Favorite Things: Paint + Canvas

I began to appreciate art at an early age. Probably because I can't actually paint. Or draw. Or take photos. Or even draw a stick figure. And I certainly can't sculpt.

Or at least I didn't think I could.

I'm still not an artist by any stretch, but I'm not so afraid to try.

A few studios in Birmingham began teaching "painting lessons" a few years back. It's really that you pick a night whose picture you want to paint, go in, and get step-by-step instructions to create your own version of an artist's painting.

So I got a little carried away. And did all these.







But I love art, even if it's mine. :)


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Favorite Things: Things That Make Me Laugh

I could post pictures of comedies, comedians, funny animals. I could post links to my favorite sitcoms, bits of a funny SNL skit, or YouTube clips of a funny video.

Instead, I'm sharing these two books. Because they're hilarious!!!



The date: Published in 1964.
Where I found them: A church rummage sale in Houston, Texas.
The laughs they've provided: Priceless.

Though I'm a girl of many words, these book don't need them. Mostly because the pictures are full of words. And I can't wait for you to read them.

Click on the pictures themselves to see larger images and read better.

And be prepared to laugh.













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Favorite Things: Things Inherited

My family jokes that among us we have 4 homes but enough furniture for 7.

It's sad because it's true...

When we think of tossing some furniture, we talk one another out of it. A few years back my grandparents got a new couch, but I asked them to keep their old one so that "when I had my own home," I could have it. (I've inherited the don't-toss-furniture gene.)

Many, many years later, I finally got my own apartment. And I got the couch.


Wanna know the coolest thing about the couch? You know - besides the fabric?

This is the first couch my grandparents ever bought. Last month, they celebrated their 53rd wedding anniversary. This couch has aged as gracefully as they have. (Even the disinegrating foam... haha!)


In its lifetime, it's been recovered once, but I plan to have it refinished and refoamed soon. The foam, no joke, is completely falling apart. You touch it and it crumbles. But as soon as I have a few pennies to rub together, I'm going to have it recovered and put new foam in.


Don't you just love all that glorious 60s/70s-ish floral charm?


Sitting beside the couch are two endtables that belonged to my great-grandmother Louise. They're old, sure, but they're beautiful.

My Nanny Louise kept family pictures in the drawers, and when I was younger, I would sit in the big arm chair beside the table and sort through all the pictures for hours. Some familiar faces, lots of questions. Then my Nanny Louise would patiently explain who the people were and what they were to me (great-great grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins).

Check out that handle! No idea if these are the original, but they're definitely staying with these tables. I'll eventually have these refinished, but for now, they're perfect. With all their dings and scrapes.

Here's the hidden drawer. When I brought these tables into my apartment, I opened this drawer and found a Valentine's Day card from my great-grandfather to my great-grandmother. Very precious indeed!


Things that come to us pre-loved are some of my favorite things.

Have you shared your favorite things? Click here to link up.



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Favorite Things: Childhood Memories

First - you all understand that football is a way of life, right? Dare I say, religion?

Second - we start from an early age knowing what "color" our blood is.

Third - when parents are divided, the children suffer.

(Okay, not so much suffer as benefit from years of passionate, love-filled name calling and ribbing.)

My dad is an Alabama fan. My mom is an Auburn fan. They really did try to give me a fighting chance at being impartial, or at least a genuine fan of both.

My dad lost.

WAR EAGLE!

:)


My mom found this old sweatshirt in a lost drawer corner a few years back, and she had it framed in coordinating colors for the sides of the shirt.


It's kind of hard to believe I was ever that small. It's also kind of hard to believe I ever wore Alabama's colors.

This framed sweatshirt - art, in its own way - is one of my favorite things.





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Your Favorite Things

Share your favorite things!
This week at attempting creative, share your favorite things! No rules, no exceptions and no guidelines. I'll be sharing some of my favorite things that I didn't make but absolutely love (some old books, an old keepsake, some inherited things).

You can literally share anything! Just do me a favor - grab a button below or on the right and put it somewhere on your blog or in the post itself. The more the merrier.


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Favorite Things Week

There's something special about the things we choose to put in our homes. It's all there for a reason. I don't own a lot, after all. I just started out and have only recently begun keeping an house apartment. (I've always thought "house keeping" sounded a tad pre-1950 women's liberation movement. But I guess it's back around to being cool again by now, right?)

When dusting my room the other day (okay, I was really just throwing a Swiffer around flat surfaces), I ran across a few things I really wanted to share. Problem is I didn't make any of them. They're mostly things I have been given, or inherited, found, or kept. So then I wondered if you fellow bloggers might also have great things you'd love to share but just haven't thought to or found a reason to.

Maybe it's something your kids made you that you've kept tucked away. Or a beautiful piece of china you inherited from a relative. Maybe it's a book you wrote when you were in third grade or a special first edition of your favorite book you found in a rummage sale. It could even be your favorite ice cream or family recipe.

Whatever it is, I wanna know about it. I wanna hear all the fun stories, tales, and maybe even the fibs you need to tell.

There are no rules to how you set up your post. It can be one thing or a list of 10. (If it's over 50 things, I might need you to send me a 6-pack of Mountain Dew so I can finish.) :)

I'll have a linky party up on Monday for all of you to share your posts. Don't worry you've got all week.

