Project Maddness

These last 2 weeks Rhett has been gone on his preceptorship in Marshall, MO. He learned a lot and had a great experience with his doc. His doctor he followed was kind of a hick and Rhett loved that aspect of his experience. I missed him a lot and had 7 days off all by myself and so it was a perfect opportunity to indulge myself with the many projects I've been wanting to jump into.

I was able to get a baker's rack from a friend--we traded. I painted her girls this sign and painted a decorative border in their room in exchange for this rack and she even threw in her old kitchen table. I told her I felt she was getting the short end of the deal, but she insisted so I was very grateful for the unexpected kitchen table. Our folding table went upstairs for crafts and we now have a little round table with 2 chairs in the kitchen, it is quite cozy.
Anyway, the rack was a dark green so I painted it black and it is in the dining area. I was really excited to get it, i don't really know how to display stuff on it, but maybe one day I will figure that out.

Next project was restoring the old farm windows. The white one is the original old, rotting one that I haven't decided what I want to do with it yet. When we remodeled the bathroom, I asked Rhett to be really careful when he removed the old rotting windows because I wanted them for a project. He didn't break a pane, so I've only done one of them. It took so long to scrape off the old paint. But I used this crackle medium so the bottom layer is red, and black on top, with cracks all through it. I've decided to use it as a photo frame, but I can't decide what kind of montage I'd like to use it for...pictures of our trip to Italy? Pictures of Rhett and I? Pictures of national monuments? I think once I decide where I want to display it, it will help me decide what to put in it. One thing I know for sure is I'd like the photos to be in black and white. What really would be my dream but isn't feasible right now would be to have black and white wedding photos of each of our parents and both sets of grandparents on each side. I eventually want a collage of these family photos, I especially love the weddings that took place in the 50s and 20s, but I kind of have to be home to borrow the photos, scan them, and return them. Especially all the photos of Rhett's grandparents who have all passed away, I'm sure the photos belong to one of his aunts so that project will take some digging up and coordination to pull off.

Next is my 4th of July display. Mainly I bought these little star boxes from Roberts crafts when I was home and painted them and painted lettering on them: USA, America, and In God We Trust. The block has 1776 and on the other side: "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness"--it's just a chunk of 4x4 I painted. The jailer's keys and apples I found at my splurge to Tai Pan Trading when I was home. The ladder I made at Christmas time.

I found this fabric at Wal-Mart for $1/yd. It feels like flag fabric, and I got excited because I made all these pajama pants for my nieces. My worry is I didn't have any pattern, just started hacking into the fabric guessing their sizes so we shall see if they fit any of them. Also with sewing, I had these scraps from a dress I made for myself and decided to make a little baby dress to put the waste to some good use. i borrowed a friend's baby clothes a while ago to make a pattern and finally got the scraps used.

Anyway, it was fun to have time to work on so many of my hobbies, but I'm so glad Rhett is back. I missed him a lot and couldn't wait for him to return. He's started the summer semester and it will the final section of their cadavers, all they have left is the brain to study these next 4 weeks...I think Rhett will kind of miss having anatomy lab, he had a ton of fun with the other 3 students assigned to his cadaver and it was really interesting. I however will not miss washing his formaldehyde laced clothes. It actually wasn't bad as everyone had warned us...it did stink but not so bad we had to resort to a laundromat or anything.