Ornament Wreathin' It!

Tis the season! I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday...full of family, friends, the inevitable food coma, and Black Thursday Friday shopping. Now that Thanksgiving is over, you know what that means...it's CHRISTMAS TIME! I love Christmas. It is my absolute favorite holiday (Even more so than my birthday, and you know how all about that I am). Christmas in my family was always such a fun time for me and brings back memories of tree decorating, watching Rudolph and Frosty, making Christmas cookies, listening to Christmas music, and (my personal favorite) opening gifts on Christmas morning. I'm already excited over here, so let's bring the Christmas spirit into my new house. 

About a year ago while perusing Pinterest, I came across this wreathe. It wasn't your typical Christmas wreathe however. This one was made entirely of ornaments. It was Christmas love at first sight. It was so beautiful I just had to have one. I looked around last year, but the nice ones were pretty expensive. I saw some as much as $100-$150, and there was no way I was paying for that. They were nice, but it is never that serious. So, I decided....*wait for it*...TO MAKE ONE! After looking around (lots of YouTubing and Googling), it didn't seem to be that hard to do. Grab a bunch of ornaments, and get to gluing. Seemed easy enough, so I went for it. 

First I needed something to adhere the ornaments to, some sort of base. I came across lots of options, but I decided on a 16" styrofoam circle. I got mine from Michaels. It seemed to make the most sense, and be the easiest to work with. I noticed most people didn't use these because they are pretty pricey. I however, had a coupon (I ALWAYS have Michaels coupons), so it was 50% off. 

Color theme?...classic Christmas colors, red, green, white, and silver. I started gathering my large ornaments. For anyone who doesn't live in craft stores, they bring out their holiday stuff around September. (I know, crazy huh?) For the last month or so it's all been 50% off. To my delight I saw these large canisters of red, green, and white ornaments all for $25 each. At 1/2 off that makes them $12.50. That's not bad. I mean, I figured this was going to cost some money. Now comes in the real justification. They were big enough so they would cover a good portion of the wreathe, thus needing less smaller ones. Also, with there being so many in each canister, I figured I would use about half of each and what was left I could use to put on my tree. (Way to dual purpose!)

I came across so many methods on how to make one of these. The best way to start I found was to cover the inside and outside perimeter first. So, with my trusty gun in hand, I started gluing away. For extra hold I dabbed a little in between each ornament too. 

 I was on a roll. This wasn't hard at all. I was up watching movies and catching up on my DVR. So, I kept going. With the perimeter done, I tackled another full 2 rows on the inside and outside. Now, on a side note: One of the craziest things is that the minute I started working on this thing, they start putting the Christmas stuff out in all of the stores. Can you believe they sell these things EVERYWHERE now. Last year I couldn't find one to save my life. This year they're all over the place from Target, to Homegoods, to Home Depot, and they're not that pricey either. Just my luck! It's okay though. Mines is going to look soooo much better. (It has to if I'm going to justify to myself making instead of purchasing)

With the majority of the big ornaments placed, it was time to get the smaller ones. I went to Michaels and went crazy. They were having 50% off of some of their ornaments too. (I tell you there is never a reason to spend a lot of money on nice Christmas stuff. I don't think I have paid full price for anything yet.) I went in there and bought a ton of ornaments all different sizes, colors, and textures. I wasn't sure what I would need, and I would rather have too much than not enough. I just filled the basket. Whatever I didn't use I would just bring back (It's the American Way). Unfortunately, I realized once I had placed all of the big ornaments, I was a little too ambitious. I didn't plan right. The look I was going for was more of a cluster. With so many big ornaments on, it was quite difficult to easily place the smaller ones. I checked out my progress and knew, I wasn't gong to get the look that I was going for. I pondered and then headed back to Googltubing (Yes, I just made a word). I found out that after the beginning rows you should make a cluster and then build from there. Unfortunately, I got glue gun crazy, and put myself into a tight spot. 

They were already stuck on so I couldn't just move them. I tried working around them. That was a FAIL. It just started to look extra crazy. I really didn't want to start over from scratch. That would be a lot of ornaments wasted. It would be better if I could salvage them, but after being hot glued I didn't see this happening. I figured I had nothing to lose, so I yanked at one. I wiggled a little, yanked a lot, stabbed the styrofoam a couple of times, and what do you know it came off. *Sigh* A little scuffed and battered, but not bad. I could definitely work with it. I pulled off the remaining ornaments and went back to the original inner and outer rings. 

