And I Didn’t Even Have to Set it on FIRE!

When something goes horribly wrong in my world there are three solutions:

1.  Set it on fire.                 2.)  Shave it all off             3.) Pretend nothing happened.

Such was the case with the 1999 idea to become a redhead, the time I split my britches from crack to craw at Walt Disney World and the last night stand I messed up the paint job on.  That’s right, shaved it off, pretended nothing happened and set it on fire- in that order.

I had in my posession a coveted stencil from http://www.royaldesignstudio.com/ , the Serenity Damask #3089, to be exact and it was burning a hole in my studio.  I contemplated for weeks what I would create with it.  I had 4 solid ideas and the photo below is the one that I came up with this morning.  I won’t reveal my other ideas as I plan to do them and post them at a later time.

When I browsed for my stencil I spent some time on theRoyal Design Studio’s Flicker page looking at the designs and found it hard to choose, they were/are all so delicious!

Fast forward to today at 4:30 a.m.  I was rudely awoken by the hubs ranting at the dogs who pestered him awake.  I knew this was my que to try out the stencil.  I had been a bit itimidated with the size of this repeating pattern and I completely ignored the excellent and concise directions sent to me in the product package- I was so excited to see the progress that http://www.royaldesignstudio.com/ even thought of other folks like me, who never read instructions and they made demarkation points in the stencil to make repeating the pattern pure CHILD’s PLAY!

I am getting ahead of myself… as usual.  Today I chose a giant dresser mirror that had been leaning on a wall in my dining room (like it’s two brothers).  I loved the curves of this heavy beast and knew I wanted to use it in an unexpected way.  It came to me in a dream…STENCIL IT AND USE IT OUTSIDE!  Ultimately it will be a part of a garden potting bench.. ( I know, I gasped a little too!)

The hardest part about this project was that I had to clean the mirror.  <Note to self.  Buy self-cleaning mirrors from now on>

What I used:

Big-Ass mirror

Fabulicious Stencil from Royal Design Studio #3089

Annie Sloan Chalk Paint http://www.anniesloan.com/ in Provence and Pure White

Stencil or foam brush

Tape (blue or masking)

I started by placing the stencil on the right side of the mirror.  I eyeballed it for level, but you could use a real one (I got lucky).

I used 2 pieces of tape to anchor the stencil and just went at dobbing.  I Did everything in Provence except the circles which I used Pure White on.  Easy huh?

It was here that I discovered that they made it easier than hillbilly cousins on Prom Night to repeat the pattern.  No measuring, no frustration..just match up demarcation  that I had already stenciled in and GO!  I am a “Fly by the Seat of Your  Capris” kind of gal with ZERO patience and it was a DREAM!  Annie Sloan paint dries quick and matte so that made the mirror project easier by not having to worry about waiting for the paint to dry between moving the stencil.  (Which also eliminates  smearing.)

A cup of coffee and a few tunes on the ipod later and I had a gorgeous start to my garden! (And I didn’t have to set it on fire!)   All I need now is the potting bench….

Now you gals and dudes get you some of this swag in a bag and make you a purty-thang too!

(Photo below shows demarcation areas-notice top area)

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