Friday, March 9, 2012

Shutters to Block out the Mess.

I haven't disappeared,
really.

I caught this monster cold from another planet.
My voice scares me:
 for a while I sounded like oxygen was not the gas I was meant to breathe.
I had every-five-minute sneeze explosions that were rather like bomb detonations,
and tissues were my permanent facial feature.

It seemed to fog up my brain a good deal, too,
because I don't know that I did much thinking in the last week.
If I did, I don't remember.

Needless to say,
if I had been a working school teacher,
my tissue box and I would have never left the comforting arms of the recliner.
Only having one eye open and a face full of tissues,
however,
does not limit a home-schooling teacher
since
(like it or not)
the children are there and must have some form of diversion
or 
the resulting tornado-like consequences would make the
'train-ran-over-my-head' feeling even worse.

The fog has begun to lift,
(at least, I hope I am making sense of this),
so I have again picked up some forms of constructive construction,
besides the Mt. Everest that has evolved in the laundry room from my neglect.

The sun today was pure bliss.

Lillie and Violet came in with a fist full of daffodils for me.
Levi came in with a fist full or worms to show me.

And my heart lightened when I heard a robin's song.

I love the first robins of spring.


So, I finished a shutter section for that part of my living room that has plagued me
the nearly eight years we have lived here.
I purchased two of these at a yard sale a few summers back.
Originally they were going to hide some pipework in the basement,
and then maybe the furnace,
but now they have ended up in the living room.

Here's the way it happened.


I saw this fun wall paper on Pinterest.




I mixed some country white paint with some Plaster of Paris
(to make the paint stick better to the shutters
since they seemed to have a light sealant on the wood),
and put one coat of this paint on
and then a coat of the paint without the Plaster of Paris in it.




 The large and small side of a plastic container were used to start the circle flowers.




 Next were painted the middle, lighter blue sections in each circle.



I then switched over and did the leaves/greenery for a while.



I used a darker blue and touched up with some white,
altering the pattern to make it easier.

This corner, with the hot water pipes stretching from floor to ceiling
was my long-detested foe,
and the place where I tried the shutters.


I love the way my husband's grandfather's rocker
looks great in any place it finds itself!


I am thinking I may just leave the one in this corner white.
The flowers made it too busy right up next to the stucco/stencil cupboard.
 Progress is good.

Progress in the living room is great.

Progress in the laundry room is difficult.

Ut-oh.
I think a sneeze is coming.
I think I'll end as it could send the computer screen into orbit if I don't.

Have a  healthy, productive week!



21 comments:

  1. Sooo cute and clever and it looks so wonderful...great job...

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  2. You are so clever at finding just the right bits and pieces for your home, all the things you paint and find to paint just fit right in and make it an amazing looking place in the photos you take...I bet your children are so proud of how you make your house, a home...............

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  3. what a fabulous idea!! Love the way it turned out!

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  4. sounds like the cold must be clearing if you're back to creating magic!

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  5. Found your link at MMS and had to come check out how pretty the shutter turned out! Don't you just love it when you can find a new purpose for something you already had?

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  6. The look of those shutters is great!

    =)

    PS. Get well soon!!

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  7. What a fabulous job you have made of those shutters.

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  8. Just love this. I love when painted pieces 'fit' into a room. Know what I mean? These shutters fit into that space . . . perfectly. And love that pattern! Lovely.

    Dropping by from FunkyJunk party. I'm always so happy to find another painter :)

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  9. Hope you are feeling better!! :-)

    Thanks for dropping by my blog and following! I've been following you for some time now and I'm always inspired by your creativity!! Thanks for sharing your life and projects with all of us!! :-)

    Blessings! Kris

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  10. oh goodness, how clever are you?! Love that you got your inspiration from some wall paper! Would love for you to link this up on Kammy's Korner for Trash2Treasure Tuesday if you get a chance.

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  11. You are amazing!!! Cold and All!! :)

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  12. SO fun! what a great idea and i love the added pattern!

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  13. That looks great! I want to do something like this in my laundry room to section it off from the basement. I never thought about doing a fun pattern on the screen. Thanks for sharing!

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  14. I love the painting on these. I've go some shutters in my garage....hmmm
    I'm a new follower - would love for you to stop by and follow back!

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  15. Very clever idea! I would love if you stopped by my Creative Inspirations party opening up tonight at 10 pm EST to link this great project up! I would loove to have you there!
    Stacey of Embracing Change
    http://staceyembracingchange.blogspot.com

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  16. Love this - so pretty! A great repurpose!
    Thanks for coming by to link up - please come back this Thursday as well!
    Stacey of Embracing Change

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