With a clean slate I started covering the wreathe, adding onto the cluster a little at a time. Placing the bigger ornaments, and then filling around with the smaller ones. Not as easy as I would have thought, but I did the best I could. I got about half of the way done when I realized it is almost impossible to fill in every hole and completely cover the styrofoam. It wasn't too bad, but bad enough for my OCD to kick in and not let me ignore it. I should have covered the styrofoam first but I didn't think it would be necessary. I saw where some people had covered their base first. I just thought they were doing too much, and trying to be overly fancy. Now I see why. At this point I was already half way done. I was not pulling them off again. So, I improvised. I smeared the styrofoam with glue, and then covered it with silver glitter. For the half I already did, I poured glue in between the cracks and from the under side

 You know, I should really have put something down. You can see the glitter mess that ensued. *My poor floors* I just get so caught up sometimes I never stop to protect the area around me. (That's probably why all of my sweatpants are ruined.) I kept gluing and arranging, arranging and gluing. I went through so many glue sticks it was unbelievable. Towards the end it got a little difficult. There was little room for shifting so every ornament had to fit perfectly. I covered what space was left until I was done. It took me awhile, but I finally got it. TA-DAH! We have an ornament wreathe!

She's a beauty! I'm kind of impressed with myself, especially for my first time *Doing my happy dance*. It was touch and go there a few times, but definitely pulled it through. It was perfect! I marveled for a few days at my handy work. It was finally done....now where was I going to put it?

I figured I would hang it somewhere, so I might as well go ahead and add a hook in the mean time. I got an eye hook, and screwed it into the back of the styrofoam. With the majority of it the way in, I shot it with a dab of hot glue to secure it. I found some red ribbon in my stash, and tied a few knots.

It ended up on my back patio door. Why is it not outside on the front door you ask? I thought about that. However, first I was thinking someone would take it. Sounds stupid, but I've had my welcome mat stolen before.*Who takes someone's door mat? Really?! How sketchy can you be.* Then we got a batch of really bad weather. The rain and the wind were howling something serious. I was kind of glad I didn't have it out there. I decided it might be best to just keep it inside. It's in my kitchen, so I get to see it everyday. I may put it outside for a couple of days, we'll see.

While we're on the topic of Christmas, let's talk about decorating. As many of you know this is my first year putting up a tree and decorating my house. I usually spend the holidays in Boston, so it didn't make much sense to decorate for a day I wouldn't be here to celebrate. Also, I didn't have anywhere to put the tree for the other 11 months that I wouldn't be using it. I wasn't a total Scrooge though. I did put up a table top tree and a wreathe I would hang on the chair. I promised myself that once I got a house I was getting a tree, and that's exactly what I did. 

I love it! They have definitely updated the technology since I was a kid putting up lights with my mom. These things sparkle like stars. It's quite magical. My neighbors have been decorating for a couple of weeks now, so I'm behind. I also decorated a wreathe (that I will actually put out on the front door). I decided to do a themed wreathe every year. I originally had the idea for a tree, but that's a lot of new bulbs every year. Besides, I like a more eclectic tree. This year's theme is "Classic Christmas".

So, I think I'm ready for Christmas. (I'm so excited I'm already thinking of next years wreathe theme) I think I did well for my first year. What do you think? I hope everyone else is enjoying the season as much as I am. Let me know if anyone needs a boost of cheer because I have plenty!

.....On to the next project

DIY Floating Shelves (Why the heck didn't I just go to IKEA)

I can't believe it is already November. Where did the time go? How is the year almost over? Am I the only one who thinks this year just flew by. I have so much going on, an extra month would be nice. Honestly, if I could get an extra hour some days I would be happy. So, before I get into the shelves let's talk about my issue with Blogger. In case you have not noticed, about a month ago I published a post about My Uninspiring Office. Then one day I logged in to check on some things, and the post was gone. In it's place was the same blog post but 20 drafts before that. I had to do a double take. WHAT?! Where the heck did my post go! I take this blog thing seriously, and spend quite a bit of time trying to get them just right for you all. To have it just disappear... absolutely OUTRAGEOUS! I did some research on the message boards and apparently it happens once in awhile. Not exactly sure how or why, seems like a glitch of some sort. I don't care though really. I just want my post back. Don't worry, I am slightly calmer now. A few weeks ago though when I first saw it, I almost fell out. So, for right now I will just have to let it go and leave it as a lesson learned. Always make sure to keep a backup copy of my blog post. Sorry for anyone that missed it. I was thinking that I would rewrite it  paraphrase it in a new post. However, since it seems like a lot of people already saw it, it's probably not necessary. Still annoyed though. Not cool Blogger. Not Cool!

