Holy Cow -- I completed a (teeny) project!

15 years ago

I am always amazed by and delighted with the projects you all do, and the speed of some of you overwhelms me. Wow. Well, I am now delighted with myself because I finally completed a project!

I fell in love with these vases from Gump's but couldn't justify the price ($505 for both).

So at Signals I found similar vases but in a white birch color. (No longer available at Signals but now at Target, exact same vases.) Both of the vases for $39.99!

So I got them but was never content with them, esp. in my setting (the white birch sort of faded into the wall and seemed wrong with the dark wood desk):

One morning Li'l Bit and I went to Michaels where I purchased some Liquitex copper and bronze acrylic paints; when he went down for his nap I went to town! I first painted the whole thing with the bronze paint; when it had dried, I went in with the copper and dabbed it here and there. I also rubbed umber into the spots where it had been dark (as white birch), and I love it!

In this picture you can better see the variation:

I still have a laundry list oh, about seventeen miles long of projects, but it is so crazy gratifying to get at least one thing done, start-to-finish. Yippee!

And totally unrelated, but today I purchased these shoes for Li'l Bit (who'll be three in June) -- I think these are so adorable I might just serve them for dessert with a spoon!

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Comments (28)

teacats
15 years ago
Wonderful, brillant thoughtful project -- and great transformation!

Very well done indeed!!

((and too cute shoes too! :)

Jan
laurience
15 years ago
You did a fantastic job. Awesome..... Those shoes are too darn cute.

Joanne
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fauxchick56
15 years ago
Wow! They look just like the overpriced ones from Gumps. I love the stems that you have in the after picture. Li'l Bit's shoes are pretty cute too. Good job.
mahatmacat1
15 years ago
Very nice - had to laugh...I wonder if they actually sold any at $505/pair...

nice sandals, too. Maybe keep them when your little one's done with them. Some things are too darling to give away.
paint_chips
15 years ago
That is a fabulous transformation! They went from so-so to chic!
Happyladi
15 years ago
Wow, very nice job.
brutuses
15 years ago
Good for you, very pretty.
Valerie Noronha
15 years ago
Love the new vases and the floral arrangement too.
vdinli
15 years ago
nice work! I can totally understand the gratification of getting one thing done esp with a young one hanging around. Really cute sandals. Mind if I ask where you got them from? My DS turns 3 in june too!
hhireno
15 years ago
Very impressive - the vases are just beautiful.

Love the Pirate shoes! They are just too cute. I'll never be able to see Pirate stuff again without thinking about the funny thing someone (Walking maybe?)wrote about her kid & his pirate parts. Hee, hee - now you'll probably think of that too.
rmkitchen
Original Author
15 years ago
Thank you everyone! Such a delicious way to start a Friday. Thanks for making me feel accomplished for an admittedly picayune project, but as vinudev_liny wrote, getting anything done sometimes can just feel amazing.You all are so kind & supportive.

And thank you for the nice comment on the magnolias. They're from Fiori Belli -- our cats will not let us have live plants / flowers in the house. Nine years ago I gave up being furious with them and moved onto fake, and I have to say these look really good, even in person.

hhireno -- cute story. It reminds me of a similar malaprop from Kristin Gore's Sammy's Hill, where after her boss wins the (US) Vice Presidency Sammy sends out a mass text thanking her "pubic." Ahem.

vinudev_liny, the shoes are by Garvalin and I purchased them from Kinga Shoes -- I love that (online) store! My older son (he'll be five in June -- June's a good month, and I know you'll agree!) wears a lot of Bopy, and Kinga has a terrific selection. Zappos also carries Garvalin -- that link is to the same shoe but a Viking, not a pirate. You know another site I really like for little boys' shoes? Vincent Shoes -- maybe you already know them. Does your son like cars? My youngest couldn't care less (he likes tools), but I thought these sandals were darling (and they'll accommodate his ankle braces, which determines the shoes I purchase). Sorry to do so much shoe talk; I think little boys' clothing and shoes can be so much fun.

