The DIY Monster

DIY: the art of doing it yourself

I'm not an artsy, creative person.  Problem is I want to be.  My mom is long-standing cross-stitch extraordinaire and card maker.  My mother-in-law has crazy quilting skills.  I have friends that are stellar in the cake-making arena or those that can whip out a, well, picture-perfect scrapbook without even thinking about it.  Every once in a while I see something they've done and I think, "Hey...I can do that!"

And then I try.  And inevitably whatever it was I set out to do just doesn't turn out how it looked in my head.  And I crawl back into my not-so-crafty hole and I'm content for a while longer.  Until I found the catalyst.  This catalyst can in one instance turn me from the cool, calm, and collected "I don't care if I'm crafty or not" Dr. Bruce Banner into the ultra-aggressive, out of control "I can DIY this place to the ground" Incredible Hulk.  Now you may be asking yourself, "What's this catalyst you speak of?"  Oh, I'll tell you...

...Pinterest.  I first heard of this Pinterest about a year ago and after learning the premise I told myself, "Nope...not gonna do it."  I know myself too well and I knew that once I got started, it would be too hard to stop.  But I'm only human and I give in to peer pressure so easily (dang it!).  "It's awesome" they said.  "There are so many great ideas" they said.  Huh. Well, I caved and unfortunately they were right.

This whole new world of DIY was before me with the luring "You don't have to buy that. You can make it and it will be so much cheaper and you'll feel like you accomplished something and...."  HULK SMASH!!!  The DIY Monster was born.

Notice I don't say Queen.  Queen would imply I have some sort of rule over the DIY world.  No, this is more of an involuntary reaction to too much Pinterest.  I'm just browsing along, then all of a sudden I have to make a cape for my boys when I don't even know how to sew a hem, redecorate each and every one of my various living spaces, paint every piece of furniture in my house...or better yet make some furniture so I get exactly what I want.  Enter Gregg.

"You took shop class in high school, right? Why can't you make me an entertainment center that looks exactly like it does in my head?  What do you mean you need to research furniture making...the plans are right here on Joe Schmoe's blog?  What do you mean you need tools...we have a hacksaw, don't we?"  Slowly back away, Gregg...the green monster is about to make an appearance. 

But he's so sweet.  He appeases me and my want to be creative.  He has those encouraging phrases like, "Don't worry, babe...it's not going to be perfect the first time you try it."  Oh, really?  (Here's where my stubbornness comes into the picture.)  Well, then...I'm just going to keep trying until it is perfect.  He sighs and goes right along with it...although he has mentioned the need for a Pinterest Intervention once or twice...

My latest project?  We need some end tables for the family room.  Our house has been monochromatic for so long that I thought something with a little color would be just what my home-decorating soul needed. So when I saw these bad boys at the local thrift store during Happy Hour (half off the entire store at Cornerstone Thrift Store every day from noon to one!), I thought, "Hey!  I can spiff these up with a fresh coat of paint and they'll be perfect!"

My thrift store gems

Gregg had a slightly different reaction when he saw 'em.  I don't remember the exact words, but it was somewhere along the lines of, "Hope you didn't pay too much for those ugly things."  Supportive, huh?  Can't a girl pick up some homely end tables for half price at the local thrift store without catching a bunch of flack for it?  Geesh!  Anyway, then I got this bright idea (from I don't know where) to do a stenciled design on them as well.  So I cut out some stencils on my Cricut and voila!

The original stencil job...actually a lot easier than I was picturing

Well, not quite "voila" yet...still quite a few steps to go from here.  Including a mishap.  Now one of the things that makes me a horrible DIYer is I'm impatient and sometimes lazy.  I like to cut corners even when I know the results can cost me more time (and sometimes money) in the end.  I learned the hard way that when you're painting some sort of design over another previously painted surface, it's best to lay your tape/stencil/whatever then paint a light coat of the base coat over it....kind of seals the deal sort of thing.  I painted some super cool stripes around the perimeter of Will's old bedroom and it ended up taking me two tries over three plus weeks because of this little omitted step.  But again...lazy.  I thought, "It'll be okay."  Was it?  Well...

And I botched it!

Now don't go thinking this blog is going to turn into one of those DIY tutorial blogs that are so popular these days (and frankly that I'm thankful for and my husband loathes).  No you won't find that here...far be it from me to steer fellow DIY monsters down the wrong path.  For all of you who thought I might be offering some advice, here's some: don't take any DIY advice I might think I have to offer.  It'll only cost you time and money and create frustration. 

Anyway, attempt #1 obviously didn't turn out as it should've.  Almost every individual design would've needed some touch up that I wasn't willing to execute.  But this does bring me to another Pinterest point...maybe I do have some advice to offer.  So you see the close up of the botched stencil job?  Here's a more bird's eye view.

Doesn't look so bad, does it?  It's a little harder to see all those imperfections from up here.  So here's that bit of advice for all of you that have been lured into a Pinterest project only to be disappointed in your sub-par performance: pictures can be deceiving.  That out-of focus, from far off documentation of their perfect project may not be so perfect.  That finish might not be as smooth, hem not as straight, upholstery not as tight as it appears to be...and then again it might be.

Anyway, my stubborn self and inability to wrangle the Hulk in me didn't let this be the end of it...no way.  So I re-sanded, re-primed, re-based-coated, re-stenciled, seal coated (no "re" here since I skipped this step the first time around), and re-painted.  I liked the original stencil pattern better, but I had to get a little creative here since I didn't want to use anymore of my vinyl up on this project...that stuff's expensive!

Attempt #2

The previously omitted step

And surprisingly they didn't turn out half bad.  Not what I originally pictured, but then again it never is. Oh, well.  At this point I have too much time invested to throw 'em out now.  So they're going to stay, and they're going to work....no matter how ugly Gregg might think they are...he hasn't seen the finished product yet...ha!  You can't see the rest of the family room...it's not done yet.  Give me a few more project days, then we'll talk!

The final product

Still needs more color...I can feel another project coming on!

  Hulk smash!