Now that that is out of the way, let's talk shelves! You ever have those moments when you want some nice floating shelves. The obvious answer is to go to IKEA. Only to find that once you get there nothing works. They're either not the right size, they poke out too far, not the right color, or simply they're just not what you want. Well that's where I'm at right now. In my world that's okay though, because I can just make my own. You know, as much as I complain sometimes that I would like to just walk in a store and buy what I want, the ability to design and create things as a back up definitely has its perks. These particular shelves were for the back wall of my office. 

As you can see my first attempt at shelving was a dud. I essentially took some shelves I got from Target and put them together. Nice idea in theory, but not so impressive in real life. For one, I had way too many pictures. They didn't even all make it to the wall, and the ones that did were squished together. Secondly, the look of the wall entirely was off scale. The wall too big, and the shelves too small. So, on to plan B. Only problem is I had no idea what plan B was. I had been pondering this for awhile and thought I had it with the last idea. I knew I still wanted some sort of shelving but what? Then one day in the dressing room of H&M, Frickin' EUREKA...I got it!

This was my first time making floating shelves. I actually had to talk myself into it. Why I couldn't just screw a few L brackets into the wall and place an 8ft long board on top, boggles me. Never the easy route. My plan was, 2 8ft shelves and 4 3ft shelves. Allow me to draw a diagram. I'm leaving space in the middle for some sort of painting or picture.

Off to Home Depot I go! I made a list of supplies the night before. The plan was to stick to the list, not wander, and be in and out pretty quickly. Notice I said that "was" the plan. I started out well, then half way through I started changing my mind about the design. Originally, I was pretty set on the design of the shelves. However, when I got to the lumber aisle and began counting up how many flat pieces of wood I needed, the thought crosses my head if it's all worth it. How bad do I want these shelves? I could just go to IKEA and be done by the morning. Then as I'm trying to get a straight 1x2, (Yes, picking lumber is a process) I think to myself what if I just double up a couple of 1x4s. That would have been cheaper and easier and very close to the desired look. The only problem is they wouldn't float. I would have to get some small brackets to hold them up. I thought about it. Did I really need them to float? Would it be really so bad if they didn't? I could just paint the visible bracket the same color as the wall, so it had the appearance of floating. Still not sure, I continued picking out my wood. I was determined to leave the store with something. I packed them all in the Corolla and headed home. 

The next morning I woke up still not sure. So, whenever I am not sure about something I confer with good ole Uncle Francis. I told him my dilemma. He suggested that my original idea would look better, and if I could do it to just go for it. So I did. I had 3 days off from work, and was determined to use them wisely. I headed down to the garage, took out my Miter Saw and got working. The basic design of the shelves would be 4" wide and 2" tall. I laid the flat piece down (1), then placed the white pieces around the outside (2&3), and then laid another flat piece (1) on top. This took some time, as getting them to all line up perfectly never goes as smoothly as you would think. The 8ft shelves were a definite task. The longer the piece, the greater the challenge. 

I put all of the shelves together using wood glue, and let them set overnight. The next morning I got up and finished the edges. 

I made a point to get nice wood so that I wouldn't need to partake in a lot of sanding. Unfortunately, I lost my ability to measure accurately because I was still quite off. I used wood filler, wood glue, and scrap wood to fill in and clean up the edges and sides. As you can see from the picture, I had quite a bit of compensating to do in some cases. I made sure every shelf looked as perfect as I could get it. I let all of the pieces dry and set overnight. The next day I gave them one last sanding and clean up.

To make sure that I would like the design, I arranged them on the floor like my diagram. I would hate to realize that I wasn't impressed...after they were already on the wall. 

At this point in the process I realized how thankful I was for a clear space to lay things out. My garage was another story. It looked crazy in there. You know, I'm noticing part of the humor in me building is the conversations I have with people about it. I took a break Saturday night to go out with my friends. I started telling them about my project pandemonium. 

Me: I'm building some floating shelves for the big wall in my office. 

Friends: What's wrong with the ones that were there?

Me: They weren't long enough for the wall. I had some small ones from Target, and put a bunch together to make bigger ones. They're still not long enough though. I have a bunch of pictures still laying on the table. So, I'm making some new ones that will span the whole wall.

