The Winds of Change

I think things are changing.

Not only with me, but with our society in general.

Going away are the days where "new and plastic" were the things to be coveted.

Making do and fixing up old discards is now the "cool" thing to do.

Maybe it's just the economy? I don't really know for sure.

I know I've changed.

Used to be that if something broke, I'd throw it away and go buy something else.

Wrong color?

Go find one in the right color and buy it.

But, I've been bitten by the bug.

The "do it yourself" bug.

And, I have to tell you...

I like it.

A lot.

The Goodwill in my small town used to be two stores, side by side.

Three years ago, they had to close one side and the corporate office told the staff there that they had six months to "make it" or they were going to shut them down.

Fast forward to present day...

I have trouble finding a place to park because the parking lot is usually full.

Winds of change?

I wonder.

The following is the project that made me realize just how far I've come-

I have a corner in our newly remodeled family room where the electric panels are just screaming..."look at me!"

Ug.a.ly.

See?

Also, see how we haven't put up any molding yet?

We only like to finish a project 90% of the way.

That's just how we roll.

I thunk and I thunk which made my brain hurt sadly, that didn't take long and I decided what I needed was a ficus tree.

Not my first choice, but I needed something cheap.

That could take a beating.

Because that is where the toddler destructo team spends a lot of their time.

I priced a nice new ficus tree and they were over $100 smackerals.

And then I went to Goodwill.

They had one for $40.

Yeah, right.

So, I waited.

And they lowered it down to $20.

That's more like it.

And then, when it was the "color of the day", it went half-off.

So, I picked it up for $10.

Now, we're talkin'.

I just didn't like the wicker basket.

Here it is sitting in our yet to be remodeled front room.

The old me would have gone and bought a pot to put it in.

The new me remembered a nice pot that had a large chip out of it.

It was still sitting on the side porch, waiting for me to remember that it was there and actually throw it away.

See the big ol' chip?

Since it was the perfect size and color, I decided to see if I could fix it.

I used wood filler first to fill in the chip and after that was dry, I spread a thin layer of Plaster of Paris over the top.

I then sanded it down till it was smooth as a baby's butt.

Here is the world's worst picture.

I masked it off and painted it with the closest color that I had.

You can't even see where the chip was anymore.

I then ripped the tree out of the pot.

See what a big mess I made?

It was a little too big for the new pot.

This kind of reminds me of when I try to put my jeans on.

But, since I can't have my plant lay down on the bed while sucking it in...

I had to take a serrated knife and trim a bit off of the sides.

Kinda like plastic surgery with a quack doctor.

It did the trick though and it slipped right in.

Here she is, all dressed up in her new pot.

Best of all, I was able to reuse what I already had.

Which is very satisfying.

Winds of change?

I think so...