Old Tray, New Life

We're downsizing.

It's a chore, and if I could give any young person some good advice, it would be to HAVE LESS STUFF, EXPERIENCE MORE LIFE.

However, what's done is done, and we are slowly and methodically removing what we don't need from our lives.

Things we've bought, collected, been gifted, and somehow accumulated over 20 years of marriage and then some.

In this process, we've been very intentional about looking at each thing, making a decision, and moving forward.

Such is the case for a worn silver tray, past it's prime, but with a bit of life left.

Now, I love trays.

They are one of the most versatile objects to decorate with, take up minimal space, and are very useful.

This silver-plated tray once belonged to my mother-in-law, and although hubby had no attachment to it, I knew that I could rework it and use it into the new "less is more" phase of our retirement life.

You can see that over time the silver-plate was burnished off, but the beautiful embossed design still showed.

The edge and the handles of the tray were a solid dark gray from tarnish.

I could never imagine living in the '50s and '60s and having to POLISH this with cotton rags and silver paste.

NO THANK YOU!

But, it did need a good swipe with some Isopropyl Alcohol to get the dirt and any lint off the surface.

You can see that the alcohol did a great job readying it for the next step.

Using my Waverly Chalk Paint in the color Mineral, I painted the flat portion of the tray.

The taupey-gray color went on like a dream even though the first coat didn't fully cover.

It looked splotchy, but I knew that a second coat would take care of that.

I used a flat-edged brush to paint both coats which allowed me to cut in on the edge of the tray without any problem.

Once the second coat dried, I painted the Waverly Matte Varnish on top to protect the chalk paint and give it a hard finish.

I then used my Rub'n Buff Gold Leaf wax finish to add just a bit of elegance to the tray handles and edging.

(Look at how great the embossed patterns on the tray show through the coats of paint and varnish!)

I squeezed just a bit of the gold wax onto my finger and began to just rub the details of the tray.  

The tarnished bits really look great in contrast with the gold bits.

I then did the scalloped edges, just running minute bits of the wax over the raised parts, leaving the indentations the tarnished color.

I let the tray cure for 24 hours and it was done.

Now I have a great piece that fits with my style, PLUS it now has a new life!

Because it's varnished, I can use it as a tray, but I wouldn't recommend placing food items directly onto the surface.  Paper doilies should be used IF you would want to do that. 

This project cost me ZERO dollars because I already had everything on hand.

You can get similar chalk paint from Amazon or get the Waverly brand from Wal*Mart.

The Rub'n Buff can be found at Amazon as well.

Rub'n Buff also comes in many different colors if the gold doesn't appeal to you.

I often find these types of trays at thrift shops, especially silvered pieces that are not in vogue at the moment.  Look around and experiment with different paint options.

There are no rules in crafting!

Do You SEE Things Differently?

Last week was the final post of my series of SEE.

I'd like to recap the last 6 weeks so remind you and ME of what it really means to SEE.

If you remember, it all started with my Intentions for 2020.

2020 is perfect vision - the ability to SEE clearly.

I created an Intention Ring to remind me daily.  And yes, I wear it!

So let's do a review.

As a former teacher, I can't help be reiterate what I've shared over the past 6 weeks.

Week 1 was about Growth.

Photo Credit:  Inactive.

It was about how growth is hard but imperative.

It can be messy, but so worth the effort and time it takes to really grow.

Week 2 was about Talent.

Photo Credit:  Gimmeges

Talent is different for different people, and instead of wishing you had a particular talent, instead, grow that talent or talents you do have.

Week 3 was about Looking at Others.

Photo Credit:  Kasuma

Part of life is really looking at others.

Be aware and in awe of your surroundings.

We are more alike than different.

Week 4 was about Challenges.

Photo Credit:   Magda Ehlers

Challenges help us grow.

They can refine and define who we are as people.

Week 5 was about Closure.

Photo Credit:  Pixabay

Closure can be one of the hardest things to do, but it can also be the most beneficial.

And finally, Week 6 was about Beauty.

Photo Credit:  Skitterphoto

Beauty is subjective.

It's in the eye of the beholder.

What is beautiful to you may not be to someone else.

Remember that when you compare yourself to others.

Photo Credit:  Marianna Mercado

Throughout this series, I've been asking you to take a good look at yourself.

SEE who you are and who you want to be.

Go for it!

Be bold.

Break Rules!

Be YOU!

Stick A Cork On It!

I'm a cork saver.

Yep, after every bottle of wine, I save the cork.

Now, over MANY MANY MANY years (I didn't want anyone to think this amount was recent), I've collected quite a bit.

Probably around 75 or so.

What do you do with all those corks?

Pinterest ideas of course.

So I did and here is the result.

I went through each of the corks and organized them by cork design and wine.  

It was a random thing to do, but I liked that certain corks were more intricate than others.

I gathered 18 corks for each project.

I also grabbed some cork tiles and cut them into a 6x6 inch square. 

You could use any base you like, I just happened to have these cork tiles available.

I inspected my corks to make sure that any "flea bites" were going to face down once the project was done.

