I wish I wore muchy jewelry more. I’ve tried. I have to sneak it out of the house though or Molly is the one who ends up wearing it.
Two weeks ago she stole my barrette and this is where it’s been ever since:
Tova’s Blog
Muchness pic of the day
See that shiny gold zipper running down my sleeve? It has two purposes.
One: match my gold boots.
Two: unzips super quick to reveal everything the baby needs for quick afternoon snack!
Snapshot of my life
Walked into my bedroom to see this beautiful vignette just waiting to be photographed.
Muchness pic of the day
The very somber sox I wear under my very sexy boots.
IN TOUCH WITH THE MUCH
Went to a wedding last week and there were tons of people wearing sparkle. It was festive and pretty but I quickly realized that not all sparkle is actually Muchness. And by extension, not all Muchness is sparkle.
For example:
This woman is in Touch with the Much.
This skirt, not so much
It’s like I really, really wanna like it. It’s got all the ingredients:
3-4 types of sparkle, various textures, seemingly random placement of sparky Trim. And yet, that skirt depresses me somehow. Takes itself so seriously. Tries soo hard.
Maybe it was the wearer. Maybe on someone with different energy- and a different shirt, I’d think differently. Something to think about.
One more sneaky pic:
This lady looked lovely. The whole dress was a dark blue sequin. But then I got close and realized there was a soft chiffon layer covering the whole entire dress. You can see the halo it creates on her sleeve. It looked pretty but I thought- why would you want to tame the Muchness??
The Backsplash
So much Muchness!
So, I mentioned in the original 30 Days of Muchness that I finally, after 17 months, completed my backsplash!!! Its been a couple of weeks and I’m LOVING it. It is exactly what I envisioned, and the feedback I’ve gotten is super.
So now, I’m just gonna give a little bit of background;
I used mirrored coasters from Amazing Savings. That’s like a dollar store but much more awesome. I’d been looking for almost 18 months for the right material for the backsplash… I didn’t want something ordinary and I really wanted something colorful that sparkled but wasn’t 800,000 gazillion tiny rhinestones glued to the wall (like my wedding shoes.) I saw the coasters, at a buck apiece and knew I’d hit the jackpot. I slapped those suckers on the wall with tile adhesive. Except the ones that had to get cut to fit the edges… took a while to figure out how to do that.
But what to put in the 1.5″ space between them? Tiles don’t usually come in 1.5″ and besides, I couldn’t really decide on a color to commit to. Many months of online searching led me to clear beveled tiles, available in 1.5″. They were about 65 cents a piece. All together that brought me to around $13 per square foot in tiles.
I don’t know where the idea to use paint chip samples came from, but thats what I used to “color” the glass. I swiped a crapload of swatches from home depot and layed them out in a gradient format. I numbered the spaces and numbered the swatches and started glueing the glass to the paint chips. and I glued. and glued. Then I started mounting them on the wall with the tile adhesive. But it was water based and started softening the paper and I started to see air bubbles between the paper and glass. For some tiles, it was too late and I have learned to live with it. No one really sees it but me. But I switched to a highly toxic marine glue that had no water in its base and dried really quickly. most of the tiles used that and they are perfect.
I bought a handheld rotary glass cutter to cut the tiles and was able to snap the glass ones in half with no problem for the edges. But the mirrors were too thick to cut that way. Eventually I brought the mirror tiles to a professional glass cutter who charged me $5 per cut. That added almost $250 bucks onto the total price, which sucked, but the results were worth it.
So, it took 17 months because I can get kind of lazy. I also had a pregnancy (where I didn’t work on it at all) and baby over that time.
I thought I had more pics of the clear glass tiles and the paint chips before they were glued together, but apparently I’ve sniffed so much glue I don’t know what I’m talking about cuz they are nowhere to be found.
Oh- after it was all done I grouted it. With grout. Unsanded. And I had to push the grout up into the spaces with my fingers cuz the spaces were so unbalanced with the the beveled edges, and also I didnt wanna scratch the mirrors with a tool pushing too hard.
Also- the mirrors areall handcut and no two were identically sized, so the grout lines are all unbalanced. I like that because it adds character and meant I only had to keep my tile lines parallel and straight- not perfectly perfect.
Synopsis:
Total time: 17 months, start to finish
Total cost: Mirror tiles- about $175
Glass tiles- about $110
Glass cutting tools- about $40
extra to cut mirrors professionally – about $250
grout, adhesives & glues- about $40
mirrored outlet covers- $10 / pc x 3 = $30
TOTAL: about $645.00 Certainly not the cheapest option available…. but no one else will have anything like it, and that’s, to me, priceless.
Muchness pic of the day
I wore this to a family event tonight. Most people wore jeans.
Pretty, Pretty Dresser
I got this for free. My uncle had it in storage. I saw it and said “That’s pretty.” He said “Take it”. I did. It sat in the basement till I had a baby and therefore, enough time to refinish it. Then it took me an additional 3 more months to put in the mirrors. The last, easiest step always takes the longest…
What do you think?
Dresser Detail Before
Dresser before, top hutch
Dresser before-bottom
After!
After Door Detail
The mirrors add the Muchness!
10 Simple ways to tap into your Muchness!! – Add your own!!
So many little things we can do to brighten up the world we live in and bring little Muchness Moments into the every day. Here are a few- Ill bet you can do all 10 things in 24 hours and make your tomorrow MUCH MUCHIER!
- Replace that pen. You know the one. It rolls around in the bottom of your purse. The one with the insurance company name on it. Just go out and get a cute pen. Seriously. Every time you reach for it you’ll think “ooooh! I forgot how cute my pen is!”
- Wear a pair of colorful tights. What? Too Much? OK. Build up to it! Start with colorful sock inside boots. You’ll forget they’re there and then when you pull off your boots at the end of the day, POW! A surprise burst of color to make you smile!
