06 April 2013

Crafty Schmafty - Pallet Art

Rainy season is over. Now comes the part where it's not rain everyday and constant cloud coverage. Now's "dry" season. Dry season is marked by a dramatic rise in temperatures from the normal 90 to at least 95 so that combined with humidity and no breeze you think you just might melt. Melt into a little pool of foreign goo and be stuck to the Equator forever. Every day.

My house walls get so hot on the outside that by 6pm if I slapped some dough on them, I could be pretty successful with a pizza stone business in my yard. Or for an Eastern example, I could slap some Naan loaves on the side, add a little rice and make a few extra bucks to cover the air-con bills.

It's hot, yo. Then 5 out of 7 days just when you reach the point of asking your snuggly 3 year old not to touch you ever, and then refusing to move due to melting skin, a big fat, Florida-sized afternoon thunderstorm rolls right on in with enough wind and lightning and bang to blow (and scare, if you happen to be 3) that sweat right away. It's manic-depressive weather at its finest.

All that to say. Rainy season gooed-up my "pallet art" reveal. I don't want to put more holes in the concrete walls than necessary, so I use sticky hooks. Sticky Hooks + Rainy Season = No Bueno. CRASH!!! "What was that?" "Mama! One of the pictures just fell again."

Now that it's hotter than the face of the sun and I have zero will to do anything, the sticky hooks haven't been replaced yet. So you don't get a full reveal of the photo collage. It's ok. I walk by it several times a day and ignore its incompleteness on my way to the kitchen to complain about how hot it is in the kitchen to get a glass of iced tea. You'll be alright. Promise.

The pallet art though, you like? I know it's super bright and if the color-balancing matted photo frame hadn't fallen to its death, you'd see more my vision for it all. Again, you'll be fine without all that.

Last year on Mother's Day a whole new world of awesome was opened up to me when I discovered the junk yard "recycling center." I bought a whole pallet for 5RM from a Chinese guy driving a fork lift. That's like $1.50 USD. The letters are Sharpie, which wasn't my original plan, but worked out well. 

I can see the art when I walk down the stairs. It is amazing how comforting its been to have it hanging there.  Most of the time I can't get through thinking about the first part, "Rejoice in Hope..." before I'm distracted by a child at the bottom of the stairs.

Life threatens it seems to steal my joy at every turn. Sometimes I see no stinkin' way that "this moment" (let's pick one of the 19,000 times a day my kids argue, for instance) could have any worth or any joy. Then I remember the Hope I have in Jesus. It is a sure hope and one worth rejoicing in!

5 comments:

  1. I LOVE your pallet art!! We have tons of pallets at the nursery that maybe one day I will get inspired to be creative and do something like that. I really want to make one of the tables that I have seen. (I am a numbers person not a pinterest person so that is stretching it) Blessings to you and your family from Florida! :)

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  2. I see pallets all the time and have never thought of using them for art. Yours looks amazing, and your handwriting is awesome!!

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  3. I agree with Emily... your handwriting is awesome. The writing would have caused me so much stress, that this perfectionist would have just given up. ;-) However, the verse you chose is one of my favorites.

    I'm amazed at your energy and motivation to do things while pregnant. These days I feel like I'm barely dragging myself along and wanting to just sleep and sleep. Can't even imagine where I'd find the time or energy to do a project like this. I had high hopes (and still do) of making cute thank you notes to use for the baby shower. It's on this week's list... we'll see if it gets accomplished.

    Your weather - while understandably miserable for you - is oh-so-desirable for me. It's been COLD (read: below freezing) here for months on end now. Literally. I was so excited to see this week's forecast show 40s and even perhaps 50s, but then again I've learned quickly that the forecast here is a joke and changes from day to day despite what they say. Still, a girl can hope!

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  4. I SO hear u with the heat - melting right there with you! Is there comfort in knowing we are not in this alone? Not sure on that one, but I DO take comfort in knowing that we are "in this" for a great purpose! Even when I do feel like melted goo...

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  5. I so love this!! There's a lady here in the county that uses all kinds of wood and writes scripture and Biblical thoughts on. She's also paints and has opened a salon called "Scripture Life Salon". Check out her Scripture Life stuff on FB. You two must have the same artistic gene! Love you so much!

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