I had two ornaments that were beyond saving.  I had an acrylic clear ornament that I tried repeatedly to use with texture paste.  End result was a very scratched bulb with no redeeming qualities.  The other ornament was Styrofoam that I “attempted” to cover with napkins and Mod Podge.  The Styrofoam became an impenetrable force field that even the best Jedi couldn’t have gotten through.  Since I don’t have any Jedi or light sabres handy, the small pearl headed pin I was using just wouldn’t cut it.  I really contemplated throwing both ornaments into the trash, but that was like letting them win.  I decided to do videos on repurposing old and/or ugly (mine are definitely ugly) ornaments.  Has this been done?  I don’t know, but now someone out there is saying to themselves, “Crap, why did I throw those out?  I could have turned them into a masterpiece like Sandy did.”  Ok, maybe (there’s no maybe in this discussion), they won’t say mine are a masterpiece, but at least they are no longer headed for the trash.  Well not today, anyway.  I decided to turn the scratched acrylic one into a scratched clear ball with ribbon covering most of it–problem solved.  The second ornament presented more of a challenge because I literally could not penetrate the surface with a pin.  I know, Styrofoam?  It must have been some seriously tough Mod Podge to make it that hard.  I decided to cover the ball with, wait for it, butterflies.  There’s a little girl that absolutely loves butterflies and I’m redoing her room in them.  What little girl wouldn’t love an ornament completely engulfed in a wide variety of butterflies?  We shall wait and see.  For now, I’m happy that I have saved these ornaments from the trash.  One final note.  I had to glue the butterflies onto the ball and used my hot glue gun.  I even bought those finger tip savers from Joanns to ensure that I didn’t burn my hands off.  Apparently, three is not enough.  I burned a finger and a thumb because I kept moving the finger savers since I kept using the wrong finger.  Can I really be this challenged?  Apparently so.  Repurposed balls 2, Sandy’s skill with glue gun 0.

Geez, where does the time go?  Cyber Monday has come and gone and I’ve been cybering all day it seems.  I want to make sure I’m done with my Christmas shopping by my surgeon’s appointment this Thursday so I’ve been speed shopping.  I’m almost done and probably have duplicated a lot of things.  That’s what return day is for..Shouldn’t we have a day besides Black Monday or Brown Thursday or Purple Wednesday for the day we return all the gifts we either received or bought in error?  I’d like to call it a day I’d like to forget.  I always wait until the lines are down before I attempt to return anything so it’s usually March before I even realize I forgot to return everything.  A lot can be said for ignorance like mine.  The great part is, I don’t even realize how confused I really am.  Let’s blame it on my medicines.  Can we?  Let’s.  But what about when I did these things and wasn’t taking any medicines that would cause it.  Let’s blame them anyway.  Who is going to dispute it?  Well, besides Kohls, Walmart, Macys and anyone else with a 30 day return policy.  Let’s blame them instead.

I bought a pink lamp at the thrift store to repurpose for a little girl’s room.  I wanted it to match the new comforter, sheets, rug and curtains she’s getting.  The lamp was a dusty pink as was the shade.  The paint on the lamp was damaged so I repainted it and then tried to coat it with Mod Podge to seal it.  Weirdly enough, I chose a paint brush that put more hairs on the lamp than paint.  What to do?  I decided since the paint was dry, I could run water over it to get rid of the hair and the wet Mod Podge.  I am definitely NOT MacGyver.  All of the paint bubbled up and fell into the sink leaving me with a clear glass lamp.  If I had known how easy that was, I would have never painted it to begin with.  I mean, a little water and the whole thing was sparkly like, well, glass.  So, plan B.  No more paint.  This is a job for the ribbon girl.  Yes, I am the ribbon girl.  Well lady, or whatever.  I really got to bling that lamp and shade, it’s never seen so much color.  If this was for anyone other than a small kid, I’d be embarrassed by the amount of bling on it, but kids like shiny things, at least I think they do.  I sure hope she does.  I’m crossing my fingers that she doesn’t scream and run away from it like kids do when they seen clowns.  Yikes, this could damage her for life.  Wait, it’s only a lamp after all, how much damage can it do?  I guess we’ll wait and see.  The video on it should be up tomorrow.  It kind of reminds me of something you’d see if you went to a fortune teller, or a really colorful (another word for tacky) individual’s boudoir.  I still think it’s fun, for a little girl.

