Last week, I had a chance to do something creative.  I have a very long list of creative things I want to do, but they are getting swallowed up by an even longer list of things I MUST do.  I’m sure many of you can identify.

I bought this chair at a garage sale a few weeks ago. True to form, I forgot to take a picture of it before I renovated it!  It didn’t look bad, but it didn’t stand out either.  It tended to blend into the background…not my favorite thing for a piece of furniture.

I quickly decided I would paint it.  I didn’t even have trouble deciding on the color…very surprising!  There are so many beautiful colors, it is often difficult for me to choose.  The color I chose?  A little darker than robin’s egg blue.

I don’t know how I did this, but I was able to rope my husband into sanding it for me…my most hated part of any painting project…by far!  Actually, I do know what I did.  Something very radical...I asked him if he would do it for me while I was cleaning out a closet!  He also filled some gaps with wood filler.  Then, it was up to me!  I painted the chair the first layer of blue.  Sadly, I dripped paint on the cement of our porch too…not a good thing.  I still need to clean that up, but it will take some scrubbing!  

The next day, I painted the second coat.  I loved the color, but it was too flat.  With good reason!  I painted it with flat paint.  I knew it needed something else for the chair to come alive.  But what could I do to it?  During one of the days I was letting it dry, I cleaned out my laundry “room” which is better described as a closet!  I came across a jar of antiquing glaze.  The color?  Asphaltum…a very dark gray, almost black.  It was perfect for the room, and the chair.

I grabbed a rag, dumped the glaze on the rag and rubbed it on the blue until most of the glaze was rubbed off.  Now it has some character.  It is no longer an invisible chair that blends into the background.  It has texture and life without clobbering you with color.  Well, it probably isn’t quite as romantically beautiful as all that, but I’m very happy with it…and ready to do something else.

It won’t happen this month!  I’ll do well to keep my head above water with the conferences I’ll be attending, the class I’m taking and the work I need to fit in the gaps.  It’s a good thing my husband will be keeping everything going around here.

So, how about you?  Are you feeling a bit behind and wishing for an opportunity to get creative at something?  Plan 1/2 day to “pause to create”.  We’re all meant to create at times.  We aren’t robots, we are humans.  This is one of things that sets us apart from animals…our ability to be creative.  

photo: GrittyGrace.com

It is not a luxury activity, it is something you need to do for joy.  If you don’t know how to do many things creative, grab a friend who is and have her teach you some of her skills and mindsets.  Then, you will be encouraged as you return to your home and see something that you have created for it.  It will spur you on to do more to of the hard work that needs to be done for getting more order in your home too.