Monday, October 8, 2018

Living Chaotically ~ Refashion #3 ~ (albeit a couple of months ago!!!!)


While other sewists are doing some amazing things refashioning previously made garments into useful, beautiful pieces,  (Check out this incredible remake in which Sasha converted pants into lovely,  heart warming, wearable art: THE REFASHIONERS! / Burda 110-06.2017) I continued my utilitarian efforts to refurbish and refashion around the house this summer.  My last project involved outdoor light fixtures!  After hanging around for 20 years, they were peeling, sad, and dirty!  In need of a little refashion...or refurbishment...to say the least!

All told there were 4 to deal with.
B took them down for me.  Then, I attacked with sandpaper, wire brushes, screw drivers, and other improvised scraping devices, to remove all the debris and loose paint.
Do not ask me how, in 20 years I failed to notice how different and how much BIGGER the two fixtures at the front door were compared to the rest!!!!  Those curly do-dads were a B!!!  After the sanding, they all got a good wash in warm soapy water made with dish soap and left to dry really well for at least a day.
I taped the glass with painter's tape.
Not selling anything, but I used this paint which is available in several shades and it worked well.
After touch-ups a day after the initial coat and allowing to dry another 24 hours, the tape was peeled away.

Gotta say - though this turned into a bigger project than I anticipated, the fixtures turned out better than I thought they would, so I am well pleased!!!  All it cost me was some elbow grease, two cans of paint, a bit of sandpaper, tape left-over from prior projects, and some roughed up hands and nails!!  Totally worth it!
Something in need of a little refashion at your place?  You can do it!!!   Live chaotically! - c

6 comments:

  1. Well! Aren't you just too smart for your britches?! :) :) I knew you sew...I had no idea the extent of your talents in THIS arena! Very impressive! And bigger than accomplishing this, I bet it made you feel great to do it! You're really feeling better and that is so wonderful to see! It made me look around my house and see all that I could do (but honestly, I know me and I know I won't do it), BUT you inspire me to maybe want to do it...some day...I digress...just so proud and blessed by how much you are recovering! That's huge! I'm sure there are still aches and pains, among, possibly, other issues to still deal with...but wow! Wow! Prayers continue and blessings abound! Loving your rainbow!

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    1. To be fair, I completed this project before all the recent shenanigans (that truth hidden a bit parenthetically in the title!!). However, to prove I am living up to your sweet words: On Saturday I trimmed up a little wild flower garden that has a creek running through it (the ferns had lost their minds!!) WITH B's blessing!!! And for the past 2 days I have done the elliptical!! NOW. Understand, that when I did the elliptical BEFORE I would do 20 minutes at level 8 followed by core work with planks, sit-ups, push-ups....all that sort of thing. For the past two days I have done 10 minutes at level 3. And you know what? It's not where I want to end up...but I am well pleased. It is a start. And we all gotta start somewhere, right???? And just so you know - your love and praise make me feel like a child who just got the BEST sticker!! You have an incredible superpower - the ability to spread love and hope. Thanks for it sharing with me.

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    2. Les, I know all about the "befores" too, so I get it, BUT putting the past in the past and moving/pushing forward now and into the future (to paraphrase that word-meister Paul)...you deserve being well pleased! And I bet dollars to doughnuts, that B is well pleased and so proud of you, too! Keep pushing and moving forward to where you are now! And, no, no super powers of any kind...it's just I've been there and will be in this place the rest of my life...we all have to live outloud as best we can at any given time (of day and sometimes minute by minute...you get that). We don't begin our days by saying "What can I do today to inspire folks?"...we start out by saying, "Lord, thank You for the day that is passed and be in the day we have now and use me, somehow, and just carry me through the day that I may accomplish something to Your glory. Help me push and give me Your strength because I have none on my own and rely on Yours to see me through." Something like that. I'm just getting through and pushing through the day...not looking to inspire, but to live. And there's nothing wrong with being proud of past accomplishments! They push us in these seasons to say "I did this THEN, now let me see what I can do NOW!" I know that's how it is with my writing. I can't do much anymore, except laundry and writing, so I look at my earlier blogs and that pushed me to write like that now, or even better. I've got a lot more to share, and now, from a far different perspective. I bet your perspective on so much is changing as well. Love...

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    3. Oh, Carol. I just love you. Your comment brought tears to my eyes! (In a good way!!!!) You are the QUEEN! That's something I've known and been right about BEFORE, AFTER, and NOW!!!!

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  2. That looks great! Ours started looking bad and we thought we were doing great work by just buying new ones! ;)

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    1. Hey! There a zillion ways to skin a cat!! (Pretty horrible saying, huh???) Love you!!!

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