Finally Out of the Garage

Way back in June, I shared a picture of a cabinet I had that was taking up my car’s spot in the garage while it waited for a bit of a makeover. At that point, it had already been sitting there for two months. Fast forward to October, AKA the onset of freakin’ coldness in Utah, and it was still sitting the garage taking up my car’s spot. So I finally decided to tackle the beast so as to reclaim the garage before snow hits. {And by “I decided” I mean that my husband finally nagged me enough to make me do it. Now if I could just get the claw foot tub out of there, we’d be in business.}

Just as a reminder, this is what I started with:

And now, after much blood sweat and tears on my part {HINT: Don’t rush things, pay attention to the temperature recommendations on the dang spray paint, and whatever you do, do not, I repeat DO NOT decide you won’t need primer. Because you probably will. And then you’ll be mad at yourself and then you’ll start rushing things because the temperature is dropping because you avoided the project all summer and now winter is knocking at your door and then…well, just use a good primer, okay?}, I finally have a bright and cheery cabinet in which to store all of my sewing supplies:

Now, I totally made a ton of mistakes along the way, and in the end, I just gave up on some things {like the blue overspray that ended up on the front of one of the doors} because I was soooo done and honestly, out of time weather-wise. It had to come in immediately or I’d be scraping ice from my windshield all winter {which, when you’ve become accustomed to a garage, totally sucks}:

It’s not easy to see in the pictures, but I did do some light distressing by rubbing some high grit sandpaper over some of the edges. Nothing major, but enough to make it looked loved and just a bit chipped and old:

I also replaced the knobs on the doors, but kept the original drawer pulls:

And one last shot of the whole shebang:

So what do you think? Have you ever refinished furniture with paint or new stain or even reupholstering something (that might be my next big project)? I’d love to hear about it in the comments!

**Added to this linky party on the SNAP! blog**

#soapboxchallenge

Two weeks ago, Cara Brooke {whose blog, Maskcara is freakin’ amazing, by the way} issued a challenge. The challenge involved doing 3 things that I pretty much stink at: washing your face every night, applying moisturizer both morning and evening, and drinking plenty of water. The challenge was to take a before picture, do these 3 things for 2 weeks, then take an after picture and post them together along with any observations you have from the challenge.

So here goes:

Just look at how clear my skin is! Not a blemish to be found. And with a glow to boot!
Okay, okay, so I accidentally had the flash on.

For real, though:

Observations:
*Now, I’m not going to lie and say I was perfect at this, but I did give it my best effort! I tell you what, drinking enough water is really hard for me! I don’t know why. I really ought to be better at it, but I’m not. So let’s just say I definitely drank more water than usual, but it may or may not have been the entire half gallon per day she suggested. It was some days.

*In all honesty, I don’t see a whole lot of difference in the look of my skin except that one breakout on my chin cleared up and another broke out. And on my nose.

*My skin does feel a lot less dry though, which is a problem I always tend to have, so that’s nice.

*Just because the challenge is over, doesn’t mean I’ll stop, though. I know it’s better for me to be drinking water and taking care of my skin, so I just have to give a big fat shoutout to Cara for kicking my buttoxide into gear.

Thanks Cara!

Now if I could just jump on the flossing train…

Painting Ceilings

As if painting ceilings weren’t torture enough, one day the devil woke up and said, “I have a brilliant idea! Heavily textured ceilings!”

Evil, I tell you. So evil.

And whose idea was it to paint the ceiling anyway?! I’m going to have words with her!

In other news, if you happen to buy too much paint for a project, say…like 1 1/2 gallons too much paint…and you decide to keep it on hand, might I suggest storing it indoors at a nice room temperature and not in the garage where it has the potential to freeze during the winter, so that when you need it again a year later and you open it to use it, it is still…well…usable. Not that I would know anything about that.

In other other news, Mr. LessPinningMoreDoing vetoed adding glitter to the ceiling paint, much to the dismay of sparkly fans everywhere.

My “One Word” Reminder

I decided I wanted something I could wear at all times to help me focus on my “one word” for 2013, so I started window shopping on Etsy for some piece of jewelry that was just right. I wasn’t sure if I wanted something small on a necklace or a bracelet or a ring, or what. I almost settled on one of these beautiful stamped copper bracelets from bailybelle:

But in the end, I decided I wanted something smaller and less prominent. Something others might not notice but that I would. Something to help me remember that it is the light of Christ that I am trying to let shine and not my own light. So I decided on a simple, understated ring from beadsoul. It came yesterday and I love it! It is just perfect:

I love everything about it and I am so grateful to have this little reminder with me every day as I use my hands to serve others and “let [my] light so shine.”

Have you picked a word or phrase for the year? How do you plan on keeping it forefront in your mind?

One Word for 2013

Remember back in this post when I got all candid and stuff? Well, after much thought, today I’m here to share my one word for 2013, inspired by Shawni from 71toes. I really did think about this a lot. I went through several different ideas, and while some of them were good, I knew they weren’t quite the best option for me for this year.

The first idea that really stuck around for a while was Be Wise. {Yes, I know that’s two words.} I know in the coming year, I need to use more wisdom in choosing what to do with my time, how I can serve my family and friends, and how I can make myself a better person. Wisdom is good, no? But something kept telling me it just wasn’t right.

I recently read the well-known scripture from Matthew 5:14-16:

Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candelstick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Now, I’ve heard and read that scripture many times over my lifetime, but this time, it stuck with me. I have been hiding under a bushel. Remember that thing I said about spending too much wasted time on the computer? That’s my bushel. That’s where I hide. My man-cave, if you will. I mean, I know sometimes we just need that time to ourselves, but moderation is key. If your light is hiding away under its bushel so much that you forget you even have light to give, it’s too much. And I had forgotten. Until I read this scripture again and had it on my mind while I thought about change.

And then the horrible massacre in Connecticut happened and I thought darkness had surely won. I could hardly bring myself to do anything at all but wonder how so much hate and horridness could even exist in a person. I was honestly paralyzed –  not by fear, but by the sheer horribleness of it all. Even now, I choke up and have to take a break as I’m writing, it aches so much. I looked about in wonder and just kept thinking “How can life still be going on?” I finally found comfort in this amazing blog post by Daring Young Mom. It just clicked for me, especially when she said “The ache is a reminder of how much work there is for me to do.”

And I thought I found my word: LIGHT.

I even had a friend tell me (without knowing any of the goings-on in my head) “You are pure light!” I don’t say that to be all like oo-look-at-me!, but because I think it was one of the tender mercies of the Lord. He knew I needed to hear something like that, even if the friend had no idea. LIGHT seemed to be it. It’s what I need to add to my family and my neighborhood and my life. It’s what I need to focus on spreading this year. So it seemed just right. Almost just right, BUT…

It’s not an action. I realized, if I’m going to have this one word to remind me and drive me to do the things I need to do and to change the things I need to change, it needs to be a verb. I’m picky like that about the English language. Then, just as quickly as I realized it wasn’t quite right, the right word came to me: SHINE. Let your light so shine before men… 

SHINE

How will I shine in the coming year? Hopefully by following this quote from Daring Young Mom’s post: “If I am part of the light, I need to commit every day to shine brighter, to love stronger.” And that, my friends, is exactly what I intend to do.

And what about you? What will you focus on in the coming year?