Liz Mathews: September 2014

7:59 AM | | Edit Post

Joe and I started our Honeymoon in the fabulous city of San Francisco. We spent three days exploring, and these are just a few of the highlights!

We absolutely loved San Francisco- every single thing about it! I know we'll visit again sometime because we feel that we only got a very small glimpse of the city.

SF has made it's way into the "if we ever drop everything and move to a new place" list. Actually, it's probably one of the top 5 cities!

Throughout our entire honeymoon we made efforts to get away from the tourist traps, and we found that's when we really enjoyed ourselves. San Francisco was no exception- picking up dinner and a bottle of champs from Whole Foods, or a pizza from Goat Hill made for the best nights in. We explored the Mission; popping into little boutiques and a few bars. We hit one (so-so) antique shop, and strolled around the city hand in hand. It was amazing!

We booked our Bed and Breakfast through AirBnB. We chose this A M A Z I N G private garden cabana in Potrero Hill. The cabana opened up into this sanctuary/oasis/garden where we ended every night with beers/wine on the patio.

We spent time exploring the old victorians in quiet neighborhoods.

Hazel's Kitchen in Potrero Hill. I wish we'd discovered this place sooner and eatten more meals here. If you're even in SF. Seek this place out- you won't be disappointed.

Our private garden cabana.

We took the night tour of Alcatraz, which ended up being so much cooler than I expected. We'd highly recommend it. I think it's one of Joe's top 10 honeymoon stops.

Mercury Glass Window Pane Mirror

8:36 PM | | Edit Post

I spent a large part of the weekend working on a few lingering home decor projects I've been excited to tackle. It felt great to get to this one in particular; a new mercury glass mirror for the top of the stairs.

I'd found the window pane last weekend on a buying trip with my mom in Pennsylvania. And while I had planned to buy a pane at the beginning of the day (they are plentiful in our area!), as soon as I saw this pane, with extra long sections, I knew this was the piece for my project.

Since I've had so much practice with "mercury-glassing" from our wedding, this was a fairly easy project to complete. The most time consuming part- applying all the painters tape and waiting for the varnish sealant to dry overnight.

Budget Breakdown:

Window Pane: $12

Can of "looking Glass" spray paint: $8

Painters tape, hanging supplies, vanish: on hand

Not too bad!

As the holidays get closer I look forward to hanging garland at the top of the mirror!

A few progress shots:

There are plenty of tutorial on Pinterest explaining how to make your own mercury glass. It's really easy and provides instant gratification. Don't be afraid and give it a try!