Since this is a holiday week, motivation for computing has been low. On Christmas day, I only turned on my computer so I could download endless digital photos of James entertaining the dogs and cats with a battery operated car I got him at the Dollar Store. It’s amazing how much enjoyment you can get out of a totally goofy stocking stuffer.
Later in the day, we had a big craft event. My sister gave me a "friendship bracelet" kit, which is essentially macrame (for those of you who might remember that term). In the 70s, people made a lot of plant hangers out of rope. Macrame was big then. I can report that the knots are the same for the friendship bracelet. In fact, I had a big mental breakthrough when it dawned on me, "wait, I already know how to do this!" As my mother can attest, I went through a macrame phase many years ago. Fortunately, she had a lot of house plants and twine is cheap.
While I was busy having 70s macrame flashbacks, James created a tiny model sailboat from a simple kit (yes, another stocking stuffer). He liked to build models when he was a kid, so he had all kinds of fun. He’s off painting his cute little boat even as I write this.
This week, I also helped a friend refinish some end tables she got at Goodwill. The $10 tables were ideal refinishing candidates because they were made out of solid oak and only had a little water damage. So I explained my lazy person’s refinishing techniques. After a lot of sanding, loud music, wine, and some mahogany stain, the tables looked amazingly good.
I’m trying to view the tables as a little warm up for my cabinet refinishing project. James disassembled the former gun cabinet for me, and I can tell it’s defnitely going to be a serious project. Fortunately, my stocking stuffers consisted of lots of paint stripping goodies 😉