The Rabbit Hole

Curiouser and Curiouser!

Archive for the category “December 2015”

Paint and Gel Stain End Tables

Why have an old piece of furniture laying around that you don’t particularly care for, when it is so simple to change it! I am really lazy when it comes to doing projects.  I mean, I love to do projects, but I am lazy in how I go about doing them, so I don’t always go through all the recommended steps. Like sanding, I never sand unless it is absolutely necessary.

So I had a couple of end tables sitting around, they were a very 80’s brown wood, with a thick coat of shellac, and brass hardware. I forgot to take a before pic, but I am sure you can imagine them. I was in a big hurry to get the house ready for guests and I thought I would just spray paint them a nice teal color and be done with them.

I took them out back and spray painted them, but they ended up being a much brighter turquoise than I had planned. Now I had not sanded them, so they were kind of blotchy too. (I mentioned I was lazy.) I was out of spray paint and did not feel like driving to the store, so I checked my garage and found a can of paint in what looked like the same color. So I used it with a small watercolor brush to try and fill in the blotches on the table. The color was a bit different, but it ended up giving it a slightly glazed antiqued look.  It actually turned out pretty good, what do you know!

I still thought they were a bit too bright, so after they were dry I took some General Finishes Gel Stain in Java and using a 2″ brush, stained the top of the tables. Then I did a second coat. Perfect! Well, perfect for a lazy person. 😉

12358094_10208601882914161_1253797739_n12358297_10208601882754157_2084479097_n

Painted Drop Cloth Drapes

12335866_10208601877234019_644749807_n

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These may be just the coolest, easiest, cheapest, drapes you can make.  Well, you don’t even have to make them, you can just hang them up, as is.

So, the first thing you wanna do is, go buy your drop cloths. Lowe’s and Home Depot will sell canvas painter’s drop cloths in various sizes.  I bought two, 6 x 9 panels. They were about $10 a piece. You can also pick up some curtain rings, and hardware while you are there, they will likely have several to choose from.  Or, you can always sew in a rod pocket pretty easily.  The drop cloths are already hemmed, so all you need to do is run them through the washing machine to soften them up, and then iron them really well.  This is the hardest part.

12336273_10208601915394973_2069515895_n

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then just clip them up and you are done. 🙂

OR…

You can paint them.

I spent months looking everywhere for wide horizontal striped fabric, to no avail. This was my inspiration picture.

12351039_10208601915354972_375645870_n

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So I decided to try to paint the fabric myself.  This is what led me to the drop cloth idea.  I purchased a small can of paint from HD, I am super cheap, so I got a can someone had returned for $3.  I wasn’t picky about the color and it looked pretty good. Total now is $23. Well, I paid $50 for the hardware but you may already have that, and can probably get it much cheaper.

After I ironed the drop cloths, I laid them as flat as possible on my garage floor.  I taped them down to keep them straight, and then I measured 18″ stripes, and marked them with painters tape.  Frog tape works really well because you don’t want it to bleed along the edges. It is not easy to get it straight because the drop cloths are not uniform.  Just take your time and try to use a something straight to guide you.  Measure as you go. So then I rolled the paint on with a 6″ foam roller. It goes on heavier in certain places, but I liked the effect that it gave.  After they dry, hang them up.  Cheers!12355106_10208601968196293_1332452112_n

 

12358451_10208601968276295_33313233_n
12335866_10208601877234019_644749807_n

Circular Reasoning and the Beauty of Balance

Isn’t funny how our brains can migrate from a glimpse of absolute clarity to complete vacancy in what seems like a nano second?  How does that happen?  Thoughts go from conceptualizations to vapors before they are made into actual thoughts, much less words.  I really hate that.  It is sort of my version of circular reasoning, of the unintelligent kind.  I go from nothing back to nothing.  Of course it is hard work getting there too!  It reminds me of Vizzini from the Princess Bride trying to rationalize which cup has the poison.

I believe these glimpses or fragments are finite versions of some sort of whole.  We spend our lives trying to replicate this whole in one way or another. We often reason ourselves from one side of an issue to another, trying to find it’s truth, trying to find it’s purpose.  It is an endless quest of futility. We search to find balance or unity through the many paradoxes we encounter everyday.  Sometimes, we even try to understand the greater why that fuels them all. We try, but we are just finite beings, we are just grasping at fragments. There can never be purpose or understanding if all we have is a part of a whole. We may try to figure out the whole, the “one” that unites all these parts. Perhaps with the proper logic or experience we can fill in the blanks.

What was the whole again? What were we talking about?

Oh, right, there I go again.

We assume the whole is just everyone’s fragments. Naturally, right?  All the bits and pieces of everything, the ideas and experiences, matter and energy all rolled into one.

I don’t think so. I mean, I am sure they make up some sort of whole. I just don’t think they are the whole we are looking for. They are our counterfeit whole. In their grand sum they are still just fragments, just parts.  There is nothing to tie them together and give them unity. So if that is true, then there is no purpose to anything.  We can find only temporary meaning or purpose, but no real truth, nothing eternal.

What if all that energy and matter and bits and pieces, all those rabbit trails of fragmented reasoning are really a reflection of something bigger? A reflection of the real whole? Something outside of all of those things. Something where each of those fragments represent an entire whole? What if all of those parts are actually given purpose by the whole, the “One” that creates union and balance? If that is true, if things can have balance and purpose, and they must have been designed that way. If not, we go back to our random parts, back to our meaningless fragments.

