quick update: if you haven’t joined our first ever true colors linky partay yet, be sure to do so before tomorrow at lunch time! I can’t wait to finish perusing all these great blogs! Sharing some of my very faves on Friday!
Confession: Lately, my life has felt a lot like this.
In fact, it hasn’t felt like this, so much as been this. You should see the rest of our house.
You see, the hubs, being the youth minister that he is, has been gone for what feels like an eternity. On and off. All summer long. Mixed with the delicate combination of I’ve been sick. On and off. All summer long… and I’ll spare you my whining session. I’m dealing because I’m not an ingrate. But let’s just say, he came back, and no one died.
Here he is, the prodigal husband. {Protecting the offspring from me, and my attempts to trade them off for new pieces in my home.} Yes, the Eminator DOES still have her pacie. Yes, I have been in survival mode. Thoughts to yourselves, please. Thoughts to yourselves. 😉
So, as soon as Jamin was back, {and mind you, I’ve selfishly been dying to work on this living room} I was all, “Let’s get to it!” {read: I immediately emotionally blackmailed him to see if he could help me do this little project I’d cooked up in my head, to go with the sofa redo of the century.} It was time for a mantel revamp. I’ve had the barn door up for a while, and I think I’m ready for something different…
Stop judging me. Because karma already did.
We all have our off days.
I had this little mirror that I thought would be incredible, as a big mirror. I just wanted to blow the whole thing up, and put it over the mantel. WIN! I thought to myself, triumphantly.
I had a passing thought as to the accuracy with which said smaller mirror was made. But it was just that. A passing thought. I thought if it worked in small world, it would work in large-and-in-charge-over-my-mantel-because-this-is-a-great-idea world, once I blew it up. I had this whole idea where I would place it on a projector, trace it, cut it out, paint it, and pop it up on the wall. It’s a sure win, right?
I even had this perfect three dollar mirror, I’d scored at a flea market that had been sitting in my Sanford and Son junk fiesta garage for a year that would go perfectly behind the middle hole we planned to cut. So I traced, and Jamin cut. But it came back all kinds of crooked.
I know you may find this hard to believe, but sometimes we argue. And I know you may find this really hard to believe, but sometimes we argue while doing projects. {Gasp.} Well, of course, when he was finished cutting, and I looked at it, and observed it’s inacurate-ness, we immediately launched into the blame game. I thought it was crooked. And since I usually sometimes on occasion may or may not blame Jamin, he went into automatic defense mode, with an “I just followed on the lines.” To which I immediately launched a counter attack about how I am more than capable of tracing. GAH. When I was getting ready to load these photos, upon further review:
Looks like we were both right. These may not seem like such a big deal on projector mode. But trust me…when cut and painted on the wall over the mantel…it just looked weird. It was all kinds of imbalanced and wonky. If I’d paid attention from the beginning, and not been totally blinded by my “awesome” idea, it may have worked. The mirror shape I admired so, was kind of a dud in the accurate department. So chalk it all up to a loss, and move on, right?
But it doesn’t end there.
Wrong. I have quitting issues. I thought I could fix the problem, by painting it in a funky pattern, instead of something rustic.
But it ended up looking like a giant Carebear cloud fell from the sky and just so happened to have a hole cut for a mirror. I mean, why don’t we just hand it over to the imagineers from WDW so they can use it on their latest Winnie the Pooh ride.
So then I tried covering it with BM’s Wedgewood Grey. It’s like I wouldn’t give up.
FAIL.
I’m still thinking about retackling this project, but why the post loaded with sarcasm and a look at one of my worst projects ever so I can degrade myself in front of all of you?
Because I’m keepin it real, peeps. I’m keepin it real.
PEACE.
…And not to leave you unsatisfied: because I wanted to give you a sneak peek at our new white walls, and what I’m playing with now, underneath the mantel. So, who knows. I’m still thinking about reshaping that mirror. But in the meantime, hurray for fun pops of color, right? Maybe? No? MEH.
I guess the important part is what you learn. I figure you win lots, you lose a few. {win some lose some makes it sound 50/50, and I like to think we’re all more triumphant than not, right?}
What about you guys? Have you ever failed at a project, but been in complete denial in the meantime? I think I already have a new plan for that Carebear-vomit atrocity
…stay tuned!
