Fireplace Screen Project

I am a vintage gal. Both in age and decorating style. Throw in architectural salvage and I am super happy. I love to remake something old into something new again.

Here in Seattle we have some nice salvage building supply stores. I own all sorts of antique salvage. Our beach house kitchen was remade with salvage supplies. We have an old physics cabinet from a school that was remodeled. Our open shelving is wood that is for stair treads and the bead board that we used for the walls, is actually flooring turned around. We have gotten a lot of compliments and one or two job offers for us to redo their kitchens.

So I am always on the look out for cheap (or even better free) building materials. During the summer I bought a bunch of old shutters. It was $15.00 for the lot of them, which was about 8 or 9 shutters. The first group was used for a mini gate to keep the dog from heading down from the top deck to the bottom deck where the pool is. While he loves the water, he can't swim worth a lick, and would drown. And moron that he is, never remembers this simple fact. Hence, we have had to save him a number of times. Not anymore, since the lovely shutter gate.

The extra ones just hung out in the garage until this week when I decided I needed a new fireplace screen. The old one, while fine for the intended purpose, was unattractive and not a cute vintage one. So I hauled them out and remade four of the remaining 5 into a screen.

While this was a time consuming project, it was simple to do. First I removed all the hardware then I sanded and painted the shutters white, since they were a horrible brown color. I measured a slat and made a template for the size of paper I would need to cover each slat. I went to Michael's and bought a floral paper and a music note paper. This was on sale, at .29 per sheet. It is best to use a pattern paper that is an all over pattern as opposed to a stripe or something that you will have to make sure is lined up.

Then watching Tivo, I cut the paper out. It was a good use of Tivo and I didn't have to feel guilty about the television watching time, since I was accomplishing something. Win, win!

I used decoupage medium but you can use a watered down white glue. Then I just glued away. I did both sides of the slats, because I am anal that way but you can only do the one side that you will see. I also lined up what little pattern I had, again the word anal would be used here, and you certainly do not have to do this. You will need to keep opening and closing the shutters to make sure you do not glue them closed. Even if you do (and I can speak from experience in this area) you just wiggle them and they will open.

I spray painted the hardware chrome because I cannot stand brass but you can either buy new hardware or just use the old hardware. Then I assembled it back as a shutter set and placed it in front of the fireplace. Which by the way, is horribly unattractive. But as I don't plan to reside in this house much longer, see no reason to replace it.

When the fire is going, I can either open the shutters so I can view the fire or just remove it to the side.

With the exception of a can of spray primer and the paper, everything used in this project I already owned.

So there you have a winter time project.

Need a Napkin?

Our unusual collectible today is:

Napkin Dolls

I know, in the old days they thought of everything. No roll of paper towels for these folks, nope a beautiful women whose skirt is made of napkins was the only thing that would do.

I own quite a few. They used to be fairly inexpensive and so I just picked them up when I found them. It wasn't just ladies, I have an umbrella one, a rooster one. They were ceramic or wood. But they all shared the same love of napkins.

The green lady holds napkins and is also a bell. I have no idea how that would work but obviously was a necessity at one time. Seriously, when you ring it, if you are not the one holding it, you will not hear it. Plus, she seems extremely peeved about something.

The pink set, is my favorite. First off, they are all decorated by the most garish rhinestones to be found. The two little girls, are salt and pepper shakers. But in a quest to be multi-functioning, the big lady actually holds napkins, the salt and pepper shakers, her head holds a candle, and her flat plate holds toothpicks for lovely appetizers. In the photo, the plate looks chipped but it is just camera glare. Ansel Adams I am not.
Amazing! Every night I rip off a paper towel and hope the kid actually uses it. I can't even imagine setting up one of these displays. You need to fold the napkin just so in order for it to slide into its slot. On the wood ones, you need to pull back this little rubber band. And in 9 cases out of 10, you accidentally release little rubber band before napkin is in place and it snaps the crap out of your finger. Jolly good time. It holds 15 napkins, which means 5 fingers are going to be in extra pain. So not worth it.

You can still find these around. The ones with the salt and pepper shakers are a little more difficult to find intact, as the shakers break pretty easily. They come in many colors and shapes, but I've yet to see a man napkin ring holder. I guess it wasn't in their job description.

They are pretty and a reminder of a different time. So I suggest you run, not walk, but run and find yourself a little napkin helper.

Be Kind

To Thine Own Self
Be Kind

I saw these words yesterday and they really hit home for me. In my day to day life, I tend to be harsher with myself than with anyone else.

Like most women, I want it all. To be a good mom, to be in shape, to be kind and thoughtful, to be intelligent, to remain on top of stuff, to be a good person. Every day I fall a little short in one area or another.

Last week was a very bad week for me. I have no idea why. Things seemed impossible. I couldn't find peace no matter how hard I searched. I had to have a bunch of tests run and waiting for the results were nerve-wracking, to say the least. My son was having some medical problems as well and I felt that it was too much. I couldn't handle it, at all.

