It looks like a peacock

Let's talk about my fireplace for a minute shall we. I like having a fireplace, but the mantel looks like a giant brick H to me. When we bought the house I had every intention of painting it white, but I lost that battle, so I'm learning to love the brick. I would love to tear the whole thing down and replace it, but that is not exactly in the budget.  

The poor space over the mantel has sat bare for months. I had my sunburst mirror up there for a second, but then I found a better home for him. So I have been on the hunt for something else to put there. Since my "H" fireplace is so boxy, I wanted something round to soften it up a little. There are a lot of round mirrors that I like and would work, but I am not about to spend hundreds of dollars on a mirror. Then I saw a picture of this chrysanthemum mirror made out of plastic spoons by Addicted to Decorating. It looked pretty easy and very inexpensive, so I decided to give it a try.

My Version

First I cut the the stems off all the spoons. I used about 300 to make a 25 inch frame.

Next I made a round cardboard frame to glue the spoons onto. In the original tutorial she used two MDF wreath forms and taped them together. I felt like saving a little money and just making my own out of a box I had sitting in the garage. 

Next it was time to start gluing. I just started at the top, leaving a small space between each one, and worked my way down,

After all the spoons were on I took it outside and gave it a couple coats of white spray paint.

I wasn't as careful as I should have been when I got the last row, so after I painted it the inside still wasn't looking so hot. I decided to just cover up the flaws with some white and gray yarn. It worked like a charm; it covered up the ugly and added a little contrast as well.

When I was finished I simply hot glued the frame onto my mirror and hung it on the wall. After I got it hung I asked husband what he thought, expecting him to say he liked it. Instead, he paused for a second and said, "it looks like a peacock." I'm still not sure if that's a good or bad thing.

The project cost me about $15 total. I lucked out and found an 18 inch round mirror on sale at Target for $9. It's pretty much exactly what I was looking for to fill that space.
Linking up to Savvy Southern Style

The not so painted fireplace

I think we can all agree, for the most part, that the woman of the house takes over the decorating. Men just don't normally care, but they do like to use their veto power every now and then. My husband and I are no exception to this. I get an idea, he tries to veto it, and then I end up winning, it's quite a good set up actually! But there are times that I have to let him win, I mean he IS living here as well. The fireplace was one of those veto powers that I let him have.

There were 2 things I really wanted to do when we got the house: paint the kitchen cabinets, and paint the fireplace. Husband was fine with the cabinets, but the fireplace was another story. He was VERY anti paint. So to make a long story short I left it, and to be quite honest, I like it. I hate to admit it, but husband was right, I think it adds some much needed character. 

Since I decided to leave it alone I realized it was time to decorate the mantel. I made this sunburst mirror out of a round black framed mirror I had and about 4 bags of bowel rods. I did it pretty much the same way as my paper straw wreath, the only difference is that I glued all the rods on the back of the mirror instead of the front. After I finished gluing I took it outside and spray painted it gold.

And voila! Finished!

Linking up at wow us Wednesday

To paint or not to paint

I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend. We sure did, My parents volunteered to stay with little man Saturday night so we could go see Hungar Games, twas a good movie.

I've mentioned before that we have been on a house hunt for a couple months. Well last week we finally found one that didn't get scooped up by an investor with lots of cash. So if all goes well we should have it within a month. Hip hip hooray! Anyway, one thing I have noticed about most of the houses we have have seen, this one included, is that most of them have brick fireplaces, and unfortunately I'm not the biggest fan. I've sort of decided that I would just paint the fireplace white, husband on the other hand doesn't like painted brick. Are we in pickle? I think so!

I found some pictures of what I like to hopefully bring him over to my side. Don't worry, I usually win when it comes to these sort of things :)

via Home for the better

via Remodelaholic

via Western Passion

via decor pad

via Young House Love

I love the look but I've heard that the paint will turn black really fast from the smoke. But that' s nothing a little more paint can't fix right? What are your thoughts on painted fireplaces?