Friends: Oh wow...I would have just bought more shelves, and added on. 

Me: I thought about that, but I wasn't feeling it. I had a different idea entirely so I'm doing what I should have done in the first place...just make some. It's a disaster downstairs. I'm glad you all came to get me because there's clearly lumber on my car right now. 

Friends: HA! You know if anyone else just said that, I would think they were crazy. But coming from you it just sounds normal.

Can't help but smile and laugh. What can I say. Just another day in my world. Now from the picture it really doesn't look so bad, but believe me it was a war zone in there. You're seeing the "neat" side.

As you can see in the photo I already started painting. I set up my trusty blocks (Which are actually my old coffee table. I use these things for a ton of carpentry purposes. They make awesome weights) and propped up all of the pieces. I primed them first with Kilz, let them dry, and then preceded with the black paint. I had a can of Rust-Oleum Painter's Touch Ultra Cover in black semi-gloss. I was worried because I didn't want them to come out too glossy. So, I decided to get a can of flat paint. I wasn't sure because I usually never paint with flat paint. I really wanted satin, but didn't see it and I knew semi-gloss would be too shiny. I figured if anything I could paint it with the flat paint, and then go over it with a satin or semi gloss varnish if the black was too dull. To my delight though when I got home I came up with a better solution. I found leftover paint from the end table project in the color Black Onyx, which happened to be a satin finish. I combined that with the Rust-Oleum semi-gloss black. The combination...was perfection. 

Now comes the real fun. Let's hang these things. Before I decided to embark on this endeavor I researched how to make them. I read that the way you get them to have a floating appearance, is to hang a bracket to the wall and then attach the shelf to the bracket. Seemed easy enough. If you look up at the above picture, on the ground, next to the car are some raw wood pieces. Those are my brackets. 

You're suppose to use wall anchors to secure heavy things into drywall. However, the whole thought of that process seemed agonizing. Trying to line up the shelf and the screw, through the wood and into the anchor...all while keeping it level. I decided to avoid my future misery and just use the studs in the wall. Now, for those of you who don't know, studs are the vertical wood beams behind the drywall that help to support the wall. Usually if you can screw something into the stud, an anchor isn't necessary. They make stud finders, but I don't own one. The last time I had a project, I read another way to find them...with magnets! Makes a lot of sense doesn't it. Drywall is held to the wall using screws, and screws are metal. If you run the magnet around the wall, they will attract to the screw. I know some of you were wondering how I got my magnets to float on the wall like that. If you can find one, then the others next to them are pretty easy. Studs are usually set approximately 16 inches apart. Just measure 16 inches from the first spot and then go hover the magnet around there, and VOILA! 

I used this method to attach all of the brackets to the wall. I decided to attach all of them first. I wanted to test the scale and placement of the whole project. Honestly, I was still quite unsure about the size. I was secretly afraid the whole thing would be too big.

I was wrong though. I was totally feeling it, and I hadn't even put the shelves up. The size was nice, good scale for the wall, but not too intrusive into the rest of the space. I didn't get a lot of pictures of the process, but allow me to give you a visual. Picture one 5 ft woman, an 8 ft shelf, a chair, a step stool, a drill with 2 attachments, and a level to make sure it all stayed straight. Yes, it took everything in me just to prevent injury. I thought, this is the moment when having another one of me would be quite helpful. Now, to add the actual shelves. This posed a whole other battle. I was going to wait until the next day, but I was so anxious I couldn't hold off. I grabbed the shelf and slid it over the bracket. (Actual visual: 5ft woman, 8ft shelf, sliding, pushing, tugging, banging, cursing, shelf comes down, unscrewing, rescrewing, shelf goes back up, resetting, squeezing, more banging, and a few extra expletives. All while still trying to prevent injury) I'm making it sound simple, but boy this was a task. By the time I was done, I was sweating. When all was set and done, I sat down looked at the wall, and took a breathe. I had floating shelves!

They were beautiful! What an accomplishment, and after what I just went through to get them on the wall, it made the ending so much better.

The shelves were up, now what? The whole point was to have something to place all of my pictures on. I still had so many. I sorted them out, and just went for it. 

