his and hers nightstands

I did this a long time ago and just haven't posted it.

Probably because I think I want to paint these night stands.

But I really do like the stenciling that I did.

I think it's fun.

But the night stands still do need a little work.  We'll see what happens with them.

Oh, and that white lamp?  It's a work in progress.

It was brown.

Maybe I'll finish them (there are two of them) in fall.

Speaking of finishing in fall, here are just a few projects that need that to happen:

 Bottom blue, fabric for curtains in dining room.

Middle, fabric to cover outdoor chairs.

Top, fabric for curtains in living room.

 Cardboard squares, cut and taped way back in August (more of our appliance boxes) and white pleather for a white padded "leather" headboard.

But since we still have our mattress on the floor, I figured a headboard doesn't really make sense.

Frame first, headboard second.

 Aqua frames for kids' art display in the aquarium.

 Black frames for living room photo display.

And remember these beautiful pieces of wood from the wedding?

I finally decided what I want to do with them.

Make a side table.

It looks good in my head but we'll see if it really turns out.

There are still a few other things too - painting a design on our master bedroom wall; bean bag chairs for the kids, painting the side tables in the aquarium and I am sure I am forgetting stuff.

I always have suffered from chronic more-ideas-than-I-have-time-and-money-and-energy for.

We'll see if it all actually happens.

And then, a confession.

Back in Costa Rica I told a few friends about an idea I had to make a chandelier out of recycled plastic soda bottles.  When we moved here, I set to work making this charming display of beauty for Maddy's room.  I spent hours and hours and hours cutting out pieces of plastic bottles, piercing them with holes and tying monofilament (a pain in the booty to work with as far as I am concerned) to hold them together.  Maddy also spent a fair bit of time helping.  I finally had enough, or so I thought, to make this little beauty, so I started assembling.

I didn't have enough, so I decided to make it smaller - I had started off making it quite large.

I realized that I would still need a lot more to really make the impact I was going for, so I took a little break.  Like, for 7 months.

And now, even though I think it would be dazzling, I am going to trash that baby and start over.

I can't bear to cut more plastic and go through more of that pained process.

Instructions for making faux capiz chandeliers are all over the place and two friends from bible study are working together on making some.  It is so very much easier how they are doing it, so I am going to dump all my hours of work and start over, following their lead.

Yup, its not my original idea.

Yup, its not making beauty out of old, used stuff (what I really love to do).

Yup, it is wasting much effort and work.

But, it will probably take me less time to do it this way as it will to finish the one I've started, and it will be much less frustrating.

That's a lot of writing about my silly chandelier project.

I think I am mourning its loss a little.

But I'll come out of it okay.

So in fall I'll have, bearing health, time and energy, a whole bunch of stuff to show you!