- Do your nails. But wait. Don’t do them in them in the safe, soft, neutral color you think you should! Instead, do them in the gorgeous, bold, color that made you go “OH! Now That’s a beautiful color!”
- Call and old friend. Someone you haven’t spoken to in a while. The one you’ve been thinking about calling but haven’t found the time. Find the time.
- Replace the buttons on an old sweater or coat with something Muchy, colorful or unexpected. You’ll forget you did it and get a rush every time you reach for the garment and remember how you brought it back to life. Too much? Replace the little inside fly button on your favorite black trousers with a kooky colored button. No one will see it but you and it’ll perk up your bathroom breaks!
- Crank up the car radio next time a song comes on that makes you wanna sing! Bounce your shoulder! Make up lyrics! Invent drum noises and pretend you’re a rock star!! What? You’re worried the lady in the Honda Odyssey next to you is gonna think you’re nuts? WHO CARES?!? Cranky McCrankster’s just jealous of your Muchness! Wear it Loud! Wear it proud!
- Get totally glammed up and go on a dinner date. To the local diner. Everyone will assume you are just coming from or on your way to someplace totally fabulous! (And you’ll get to wear that cocktail dress that’s been hanging in your closet since 2007, begging for a night on the town!)
- Cover your important papers with happy face stickers. Like your bills. Someone, somewhere is gonna receive that mortgage payment and see your happy face sticker and it’ll make them smile. because opening other peoples bills all day is probably not that persons dream job either.
Uh Oh! I need two more but it’s my bed time!!! Please help me finish this list!!! How can anyone easily tap into a muchness moment on any random day?!?!?!
Dennel added these great ideas too!!!
LOVE your list! here’s a few ideas for you 🙂
pretty bras. They even have sequin bras at la senza right now. You can feel sexy even if you’re dressed totally normal.
super colorful eyeshadow. takes like 10 seconds.
sexy lingerie. I had to take care of a freind post surgery for a few days. had a hard time finding appropriate sleepwear becasue all I have is sexy lingerie 😉
muchness band on your rearview mirror-reminds you to smile when you’re stuck in traffic.
air fresheners. hard to be sad when the room smells so delicious you wanna eat it up
dress up and dance with your kids. make it a very important event, send an invitation even. don’t answer the phone or touch your electronic devices, be completely plugged in to having fun with your kids.
heels. i have yet to accomplish skinny heels, but I think for this summer, it will be my goal. I would love to have that strutt.
baking…I make llike 6 dozen buns or cookies at a time…..but wait…then send your kids to each of the neighbours with a bag full. spreads muchness and teaches your kids to take care of others and neighbours will love you. 🙂
Ideas for Muchness Challenge themes
Not sure what to ick as a theme for your Challenge?
Thanks to Shannon for creating this Muchtastc list of ideas— they are just the tip of the iceberg! More ideas to follow!
-Go Seasonal! If it’s winter, think of creative ways you can push yourself to enjoy the weather!
(Buy a new hat, scarf, mittens, jacket , Build a snowfort or snowman ,Color snow with spray bottles and food coloring , Make Colorful ice rocks by filling water balloons up with water & food coloring, freezing them (outside would most likely freeze them!) and remove the balloon, Make a big batch of Hot Cocoa! Make homemade marshmallows for your hot cocoa or build a hot cocoa buffet with peppermint sticks, chocolate chips, cinnamon sticks, etc, Go Sledding! Go Polar Bearing :oD OH MY! (FYI that means jumping in a frozen cold lake in your swimsuit), Make a snow angel, Shovel your neighbor’s sidewalk,)
Take the opportunity to focus on your relationships! (Romantic or otherwise)
You can spend 30 days revamping your marriage or rebuilding bridges with people you no longer talk to or make it a goal to get out of the house and visit someone everyday!
Go visit your Grandma! Bring her a pie, take her out for lunch, play scrabble! Ask her about what it was like when she was younger! Patch up an old friendship, Visit someone you never seem to have time for, Host a family gathering for no reason (“Everyone come over for a sunday brunch at my house”) Tell someone you love them that may not know you do! Let the people who have always been there for you know that you appreciate them!
Love Lives…
Watch a romantic movie, Learn your hubby/wive’s favorite hobby, Watch a sunset or sunrise or look at the stars, Play a board game (we had a blast during my challenge when I did this) Play a video game together even, Make a candlelight dinner for your family (kids love this too) Give a massage! Make them a gift, Make a list of the reasons you love them, Write a poem, Buy them flowers (mostly for the wives!) Make their favorite food!
You could make your 30 Days about doing something with your kids!
Teach them something new (ride a bike, teach letters in a creative way) Play a game (board or video) Extra messy Crafts, Take them outside (park, play a sport, go for a walk…) Take everyone’s pillows and blankets and put them in the living room for a movie night! Throw in some colored popcorn or weird flavor’ed popcorn… cinnamon or italian seasoned or popcorn balls! Or regular popcorn lol or try popping it without your microwave! Play dress up with them, Play a blindfold game with them : Guess the mystery food! Take them somewhere fun like Chuck E Cheese, Monkey Joes (bouncy slides and moon bounce type places), Laser Tag, Put on your fanciest clothes and have a living room dance party!
Muchify the things you already own- Get creative and crafty!
Painting, Sewing, Learn Knitting or Crocheting, Start Scrapbooking, Jewelry Making, Kids Crafts (homemade play dough, clay, crayons, paints, etc etc) Glitterfy things (OH YeAH! Thats what im talking about), Add sequins to things, Drawing (Carry crayons and a little notepad and doodle something daily), Make a decorated frame, woodwork, revamping old furniture (find something at Goodwill and see if you can make it look muchtastic!)