Many attribute this design to some unseen force or power in the universe.  They think that somehow all the molecular structure of everything is connected and works together to guide and unify.  I suppose that makes sense in a way. Everything consists of the same elements, things do connect in many ways.  There is something missing though.  The universe may be a natural leap because it is seemingly infinite and the largest thing we can attempt to fathom.  While the universe is indeed large, it cannot compare to the intricate vast depth of a conscious being.  It is not capable of logic or reasoning, it has no nature or personality.  So it becomes impossible to connect the randomness of a universe of matter, space and energy with the abstract world of a conscientious personality.  Even if you could somehow combine both realms into one reality, you would still be left with an incomplete whole.  There is nothing to connect the physical and spiritual world together to give it meaning.  We can only wonder from one side to the other as the emptiness of one side fuels the other.

So one can either bounce along this path indefinitely, or reach the end of their existential rope.  Either way, they are powerless and left with vapors.

So maybe those fleeting moments of clarity are just electromagnetic impulses in our brains.  Or perhaps they are a glimpse of something more.  I believe they are both, I believe both have purpose.  However, the only possible way for both to exist with purpose is if what unifies them is eternal.  Eternal in all ways.  Eternal in space, omnipresent. Eternal in consciousness, omniscient.  Infinite, or outside time, and sovereign in all ways.  There is nothing like that in our universe or even in the depths of our imagination, nothing at all for comparison.  Anything we use to try to represent this, no matter how large, is temporal.

Yet somehow we all innately know the only thing to describe this is God.  He must contain all of these attributes, and what we see both within the physical universe and within our abstract minds are finite versions of His infinite attributes.  They all reveal Him, and Him as their creator.  This is why He can be the only answer, the meaning to all things.  The beginning and end to all reasoning.  The difference between endless circular reasoning, and a beautiful balance and unity in all things.

Making a Tree skirt

I was browsing through Walmart and ran across some cute fabric, so I decided to attempt a tree skirt.  I bought 4 yards of this fabric.

12335877_10208601866313746_1380455841_n

 

 

 

12346767_10208601866273745_1261725758_n

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also bought 4 yards of burlap, and a yard of some shiny aqua fabric that reminded me of a mermaid’s tail.

 

I am not a very good seamstress, my poor grandmother would shake her head at me.  I usually just eyeball it.  Hey, that’s how I roll.  So I basically cut out one yard of the sea fabric, then cut the burlap a couple of inches larger around the outside.  I cut the corners off to make it round, and I cut the mermaid fabric into about 3″ strips. Then I simply sewed both pieces to the mermaid fabric all the way around.  Volla’

12366646_10208601866193743_1139331565_n

12346623_10208601877194018_677405633_n

Gel Stain Baby!

 

Oh, how I do love me some gel stain! A couple of years ago I used General Finishes Gel Stain in Walnut to do my stairs and kitchen cabinets.  I was really happy with the results and it was so easy to do. Just wipe it on, you don’t even need to sand first. I have recently discovered that you don’t need to apply it to wood, so I have been slapping it all over the place. I stained a cheap little white formica cabinet and added some knobs I found for $3 at Homegoods, and it looks so much better!

12351188_10208600827807784_771704827_n

      I also stained some $1 silver chargers to look like wood.

12366605_10208600827727782_362428398_n

But, my favorite project yet, are my garage doors. I absolutely love the way they turned out.

12346710_10208600843968188_1843714760_n

After seeing on Pinterest that gel stain could be used on non wood garage doors, I was anxious to try it, so I bought two cans of Minwax gel stain in Hickory at Home Depot.  First I cleaned the doors with vinegar and dish soap and hosed them down really well.  You may want to power wash them if they are really dirty.  Then I let them dry. I was a little nervous to try something so bold, so I experimented with a small section on the inside of the garage door. It went on easily so I decided to just do it. Worst case I would have to repaint them right?

I used a 2 inch brush and painted the stain on one square at a time. It took about an hour and a half, per door.  I used a back and forth brush stroke inside the square and then went around the edges to add definition.  The do the edges that are covered by the rubber flap around the outside, I got as close as possible, then let it dry.  After each door was pretty dry I opened the doors and did the rest of the edges from the inside while the doors were up.  Then I let that dry too.  The next day I went over them any missed spots and visible brush strokes.  I was happy with the result but I wished they looked a little bit more like wood, so I bought some General Finishes Gel Stain in Java.  It is only sold at specialty stores but I think you can find it on the internet. Then I went over them again, SO MUCH BETTER! I took a picture halfway so you can see the difference.

12346750_10208600760726107_1497503358_n

12348478_10208600761206119_1665148229_n

The Java gave them a nice warm shadow and made them look more like wood. Then I applied an outdoor uv and mildew resistant polyurethane, which is a must here in Texas. Easy Peasy! Now I just need to find something else to stain. Cheers!

12351041_10208600844048190_1325605046_n

Need a Great Gift Idea?

Looking for gift ideas that are not too expensive and not too home made looking?  Try this homemade Irish Cream, great in coffee, over ice, in hot cocoa, or on ice cream. These make great gifts for your neighbors, co-workers, family and friends!

12358361_10208596678704059_127587327_nSo first, here is the recipe I used for the Irish Cream, tastes like Bailey’s.

Allrecipe.com Irish Cream

It’s pretty easy, I doubled the recipe to make 12, 5 ounce bottles. I got the bottles from Amazon, they are a good size and have nifty shrink wrap tops.  I paid about $15 for a dozen.  You will want to use a turkey baster or funnel to pour the irish cream into the bottles. I also got some chalk board labels for about $10, also from Amazon. I posted the links below. So I ended up spending about $50 including the Jameson and other ingredients.

12355107_10208596678824062_221115506_n12346866_10208596678904064_1566051841_n12351003_10208596678744060_1039868640_n12348259_10208596678784061_642537801_n12355271_10208596678664058_1470980055_nAmazon.com clear bottles

Amazon.com chalk board labels

 

Post Navigation