How To Make a Driftwood Mirror

I've been searching for a driftwood mirror for my guestroom.

Something like this.

(Ah . . . advertising images. Don't you wish mirrors came out of the sea just like this? We could just walk the beach and collect them, already done!)

The driftwood mirrors I've looked at have been expensive. Pottery Barn has one, but the sale price is $423.00. This one is available at Amazon for $180.00 + $22.00 shipping. Not too bad.  

But I like a bargain. So I decided to make my own.

I'm lucky to live in Maine . . . 

 where it's easy to find driftwood on the beach.

I found a very heavy old mirror at Goodwill for $2.00. The maple frame was scratched but sturdy.

Aside from that, all that is needed is a glue gun.

I did burn my fingers quite a bit completing this project. Since  then, I went online and discovered these for $5.98 on Amazon. I haven't used them yet but have heard from other bloggers that they work, so I'm anxious to try them.

I looked for pieces of driftwood with interesting shapes, colors and textures.

And just hot-glued them to the old mirror frame.

That's it!

Total cost:  $2.00 plus a few glue sticks.

I love how the mirror came out!

It would be just as easy to do this project on a round mirror frame if that works better in your room.  Something like this .

If you don't have access to driftwood where you live, you could do a similar project with clothespins.
I love using them for projects with a farmhouse look.

Kirsty's Clothespin wreath, below (click link for tutorial) , could be made around a mirror. She used Washi tape on the clothespins. If they're old ones, I'd might just use them just as they are.

 A few years ago, I used my trusty glue gun to make a Button mirror . .  no beach required! This one was a little more time consuming but vintage buttons are fun. They're available everywhere, in shiny metals, unusual shapes and vintage colors. 

So, there you have it.  A simple project you can complete in an afternoon.  Or in an evening with a friend and glass of wine . . .

In which case, if all else fails, you can gather up your corks and make this!

Happy gluing!

This post is linked to:

Salvaged Junk Projects 421 at Funky Junk Interiors

Spring & Easter Blogger Link Party at Common Ground

Farmhouse Friday Link Party at The Painted Hinge

Flaunt It Friday at Chic On a Shoestring

Nifty Thrifty Sunday #328 at Nifty Thrifty Things

Happiness Is Homemade Link Party at The Painted Hinge

Craftastic Link Party at Sew Can Do

Blogging: How Honest Should We Be?

How honest are you on your blog?

I read a couple of blog posts today that led me to question what I am even doing here . . . as a blogger, I mean. Am I sharing my truth or just posting a happy, carefully edited, view of my life?  Do my collection of vintage linens, or my newest home sewing project, give my readers an honest snapshot of  who I am?  Does the possibility of receiving negative comments scare me too much to take on difficult topics?

Susan at Ash Tree Cottage doesn't usually discuss politics on her blog. But Monday, in a post called Political Pillow Talk, she made an exception and reflected on the previous evening's 60 Minutes interview with Stormy Daniels.

Another favorite blogger, Linda Letters, shares insights into her "daily life as a retired teacher living in Seattle". She usually posts about her home, her garden,, her McCoy pottery collection, and her quilting projects.  Not this week.  On Saturday, Linda published a post entitled We Marched, which included photos of she and her husband participating in the Seattle March for Our Lives.

While I played it safe and published a post about Easter eggs.

Then I felt just a little bit dishonest.

Because while I was preparing those eggs, I was thinking about the kids on that Saturday March.  As a retired high school teacher, they made me so very proud.  But I wrote about the eggs.

 I'm a "Boomer". 

In high school I marched in New Haven, CT in support of the Civil Rights protesters in Selma. In college, at the University of Massachusetts, I protested the war in VietNam. In 2008, I drove from Maine to inner-city Philadelphia to canvass with the "Mamas for Obama". But this week, when it was time to speak my truth, I wrote about . . . eggs.

So it's time to confess.

I'm a crazy old liberal lady who loves to make things, decorate my home, hunt for rusty junk, knit, sew, travel, camp, and drink wine. I care for my friends, volunteer for the local food pantry, and actively support adults with disabilities.  And I blog.  Sometimes honestly.

                            

I think that maybe this woman should be my new muse. She managed to combine social awareness and home decorating in one clever "post". 

Soon I'll be back to blogging about eggs . . . and art, and antiques, and home decorating.  But I'll try to let myself be a little more vulnerable and a little less scared of negative Comments. I'll be more honest.

