Serious Projects in Progress...

...details to follow soon.

Mercury Glass Pumpkin

I've been pondering creating a mercury glass pumpkin every since I received the fall Pottery Barn Catalog that had these pumpkins on the cover:

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I found this great tutorial online for making DIY mercury glass, and I went to work with these products:

The glass pumpkin was a garage sale purchase for $1 (I believe the same exact one is available at Target for $4.99 currently).  The Krylon looking glass spray paint is fantastic, but expensive.  I found it at Michael's in the glass paint area for $11.99, but a 50% off coupon brought the cost down to $6.  The silver, black and gold paints were about $1 each with coupons at Joann's.  

I followed the tutorial from Lovely Little Details exactly, and my here is my end result:

The spray paint goes on the inside of the glass, so the mirror effect shines through.  I did spray it on the exterior of the pumpkin stem, however.  

Total cost for the project was $10, which was cheaper than the Pottery Barn version, for sure.  Especially considering that I have lots of leftover supplies for future mercury glass projects!

It's A Tree. It's a Gutter. It's a Bookshelf!!

We're considering adding some bookshelves in our house in the near future, and I've been finding myself pinning bookshelves like crazy on Pinterest.  Here are some images that I've found:

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Isn't this amazing?  I believe it's made from metal.

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These shelves are made from rain gutters.  How clever is that?  Something like this may end up in Charm's room.

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I'm not sure if this is the most practical bookshelf, but visually, it's amazing!

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I love this honeycomb bookshelf!

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Very interesting concept, as well.

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Do you see what I see?  It's a tree!

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This image is one I've been thinking about for quite awhile.  It was made from an Ana White Plan.

All of these images inspired me to make some no cost changes to the bookshelves in our great room this weekend.  Behold, the rainbow bookshelf:

Sure, it's heavy on the red, white and blue books, but it's a start!

And here is a halloween themed change that remains a work in progress.  I'll be on a black book hunt at Goodwill for the next couple weeks.  Can you guess what it is?

Here's a big, big hint:):

It's a witch hat made of black books!

I pulled the chalkboard from our pantry.  I'm tempted to paint it orange so it stands out more from the wall color, but then I'd have to buy a new chalkboard for the pantry....we'll see what I ended up doing.

October is without a doubt my favorite month of the year.  The fall colors, the crisp air, Halloween preparations, and Lucky's Birthday too!  We've got a few more Halloween related crafts in the works here that I'm excited about sharing.  Stay tuned:)!

Halloween Happenings: Bird Cage Light Fixture

I had forgotten about this huge birdcage that I had stored in the basement, all disassembled.  

I bought it on clearance at Z Gallerie a few years ago.  It was originally $89.95, but I paid $35.  Bill has always hated it because it's really big.  I have contemplated spray painting it white for a shabby chic look or another color even, but finding a more permanent place to put it has been a bit of an issue, so it has stayed black.  When I started decorating for Halloween this weekend with Lucky, I pulled it out and was determined to make use of it.  I put it together and was reminded how HUGE this cage really is.  I first put it on an end table we had upstairs already, but it looked funny on a four legged table.

I then switched out the table for a black pedestal table that we had in the basement.  

Much Better.

Since it took up the entire table, we didn't have room for this lamp anymore:

The lamp got moved to the dining room, and I'll show that updated space later this week.  We did like having a lamp on that table though.  After another minute, a light bulb went off in my head:  Bird Cage Lamp!  You see lately, I've been seeing lots of bird cage themed light fixtures popping up on the web.  Here are some examples:

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Restoration Hardware

Sale Price: $1975.  Whoa.

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We made a quick trip to IKEA for a black cord kit like this white version:

Hemma Cord Set

$3.99

Bill fed the cord through the cage and secured the cord further with a couple zip ties colored black with a Sharpie:).  We put in a CFL bulb for safety reasons.  At first, I was thinking I'd want to install a CFL that looked more like this:

I even picked the above bulbs up while on a Home Depot run (BTW: Plants are on clearance 50% off, with some grasses discounted even further!!), but Bill surprised me with a completed bird cage light fixture when I got home on Saturday.  I found that I actually like the original CFL bulb look.  It's halloweeny and fun, I think.

