The story of the pew...

Being the Pinterest junky that I am, I have many "projects" stored up in my head to be completed in the unknown future. 

One such project included transforming an old jankity pew into a lovely piece of furniture that looks right at home in the... home {rather than a charming, yet dated chapel}. You know, like these: 

link. link. link. link.

I have loved the idea of having a pew in the "entryway" for quite sometime, but as mentioned above, figured it would be a future project. I mean for one, I don't even have an "entryway" and for two where in the world am I going to get a pew?! 

Well, wouldn't you know it... I found a pew! Not only found, was given a pew!! As in free! 

The church Derek and I attended in Garden City recently bought a church building {we had been meeting in a strip-mall} and thus acquired several old, unwanted pews. After inquiring about purchasing an aforementioned pew, our pastor decided to give us one as a going away present! Yes, please and thank you very much!!! 

We loaded it up in the moving truck first thing and hauled this ugly beast back to Missouri. Oh the possibilities...

Clearly, this wasn't going to work out {though I must admit, the orange started to grow on me} so the deconstruction began: 

I really didn't get too many "in-progress" pictures because I knew this wouldn't be a tutorial. No way!! I did, however, have fun taking a few sneak peaks before it was all said and done. 

You can't tell in any of the pictures, but I actually ended up taking the back/arms completely apart too. This project really became quite the nuisance! I have a feeling I put way more into it than what was really needed and definitely more than I expected! Some of the unexpected extras included adding some paneling to the back to make it look a little nicer and to better hide the left-behind glue texture {sanding didn't really cut it}, as well as adding a piece of trim across a section of the front that wasn't exactly even since it was originally hidden by fabric. 

{above is a far off and close up picture of the paneling that I added to the back and a similar picture, below, of the trim}

I opted to use spray paint on this project, but had the darndest time getting an even coat. I was optimistic because I had seen some successful wood painting projects that used spray paint, but I really think I could have saved a lot of money if I would have just opted for regular paint from the beginning!

Live and learn, right?! 

Ultimately, I love how the project turned out! It definitely isn't perfect and it cost a bit more than I originally expected {which makes me even more grateful that it was a gift}, but I think it's a great addition to our new Missouri home. And hopefully it will one day find itself in our very own entryway! 

If you're curious about any of the specific products I used, feel free to ask! Since this is far from a tutorial I won't bother with all those gory details in the post, but am happy to share my thoughts and experiences if you are planning to complete a similar project! 

I'm sure you're just dying to know what I did with all that extra paneling! Wonder no more... makeshift headboard! I think it adds a little something extra. Better there than in the garage at least. 

{By the way, don't you just love the new A Beautiful Mess app?! Sometimes when I'm bored I play with it without even posting the pictures. Trust me, my life is not interesting enough to be posting pictures to Instagram all the time!! :)}

Thoughts on blogging...

I don't know why, but I have this voice in my head that tells me I can only blog if I do it regularly, have at least 3 posts a week, have a certain amount of followers, or have Pinterest-quality photos for each and every post. Without these things {and more} my thoughts, ideas, projects, and life moments are not worthy to be shared on the interwebs. 

What's up with that?! Why do I do that to myself? 

I honestly really enjoy blogging. The writing and designing that go into it. It brings out a fun, creative side of me that I don't share in other aspects of my life. Yet I limit myself, add all these self-imposed boundaries that scare me away from doing something that I truly enjoy. I really don't have the time {or desire, for that matter} to blog regularly at this point in my life. Throughout the school year I put crazy amounts of time into my work, and rarely take time to enjoy various hobbies like blogging. One day, hopefully, that will change, but I know it won't be any time soon. And that's ok. 

This, however, does not mean that I don't have fun life moments with my husband, that I don't make some yummy recipes every now and then, that I don't come up with fun diy projects that I want to share with friends, or wear cute outfits to work. So why can't I let myself share those moments when they do happen?! 

I've realized a couple things about myself and blogging lately... having a blog brings out 2 not-so-great qualities in me. What?! I have not-so-great qualities?! Yeah, a few. 

1. Blogging brings out the perfectionist. I am SUCH a perfectionist. It's dumb how much of a perfectionist I am. You know when you write your name on a name tag with a sharpie and it's not centered perfectly or the sharpie line is so thick that you can't see the little gap in an "a" or "e"... KILLS me!! ha! Anyway, back to blogging... the perfectionist in me feels like every post needs to have several fool-you-into-thinking-I'm-actually-a-photographer quality pictures, every post has to be extremely witty and charming, every post needs to be formatted just exactly right. And, not to mention, if I'm going to be blogging I better be blogging no less than 3 times per week!! Gah! It's exhausting just thinking about it! 

2. Blogging brings out the people-pleaser. I want people to like me!! I mean, who doesn't? But seriously, I have this crazy need for people to like me. Don't get me wrong, I've never been the kind of person to make horrible life decisions to make a friend or two, but I am the person that ties herself in knots anytime I get the feeling that someone doesn't like me or is mad at me for some reason. It's ridiculous! I mean, why do I even care?! I need this reassurance of sorts and blogging seems to amplify that. Like having tons of followers, or getting nice comments, or posting my projects to Pinterest hoping for repins. I tend to forget that the real reason I enjoy blogging is because I enjoy the creative process, I enjoy looking back on posts and reminiscing in this way, and occasionally, I enjoy having the pleasure of getting to know someone that I wouldn't have met otherwise. 

So, all that being said, it boils down to this... 

I want to blog and I'm going to blog! Profound, right?!

It might not be regularly, it might not be witty or inspiring, I might only be blogging for the benefit of myself {along with my husband and mother-- who else matters, right?!} but I will start blogging again. I'm not going to worry about a schedule, or about weird filler posts {like "what's in my bag" type stuff. Seriously, who cares?! Unless it's your make-up bag, then I kinda care. anyway...}. When I have a cool project to share or a fun memory I want to look back on, when I especially like an outfit I've worn or am excited about a new recipe, expect to hear from me. That's the kind of stuff I want to remember {and the kind of stuff I like to read about on other blogs}, so that's what I'll be sharing. 

Otherwise I'll probably be pretty quiet. And that's ok. 

While I was home for Christmas I was able to help throw a shower for one of my cousins. This is actually her fourth baby, but the first little boy. Our family is pretty heavily saturated with ladies, so it was exciting to venture away from pink and purple!

I'll be honest, my aunt who I threw the shower with did most of the work {it's kind of hard to plan a shower from a different state, especially in the process of moving}, so I can't take much credit for how cute it turned out.

But, I did have a hand in a few of the cutesy details.

My cousin is going with a sailboat theme for the nursery, so we decided to keep that theme for the shower too. I found these cute anchor and sailboat cookie cutters on ebay and knew they would be a perfect addition to the cake!

I unfortunately had to buy a hand mixer while I was there, because even though I lugged my Kitchen Aide mixer allllll the way to Missouri, I somehow forgot to bring any of the attachments that go with it... so that was kind of cool. It made the icing situation a little more complicated, but I think they still turned out cute.

I also made this bunting to hang on and above the table.

Don't you love the name Benjamin? I think it's adorable! {We actually had a bit of a name situation for awhile... they were tossing around a name that Derek and I are pretty sold on, so we had to call dibs! haha It all worked out... after a black eye or two. Juuuuust kidding.}

I had to sew it on the floor since my desk was still in Kansas, but I actually kind of liked it. Maybe I'll sew on the floor more often.

Like I said, I can't take too much credit, but it was still a fun day! And Benjamin made out like a bandit!

Mission accomplished.