Stencil Rescue: a Key to Financial Freedom

The windows on our back porch

needed to be finished with wood trim.

My Farmer makes no claim to be a carpenter,

but he does really well;
much better than he gives himself credit for.

When he decided to finish them off,

I asked that he'd make the little squares in the corners

as so many of the other doorways in our house have:

I thought it would make them look quaint.

Then I suggested that we buy the wooden Rosettes

that have carved circles,

so they'd look even nicer.

I looked them up online

and they were $1.50 each.

We needed 24 of them.

Sure, that may not seem like much to the average guy,

but

well, let's just say that we are not the average guy.

We live tight.
We like finding ways to save a dollar here and there
because we know that it adds up.

We know this
because we've done it our whole marriage.
I'm not saying it's always easy.
I'm not saying we never fought disagreed about it
(Ahem).

But we've been well rewarded for it,

 not being in debt to anyone for anything
(I admit, I owe a huge part of this to my husband's saving ways
even before we were married,
but we did continued the process in our marriage
until we completed it when we bought our farm.)

We paid off everything when we bought our farm.
It was an answer to many prayers
to reach that goal.

But we lived so tight when we were first married,

it was almost funny some of the things we did.

Here's just 2 small examples of things I did:

#1

Not only did I shop at the Good Will
(I'm still their faithful patron),

but in those days,
I only bought items from the $.50 rack;

and I knew they changed the color every week
and put new things on that rack on Tuesday,

so that's when I'd shop.
(I think they even thought of me as the 'Cheapskate'
at the Good Will).

Most of my maternity clothes were larger-sized people clothes
that I just took in to fit me
that I paid $.50 each for.

I wasn't the year's latest fashion.

But there was a goal in mind.


#2
I didn't use my oven much
because ovens use so much more energy
(I was the crock-pot/stove-top/top-of-the-woodstove queen).
When I did use it,
I cooked at least 3 different things,
often doubling the recipe so I could freeze
a meal or the extras,
to make it worth heating it up.

I still do that.
I can't justify to myself heating the oven up
for just biscuits or cookies.

(Is this some kind of disorder?
Obsessive Compulsive Cheapskate?)

I usually wait until a day when I know I will cook a meal in the oven
and get a dessert ready,
and maybe a batch of biscuits
so then I feel like the energy hasn't been wasted.

There are lots of frugal tricks that we do.
Crazy things.

But it was worth it.

I tell you:

It was worth it.

There is NOTHING in all the world that feels as amazing

as paying everything off

and hearing

"Paid in full in Cash."

I think that day will stand out in my mind forever.

I tell you this because I know I hear so many people
say they are struggling
and don't know how it can be done,
but it can.

Just do the small things
as well as the big things
and eventually,
it pays off.

Somebody might say,
"You're crazy!
I don't want to live that way!"
And she might be right.

But quite honestly,
I didn't "want" to live like that either,
but I wanted our goal more
and was willing to make that sacrifice.

I just had to be so willing to get there

that I saw things,

not as deprivations,

but as stepping stones to the main goal:

financial freedom.

It makes for creativity,
living this way.

When you really want something,
you look for ways to get it
outside of spending.

Anyhow,

living as we do

on purpose and by our choice,

both of us
(I think it's ingrained in us now),

we felt like $40 on decorative wood pieces for around porch windows,

well,

it was just too much.

So my husband told me to stencil on them.

"Yuck.
That's so cheesy,"

I grimaced;

so I got out my clay and tried fashioning a rosette.

Then I realized how long it was going to take,

and how much clay I was going to use.

I put the clay away.

Then I thought of The Graphics Fairy.

She has great designs on her website.

How could I get those on my wooden blocks?

I could Modge Podge them,

but then I'd have to print up that many,

and everyone knows how fast printing ink goes.
("Cheapskate").

Suddenly, it hit me:

I'll make a stencil from one of her images

and paint them on.

"That's what I said to do in the first place,"

my Farmer kindly informed me.

"Did you?" 

I responded.

"Well, you didn't say to make a stencil from the Graphics Fairy."

He looked at me rather confused.
My logic does that to him sometimes.

So,

I gathered my supplies:

 I printed up this design

making the circle fit the size of the blocks we were using
(from scrap lumber he had, of course).

I then taped the paper to my plastic sheet I had from something else.

 Being that it was a stencil,

I outlined the places that I wanted help with,

making sure to leave plenty of uncut places so that my stencil would stay together.

 Using an exacto knife,

I traced the stencil,

pressing hard so it would go through the plastic.

(This is the back, showing how the cuts have gone through.)

 I cut outside the line slightly on the outside circle...

 so that the circle would be a little more pronounced.

 (Here's a view from the back again)

 Toward the end,

I had to tape the paper in a new spot to hold it on

as it was getting quite flimsy.

 Afterward,

I took off the paper

and cut some of the lines a little more clearly

wherever it needed it.

Then I carefully cut out the stencil so I could see where it's placement

would be on my blocks of wood...

 and chose a gray colored paint to pounce on the stencil.

 When they were done,

there was enough of the design there to help me,

and I embellished the rest using the paper example as a guide.

No, they are not EXACTLY perfect,

but nobody will ever notice that

(except all you blog people who come over my house).

But that's okay.
Just don't mention it.

 Here is the process I did to shade them:

 (rubbing some off with a rag here)

 Here are the windows before:

 They looked pretty good anyhow.

Here is one after:

 I think it will work the way I was hoping.

 Hey!  What's she doing out there?

 "Hey little girl, are you lost?"

Nope, just teasing.

 Her sister stepped right outside the door here with her

so they could peek through the window at me.

 

 I love this view!

 Now, on to my "Happy 200 followers" Giveaway!!!

The giveaway is an adaptation of some pictures from 

The Graphics Fairy as well:

>this picture<

and

>this picture<

I'm also including this little crochetted nest I made

with 5 little clay eggs.

You can enter by leaving a comment.

If you were a follower before this giveaway,

tell me so,

and you will have 2 entries,

because I'm happy you are my friend.

The giveaway will end this Saturday,

April 16th.

Linked up to:
Funky Junk Interiors: SNS
Pink postcard: Transformations-and-Treasures
Some Girls Website :Thought-Provoking-Thursdays
Domestically-speaking :Power-of-paint-party 

Not just a housewife: Show-me-what-ya-got

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