Under $10 Makeovers

It's been awhile since I posted any of my home projects, so I thought I'd take a quick minute to show you a couple of fun makeovers I did this week end.  As we know, nothing gives me a greater sense of satisfaction than a home update that cost next to nothing and both of these quick decorating makeovers cost under $10! 

The first project was a mirror I found a resale shop I frequent.  It looked as if it was originally part of an Eastlake style dresser or hall mirror from around the turn of the century.  It was missing some of it's original decorative trim pieces, but it still had good bones.  I didn't hate the paint, so I thought I'd play with it a bit to see if I could make it more interesting.  I stripped off some of the paint with a stripper and sanded the rest with my orbital sander.  It clearly was not a pristine antique piece, so I didn't kill myself getting all the paint off.  I thought leaving some here and there added to the funky nature of it.  After I rubbed some stain all over the piece, I found a place to hang it in the family room.  It's a dark corner of the room, so I'm hoping the mirror will help bounce the light around during these dark, winter months.  I'm really pleased with my $7 purchase and it just goes to show, with a little elbow grease and thinking outside of the box, you can create some really fun and interesting pieces to add to your decor.  

The second project was another deal.  It was just a large glass piece/vase from Ross of all places that I had no idea what to do with, but I couldn't pass it up.  It reminded me of the antique French Demijohns I've been lusting after forever, but are way out of my price range!  When I brought it home it has some weird, fake rope wrapped around the neck of it, so I immediately cut that off.  It then sat on the attic stairs for a bit as I was still unsure of how I could use it.  Then I was flipping through an architectural magazine I saw a similar glass piece that the designer had strung some necklaces around and poof!  Inspiration finally struck!  As you know from previous posts, I often use my jewelry as art pieces, so this was just another approach to doing just that.  Another fun project for under $10!