To Paint or Not To Paint... That is the question!

Hello!  So I have a design dilemma and I SO need your help with that to do!

Here is the Craigslist mirror as I bought it for over my dining room buffet:

Here is the silver mirror effect spray paint I am using:

Here is the final result:

So here is where YOU come in - I need to know what you think!  It will be on a deep navy blue wall flanked by silver lamps on top of a white buffet.

Do I keep it this shiny silver color or do I rub it to look a little more dull with gold and black accents similar to the ceiling medallion?  (Shown below)

I really like the silver but I am nervous it will be TOO vibrant.  Here is an example of a bright silver dining room mirror which I really like:

Source:  Decorpad

And here is what I imagine the "antiqued" mirror would look like:

Source:  foreverinteriors.co.uk

But what if the rubbing dulls it too much?  I don't think it will be quite as dull as the medallion and I don't want them to be too "matchy matchy".  I am thinking I will rub it a little with the gold and black especially around the ornate areas to accentuate the design.  Or do I leave it as is?  UGH!  :-)

THANK YOU so much for your help!  I hate decisions like this!  :-)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! I believe in ghosts!

It is so hard to believe Halloween is here already and tomorrow, November 1st, the holiday season begins - YIKES!  Wow, it all came SO fast!

I love Halloween but it also gives me the heebie jeebies, creepy crawlies, and scares the bejeebers out of me.  Ever since I was a kid, I always watched the old monster movies with my Dad who LOVED spooky movies.  When I cannot sleep, every once in a while I will hear a noise downstairs and my thoughts instantly go to the following things that still scare me a little bit:

Bela Lugosi as Dracula.  This movie still scares me to death and everyone who knows me teases me about it incessantly.  His voice, his mannerisms, the cape, all make me shudder even as an adult!  LOL!

HALLOWEEN - the movie.  Michael Myers scared me from the first time I saw the white mask in the movie and still scares to this day.  I LOVE the movie but it always stays with me long after October has come and gone.  And the music - we won't even go there.  :-)

Now I am a total STAR WARS geek, but ever since I was a kid and even now,  Darth Vader still leaves me a little unnerved,  The black cape, the voice - the ultimate villain.

I love the "spooky" episodes of television shows, new and old.  My favorites have to be Ghost of A. Chantz by the Dick Van Dyke Show!

I LOVE the Disney version of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and the story of the Headless Horseman!

It is so popular, a the Headless Horseman character actually comes to life at the Disney Parks and rides up and down the parade on a HUGE black horse route carrying his glowing pumpkin head - Ride of the Valkyries plays as you hear the clip-clop of the horse hooves on the cobblestone.  AWESOME!

I also love Charlie Brown and The Great Pumpkin cartoon!  We still quote that all the time.  "All I got was a rock!"  Great stuff!

But my ultimate Halloween movie will forever be Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein!  In Chicago, we had a Saturday night horror show called CREATURE FEATURES during which they would show a spooky movie and we were always allowed to stay up late to watch.

The starting was SO scary and to this day gives me the creeps.  After trick or treating, we would always have hot chocolate and dinner in front of the TV watching this movie and it will forever hold a special place in my heart not to mention it is hilarious!

With the Wolf Man, Frankenstein and Dracula, it is the ultimate monster movie but not TOO scary!

Living in Chicago, we have our share of GHOST STORIES!  The two most haunted places, Bachelors Grove Cemetery and Resurrection Cemetery are VERY close to my house.  I grew up with the stories and believe them to be true.  I used to camp in the forest preserve that is Bachelor's Grove when I was a girl scout and we would always scare each other at night.  We even made etchings of the tombstones in the haunted cemetery.  Are you kidding me?  LOL!

Resurrection Cemetery is the home of RESURRECTION MARY, the story of a young girl who was killed on the way home from a dance.  She was buried at this cemetery and legend has it that she hitch hikes along the rode outside in a white dress.  The iron gates of the cemetery have hand marks which are believed to be that of Res Mary although the owners have tried to de-bunk those stories for years.

Source:  http://blog.strangenewsdaily.net

This is our family cemetery so I have seen the gates first hand many times and I believe the legend - she has been seen by too many people for this to be fiction.  SO Scary!

I have also had many things happen to me and people in my life which makes me 100% convinced that ghosts really do exist!  Not just on Halloween but every day!

I hope you have a very Happy Halloween and make it safely on to November 1st!  BOO!  LOL!

Quick & Easy Autumn Chandelier!

Getting ready to host a bunch of people for the HUGE Notre Dame - USC football game this weekend under the lights, the South Bend dining room needed a little ambiance.  So, I took a strand of extra leaf garland I had left in the bin and simply placed it around the chandelier being careful to avoid contact with the lights.

To add just a little bit more bling, I took my fall ribbon which was copper orange metallic on one side and brown velvet on the other and cut it into six little pieces.  I then wrapped one around each candle light and secured it with clear packing tape.  It took all of ten minutes, cost $0, and it really adds warmth to the space.   

