Painting Frame

J's sister painted us a photo a few years back. I love the painting, but she didn't paint the edge of the canvas. 

It's kind of funny how certain things don't really bother me but then I just can't stand it any more. Like J's brother and his wife who are temporarily living with us. The first 50 times I came home to dishes in the sink, not so bad. But now, I'm busting out with the crazy eyes.

So I decided the best course of action would be to make a frame for my painting and also to make some passive aggressive snarky comments. I'm a woman of action. 

I think J's brother is 40% scared of me. I get some inner satisfaction from that.

I don't have a miter saw, so for a few bucks I got a miter box and a hand saw.

It wasn't too bad, but it wasn't too fun either.

Then I was trying to figure out what stain would work. It was more difficult than I thought. The grey and brown I already had didn't match. 

We decided on an ebony stain, and I wanted a rustic feel, so I dinged up the boards really well and then did a light/uneven coat.

It did not look great. So I did a second, darker coat.

I didn't get a photo, but once I was done cutting, the edges didn't fit together properly. It was really frustrating. I thought this was going to be a simple project but it was so not. So I was able to reuse the bigger boards by cutting off the pointed edges (I used the table saw and it was so satisfying) and just cut the two side boards longer.

Also I stained the boards but rubbing them with a cloth and totally rubbed right over a large splinter into my thumb. I had sanded the boards, but dinging them up brought out some splinters. This project was not my favorite.

Did I mention that when I was picking out the boards, they were on a shelf, and as I was shifting through trying to find straight boards, one jumped right off the shelf and bloodied my toe? I put that on snapchat and then my oldest nephew admonished me, and said next time he needed a warning before I posted graphic images. Es-cah-use me I thought I was capturing a moment in my dramatic life. 

The darker stain looks a lot better.

I told J the nice thing about "rustic" is that you can pretend mistakes were intentional.

In keeping with the theme of this project, shortly after this photo it fell off the wall because the wire hanger on the back became un-twirled.

I'm glad it's done. I think it looks nice. It had better freaking look nice. Also, admire my small dog. She always has to be in the middle of everything. Don't let her adorableness fool you; she thinks she's a guard dog.

And because I am certain I can do better next time (or I am just crazy) I'll be attempting this again to frame my mirror.

If those Pinterest ladies can do it, I frickity fracking can too. 

Vegas

My old best friend Keeley was planning a trip to Vegas because her Dad and step-Mom were going to have a vow renewal ceremony to celebrate their 25 year wedding anniversary. She lives in NC so she could have just flown into Vegas. But she asked if I would be interested in a Vegas trip if she flew into Phoenix. It's only a four and a half hour drive, and Keeley is a delight, so my response was heck yes.

On the drive there a ram decided to cross the road.

Keeley is expecting and she has the cutest little bump.

It was an awesome trip. Keeley is a wonderful travel buddy, very considerate. And we have both been wanting to see the Blue Man Group for years!! So not only did we get to spend time catching up, but we got to cross something off both of our bucket lists.

Danielle's Wedding

My little sister Danielle has been engaged to Andrew since last December. She beat cancer and had a rough year. They decided this month was the month.

Jett didn't stay there for long.

"Mom, I know you're getting married but I really need you to hold my cars."

Joseph is missing from the group shot because someone had to take the photo. Next time I say we should bring the tripod you listen to me J!

The following evening the reception was a fabulous dinner celebration at Macayo's.

The decorations were adorable. I didn't get any shots of those because my camera was too busy taking photos of people. But it was really a nice reception and everyone had fun.

Kristi's Armoire

My sister Kristi got this armoire for free. The back was damaged (they had a TV in there), it was painted white, and the paint job was cracked. It needed a little work. Because I knew we would need to take off the back and re-attach it, we loaded it into my truck and brought it to my house. I didn't want to try to load up tools and go to Kristi's house just to realize I was missing something.

The before:

We took the top board off. Kristi thought the bottom part was salvageable.

Joseph was a wonderful help and did part of the cutting.

But once the painting started he scrammed.

Before we painted, we bought calk for all the little areas where the previous paint had cracked. When I got my kitchen cabinets painted, the inside where two pieces of wood meets was all calked and I know why now.

The hinges were loose because the holes were too big, and the doors were dragging a bit. So we used toothpicks and wood glue to fill the holes.

We spray painted the hardware black, using spray paint I already had.

When we went to Lowe's to get the backboard, Kristi got the idea of using pegboard. She is planning to hang knobs or something, and then she can hang jewelry back there. Plus it was $10 for the board, cheaper than regular backing.

At this point it went back to Kristi's house, where she continued painting by herself. After a couple weeks, it was ready for the hinges to be re-drilled and attached. J was super helpful with this part, and it looks fabulous.

At first we were pretty excited that this was a $15 project for the backboard, calk, and inside catch (to keep the doors closed). My Mom had given Kristi her chalk paint. But Kristi had to buy extra paint and wax, so it drove it up to about $70. Overall, I think we both thought it was a pretty good deal.