Projects and my sanity

I am a projects girl. I always have been. My projects are various in nature.

I usually move from one hobby to the next. When I was newly married and in the create your home phase, crafts were really big, you know those wood cut out Christmas decorations. :/

Then I got into reupholstering because we could not afford the barn-red Pottery Barn sofa that I wanted. This was fun. I think I did two sofa’s, a love seat, and a chair in the matter of a few years.  I was still young then and had the energy… not so much now.

Being broke really does encourage you to try new things. During this time I learned how to work on cars, fix appliances and put in a sprinkler system. You may ask where my husband was during this time. Well, he was working full time and going to school full time and had responsibilities with our church that took up pretty much all of his time. If there was free time, I wanted him to spend it with me and the kids, not fixing the dishwasher. And, I really liked the sound of a dishwasher that actually worked after I had disassembled it.

After this I moved onto wedding cakes. This phase did not last long. I did enjoy it, but it made me nervous because unlike my other hobbies this is something you have to do for someone else…(What was I going to do with wedding cakes made for myself?) And, there is a lot of pressure involved when you are trying to please someone else’s tastes. And I realized I really don’t like to spend time in the kitchen. So, I moved on.  Baking is NOT my talent.

I took piano lessons next. As a child I always wanted to learn but my parents could not afford it. Then, as an adult, I was called into the Bishop’s office, (he is a leader at our church) and was asked by one of his councilors to be the Pianist for our primary kids. Well, I would have said yes if I had any idea how to play. I told of my concerns and the invitation to play was revoked. My husband told me I needed more faith. That somehow miraculously I would be able to play because I had faith. I think we both laughed hysterically at this point. I told him that I didn’t think that that was how faith worked.  So, after this encounter I decided to go ahead and sign up for piano lessons. Again, this did not last long. I was prego with my last and I think my brain cells had gone on an extended vacation.

Next, I began to write. I had always had stories in my head. I had just had my daughter and I was diagnosed with a crap thyroid, (hypo-thyroid), because of this I wasn’t mobile. Writing was the perfect distraction.  We all thought writing was a phase but somehow it stuck.

I still fix things around the house from time to time and this last year I took on a few upholstery projects. I am particularly proud of this chair.

Last month I sold my kitchen table on craigslist. I moved my dinning table into my kitchen to replace the old one...

Here is the before table that is now in my kitchen

But then I no longer had a formal dinning room table. I really wanted these table and chairs from Create and Barrel, but the price tag nearly gave me a heart attack.

Craigslist is the obvious next step for this bargain shopper. I really like the vintage, low backed chair look. These chairs, (hated the upholstery but loved the lines of the chair and the low back), were perfect. Here is the before and after…

I found the end chairs at World Market. These were pricey, even with the 50% discount. But, I figured they were pretty neutral and should last a while and because everything else was a craigslist find I was good.

This is not the exact chair but you can find the one I bought here.

Last, was the table, again craigslist. First off it is huge, and heavy, and really beautiful. The only problem was the height issue. I had to take the whole table apart just to be able to shorten the legs by a few inches.

All in all, it turned out great. And I love it more because it didn’t kill my budget, and it’s unique because I tweaked it myself. It’s a Jen original.

Yes, I know, this room has the worst lighting.

So, here is just a little about me. This probably sounds kind of braggy but the truth is, I can do a lot of thing okay, just nothing really great. I guess you can say that my talent isn’t upholstery, cake decorating, or even fixing things. My talent is not being afraid to try and end up falling on my face. That has happened a time or two. (I also think trying to have as many different experiences as possible also helps me to be a better writer). Some may call it adult ADD, but I choose to call it my talent.