And all next week, I'll be sharing some of my favorite things - and my mom's, and maybe even my grandmother's.

So go! Get to thinking, and taking pictures and writing.

Oh and while you're at it, take this button (below) and let others know about what's going on. I can't wait to see what you all share.

♥ Kimberly



P.S. I dare you not to start singing the song.
You know. That song.

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Ballard-Inspired Drying Rack

I adore the Beadboard Drying Racks from Ballard Designs. I do not adore the price.

One (semi-domestic) human couldn't love anything more than those racks.

Or so I thought, until I saw Kate's Ballard-inspired drying rack last year over at Centsational Girl. And then I knew I really couldn't love another thing more than I love her version.


So I asked my grandfather for help building my own drying rack for my laundry room; he was such a sport. (Room is too nice a word; it's more like a laundry closet. A hole, if you will.) You see, I have a long history of making odd requests and asking even stranger questions of my grandfather.

"Can you grow grass in a pot? Or does it need a big yard?"

"We're trying to light a giant Eiffel Tower, but we messed up all the lights. Can you come and just splice this stuff together?"

"Why is it called a male end and a female end?"

So in comparison, asking him to help make a drying rack is pretty normal. Mundane, even.

Not mundane? This drying rack!


I have so little extra space in my apartment that I have to be smart about where I hang things to dry. A pop-up drying rack is great, but sometimes I only need to dry one or two things. That's why this drying rack is perfect for a small load, for delicates, for hand-wash items.


(Forgive these pictures. They were all taken in low-light conditions because I made this rack back in the winter and all inside, so they're a little harsh.)

Kate has a great, great tutorial here. But I'll offer my own humble tutorial too.

What You'll Need
2' x 2' precut wood (1/2 inch thick), larger if you'd like
Two 1/2" by 2" poplar boards
Two 3/8" dowel rods
Sash lock (the kind you use on a window)
Pin hinges (I'd suggest smaller, more narrow ones than I used.)
Tack nails
Hammer
Screwdriver
Drill with 5/8" drill bit
3' small link chain
4 medium eye screw eyes
Three knobs
Primer
Sandpaper
Wood putty
Wood glue
Paint
Paint brushes

Now that's a miter saw. It's old. It's an antique even, and I loved every second of using it. (Except maybe when it had trouble sawing.)


Step 1: Sand the board and round the edges (if you like).



Step 2: Measure and cut at 45-degree angles the 1/2" x 2" boards to fit the 2' x 2' wood. If you want to have the knobs on the bottom, make the vertical sides about four inches shorter than the horizontal sides. With your wood glue, glue the boards together, one corner at a time. Then gently hammer in nails, coming from both directions to secure the frame.

To make placing dowel rods easier, leave one of the vertical sides off until you've put the rods in and are ready to finish the frame.

Step 3: Cut your dowel rods to fit inside your rack frame (about a 1/2" shorter than the width of the frame). From the top of the frame, measure down equal distances for your dowel rods. With a 5/8" drill bit and your drill, prepare holes for the dowel rod. Do not go all the way through the board. Drill in about half way. Then dab a little wood glue on the ends of the dowel rods. Put them into one side of the frame and then the final side, securing in place with glue and nails. You may need a rubber mallet to get the dowel rods into the drilled holes completely.


Step 4: Place the frame on the board and mark holes for hinges. With your screwdriver or drill, prepare pilot holes for the screws. Then screw on the hinges. You could use invisible or narrow hinges so they aren't as noticeable as mine.


Step 5: (Sorry, I don't seem to have pictures for this step.) Screw in your medium eye screw eyes into the sides of the board and the frame. Cut enough linked chain (twice) to allow the drying rack frame to hang down. You can choose the angle. More chain, larger angle.

Step 6: Prime and paint the entire rack. (Cat not an acceptable substitute for paint brushes.) I filled in a few holes in the board with some wood putty and sanded it down before priming. I used a basic white satin paint for the white and Glidden's Butterscotch for the back. (I got a free quart a few months back, and I was pumped to find a project I could use it on.)


To paint mine, I took it apart. (Yes, just after having put it together.) You can leave it together like Kate did, and just cover the back with newspaper in order to paint the rack. Or take them apart, like I did. Either way.


Step 7: When your paint is very dry, you need to attach your sash. Place the sash where it needs to be on top. Mark screw holes with a pen or pencil, and use your drill to make pilot holes. Then screw in the screws to hold the sash in place.


Step 8: Drill holes in the bottom of the board and put in your knobs.


Step 9: In order to hang this (as it is somewhat heavy), I used a French cleat. It's designed to hold very, very heavy loads. Martha Stewart uses them to hang headboards. Plus, I screwed this into the wall's studs, so this little rack can take some weight if I need to hang something heavier on the hooks. (Remember: the dowel rods can only handle so much weight. Keep them for lighter things.)

I also glued felt to the back in order to protect the wall and the drying rack from scratches.


Then I screwed in the other side of the cleat into the studs. Slipped the cleat together, and it's done!






The whole rack was relatively inexpensive. I actually already had the piece of board. The paint was a free sample. My grandmother gave me the porcelain knobs. The French cleat was expensive, in comparison to a wire and D-hooks. It was about $17. But well worth it at least for me.

Total cost: About $25.

Ballard drying rack: $89 + shipping and handling

Doing laundry just got a little sweeter. :)

♥ Kimberly


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