How about you?

This post is linked to:

Block Party 425 at Keeping It Simple

Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style
Cozy TFT Party at Katharine's Corner
Flaunt It Friday 396 at Chic On a Shoestring

Coastal Decorating

I love beach combing.  Summers on the rocky beaches of mid-coast Maine are spent looking for sea glass. And this month, thanks to a camping trip to Florida and South Carolina, I got to comb unfamiliar beaches for shells we don't find in Maine.

As we explored local flea markets and antique barns throughout the South, I kept my eyes open for items in which to display some of the shells we'd collected. I came up with an olive basket, two rusty handled baskets, and a dough bowl I had on hand. 

Even after giving some of the shells away to friends, there was still quite a pile left to arrange.

I started with the tin olive basket.

My first arrangement looked as if I had just dumped the shells in.

Clearly I needed a better plan.

On my second try, I decided to take up some space in the bottom so that the arrangement would take on a rounded shape and favorite shells would't get "lost" in the bottom. Cardboard bowls worked!

 The finished arrangement is big enough to make a statement . . .

And works well on the coffee table in our conversation area.

 The dough bowl was a little easier to arrange.

As was this rusty basket for the kitchen island.

I think I'm on a roll!

I had one metal basket left over.

And decided to fill it with my accidental collection of wooden shoe forms.

Don't laugh . . . I collect old door knobs too!

As always, one project led to another.

So I decided to rearrange this display in my kitchen to hold the two pieces of  M.A. Hadley pottery DH spotted at an antique shop in North Carolina. I love how they look on my shelf.

They're hand painted and whimsical . . . outside and in!

The two Shawnee miniatures I purchased on our trip are still sitting on the top of my display cabinet.

I'll rearrange that tomorrow.

After I walk the beach?

This post is linked to:

Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps On the Porch
Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

Thursday TFT Party at Katharine's Corner
Flaunt It Friday 396 at Chic On a Shoestring

A Tisket, A Tasket . . . and a Few Silly Eggs

This weekend we arrived back in Maine after our first month-long camping trip in the Casita. We visited friends in Florida and Georgia and explored the mountains and beaches of South Carolina, Tennessee and North Carolina. Such beautiful country. I came home dreaming of Spring!

Which may explain why yesterday, instead of unpacking and doing the laundry,  I spent the afternoon making Easter baskets . . .

Fifteen of them!

I love to make little baskets for everyone who will be at Easter dinner, which we have every year on a boat!

It's actually a restaurant which literally floats on Casco Bay. There will be 15 of us this Sunday. That's a lot of baskets! I finally came up with the idea of using square berry baskets as the base. Amazon has them in all colors and they are sturdy and inexpensive.

Amazon also has these chicks. They remind me of my childhood.

I started buying basket goodies as I saw them on our trip. These gummy eggs from Cracker Barrel "cracked me up".  They're actually lemon flavored; not bad!

And here are the finished products: 12 berry baskets, two blue buckets (the grandsons'), and my daughter's treasured "Hello Kitty" basket. Aside from the "Fried Eggs:, they each have the required Cadbury Egg, jelly beans, and a special treat or two (Do fake false teeth count as a treat? How about the rubber chicken that lays an egg when you squeeze its belly?)

As if it hasn't been busy enough, today was my turn to host our little craft group at my house. Needing to keep it simple, and inspired by this magazine cover, I decided we'd decorate eggs.

Actually, my friends decorated eggs; I was numb still from making all those Easter Baskets. 

So I "supervised" and kept everyone's wine glass full. We're much more creative with wine!

We used wooden eggs, also from Amazon,

and decorated them with paint, decoupage, beads, Sharpies, buttons, rick rack, googly eyes and whatever else I had on hand in the craft room.  These were created by my BFF, Mary Elizabeth.

I think they might be self-portraits.  If so, Miss Mary Elizabeth is clearly the "hot" pink one with the weird eyes.

And, fifteen baskets later, I'm the exhausted yellow one with the purple hair!

How many baskets are you making this year?
What do you use for baskets and treats?
Are you almost ready for Easter?

This post is linked to: 

 Amaze me Monday #258 at Dwellings
Craftastic Monday Link Party at Sew Can Do
Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps On the Porch
Spring & Easter Blogger Party at Itsy Bits & Pieces