I believe I may have turned into my mother.  Maybe you will remember that she was the queen of puffy paint and googly eyes–two things I vowed I would never find a need for.  Today I found myself “Stickling” the crap out of a pair of butterfly wings –they may be ready for the trash.  At first it was just a circle on either wing in purple.  Then, just a little bit of green striping near the bottom…next thing I know, it’s covered with crazy colored circles, squiggles and I’m not really sure what some of it is.  It’s like I lost my mind and now am a confirmed Stickle junky.    Who am I and what have I become?  I need to reconnect with the Sandy that knew when to say when.  The Sandy that had a small amount of self respect and let’s call it will power.  The last straw was when I was throwing large quantities of glitter at it.  I had to leave the room. Who have I become?  Don’t answer, I already know.

I keep saying I’m going to make something that isn’t Christmasy, but then I keep making all things Christmas.  What’s up with that?  I’ve never been a big decorator, but I keep thinking of all kinds of great ideas for decorations and want to try everything.  I wonder what I’ll do with myself on December 26th.  I need a plan.  Something to make me think outside the box and come up with something that is completely unrelated to the holidays.  What will it be?  Maybe a project with duct tape.  I keep hearing about all the cool things you can do with it.  I have trouble getting it off the roll.  Is there a trick to it?  How about trying to find a way to easily start the unrolling with a brand new duct tape?  Maybe I’m the only one who finds it to have a life of it’s own.  One that doesn’t want me in it.  Tomorrow could be the day I take on duct tape and win..then again, probably not.  I’ll probably make something Christmasy instead.

I was so wired to get going this morning that I was late leaving for the restaurant for Thanksgiving.  I wanted to make more pearlized miniature inks for the Misti techniques, so I started with three and ended up making seven or eight.  My craft room looks like a bomb went off in it.   I need to get a grip on the messes I am making because I am really going off the deep end in there.  I wonder about the women with those white craft rooms.  Do they wear white when they craft so they match?  And do they keep bleach at the ready in case anything, God forbid, is other than white?  In theory, I like white.  In practice, I wonder what it says about creativity when your pallet is so anemic.  Maybe I’m just cynical (maybe?), but I think color inspires me, makes me want to take action.  Years ago, before anyone talked about “man caves”, my husband wanted a  room where he could stretch out and watch movies and really relax.  I designed the entire room around a pillow from April Cornell.  It was beige and red, with orange and yellows.  That room makes both of us happy.  Maybe I’ll videotape it someday.  It’s not your average man room.  But every seat reclines and it has a built in booth to eat while still watching television and the walls are filled with vintage travel posters from an artist from the 1940’s and all from places we love to visit.  I can’t imagine a white space, I need a little chaos to be happy.  I think I’ll postpone cleaning my craft room again tomorrow..

I was a crazy crafting fool today and really had some fun.  I had always wanted to experiment with alcohol inks and boy, did I.  What a mess and I loved every minute of it.  Alcohol inks are not for the faint of heart.  Messy isn’t even close to how great these inks are. Now that I have found them, I may never let them go.  I was going to do one ornament that turned into two and in the end, I have a video of three ornaments with alcohol ink.  There is no limit to what you can achieve with them.  I felt like I really created something worth owning and for me, that’s a big statement.  I hope I can inspire others to try them, if they can get past the mess.  Think, Sharpie explosion on your hands.  It was definitely worth the mess.

I have a new sense of purpose today.  Rich and I adopt a family for Christmas every year because we really don’t have anyone else to buy gifts for and we like to do it.  We never know the family, just the gifts they want.  This year is different because the agency we go through thought it would be best if I connected directly with the mother.  She has a two year old and is giving birth again in February.  She works, takes the bus, and would be thrilled with Lemon Ice for a treat.  I’m writing this because I forget how lucky I am and how I never have to think about being warm or buying clothes or food.  When I offered her whatever she wanted, she wanted Lemon Ice.   I have replaced my thoughts about surgery with ideas on how I can help this family.  I have a renewed sense of urgency because I have to be ready for her Christmas before my surgery and I will not fail her.  When I spoke with her today, she wondered if I could give her the used rugs I promised because her floors are tile.  They are newly in subsidized housing that doesn’t allow for much heat and they are cold.

They will not be cold tomorrow, we’ll make sure of that, but tonight, I worry.  Life is not always fair, I know, but it breaks my heart to know so many people have so little.  She is a good mother and a good person and this year Santa will find her and give her the one gift that she may be missing, hope.  Isn’t that all we can ask for?