Paper Thin...

This afternoon, on my lunch break at work, I had gone down to the Ann Arbor Farmer's Market and decided to pop into a store I have never been in. I have to share it with you all. I could have spent an entire day in this place. It is called Hollander's and its in Kerrytown, Ann Arbor.

This store is a wonderland of the most stunning papers, stationery, notebooks, pens, calendars, greeting cards and other ephemera. This place made me want to wrap every box with a lid and every notebook in my house in delicious color and pattern. I am going to just keep fantasizing about projects I can do now, which require paper, as an excuse to go back!
I knew I could not just walk into this store and not walk out with empty hands, so I picked out these papers to use as part of a Christmas project in my house. I will post pics of that as soon as it is ready...

I couldn't resist those little elves-- the reminded me of the little claymation characters from "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer".

I also picked up this little gem for another project, which I will show you when I have implemented my plans for it... The metallic gold on this shimmers so beautifully.

Here is the link to their website:

http://www.hollanders.com/aboutus.aspx

If you find yourself in Ann Arbor, you MUST check out this store. You won't be sorry!

(This is not a sponsored post, just a nice little shout out!)

Mirror, Mirror

Greetings, y'all!
I took a few days off. I was tired. And I have been crafting and DIY-ing my heart out! I will have lots to share very soon. In the meantime, check this out...
I like to go "treasure hunting" at the thrift store. It requires patience, and sometimes a few trips before I get a good score, but when I do, it is totally worth it. Case in point, this mirror:

I know, you may be thinking, "Hmmm, not so hot..." BUT hear me out-- look at the edge detail on this puppy!

Better, right? Wait-- it gets even better....

So, I painted it with some medium gray, very high gloss spray paint. It took about 3 coats (after the primer), but I love the way it turned out. 

Here are the after shots:

(The detail shot was taken before I used a straight blade to scrape off the excess paint that leaked around my tape.)

And this is where my fancy, $26 mirror resides today:

 Right next to my front door, so I can make sure I don't look like a fool before I walk out the door. 

So there you have it folks, one person's trash is another person's treasure. Keep an open mind and an imagination when you are perusing garage sales and thrift stores!