Bill also found an orange CFL for $3 at Menards that we may give a try as well:

Here are a few more pictures of the completed look:

I love my new lamp.  It's perfect for Halloween, and now Bill likes it a little:)!  So what if it only comes out one month a year, right?  And you can't beat the price.  $3.99 for a lamp!  More Halloween updates coming soon:)!

Linking up to Finding Fabulous!

Linking up to Home Stories A to Z!

Meet Treecock

See this baby doll?

It's Lucky and Charm's favorite doll right now.  On the way to preschool last week, I was asked to take care of the doll for the day.  I asked, innocently enough, for the baby's name.  Lucky responded while gazing out her car window, "Treecock.  And it's a girl."  I repeated, "Tree cock?"  Lucky said, "Yes.  Treecock."  I asked if she had a nickname, and was informed that Treecock's name is Treecock.  There is no nickname.

I have no idea where she came up with that name.  My only guess is that she looked out the car window when she was naming the doll and saw trees and then combined 'tree' with 'peacock' to get: Treecock.  I don't know.  She definitely didn't see a peacock when she was naming the doll.  I was hoping she would have forgotten the name when she got home from school, but she didn't.  

Bill and I have tried unsuccessfully to get the name changed to Theresa or Traci or Tree.  So far, Treecock has joined our family for burgers at a restaurant, to IKEA and to Target.  Lucky made Charm carry the doll through Target.  I wish I had my camera for that.

Now, I realize that the name 'Treecock' is one of many issues that face this doll.  It lost it's original clothing a long time ago.  I think the original clothing covered up the fact that the doll doesn't have fingers or toes.  I think it's a sweet doll, with a cute face and an unfortunate name.  Bottom line: I don't want my kids saying the word 'Treecock' anymore.  Unless we can come up with a better solution, I think the doll is going to hibernate in my closet under a pile of clothes for the winter.

Your suggestions are welcomed.  Thank you in advance:).

P.S.  I scored some great deals at Target recently.  Converse sneakers were $6.25 (75% off):

And this twin bed sheet set was $6.98 on clearance (75% off).  

Check those endcaps!!

Brainstorming: Costumes on the Mind

We're trying to come up with a come up with a great family costume idea for Halloween this year, and we've been having some dinner time brainstorming sessions about the issue.  We're looking for a set of costumes around a common theme that won't be extremely costly or complicated to make.  Here are a few ideas we've come up with:

The Royal Family:  King William, Queen Elizabeth (sic), Princess Lucky and Prince Charm
I like this because Lucky refers to us often as King, Queen, Princess and Prince. Also, we already own this princess costume:

Charm has a suit he could use from Easter:

Bill also has a suit, and I suppose I could find a crazy thrift store dress for myself. We would need some crowns, but that's about it.  Super easy.

Toy Story:  Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head, Jessie and Woody
When I picked up these horse costumes on clearance at Target for $7.48 last year, I was counting on using them for Halloween this year.

I don't know why Lucky drops her neck like that when you ask her to smile big, but she does:).  It's classic Lucky girl!

Charm would be Woody on his horse and Lucky would be Jessie.  I guess Bill and I could be Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head, though we'd have to get very creative to pull off potato head costumes.  Or we could be Little Bo Peep and Buzz Lightyear...again, not the easiest of costumes to quickly and inexpensively put together.  Also, when I purchased the horse costumes, we were expecting to have a fifth Toy Story family member at this time.  Since we don't, Toy Story Theme = a sad, tricky costume option for us this year, but still do-able.

A Zoo: Lion, Horse, and 2 other animals
Sometimes it feels like a zoo around here, so it would be fitting if we dressed up as a family zoo.  We have Lion and Horse costumes for the kids.  Bill and I would just have to find or make animal costumes too.  This could be done fairly easily.  A sign that says "S. Family Zoo" would pull it all together!

A Flower Bouquet

Using these headbands, Lucky and I could be instant flowers:

And if Bill and Charm dressed in all green, they could be our greenery:).  I love this idea, but not sure it's best for Charm (and Bill).

Can anyone help us decide?  Any easy, family themed costume ideas out there? We have a couple other ideas percolating in our minds, but nothing completely firmed up yet.  Regardless, Halloween is coming up fast and is going to be a blast!

Have a wonderful weekend!