In the last few months, I have had to reach out to all sorts of people. I needed support and help. I was met with kind, compassionate people. People I could call whenever I needed a helping hand. My sister alone has spent more hours on the phone with me than any sister should have too. My friends have delayed their own family life to help with mine.

I didn't feel that I should ask again. So I tried to handle it on my own. I failed. But now I recognize the times I need more support. So I reached out again, and again I was met with kindness and warmth and help. Someone walked with me through a very hard week and everything turned out well.

But I judged myself critically and harshly. I refused to let myself off of the hook for being unable to handle the situations. My mind went over and over my failures, and there were many. I just kept listing them, again and again.

The thing with big life altering changes, is the fact that you have to continue to change. Day after day after day. The changes get easier because you build confidence in your own abilities to handle what is thrown at you. But some days you have to do the change all over again. The same one you already did and you are tired of that change. Tired that every day is yet another thing you need to do.

It was easier this time. Easier to recognize I needed help. Easier to recognize that I am doing a great job. Easier to recognize that I have a lot to handle. Easier to recognize that the last three months have proven I am a strong and capable woman. Easier to recognize the good in myself.

So, while I will let the world judge me, I will not. I will treat myself with kindness, compassion, and love.

And I hope you will judge yourself the same way.

Lovin' that Latte

Starbucks is my coffee house of choice. I love coffee! Could happily drink it all day, I don't because it hard to get anything done if you can't peel yourself from the ceiling. But I love it.

I visit Starbucks once a day. Every day. On my day of pain (Wednesday) twice a day. It is a reward for facing the day of pain. I only face it, I don't make the best of it. And I let everyone around me know it is a day of pain and it is only with the crutch of two lattes, that I do as much as I do on this day. I am humble that way.

One Venti Non-fat Double Cup latte. Every day. It even looks beautiful in type.

For a while, I made them at home in an effort to conserve money. After plunking down a boatload of cash for a lovely espresso maker, which I justified by remembering how much I would be saving. Down the road, of course, since I was already in the hole with the purchase of the machine. Add in coffee. Add in the little metal pitcher to steam the milk. Add in the lovely cup that said "Latte" on the side. This was some serious hole.

The best laid plans and all that. It took friggin' forever to learn how to work the machine. Plus, the machine got hot, very hot, Africa hot, and I spent a lot of time getting bandaged for burns. Steam burns, hot milk burns, hot water burns, I invested in cartoon band-aids to brighten up my hands. I had the whole line up of Cartoon Network on one hand alone.

Then factor in the dish washing time, the readying of the machine time, the cleaning of the machine afterward time, the grinding of the coffee beans time, medical time, cursing time, it was like, forever, to get a coffee. So not worth it.

Moved machine to the garage and trotted back to Starbucks.

This is one of the best things about getting old. The ability to recognize your limitations. Starbucks makes great coffee and I do not. Starbucks wants me to drink great coffee and I want to. It is a true marriage. One of love and respect. Born out of the love for coffee.

And the love of not having second degree burns every day. Sweet!

Let's go Parking!

I suck at Parking.

Pull in parking, parallel parking and my most hated of all, back in at a angle parking.

The pull in parking is the only one I have a chance in hell of achieving victory with. Even then it needs to be the just right spot. Neither of the other automobiles shall be touching or really even near the white line. No giant monster truck shall be by me or behind me, in fact, get off of my floor altogether. I will not park next to any vehicle where major parts are held on by duct tape. Or any bumper sticker that starts with "My (insert dog breed of your choice here) is smarter than your honor student." Especially if said bumper sticker is half way pulled off. Did you get a different breed? Did you find out that honor students are actual people and you have a dog, oh it may be brilliant, but it is still a dog.

The best spots are the ones where no cars are on either side of me. That is like winning the lottery for me. I can open my doors all the way and actually vacate my vehicle normally, as opposed to the open door 4 milliliters, curse your hips, try to squeeze hips the size of watermelons out the opening the size of a lemon, curse your hips, louder, shimmy, shimmy, and finally emerge victories! Only to discover, you have left your purse on the back seat and must now do it all over again. Curse your hips and your lack of brain remembering power.

But at least the car is in a spot.

Parallel parking, not going to happen in my life, EVER. I didn't pass it almost 30 years ago on the driver's test and time has not been a friend in this instance. I have good intentions, I line up my car with the one ahead of the parking spot and then all hell breaks loose. I turn too wide, I turn too sharp, I drive up on the curb, I run into the curb with my car at a lovely 45 degree angle. By now I have traffic backed up for a good mile and I am pretty sure all that long distance honking, is for my benefit. I have had people knock on my window, and actually offer to park my car for me. My kid begs me to just let it go, admit defeat and drive on but I consider it to be a challenge. Daunting, sure. Unachievable, never. And yet, I have never once achieved it. Not even close. I continue to try and I continue to fail. Today, another attempt and another horrifying failure, only I almost got taken out by a fish delivery truck. Who, by the way, parallel parked his ENTIRE TRUCK, just to be a giant show off.

I may be admitting defeat.