 What do you think? Turned out pretty nice. Just enough space. (...and I do mean "just" enough) 5 days well spent. Now, if I could just find the same excitement to go clean the garage. As for the painting/picture in the middle, I have an idea of what is going to go in there but not settled on anything. I'll be sure to update you when that happens. Until then...I suppose it's on to the next project! (Which I actually just finished. So stay tuned =) *emoticons Blogger. Where are the emoticons?*)

Project Archive #4 - SouthCaKHero

If you know Herb Gould then he needs NO introduction. If you don't know him, then here it goes. Herb is one my close friends, and one of the most special people that I have ever met. He often asks me to design things for him and his various projects. The minute he says he has an idea to run by me, the only thing I can do is be scared. You see, Herb never asks anything simplified. It usually goes something like this.

Herb: I need you to draw something for this thing I'm working on
Me: OK, (I begin bracing myself for something outlandish)
Herb: So, I want a bionic man, and I want it to look like he is hanging from an imaginary pole,
Me: *Puzzled Look*
Herb: And I want the man to be leaning sideways with his hand coming out like this. *Wild hand gesturing begins*  It should look almost lifelike, like he's jumping off the page trying to pull you in.
Me: *Super Puzzled Look*
Herb: And then I want a hand to be coming down from the top, like a massive beast hand almost, and it looks like it's trying to pull the man away. *More wild hand gesturing*
Me: Ummmmmmm.....okay

And folks there you have it. Sounds pretty crazy and outlandish, huh? My thoughts exactly. Now, add in the fact that I'm supposed to somehow actually create this. Yes, my head spins every time! Herb pushes me creatively and artistically with every project. He asks for things that completely boggle my mind, and I usually have no idea what I'm going to do. However, I have to say anytime we collaborate we create great things.

Awhile back Herb asked me to create this sketch for him. He wanted me to create a superman emblem, but with a twist. Herb is from South Carolina, so the outside of the emblem was going to be in the shape of South Carolina. It seemed easy enough. Compared to some of the other ideas he has, this was a piece of cake actually. So, I took to the sketch pad and this is what I created.

Add some color and we have the finished product.

This was a couple of years ago when I first designed this. Herb recently decided to produce it on a t-shirt. In addition to being from SC, he is also a proud alumni of Clemson University. We changed the colors and added a "cape" on the back.

Even though I did not go to Clemson, I'm digging the shirt. It's always nice to see your creations go from the sketch pad to actual production. It has definitely inspired me to start producing some of my other designs. I used to make t-shirts all the time, and then lost interest in it. That and I didn't have a t-shirt press. There's only but so much amazingness (Yes Mr. Spellcheck I know that's not a word, but I'm going to use it anyway) that can happen with my $6 Walmart iron. So stay tuned, there could be some cool things coming in the near future. Until then....It's on to the next project.

Always Need A Table That Floats

Everyday when it is time to leave I grab my purse, search around for my keys, and head out the door. Then half of those times I get in the car, turn on the ignition, and end up having to come back in the house because I forgot my Ipod. (You know I can't drive too far with only a radio option.) I decided it was time to finally build an entry way table by the door. I'm slightly over having to look for my keys before I leave the house. So, to the lab I go. The area I want to utilize is not very big, and I didn't want it to be too intrusive into the space.

A full on table seemed like it would be too much so, I decided on a floating shelf instead. Now the only thing to do was figure out the shape. The obvious decision would have been a semi circle or rectangle but, I have to be honest both of those ideas sounded boring to me. I wanted visually interesting.....but still functional. So, I decided to do my own custom shape. I had some left over foam board in the closet. Since I wasn't putting anything too heavy on the table I figured this would be sturdy enough. I cut 2 pieces and glued them together in the angle of the wall. Then drew and cut out the shape that I wanted for the table.

Once the shape was done I cleaned up the edges and used paper mache to create a smooth surface for the top and sides. Now for most people this would have been it, but unfortunately it wasn't perfect enough for me. I went back and filled in any imperfections with paint medium and covered it again with poster board to get an even smoother and more perfect look. The completed project got 2 coats of semi-gloss spray paint. 

I was pleasantly surprised at the finish. It came out a lot better than I thought. However, I bet everyone figured out one thing. I didn't say I LOVE IT! Once it was done I started looking at it, and was slightly less than excited. I don't really know how I feel about it. The finish was nice, but it still wasn't as perfect as I wanted and honestly I'm kind of already over the shape. It just looks weird to me. I screwed the brackets to the wall, and placed the shelf on top. As I did this I realized that one of the brackets came out further than the shelf. Damn, damn, and SUPER damn! I leave it for a couple of days thinking maybe I'll be okay with it. At this point I really don't want to start over. Who am I kidding though...there is no way I'm going to live with this (And even if I was okay it, my slight OCD surely was not). I decide to just scrap it and start all over. This project = FAIL!

