My T said something to me in one of our little spat chats the other day that really resonated in my soul as profound, and timely. He said "I think we need to chat about the things we appreciate about each other." He went on to say how life is so full of chaos & drama that it's hard to step back & keep in sight the positives. We were both feeling just so completely unappreciated, by each other, by the minions, by everything & everyone. This really opened my eyes! I love this man with everything I am, and am sooo very grateful for everything he does for me & our family, and yet he doesn't feel it. And I know he loves me, so... Something has to change.With Thanksgiving right around the corner, I felt the need to redirect focus in our home, hearts & minds. For us, for the kids, for the future spouses they will have.
A good artsy-fartsy project was just what the doctor ordered, and I've been eyeing a few for awhile..
This one and this one. And this.
On one of my many child related errands this weekend, I made an impromptu detour to A.C.Moore's. I had a vague idea of what I wanted, but decided to just go with the flow, and see what happened. I ended up with flat white spray paint, some chalkboard vinyl stuff, a stamp, black ink, some cute little brown tags & a few fat chalkboard pens.
I started with a fairly large wooden picture frame I had been given years ago. It was dark-ish baby blue, no glass, no backing board. I've been stubbornly refusing to throw it away, knowing someday I'd find a good use for it. I spray painted it flat white. Three coats. Then, I took some hemp string and strung it through the half-pulled out staples on the backside of the frame. (I didn't take pictures, sorry! The staples used to hold the backing board in place.) Then I stamped each of the paper tags, and hung them on the hemp string with some adorable little miniature clothespins. Then, down came the dining room clock, and up went this frame with tags.
I sat there looking at it, and it was like...cute, but....meh. The three strings with tags attached seemed off kilter somehow. They were evenly spaced throughout the frame, but the empty space above the first string was glaring at me. And the white of the wall didn't match the white of the frame, and it annoyed me. In other words, it wasn't done.
So, I talked T into cutting me a piece of louon (in exchange for honorable mention later on in the project). I took out the rolled vinyl chalkboard stuff...garbage. Don't buy it. I went downstairs, got the leftover chalkboard paint from the girl's bedroom painting, and spiffed up the wannabe wood square. After trying a staple gun (turns out it was empty), hot glue & carpet tacks, I ended up attaching the new "chalkboard" to the frame with some very teeny finishing nails. After a few tries, I got the chalkboard pen to work splendidly. Yes! I was done!
The words aren't centered. I don't care.
The boys have been eager to fill out some of the cards, and I've done some as well. One of the girls filled one out too.
So far, TV, PS2, washing machines, food, the couch and "the man with the saw" have been forever recorded as things we are thankful for.
We'll keep filling them out, as the days move us towards Thanksgiving, and I hope to make this a tradition in years to come. Hopefully, this will help remind everyone in this house (including me) to be appreciative of what we have, no matter how yucky things seem in that moment.
PS. Next time, I'll take pics as I go... Pin It