On back in angle parking, I admit defeat. If driving forward is a challenge for me, driving backwards and at a angle, is a suicide mission. I can't remember which way you turn the wheel to go left, which way you turn to go right, and with all the screaming from the kid, I simply cannot focus. Therefore, in Seattle, whole neighborhoods have gone undiscovered, due to the horrible angle parking situation. I take a look around, judge the parking and then head home.

It is good to realize one's limitations. Awsome person. Sucky parker. Fine, I'll take it.

I am a thief

Monday morning:

Kid up and fed and out the door. Anyone with kids, knows this is no easy feat. Some mornings dynamite couldn't get that kid out the door on time. Everything is misplaced, lost, or stolen. Cell phone is dead. Keys have gone mysteriously missing. Wallet has been stolen. Shoes have left the closet on their own volition. 27 coats have migrated somewhere, not on the hanger obviously. The list is endless but it contains one common thread, IT IS NOT HIS FAULT!.

For a while I played the game, "whose fault might it be?", I would ask in a calm manner. Even at the most, there was only three people who resided in the home. Add in some pets, and you had 1 dog, 2 cats, the hated birds, and salt water fish. Now we have two people. And if he didn't do it, well, that left just me.

Yep, just me.

And from the looks of it, I have a serious stealing problem.

Good news on the theft front, I don't steal from actual stores. Oh no, I contain my thievery to my OWN HOME. More good news, I don't steal my own things. Just his.

And I am unaware that I do this.

Today alone, I took, his shoes from the closet, his car keys from the key rack, and his cell phone that was left RIGHT HERE.

I do this just to annoy him. I moved the shoes from the closet to one under his bed and the other in his bathroom. I moved the car keys to his pants pocket. And truly evil kleptomaniac that I am, moved the cell phone to his book bag.

I am just funny that way. Obviously I get my joy in the oddest way possible.

This is an ongoing battle.

Most of the time it starts with some serious running all around the home looking for something. Really not much looking is going on, it is just running back and forth by which ever room I am in, until I finally, out of concern for my floors, ask "Are you looking for something?" At which case one of two things happen. One, the item just happens to fall from the sky and land on him, in which case crisis adverted. Two, a voice that can be heard by the entire neighborhood, announces that IT IS JUST GONE! JUST GONE! IT WAS RIGHT HERE! AND NOW IT HAS JUST DISAPPEARED! DID YOU TAKE IT?

I always have this moment where I just hope the floor will reach up and swallow me, because no matter what I say next, it will be wrong. Not slightly wrong but horribly and stupidly the wrongest thing you could say in a moment like this.

I can say anything and it will be met with utter anger. So I go with, "Let me help you find said item." I then get up and am followed by a seething giant, while I look and he follows behind me with his mantra. "WHY WOULD IT BE THERE? I JUST LOOKED THERE? YOU TOOK IT DIDN'T YOU? THE DOG CHEWED IT UP. YOU THREW IT AWAY, ON PURPOSE. YOU MOVED IT FROM THE COUCH BECAUSE YOU ALWAYS INSIST THAT WE USE THE COUCH FOR ACTUALLY SITTING ON."

A joy, I tell you, just pure joy. And this happens about 30 times a day. Sometimes with less involvement on my part, because I have locked myself in my bedroom and refuse to help.

Oh, said item is always found. Just where he left it. Not me, him.

It is a major catastrophe for him to lose anything. I could lose my entire person and you would be hard pressed to get him to look. I lose anything in this house the same sentence is used. A sentence that if I used would probably cause him to fall to the ground in disbelief and total horror.

"Why can't you put your stuff where it belongs?"

Read me, you'll be happy you did!

Today our book is:

Still Life with Chickens (starting over in a house by the sea)
by: Catherine Goldhammer

I first read this book about a year ago. When I picked it up in a little bookstore in Cannon Beach, Oregon, I was looking for something light. Something to read that night in a hot bubble bath in a house by the sea.

It never made it to the hot bath time. I devoured it that afternoon sitting on the couch.

Catherine Goldhammer finds herself newly separated and at a cross roads in her life. Forced to move, she moves into a dilapidated cottage by the sea. Where the only thing separating her from the ocean is a large salt water pond.

Her and her twelve year old daughter embark on a new life. She begins the transition by purchasing six baby chickens.

While the book is about starting over, it is so much more. It is about finding grace and hope in the most unusual of places. That what is around us, while important, is nothing compared to what is inside of us. Her humor comes shining through in the tale.

I read this when I thought I had it all. When I thought I had played the game and won. Little did I know what was around the corner. Now I have read it again. And it is just as fabulous the second time as it was the first.

This is what I plan to do. Leave this life and head to the calming, rejuvenating ocean waves. A different life, a healing life. My life. Finally.

Even if you are not at a crossroads in your life, this is an excellent read. Catherine writes with such style that you are engrossed right from the get go.

After I finished it, my son read it. And loved it! which is saying something, as we couldn't agree on a book if we tried. To this day it is one of his favorite books, as it is mine.

Plus, you will end up knowing a lot about chickens. Which you can then use to wow your friends. Always fun.