Kids' art collage

It was time for me to create something out of the kids' school art that I could never bear to part with.  You can only store this stuff for so long.  Eventually it will crumble, decay, smell funky. My "kids" are now 36, 35, 31, and 27.  But I still love this art so much!  I gathered all the pieces that I could bear to cut and glue and purchased a 30x40 canvas at Michael's for about $40.

Then I made this:

I love everything about this project.  It makes me feel joyful to look at how detailed and colorful they created art.  That they loved hearts, rainbows, helicopters, snakes, birds, dogs, and patterns.  Happy kids make happy art!

I laid the large background pieces out on the canvas about where I thought they should go, then took a photo of it.  I tried to make sure I had a least one of everyone's handprint and written name.  I decided to leave a small border around the edges of the canvas by painting the edges in some leftover wall paint.

This will also go nicely on the wall I am hanging it on - the guest bedroom.

After I spread some archival Mod Podge on the canvas and backs of the pieces, I carefully placed them by referencing the photo I took.  Then I used a rubber brayer to smooth them out.  Then I just started layering smaller pieces of art.  Admittedly, there are still some wrinkled places - but authentic art is organic like that, no?  I gave it several coats of clear acrylic spray when it was all dry.

I fished around in my stash and found two picture hangers to affix to the back corners, used my tape trick, and hung it up.

Looking at it soothes my grieving mama heart.

Its visual proof that my children knew they were loved and felt safe and happy.  Which is everything I have ever wanted for them, or myself for that matter.

Gina

Little project - dining room window

Last week wasn't great, but as long as I kept movin', I felt better*. So, I re-did that window cling in the dining room.

You can see to the left the patterned clear cling.  It let way too much light in, and I had a difficult time getting the outside of the window fully cleaned, so you can see that through the cling, too.  It was a no-go.

It took me maybe an hour to remove the textured cling and replace with a green colorway of the same magnolia print I had on there for years. The process is not complicated, just a little time-consuming, and for odd-shaped windows a bit of pattern matching.

I wasn't aiming for perfect - a done something is always better than a perfect nothing. (This is a big shift for me.) And its so hard to get a good picture of it - especially when cloudy outside.  But its done now, and I can cross it off my list.  A friend suggested I take a break from these projects, and I'm thinking it will be good to put a few of them off until the New Year.

Happy November!

Gina

*thank you for your kind words on my last post!

Spooky post for a spooky week...

 Goodness, this week.

I'm going to dive right in.  On Monday, my sister called me at work right as I stepped away from my desk.  I got about halfway through her voicemail and had to step away again.  Our brother had been "found down" after maybe a couple of days - we don't really know an exact time of death.

He was 62.  

Kurt

My brother and I were not close, to say the least.  There were no big fireworks, just a disconnect that expanded as the years went by.  Even so, it hit me hard.  And maybe in part because of how hard it hit my sister.  Our little group is down to two now. Notifying our half-siblings was not fun.

Kurt

I told her I would help spread the word to extended family, and lo and behold, discovered that my youngest half-brother, Marlin,  had died in his sleep on Tuesday. The day after Kurt was found. He was 53.

Marlin

That's a very unsettling coincidence. What are the odds that you would lose two brothers to natural causes, states apart, within a day or two of each other? And since he was the true baby of all of my siblings, full and otherwise, it felt weird.  None of us are really close, but still...

Marlin

This week has kind of thrown me for a loop!

However, other things did happen:

*I shopped for groceries, cooked at home, cleaned my carpets and did some chores and putseying

*I had lunch with Scout, who is turning 31 on Halloween

*I paid my car tags and ran some errands

*I started a collage project using my kids' school art

And life goes on, spooky or not. 

Gina

Everything must go

 Someone asked me about Mark and I cleaning the garage in the past. I feel like I have done so much complaining about the garage. Its not really a family blog friendly story but in a nutshell:

When we moved into this house in 1997 it had more than enough room for everything our growing family needed.  Fast forward a few months, and Mark's mother died, leaving a house full of furniture and etc.  You guessed it - a lot of the furniture and etc*. came to live at our house.

including this cedar chest

  I remember feeling horrified when that U-Haul pulled up and was unloaded into my garage.  Instantly all extra space in the house and garage was gone, and we were right back where we started.  As the years went by, Mark slowly added even more things - but he never got rid of anything. He started storing things into the attic as well: bike tires, an extra headboard, old appliances, extra shelving, broken ceiling fans, old light fixtures, bags of stryo peanuts, empty boxes, bank statements from the 80s, a Christmas tree. I spent hours trying to organize the garage, sweeping it, making space for the kid's toys and bikes, not to mention Boy Scout camping equipment, tools, household files, carpet/vinyl/laminate/tiles that could not be tossed.  It was a nightmare for me because he both refused to deal/help with it, then got mad when I did. Forget about parking in there. One of the worst arguments we had ended with me shouting at him that when he died, I was going to shove it all out to the curb.

And friend, that's pretty much what I did.

Plus, I emptied the attic.

As of this writing, the cedar chest is still sitting out in my driveway, waiting for it's new owner or the City of Austin bulk recycling to come get it.  Because it is NOT going back into my garage.  So just know, that when I talk about the garage, it is a hot button topic.  Probably will be, for some time to come.

I can't promise I won't mention it again.

Gina

*the etc. included nightgowns and house shoes, costume jewelry, more tools in more tool boxes, saltwater fishing poles, all the vintage camera equipment, vintage LPs, tablecloths and napkins, old address books, vintage and crumbling boxed games, a giant steel cabinet, three misc. metal work tables, framed photos, two floor lamps, a silver tea service, two sets of china, silver flatware, crystal and barware, vases and knick knacks, kitchen items, inoperable vintage appliances, suit cases, extra Christmas tree stands, Tupperware, linens, a mink coat, and much more. In short, it ALL should have stayed in Galveston.

