Mirror, Mirror, On the... Floor

As I've mentioned, I have a deep love for my closets. I miss having a walk-in closet and have to make do with the small closets in our old house. I aspire to have an airy, girly dressing room that has room for a vanity, chaise and lots of room to play dress up and experiment with my clothes.



But, no such luck, at least not at the moment. I didn't even have a mirror, other than our medicine cabinet mirrors. I couldn't fully see myself until I got to work. And after an incident with a dress of questionable length, I decided I needed to find a full length mirror.



The problem is that most decent floor mirrors are pretty expensive - from $100 - $500 dollars. The other option was a really cheap mirror that mounted on a door. And I didn't want to put a mirror on the door, so that option was out.

Then I decided to make a three panel mirror. I'd seen the folks making 3 panel screens on several HGTV shows and figured that this couldn't be that different. This weekend, we finally got around to making it and it actually was pretty easy.

I decided to use the really inexpensive mirrors ($5 each), MDF and some pretty hinges we already had. We had the MDF cut at the store to have 6" above and below the mirrors, with 3" on either side. The mirrors are 4 feet tall so the total mirror is 5 feet tall. You could make this taller if you wish, of course.

I then staple-gunned the fabric to the panels. The fabric is actually a twin sheet set. It was only $5 on sale. I just cut the flat sheet in half for two of the panels and then used the fitted sheet for the last one. You can click on the image to enlarge.



Once the panels were covered (staple the short ends first then the sides, pulling tightly to get the fabric very taut), we hinged them together using three hinges on each side.



Then we screwed on the mirrors. I may actually paint the mirror edging to be brown which will tie in with the rest of the room and cover the screws. The entire mirror cost about $45 dollars and took only a few hours. If you are going to make this, make sure you assemble it in the room where it goes or have someone help you carry it. It's pretty heavy.

More metamorphosis projects to follow!

Metamorphosis

As the new year just begins, everyone makes their goals and resolutions. I don't usually make resolutions because they seem fleeting and impermanent. Each year I write out goals for the year. As the year goes on they give me structure and benchmarks. And at the end of the year, I see what I have accomplished and what needs to continue on into the next year.

One of the goals a lot of folks say is to spend less, shop less, buy less. And that is something that I want to try and work on as well. But, while financial reasons are compelling, I also want to do it to push myself to be more creative with my clothes and accessories. There are so many inspirational folks and images out there. I want to take all of these influences and find ways to combine ideas and create new pieces and looks. And I want to embellish more of what I wear. Ribbons, beading, ruffles and bows. All things I love. Plus layering elements on simple pieces and play with color too.

The other day I was in Michael's and it was filled with so much great stuff, from beads to ribbons, and it was making me a little sad that I didn't have any projects in mind. I felt like I was wasting my time by not tapping into my creativity to personalize the things I wear. I also want to be better about repurposing clothes that may feel tired and extending the things I have by adding new elements to them to give them a new fresh feel.

So, here are some of the projects I'm planning, some of which I hope may even be Etsy-worthy.

1. Finish knitting 2 scarves

2. Ombre dye stockings ala The Coveted - I plan on doing lavender, grey, teal and pale yellow.

3. Quick skirts ala Queen Michelle - I have been holding onto some upholstery fabric to do a skirt and this pattern seems like an easy one to make. I also have some fringe and ribbons I can add.

4. A ruffle purse as seen on Style Bubble - I either have to find this or create it somehow.

5. A 3-way mirror - I'm finally sick of not having a full length mirror, so I designed a simple 3 way mirror and this weekend the husband helped to build it. I'll take some photos and talk through the process in my next post.

6. Shoe clips - while I love these JCrew heels, it seems silly to pay $228 when I have patterned shoes and tons of ribbon. So I'm making shoe clips from my ribbons, vintage clip earrings, interesting buttons and crystals. I'm going to put some of these on Etsy because I think they turned out really cute.

My other goals are to look more into the vintage and thrift stores in some of the bigger cities near by. I don't think we have a lot in our town but I do need to give them a once over just to get a better feel of what's out there. I also want to try to be braver with layering and combinations. Most of my clothes are so streamlined that this may be challenging so we'll have to see how that works out.


I feel like there are so many opportunities out there. I just can't wait to get started.