Toiletpaper Back In Place… Updated Bathroom Hardware and A Crackled Mirror…

I posted last about the toilet paper hardware-

I started gold leafing  it at my Caromal Colour Gilding workshop and wanted to finish PRONTO so the bathroom would be back in order.    I decided to update the mirror as well -

It seems to have changed color over the years, taking on an orange cast.  I decided to brush a Faux Effects  crackle size on it -

When it was ready, I brushed on Faux Effects Stain and Seal (Ebony color) -

and watched it crack….

I finished gold leafing the hardware and hung it back on the wall-

I brushed some brown glaze over the crackle..  that didn’t do it…. I brushed some metallic gold into it… that didn’t satisfy my urge… I brushed black glaze over all of that,  said,  ‘Screw it’  and hung it back up-

Liking it better than the orange gold, but it’s still not where I want it to be, so I’m fiddling again -

MORE Aquacrackle Size….  *sigh.

Stay tuned.

If you like that hardware update, and would like to see how its done head to this post on Simple Gilding Instructions.

What Happened To The Toilet Paper Holder?

This evening I had a Gilding Accessories Workshop out at the Grosse Pointe War Memorial.   It was a jam packed day – my week up to this point was crazy, and I didn’t have time to be proactive.  As a result, my whole morning was spent preparing – printing, shopping,  packing.  Somewhere in the planning of what I’d like to demo the leaf on, I decided to remove the toilet paper holder in our powder room -

Hard to see the hardware, let me zoom in -

I’ve never liked it and it struck me (yes, while sitting there )  that I could gild it gold.  So I unscrewed the toilet paper holder and packed it up.

I was on schedule.  Truck packed, ready to go.   First stop was my daughter’s middle school – they were running their first track meet and I wanted to catch as much as I could.   It was a bummer at first,  the other team wouldn’t be arriving because of some issue, but they decided to run the meet anyway, records would count etc…     About a 1/2 hour into it,  the rain started -  nice.   All in all, it was fun – I watched most of it,  since there were less runners,  and my 7th grade daughter broke both the 7th AND 8th grade school record in the 800m sprint!  Whoop whoop.

The workshop was a success. I laughed,  as I demo’d the toilet paper holder,  mentioning that my family would probably wonder what was up when they used the bathroom -

Last night my husband was heading to bed.  He popped in to use the bathroom and sure enough I heard a

What happened in here?

I couldn’t help but smile.   I’m part way there,  I guess I need to put finishing this on my list today!

You Think By Time They Are Teen’s They’d Know How To Pour Cereal Milk…

Yesterday morning the kids headed out to catch the bus and I was left cleaning up the breakfast mess.  Sometimes they have enough time to clear their dishes, but 99% of the time they are pushing the clock and

• A) its more important to me that they are eating breakfast, the MOST important meal of the day and
• B) I do NOT want them missing the bus, because then I have to drive them and the drive line in the morning at their Junior High is crazy…

So I grab Julia’s bowl and its basically a empty bowl and spoon.  I grab Nick’s and its loaded with milk, a few cereal bits left floating.  And of course, the spoon.   This is very typical, and I’d regretted not taking my camera out and snapping evidence.

This morning?  No different.   Now mind you , these bowls are soup size bowls…

Julia’s -

Nicks-

We’re going to have a nice little chat about this later.  It’s NOT that difficult to get the milk/cereal ratio right, and in this morning’s case,  he wasted a good bit of cereal as well.   We go through milk like crazy, so I hate pouring 2/3 cup down the drain every morning.

We’re going to have a not so nice chat about this as well -

Nice place to spit out your mouth wash,   right where we all walk.  Gross.    Do you think maybe the grass would have been a better choice?

A Blank Canvas Job, The Best Kind…

I’m  working on a Powder Room for a client.  The bathroom has a sky lite, with a copper colored metal look on the top part.  In that bathroom I’ll be leaving the copper alone but will do the bottom part of the sky lite in the same plaster finish that I’ll be applying to the walls.    They same type sky lite is in the master bathroom -

Hard to tell from this photo but the lower part of the sky lite area is just  painted white, like the ceiling.   All the fixtures in this bath are chrome or nickel – this will be a good room to change that copper look, on the above area,  to a silvery finish.  The small wall area below it needs something as well…   There has been past water damage, and the walls up there aren’t in pristine condition.  I suggested a couple finishes, and the client basically said,

I trust you, make it happen.

This is better than chocolate, a free pass to do what I want, creatively.   WHOO HOOO!

Today,  in between working on the main bath, I snuck back to this sky lite -   I cleaned it up,  primed it good,  then painted the copper with a Modern Masters Silver (layer 1). On the lower area I skip rolled Ovilla Plaster, and then troweled it downward to build some texture-

the texture will  add dimension, and set it apart from the lower walls, which had been glazed by a previous owner. The texture will also HIDE the imperfect surface area -

I’m working as I go …. I have an idea in mind  but won’t know what I’m ending up with until its done.  The top will end up being something like the silvers  below -

and the lower wall will have several colors of metallic plaster troweled over it, then glazed -

It was the best feeling working on this space, not being bound by a specifically chosen sample.  I know what I  have planned next, but not certain how I’ll tweak it after that… only knowing that it will be PERFECT when I’m done.  I’m hoping to finish this sky lite tomorrow – you know I’ll take photos so I can share!