5 thing Friday - worn out, storage, red rocks, project fail, reading

What. a. week.

I feel tired, and I don't even think I did that much*.

I was so worn out from the weekend, that I did a lot of couch laying on Monday.  Ordered a BIG meal from Chuy's that I stretched for two dinners and a lunch. Slept late, went to bed early - I swear I thought I was coming down with something. Yeah - The Old. 

I picked up two more brackets from Home Depot and expanded this wall of shelving in the garage.  The bins were too fat to sit on the skinny shelves, which is OK.  It looks balanced now and there are empty spaces and I freaking love it.

When I talk about the "red rocks" area, its this part of the yard.  The previous owner couldn't get grass to grow here, so he put lava rocks. Its kind of a pain to keep it looking clean.  You have to pull the sprigs of oak every so often, and blow out the area of leaves and debris.

I think to myself, how will I do this when I am 90? I feel like I am always out here, cleaning it up.  And yet, I love the way it functions and looks.  Cool and shady. Nothing to mow.

oh look - the red rocks area

Project Fail: I got the old window cling down, the window cleaned. new vinyl cling placed.

It does an OK job of adding privacy, however...

we'll call this The Interrogation Dining Room

It is bright as hell in this room and I kind of hate it.

Back to the drawing board.  I ordered a different colorway of the vinyl that was previously up there - a green version of the Magnolia print:

Hopefully it will last as long as the last one did!

Sometimes my projects don't quite work out like I assume they will. This project will have to wait a bit, since I have jury duty next week.  Blerg.

Yesterday I went for a pedi in beautiful downtown Bertram, pop. 2,037. Afterwards, I went around the corner to the library thrift shop and found a new book for 25 cents.  After this, I will read Tom Lake by Anna Patchett for book club.  Got any suggestions for me for things to read? I was not really into Theo of Golden, and I read Life: A Love Story by Elizabeth Berg that was meh.

I did in fact, love the pedicure, done by a different lady this time who was very meticulous.  And I did enjoy picking up my wine club wines and drinking a glass of Tempranillo out on the patio. Today I am getting Brigid's oil changed, and putseying around the house.

How was your week?

Gina

*which is false after I looked at my calendar and saw everything else I did

Coffin of memories

OOoh - sorry for the creepy title! 

Part of what I do when I sit out in the garage is look around at all I have accomplished and remind myself that I am hardworking, courageous, smart.  I like to think that takes some of the sting out of the resentment.

I will never tired of all this empty space

I was sitting here last week and mid-rant thought "what if I move that cedar chest and add another shelf?"  I knew there was at least one extra long shelf in the attic. Easy peasey.  I emptied the cedar chest, purged and organized its contents, and stored them in that big storage box I bought to live inside the guest closet.  Then I hauled the chest out into the open.  At one point, I thought I would repair and paint it.

heavy, damaged, and stinky

All afternoon, I had a sad, gloomy feeling.  But when I went to bed I firmly banished the ghosts by stating: "This is my house.  I am in charge of all of these things. I will not create a situation of overwhelm for my children. None of us will drown in possessions or someone else's memories.  We all deserve to love and remember without the added burden of what to do with Mark's 3rd grade artwork and photos of Marie's second husband's grave.  Plus, I am doing the best I can to care for my home and it's contents." *

clean and neat, 'twill be sweet

This garage serves my purposes. I can park my car here. I can easily access all of my Christmas decor and etc. It will be clean and neat - not smell like mothballs and decay.  The cedar chest, a coffin of old memories, can go to someone who is willing to put the work into restoring and using it.  That person will not be me. Adding another shelf will be a quickie task this week!

Gina

*why do people take photos of freshly filled gravesites heaped with flowers, and then save them for photo albums?  Its chilling. My opinion.

5 thing Friday - arthritis, vinyl window film, storage bin, new jeans, Thanksgiving sammie

Maybe its been all the projects I have been doing, maybe its just old age, but the base of my thumb has been back to aching.  Weird, since it isn't even my dominant hand.

I probably need to go back to using Voltaren, but in a pinch the Tiger Balm and a brace help me at bedtime.  Lately it seems a lot of old injuries are coming back to life: elbow tenonitis, my janky knee, and the ever-present arthropathy in my shoulder. I refuse to let this slow me down.

I bought the vinyl film to re-do the dining room window and the front transom window.  I will probably get to that next week.  I had a 20% off coupon at Lowe's that was about to expire, though there is no actual rush on the project itself. I would like for the year to wind down, project-wise, but this will be an easy fix-it.

I also used that coupon on a heavy duty storage bin for the contents of the cedar chest which will GO.  That has been on my list of things to purge since I repainted the garage. The chest itself is heavy, damaged, smelly, and needs to be painted, plus there is no way I can move it around willy-nilly.  I figure I will list it on Facebook Marketplace.

I bought one and only one pair of jeans for fall/winter.  But I also found this pretty rose color tee shirt on the clearance rack at Kohl's.  $22 total for both as I had a 40% off coupon.  I don't think I really need many cold weather things this year, I have plenty. A tee shirt, jeans, and a pair of clogs can take me many places.

I wanted one of the Firehouse Subs Thank You sandwiches, then remembered, I can make that! 

My goodness it hit the spot for lunch yesterday and I have leftovers for a few more.  YUM, what a good problem to have.  And guess what? Someone volunteered to work Thanksgiving holiday for me so I will get that whole week (5 days) off!

Gina