The light is a hand painted antique with a ceramic body and candle plates and it came with the house.  I would love to change it out but I don't think I would have the heart to take it down.  You can tell it is old because of the elongated octagon chain links - so cool!

There are these small windows next to the fireplace and I found these awesome RAZ Imports ( I love RAZ) black glitter corner spider webs with a big furry spider attached.  So cute!

And to add a touch of fall to lamps, I found these pics at Hobby Lobby - I think this one was $2.99 with 50% - and I simply bend the wire to hook over the top of the shade.  So easy and it looks great!

FRONTGATE: THE COLLECTION holiday catalog has arrived. Happy Drooling!

Checking the mail, a smattering of holiday catalogs has arrived.  But on Friday, the piece de resistance graced my mailbox.  THE FRONTGATE HOLIDAY COLLECTION!  The glossy pages and stunning photographs make this more than a catalog - it is truly an annual event!

                                    Enter the most fabulous WINTER WONDERLAND!
                                             
                                                 or you can View the virtual catalog!

And, I honestly can say, it didn't disappoint!  The collections by their designers are absolutely gorgeous and one collection is prettier than the next.  Mind you they are totally over the top but it is totally inspiring!  My favorite is VERGLAS this year.

You can see it in all of its splendour by clicking the link below.  Grab a beverage and get comfy because one you are in - it is difficult to leave!    LOL!

    Enjoy!   :-)

A few Autumn and Halloween Decor DIY projects...

After two glorious weeks of 80 degree temperatures in October, there is finally a chill in the air here in the Midwest.   Here are a few Fall fix-ups I have done. 

Since the family room is in complete disrepair from popcorn ceiling removal in process among other projects,  Halloween decorating  are at a minimum this year.  :-(  The mantle is definitely ready for any seasonal accoutrements so I decided to spook up my foyer table instead.

I bought this urn at a resale shop and it was bright GOLD!  A few cans of spray paint and just about $15 worth of floral picks from JoAnn Fabrics and I LOVE the result!  I just cannot decide whether to use it indoors or on the front porch!  :-)  

The summer flowers have been ripped out and added a few fall touches to this planter.

Found this rug in my Welcome Mat stash in the shed and thought hey I can use this at the front door.  Fall colors, leaf motif = perfect.  But it needed a "little something".  So I found an intitial I liked on the internet, traced it onto freezer paper using the method so many amazing bloggers have introduced me to and I think it looks pretty cool.  The FRONTGATE catalog look for FREE!  

Found these awesome candle sconces at HOBBY LOBBY clearance (one of my favorite things) and spray painted them black.  I then bought these LED candles on clearance at Michael's and a package of Halloween glitter stickers.  I think they look great!  Again, I keep moving them from indoors to the front porch.  

Dracula Mickey Mouse in his Goodwill costume.  :-)  SPOOKY!

Please excuse the sanded and primed wall.  Still trying to repair wallpaper damage.  I will resume this project in January.     

Click here to go to HomeStories A to Z Halloween Link Party

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HomeGoods Mirror Ceiling Medallion - Project complete!

 

FINALLY!  Mission complete!

So it has been an arduous road but the ridiculous journey regarding the dining room ceiling medallion is finally over!  I couldn't be more thrilled!

It all started with the old brass and crystal chandelier that I decided to paint silver.  It has yet to be put back together because as I was spray painting the little bow ties and hangers, they broke off and it was a mess.  I have decided to order chrome parts and even though I didn't want to pay for them, it will be worth my sanity to not have to paint 100 little gold hangers.  I have decided to leave the crystals as the last step so they won't collect dust from all the work still needing to be done.

BEFORE:  My Mom's chandelier in brass.

Undressed and ready to be sprayed.  

AFTER:  Sprayed sliver - decided against the shades.

So, then I was shopping in HOMEGOODS (one of my soft addictions) and I found this gorgeous mirror!  I was thinking where I could use it and then LIGHTBULB:  dining room ceiling medallion.

L*O*V*E the mirror!

 So I purchased it for $25 and found a glass place that could cut a hole into the mirror for about $10.  Sweet!

Perfect hole and it didn't crack - YAY!

Then, my impatience got the best of me and I decided not to wait for help and install the medallion myself.  BIG MISTAKE!  It was almost done when one of the wires came untwisted and it all came crashing down!  It wasn't pretty but miraculously, the mirror didn't crack.  Can't say the frame fared as well.  I just stood on the ladder - stunned.   I should have waited!

SERIOUSLY?  UGH!

So I decided to salvage it and it wasn't easy but I got it looking pretty close to the way it was.  A little repair putty, epoxy, spray paint, shoe polish, etc and it didn't look too bad!

TA DA!  Not too shabby!    

The supports while the liquid nails dried overnight.

So my sister stopped by and so we put it up about 1 o'clock in the morning - not our most brilliant idea - and I must say I couldn't be happier!  I really love it - the way I pictured it in my mind when I first saw it at HomeGoods is pretty much the way it turned out.  Little did I know it would be quite the toilsome journey!  :-)

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