This was also a matter of preference.

I let my hot glue gun heat up and started to apply the corks to my cork tile.

I placed two, side by side, facing up.

They glued on like a dream.

Adding some stipes of hot glue next to those, I added two more corks.

This time, I turned them perpendicular to the first pair.

I then put the next two opposite of those two, matching the first pair.

I repeated the hot glue and pairs of corks.

Each pair was placed in the opposite direction of the previous pair, which also meant that existing pairs that it touched were also in opposition.

When I was done gluing, I had this!

I wanted to finish the edge of the cork tile, so I took some Dollar Tree "cork" ribbon, cut it to the thickness of the cork tile and hot glued it around the base.

Another option I tried was using this Burlap Trim, also from the Dollar Tree.

I wrapped that around the actual corks.

It was literally a matter of playing around with all the materials to see how I wanted it to go.

I made sure not to worry about any gaps that were showing between the corks.

There's no way you will be able to snug your corks perfectly against one another.

In about 20 minutes...

I had two cork trivets, full of sweet wine memories.

They are perfect to use as hot pads on my dining room table.

I ended up making 5 in all.

And, since I didn't need a hot pad, I placed them under my Dollar Tree candles as a centerpiece for a dinner party I just had.

These would be a great gift idea.

If you did only 8 corks you could make adorable drink coasters.

The ideas are endless, just check out Pinterest!

SEE: Beauty

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."

Shakespeare said is Love's Labours Lost, 1588:

"Beauty is bought by judgement of the eye, not utter'd by base sale of chapmen's tongues."

Benjamin Franklin wrote in Poor Richard's Almanack, 1741:

Beauty, like supreme dominion, is but supported by opinion.

Beauty.

It's quite a subjective term.

Over the course of human history, the idea of beauty has changed.

Even today, what constitutes "beauty" is different among countries, continents, regions, and religions.

Thank goodness it is.

But, as humans, are we so "brainwashed" with what is conventional beauty that we often fail to see the vast and wonderous thing that beauty really is?

What about nature?

Photo Credit:  Nacho Juarez

The first thing you notice is the flower with its vibrant hues, growing among the rocks.

But look how beautiful the rocks are.

A multitude of grays, pinks, whites, browns, blues, corals, blacks.

Rough and smooth edges, undulating and pitted.

At one time, parts of larger rocks.

Worn away and battled until they broke off.

Smaller, but still here, providing shelter and a subtle backdrop for the flower to grow and present itself in all its beauty.

Is your life more like the flower or like the rocks?

The flower has a limited life span, but the rocks...

Those rocks have seen and endured thousands of storms and assaults, yet they are still here.

What about human emotion?

Photo Credit: Kat Jayne

Emotions can be hard.

Especially the ones that make us cry.

But what are tears? 

They are saline.  

The natural form of moisture that cleanses without being abrasive.  

They wash away foreign substances in our eyes.

They express the deepest hurt and humiliation a human can experiences.

They can also express the greatest joy and love a human can experience as well.

Tears can "speak" a language that is universal.  

You can see tears of joy or tears of pain in the eyes of someone who does not speak your language.

Tears can make you cry, even without knowing why.

There's a beauty in the silent communication that tears speak.

What about spirituality?

Photo Credit: Rodolfo Clix

It doesn't matter your religion, or even if you don't participate in a structured religion.

Spirituality itself is a form of beauty.

There's beauty in traditions where songs and words come together to sing praises of joy and life.

Dimly lit rooms with a multitude of candles giving off a soft glowing light beckon the soul to come forward and observe.

The faithful prayers of people in a pose that represents a time of quiet solitude and speaking to their higher being.

The services, like beautiful dances, of familiar steps and phrases that give peace, hope, and comfort to those in need.

The solitude of sitting among nature, reverent in the creation of all that is around, below, and above you.

What about age?

Photo Credit: James Wheeler

As we age comes experience, wisdom, life lessons.

These can be looked at as a thing of beauty alone.

However, as we age, like anything, we also develop cracks, wrinkles, scars, a slow fading of what was once vibrant and new.

The beauty may no longer be on the visible surface but is still there beneath the life having already been lived.

Sometimes we try to cheat age with potions and procedures that may temporarily help us to look and feel more beautiful, but they are truly only on the surface.

We celebrate buildings, like old houses that have stood the test of time, as things of beauty.

We celebrate nature, like the Grand Canyon, that despite its age is still held in awe and wonder.

We celebrate thousands of years of history like it happened yesterday.

And yet...

We seldom celebrate aging, or for that matter even accept it, as beautiful, when it happens to every single one of us.

What about love?

Photo Credit:  Sharon McCutcheon

The greatest of all things that are beautiful is love.

Pure love.

The kind that stands the test of time.

The love a pet gives you - unadulterated, without question, adoring you kind of love.

The love another human may give you.

Be it romantic, familial, or friendship.

Those are truly beautiful things to see.

The love of someone who is dying, giving all they have to ease the pain and burden of those they love as they come to grips with the very real possibility of death.

