Two Tissue Boxes For My Desk Redo

For my continuing desk/office space remodel I had two tissue box covers I'd found at a Thrift Store. They were flowery and oh so eighties but they were .99 each so I nabbed them. Here's the first one which my daughter, Insanely Creative Christy, Mod Podged with cleanly cut book pages. She is neat and methodical in her craftiness while I am more untidy and, um, let's say, flightier in my craftiness. ;0) But I did add the chalkboard label. See how nicely it came out between the two of us?

And it matches the Mod Podged storage boxes and the little cubbyhole shelf so well!

Then I remembered this post over at Can't Stop Making Things about making faux first editions with hot glue and tissue paper. Here's the inspiration pic....

And here's the link...
http://www.cantstopmakingthings.com/2010/09/leather-bound-first-edition.html

So cool! This is just one of many neat projects on that clever blog.

I used a very similar technique in my own blog post, but I never thought to make faux books with it! Here's my link.....

http://makethebestofthings.blogspot.com/2010/05/3-d-effect-with-hot-glue.html

So I added dimension with hot glue, then decoupaged crinkled tissue paper over everything and painted the whole shebang black. I brushed on Elmer's glue then white paint for a cool crackled look, then dry brushed with black. NOTE-let the glue get tacky and brush on the paint in one direction only. You will see the crackle magically appear as the glue and paint dry! It is VERY COOL.

Here's a link to my Elmer's glue crackle paint post-

http://makethebestofthings.blogspot.com/2010/05/crackle-finish-with-elmers-glue.html

I added more details and a number with a Sharpie then glued on a vintage style heart and skeleton key. Lovin' it!

And now I have TWO tissue box covers for my desk. Hmmm. I like them both. Instead of choosing between them, I'll just have to put one on each side, lol!

These were both fun, easy projects and cheap, too. That's a win win in my book. I'll be linking up to the parties in my sidebar, come visit and see what's cooking in blogland this week!

Driftwood Mirror

My kids came up for a visit the weekend before chemo made all my hair fell out (lo, these many
months ago!) and we went to a nearby lake and collected a whole LOT of driftwood. You see, I had big plans to make some driftwood mirrors right away. I will use the excuse that I let the wood dry by the wood stove all this time, but really, it's the old Procrastination Bug. You know how it is, ladies.

 But this last week the Energy Bug kicked the Procrastination Bug in the patooty and I finally got this done.

With a hot cuppa tea at my side and some jazz on Pandora, I went to town. I LOVE how this baby came out! I added some rocks and even a little bit of white dry brush highlights, and it came out EXACTLY as I had pictured it!

Here's the beginning of this whole project; a pile of driftwood in all its weather worn and rugged glory and an 80s era print framed mirror. When my master bath had ivy stenciling it looked good in there, but now, not so much.

I covered the whole frame with strips of burlap using hot glue. That way any gaps would just show the burlap texture and not the green and yellow background. This project went so fast that I don't think it took me an hour from start to finish. Super easy, super fast, super good looking and CHEAP! That's my kind of project. It took longer than that to take pictures good enough to post!

Ooh aah! So hard to see the detail with all the clutter in the reflection, but it will go perfectly in my master bath. I'm changing the room over to a turquoise/brown/tan/coastal theme and this mirror is the perfect starting accessory. I think the round mirror in the pic will get a driftwood makeover next.

Here's another pic without all that distracting reflection clutter. So pretty.

Oops! Say hello to the lady blogger with the camera, lol!

The main tip for this super easy and effective project is driftwood, bone dry and lots of it. The burlap definitely helped the hot glue adhere. Rocks and even sea shells would be perfect accents, even sand dollars and little starfish. I think I'm going to add some frosty sea glass to my next couple of driftwood mirrors, too. Oooh, I wonder how a strand of tarnished pearls would look wound in and out of the wood? Gotta try it!

So what fast and easy project have you got on your list that you just haven't got around to doing? Check your stash, put on a little music and MAKE THAT THING! You've been thinking about it for months, now go do it. You may surprise yourself with something super cool or at the very least know what won't work next time you try it. Good luck, friends!