DIY Disaster

You know all those cool blogs where bloggers show their latest craftiness and how they saved lotsa dough by re-vamping something they already had?

Yes, of course you do. I love those too!

[From Wisteria -- like this -- but it's not quite right for my space]

Well, this isn't one of those DIY success stories. It's a bit of a sad story of a mirror done in by novice DIY'ers! We had a framed mirror in our entryway that had been there for ages and called out to me for a little pick-me-up.

[Pottery Barn -- bit too ornate for me]

The frame just needed a little repainting -- that would make it look like new (or so I thought)! How SIMPLE, eh? Well, first the mirror sat on the dining room floor for a couple weeks waiting for me to get around to it. I sanded the frame, which was kind of a goldish color with swirls on it like S's. I taped up the mirror covering it with newspaper.

I consulted with Mr. Tennis on how to go about painting it. He suggested spray paint (I had been thinking of sponge-painting it???). Anywho, he rigged it up in the garage and got a little trigger-happy with that can of spray paint. Coat after coat was sprayed on (the goldish color was a bit hard to cover). When it was finally dry and looked fairly presentable, we hung it back up and removed the newspaper! OOOPS -- our mistake was evident -- the paint had bled through the paper and covered the mirror! As in, covered A LOT of the mirror! Can you say now need to purchase a replacement mirror?

[Pottery Barn --love this, but it is really a large mirror!]

The morale of this DIY story is . . . use a lot of newspaper to cover whatever needs to be covered AND take your time.

Not to worry, I have not been deterred by this small setback. Am currently painting a number of frames -- the good news on those is that there is nothing inside that needs to be covered. Fingers crossed for a successful DIY project in my future!