Lisa@http://www.lminteriorsllc.blogspot.com says
I wouldn’t give up just yet…perhaps give take a break and come back to it at a later date. Love your style of writing, btw…lighthearted and fun!
Jennifer Rizzo says
I have a ton of projects like that. And when I do go back to them later, something else clicks like a “why didn’t I think of that sooner thing?” I am lad you’ve been keepin it for realz, because I’ve been picking up underwear, ripped paper, weird toy pieces etc. from the summer bomb for the last 6 weeks now.
ashley @ the handmade home says
haha yes. summer bomb. mixed emotions because I will need therapy the day Aiden starts Kindergarten this year, but school kinda needs to get here. soon.
Tracie says
I understand the husband being gone. My husband is also a Youth Minister. We rarely see him during the summer. With mission trips and camps he is gone most days. I made the “smart” idea to start joining him to one camp a summer. Took our kid to the grandparents for a week and we went to camp with 30 teenagers. FUN!
Mila says
Hilarious!!!!! You are one of my favorite people.
Valerie says
Failure? Um, yeah. My entire kitchen, which we re-did last summer. I spent days scraping wallpaper, and then my awesome hubs volunteered to just drywall over the mess. That mushroomed into adding a tile backsplash, for which I picked out these totally awesome rustic grey tiles. Except that, when I walked into the kitchen and saw them on the wall, they. were. GREEN. Did I mention that I hate and despise green as a decorating color? And not just any green. 80’s hunter green. In the right light, that is, which apparently my entire kitchen has. I may have ranted about this before, not sure. The thing is, I now have to live with them. GREEN!
sara @ it's good to be queen says
don’t give up! i think it’s gonna look great…i bet the gray looks really good. i love the shape. 🙂
Elz says
Oh that sucks, I see what you meant on my comment now! It looks like it would have been so cute too; I’m sure you can turn it around and wow us… or stomp it to bits with a sledgehammer and have a fun time while doing so 😉
Dorothy says
Oh, I’m laughing so hard. It sometimes seems all our projects end up that way. One of my husband’s favorite phrases (originated by my childhood best friend every time some grand scheme of ours failed dismally) is : “You and your big ideas!” It kind of makes us both laugh by now. BTW, my husband is currently wokring out of state and though we have grown kids, with my job, the house, the dogs, etc etc, I’m in the same state of trying to hold it all together by myself right now. Hang in there! And the white paint looks great.
Jessica says
“long time listener, first time caller” here. OMG you crack me up. I FEEL YOUR PAIN. I just blogged about a project from H-E-Double Hockeysticks – I picked it out of my neighbor’s garbage, even though my hubby said, “Babe, that really is garbage, that will never be anything cute” – this only fueled my desire to turn it into the world’s most amazing piece of furniture, with a transformation worthy of awards…. EH. I did give up about 7 times, but after sleeping on several issues, I worked it all out. You will too. I now refer to the table as my “polished turd.” For days I thought I was insane for refusing to give up on this project. Dare I say, a week later, I kind of love it. 🙂
Connie says
This is the first time I’ve visited your blog, and after reading this post I already know that I’m going to enjoy your blog very much! I can soooo relate. Especially the part about being blinded by an awesome idea. And the part about not quitting. And the part where it ends-up even worse. Ok, so the whole thing really!! Thanks for the laugh, glad I’m not alone 🙂
Connie
Karen says
Now my mind is thinking of several ways to use this. Paint it faux so it has big exaggerated carved like swirls on it, like it looks like an ornate picture frame and then use it to frame one of yr pictures. Don’t just think of it as sideways but also up and down. Hang it on the wall in yr daughters room as a just right size mirror. I also see it hanging flat on the ceiling with a light fixture coming through the center, or better jet drop it a few inches from the ceiling. Put legs on it it can be a small table with a mirror in it, or put a box like thing with shelves behind it and it can be a 3d shelf for the wall lol.
Sarah says
I ended up here because I have a Duncan Phyfe (or, much more likely, a Duncan Phyfe reproduction) couch coming to the house today (in the back of my husband’s pickup truck; I don’t mean it’s coming in some fancy delivery truck!). It’s pretty, but the fabric, not so much. The Carebear vomit link made me curious, and I felt so much better about not only my messy house but my ambition to make things better (which often remains in the ambition stage). Kudos to you for trying – and for sharing the results. A laugh and inspiration – what a great combination!