Thank you again all for being so nice. I appreciate it!
lynninnewmexico
15 years ago
That is one very cool project with fantastic results! I love it. As much as I love my Gumps catalog and all the wonderful items in it, every time I get one I just shake my head at their prices . . . OMG!

As for Li'l Bit's new shoes, they are so cute. They make me want to be a kid again!!
Get going on that list of projects, as I'm really enjoying seeing the end results!
Lynn
ronbre
15 years ago
i love the changes you made in the vases
madtown_2006_gw
15 years ago
Wow, great job!
IdaClaire
15 years ago
I love your new vases, and I agree that they look every bit as good as the ones from Gump! Great job!

I am just drooling over those precious little pirate shoes too! I think my 4-year old nephew needs a pair of those! He loves to "play pirate." The other day I walked in on him, alone in his room. He was sitting on his bed, surrounded by toys and staring at some kid show on his tv, all while wearing a pirate patch over one eye. ;-D
IdaClaire
15 years ago
Oooooh ... I just checked the link to the Kinga site. $110 for kid shoes???

**faint -- THUD**
mom2girls_2008
15 years ago
Great job and the flowers are lovely too...ooh and I love the shoes as well...enjoy those little guys.. they grow so fast.. my girls are 18 and 22.. it feels like just yesterday that they could fit into shoes that sweet and little!!
mahatmacat1
15 years ago
yes, auntjen, but then they're framed and displayed afterwards...and rm did save all that money from the vases ;) (just kidding -- shoes that cost that much never touched my daughter's feet either)
IdaClaire
15 years ago
but then they're framed and displayed afterwards...

Well, ya could, you know! ;-D
igloochic
15 years ago
LOL Auntjen...I fainted the first time I bought shoes for my little guy :oP They don't cost what they used to heh heh Especially if you have special needs to accomidate ie the brace, or my son't inserts. His therapists were attempting to make him have arches....I decided it wasn't worth the pain and gave up, but the only shoes that fit him with the arches had to have a very soft sole, and yet insulate him from the ice we walk on daily.

RM Don't you love nap time? I swear my kid is going to nap until he's 20. He didn't nap at all (really at all!) the first year, then the second he took four half hour naps a day which I thought was heaven, and then finally when we figured out what was wrong with him, he was comfortable enough to sleep for a couple hours. He still sleeps from 2:30 to 4 daily and I either build a castle in a whirlwind during that time...or I nap too LOL It's all or nothing most days.

I love the vases :) But I have to admit....I love the shoes more LOL I absolutely adore cool kids shoes and those are some of the coolest. I think DS needs them heh heh

You should try the site Tinysoles. I purchase a lot of his shoes there. They have some fabulous little italian "ski" boots for kids that are to die for. We have them in two colors LOL They're boots, but they have fur all over the body of the boot, then bright colored soles in orange and green. He looks like a little doll when he wears them with his parka. :)
vdinli
15 years ago
rmkitchen, Thanks a lot for all those links. I had no idea about those sites! We stick with Stride rite around here. Now I have to find a way to sneak these past DH (who will have a cow if he sees some of these prices!)..they are so cute. You know a funny thing, my DS also doesn't care much for cars but give him his hammer and drill any day..seems like our DS's have similar tastes..
sorry for more shoe talk!!!
mahatmacat1
15 years ago
Yes, I was serious, auntjen! I'm keeping some of DD's more iconic baby clothes possibly to display when I'm 75 years old (or take pics of her daughter/s in or both :)). I'm a sentimental nut, though :)
k9arlene
15 years ago
http://www.target.com/Tall-Tree-Trunk-Vase/dp/B001CHFJFG/qid=1236965785/ref=br_1_8/182-1626145-0975342?ie=UTF8&node=1264453011&frombrowse=1&pricerange=&index=tgt-mf-mv&field-browse=1264453011&rank=pmrank&rh=&page=4
rmkitchen
Original Author
15 years ago
Believe me, I know those shoes are insanely expensive and, except for his ankle braces (because insurance deemed his developing the stability in his ankles so he can walk "not a medical necessity" -- it was a medical necessity to me), the most expensive footwear I have ever purchased for either child. But honestly? Given how freaking hard Li'l Bit (and I) have worked to get him to this place where he can walk I gladly spent it.

