. To do this, I used leftover "sunnybrook farm" by ACE paint from the accent walls in the living and dining areas. It is a beautiful shade of green. I'm not sure these photos do it justice (it could just be the off coloring of my computer monitor though...).

Ignore the smudges around the edges. Those will be covered by the faux stone and the ones on the black tile will be touched up... eventually!

I can't wait for part three to be completed!!

Fireplace Makeover Part I

From brass to black...

Since a new fireplace (preferably a gas insert) is not in our budget right now, I HAD to do something to make this fireplace tolerable and somewhat compatible with our decor without breaking the bank. Thank you Rustoleum spray paint!

Before:


During:


After:

I used Rustoleum's High Heat black spray paint:


The whole project (including taping it off) took about an hour. I LOVE how much better it looks.

Part II: Paint mantel and trim
Part III: Faux stone finish on the brown formica. (Seen here)


Edited to add: I am joining "A Soft Place to Land's DIY Day."
and Shanty 2 Chic's

Bathroom Cabinets Decorating Dilemma!

I am joining Amanda's (at http://serenitynow4amanda.blogspot.com) Decorating Dilemma's party at http://serenitynow4amanda.blogspot.com/2009/10/decorating-dilemmas-partyround-3.html. For some reason I can't get the party icon to work!

Welcome to my bathroom!

The only changes we have made to our bathroom since we moved in are the yellow paint (Benjamin Moore Golden Straw), the window (mis)treatment and the L-shaped shower curtain rod. My major dilemma right now is the cabinets.

The cabinets definitely need to be painted. My dilemma? I don't know how to paint them or what color to paint them. Here are some pictures of the bathroom decor:


The shower curtain:
My attempt at making the toilet more pleasing to the eye:
Some of the wonderful character our 1940s house came with:

Here are some pictures of the cabinets (there are 8 drawers, 2 cupboard doors below the sink and four doors on the floor to ceiling linen closet):

The drawers:
Here is a close up of one of the drawers:

The linen closet just has plain doors (no grooves) and the same handles as the rest of the doors/drawers:Above the counter is beadboard. Above (and behind?) the beadboard is tile that is painted white. The tile goes from the floor to about 5-6 feet up all around the bathroom and the ceiling is also tile. All of these will remain white.

Here are some thoughts to ponder (and respond to please!):

Should I paint the whole cabinet the same color and the linen cupboard the same as well? Should I paint the inside of the groove an accent color? Should I paint the inner part of the drawer front a different color than the outer part?

After painting, a second dilemma will rear its ugly head... what should I do with the handles???

Should I keep the handles? Should I paint the handles? Should I toss the handles?

I would love any and all input and ideas! Thanks so much!

Hoping to Win a Poster Print!

I am entering a contest at MoneywiseMoms to win a 18x24 Rolled Poster Print from LargeFormatPosters.com with FREE shipping.

We decided a while ago that our master bedroom needs something on the wall on the left - it is actually longer than the right side one but you can't tell from the angle:

I would love to get this photo of my little girl in a large print for that wall: