friday = misc.

Hey look - a photo of an actual crafty type item!


I made this as part of a package for sweet jessie, which also included a backwards “J”. How embarrassing is that?! She was very sweet {hee hee} about it though…

I bought the little unfinished wooden box at Michael’s then added paint, scrap-booking paper & a vintage button.

I think this is a great way to add a special touch to a wee gift, especially jewelry since it can go right from being given to set on a dresser or countertop. Pretty & functional with no empty box to throw away…

Have a great weekend!

martha stewart would be horrified

I put together shelves today. I bought them at walmart because we don't have an ikea...we use to live somewhere with an ikea. It is very hard to go from not having one, to having one and then go back to not having one. I would have rather never known what it was like to just be able to decide in the morning that you want to go run to ikea to buy a shelf and have an ice-cream cone. sigh...

Anyhow, this is what it was supposed to look like:


This is how mine looks:


I used martha stewart wrapping paper on clearance at Michaels to back it. I sprayed spray mount onto the boards they provided and carefully adhered the paper. I was very surprised how well this step went...I was high on my own cleverness & fumes.

Then things went terribly wrong {this never would have happened if I had waited for the guy to get home & he had helped me}...

I carefully lined up the backing to the shelves and nailed it on with perfectly spaced nails. I was nervous that when I turned it over the design would be crooked. I held my breath...I turned it over...the pattern looked great...too bad I nailed the backing on the finished side of the shelves...

Now, in my defense I re-read the directions and they could have been a little clearer about how you were supposed to turn over the unit before attaching the backing. They could have had one whole step showing the shelf turning...they could have, but they didn't. They didn't think about the crazy people so focused on their pattern paper looking good that they wouldn't even see how they were nailing into the finished edge of the shelf. They shouldn't assume people are focused...you know what assuming does...

Anyhow, I painted the rough edge of the unit so it doesn't look too bad until you get close to it. I am hoping that the patterned paper takes the focus away from the obvious mistake.

To further divert attention I put my buttons on the shelves:


What is still sad though, is that this shelf was supposed to hold all the stuff on my work-table but in the end it only had room enough for the buttons. Which means that I still have to find a place for all this stuff:


I'll save that for next weekend...

I'm going to go have a glass of wine now...