Photo Credit:  Pixabay

There are beautiful things all around us.

We have to stop to appreciate the beauty beneath the surface.

We have to really SEE what is beautiful.

Otherwise, we miss the truth of human life, in all its glorious beauty.

Easy Vehicle Organization

According to AAA, Americans spend 70 BILLION hours behind the wheel.

70.  BILLION.  HOURS.

That's a lot of time spent "living" in your car or truck.

Many are eating, conducting business, chatting (hopefully through Bluetooth technology), listening to   music-books-podcasts, talking to their passengers, and generally spending perhaps some of the most productive hours of their day.

Essentially, our vehicles have become a "second home" to many of us and as such, they deserve to be just as organized and well cared for as our homes.

This isn't hard to do, it just takes a little bit of planning and organizing.

So, I enlisted hubby to "hand-over" his truck so that I could get him better situated, especially since I had to ride in his big Ford F250 as well.

Here's what we started with...

This is a big truck that gets a whole lot of use.

In the back seat, the dog has her "throne" and pretty much goes with us everywhere.

(Long story, she's spoiled...)

So, besides the copious amounts of dog hair, there's a couple layers of bedding, a dog shield, and beach towels.

There is also "stuff" shoved into the seat pockets.

Behind his seat, there was a large 31 bag with gym equipment, hats, magazines, books, snacks, and general bits of "stuff" that were lost among the rest of the loose objects.

The door had papers, and napkins, and a copy of the Articles of Confederation (I'm married to a veteran as well as a historical/political buff), and lottery tickets that hadn't been checked yet.

So...

I asked him (nicely) to remove EVERYTHING from his truck cab, including the pockets, glove compartment (no gloves there), middle storage spaces, and overhead bins.

It was not pretty.

Here's what came out of the glove compartment.

Now, before you say "that's not too bad," in his defense, he did get rid of all the trash prior to dumping the contents on our kitchen island.

Is it only me, or do random wrinkled fast-food napkins drive anyone else crazy as well?

This came out of the deep storage compartments in the middle console.

He had 3 pen knives, a compass, faded fuzzy dice, lens wipes, 3 nail-clippers, fireball candy, random change, enough pens to start a Staples franchise, and a hacky-sack ball.

Shew...

We laid it all out on the kitchen island and started the hard task of "deciding" what needs to stay and what needs to go.

This can be difficult, especially when you have someone who likes to have "in case" items.

You know, I need 3 knives "in case" the other 2 are dull. (insert forehead slap here)

It can be hard to make decisions, but you really need to think of the items you grab most, items that you may grab periodically, and items that you've never used.

If you are really struggling with some items, put them aside in your garage or house and see if you really need them in the next 4 weeks.  If not, toss, donate, or repurpose - they could possibly work in the organization of another vehicle.

I used a Dollar Tree notebook pouch to organize all of our RV cards and information.  Since we pull our fifth-wheel with this truck, we like to have those items on hand.

They stay organized in the glove box.

I added a few new items that I know are imperative in a vehicle.

Some wipes for the occasional coffee and food spills.  A pocket tool (Dollar Tree), car vent deodorizer, and some truck papers I found while cleaning out the office.

Keeping your vehicles important papers together is a must.  Because we travel a lot in this truck, I wanted to have all the maintenance records inside in the event that we have to have additional maintenance done out of state while traveling.

I used a bag that I ordered in a set to corral those papers and keep them together.

The beauty of organizing this way is that in the future when you need to perform regular cleaning on your vehicle, you can just remove the pouches, clean, and return them quickly and easily.

When we returned the organized bags back to the glove box, here's what it looked like.

He could even close it all the way!

WIN WIN!

The middle compartment looked so much better without all that needless stuff taking up so much room.

Hubby is no longer sifting through things (while driving) looking for something he needs - mostly his candy!

The back floor got to see some daylight as well.

We went through the one 31 bag that he kept there, and transferred what he needed to another 31 bag that had an insert to hold up the sides.

I added a Dollar Tree half roll of Viva paper towels to the bag along with his other "needed" stuff.

Having a roll of towels in your vehicle is really a good idea - spills happen people!

I used one of the smaller bags from the set to organize his lens wipes, a nail clipper, and eye drops.

Small items like those can get lost very quickly in a vehicle.  When you place them in one area, in a bag or container, they never fall to the bottom of large items.

A must-have in any vehicle is a trash can.  I found this one on Amazon and it is by far the best I've ever used.

It clips to your middle console but hangs behind it, between the foot space in the back.

The interior is lined with plastic, so it's easy to rinse and/or wipe clean when cleaning it out.

The crosshatch in the top allows for easy use and it never topples over and it holds a lot!

There are even side pockets to hold items if needed.

All in all, this little organization project took us about an hour to complete.

Hubby was a good sport and even allowed me to "grill" him about each and every item that made it back into the truck.

He's also been doing a great job of keeping it organized and together.

No, he's not as obsessive as I am about organization, but he does appreciate it when it is organized.

He's a bit of a rule breaker!