Entry way table ... TAKE 2

Alright people let's do this for real this time. I am not doing this a 3rd time so, this it it! This time I started with the brackets. I got these ones from IKEA. I wanted to make sure the shelf hung over the brackets. 

Next, I got a piece of poster board and free handed the table shape. Last time I was over it after the first day. This time I wanted to make sure I liked the shape long term. Glad I did too. I must have changed my mind like 10 times before I actually settled on this. I don't know why I didn't think of this the first time. 

Now that I settled on a shape, I transfer it on to the foam board and cut it out. As you can see I changed the shape one last time. *Shaking my head*

To cover the edges I doubled up 1 inch strips of heavy weight poster board and hot glued them around the outside. At this point I am feeling this shelf. Sooo glad I started over. I can't wait for it to be complete. 

Again, I paper mached the whole thing to create one uniform hard surface. I set it aside overnight to dry. Much to my surprise when I get home the next day it has warped. *Insert sad face here* Everything was going so well too. So, like most things I took to Master Google to find out what happened. Apparently as the paper mache and newspaper dried, the paper shrunk and caused the piece to bend inward. What a pain! *Insert angry face here* (You know they should really have emoticons on this blogger thing. Who doesn't have emoticons? Everyone has emoticons.) I tried to just put weights on it so it would flatten back out. This didn't seem to do the trick though. I decided to put another layer of paper mache and used weights to flatten it while it dried. 

So, while I wait I decided to make a mirror. I somehow wanted to bring the stripes from the other wall somewhere else in the room. I bought a wooden frame from Michaels and painted it with black and white stripes. Then I used a mirror I had laying around from another project I did awhile back. 

Back to the shelf. After the second round of paper mache it seemed as though we had soften the bend , but not completely gotten rid of it. The surface though mostly smooth still had a little ripple in it. It looks like I'm back to square one on how to flatten it and get a smooth surface on top. I thought for a little bit, and decided to try mat board. I guess it's back to Michaels. (You know I wonder if the people who work in there notice me, and how often I am in there.)

 I sprayed the whole shelf with spray adhesive, and pressed the mat board down on top. I then turned the whole thing over and weighted it so it could dry overnight. I used paint cans as weights and magazines to flatten the sides. I'm crossing my fingers that this will do the trick. 

I woke up the next morning, and the mat board was looking good. I cut off the excess and was quite impressed. The mat board wasn't hard to cut either. (I might be on to something with this mat board.) It's looking good now. I'm pleasantly surprised! I should have done this in the first place. Now, in some place the spray glue didn't get a good enough hold so I hit it with the glue gun to reinforce in a few spots. While the glue is drying I did a little clean up on the edges. At this point I'm loving it. Only thing....it's still a little bent so I need to figure it out.

After learning that the paper mache shrunk when it dried, I figured since I only placed it on one side it caused that side to bend inward. I decided to paper mache the under side and let it bend the other way. Smart thinking huh? I again used the magazine holders as weights to help hold it in place while it dried. 

2 days later VOILA! Perfect table and no bend. YAAAAAYYYY!....(Finally!). Now, it's time to paint. First, I spray painted the bottom. Since the bottom technically would not be seen I just gave it a light coat, so the color would blend. (Never know when someone will be crawling on the floor. Don't want them to get a surprise.) 

Once that was done I flipped it over and painted the top. I used Rust-Oleum Painter's Touch in semi-gloss black. Now, let me just say if you are ever painting anything black, this is by far the best paint I have ever used. It gives the darkest most rich black look of any paint brand. Once it was painted and dry it was time to hang. I placed the shelf on the brackets and used some black electrical tape on the under side for extra hold so it wouldn't move. 

and...TA-DA!!

We finally have a floating entry way shelf. YES YES YES! (I know that sounds slightly inappropriate....It's kind of the exhilaration I feel though. So we're going to go with it.) Now, add in the mirror and this is the whole picture.

What do you think? I'm so excited, and officially LOVING IT! I just need to add an accessory or 2 and we're in business. The thought of no longer having to cross the room to get my keys, or forget my ipod on the way out gives me the warm and fuzzies. Now if only the rest of the office would come together this nicely. All in due time though.

On to the next project.....