I don't mean to sound like a humorless bore (because I'm really not!), but if you've ever had a child with a special / exceptional need (and igloochic, I know you're with me on this one!), then you know that the milestones so many of us take for granted (I certainly took them for granted with my older son) can be mind-blowing epochs for them, and need to be celebrated loudly and, in this case, expensively. (didn't "need" to be celebrated expensively, but it worked out that way this time -- last week when I celebrated his finally developing the ability to blow it was with a $1.99 orange recorder from Target, go figure)

We spend hours every week on Li'l Bit's therapies (physical, occupational and speech), and by golly, if some cute pirate shoes on his now-walking feet are going to make me rejoice all he's accomplished then you better bet I'll spend that $110! It gave me goosebumps to get to do it. Plus I'd rather spend $110 on shoes for him than a few thousand on a Snapdragon (pint-sized wheelchair) ....

I think many of us do things which might seem odd / extravagant to others, but if they knew what these odd / extravagant things represented to us, then they'd never question it -- they'd join us in that incredible elation.

Plus I like the idea that I'm actually ahead of the game given the amount I saved on those vases. Yea!

vinudev_liny -- we'll think of your son when we play "construction" after nap time! I'm so happy to hear of your tool-loving laddie -- now both Li'l Bit and I have virtual friends here. Imagine that!

igloochic -- nap time = reason I am not in prison! If only my older son would still nap .... Thank you for the Tinysoles link -- there are some adorable shoes there! I've already bookmarked them -- thank you.

k9arlene -- that link is so close! Thank you for sharing it.
IdaClaire
15 years ago
Rmkitchen, I had no idea what your little guy has gone through, and I certainly didn't mean my comment as a reflection on you in any way, shape or form. $110 is a lot of money for shoes for me, and my comment was based solely on my surprise that those cute little pirate shoes were priced so high. My pirate-lovin' nephew won't be getting them, but he hasn't had any special needs like your son has. Were that his case, my tune might be different.

Anyway, just wanted to let you know that I meant no offense, and I'm glad your little boy has those adorable shoes, and I hope he wears the heck out of 'em. :-)
rmkitchen
Original Author
15 years ago
auntjen -- you are really sweet to reply but I knew 100% that you meant no offense. (I also know flyleft meant no offense.) I promise you I was not hurt / offended at all by your comments -- I guess I just wanted to clarify (okay, justify) that purchase, esp. in light of my crowing over "saving" money by making my own Gumps vases. It's funny in a way, because there was just no way I felt I could afford the Gumps vases but affording the pirate shoes was something which never even crossed my mind.

You are always such a supportive presence. and I L-O-V-E your home!!! Thank you again for your nice note, and thank you for wishing us lots of walking / running in those shoes! You are a dear.
oceanna
15 years ago
What a great job you did! The transformation is just amazing.

Those shoes invented adorable! Enjoy it while you can because big boys won't let us doll them up. In fact, when he starts dating you can make him do his chores if you threaten to show his girlfriend a picture of him in those shoes. hehehe
redbazel
15 years ago
You did a sensational job on the vases--I couldnt even begin to tell the difference from the ones at Gumps. And as to Who would spend that much? Well, people with big incomes think nothing of spending on all kinds of stuff. Think about it this way for a moment....
If You have a Target/Marshall's/TJMaxx kind of budget.....one where you might walk into Target planning to spend $30 or $40 for laundry detergent, shampoo, and some pet food........and might walk out an hour later with those things--plus---makeup, a video, and some new socks.......leaving $85 behind.......compare yourself to the poor Grandmother of 79 living on Social Security, who walks into Target with maybe $13 in her purse to buy some toilet paper and her prescription. That's the difference between a Target budget and a Gump's budget, ramped up a bit of course. We all have our limits to what constitutes a 'splurge'.

Red

Holy Cow -- I completed a (teeny) project!

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