Saturday, July 20, 2013

The Time I Got Manic and Painted Bean Bag Boards

As part of my yearly checklist to engage in activities that help get me into heaven, attending fundraisers is right there at the top. One of my favorite events is HollyDays, an annual affair held at the Beverly Arts Center that celebrates children with special needs.

Different booths offer all sorts of interesting and unique items.  There are also raffle prizes that leave me feeling quite covetous.  My favorite item last year was a set of mini bean bag boards for kids.  I put $20 worth of raffle tickets into the pot in hopes of winning them.

Because I don't do enough to get to heaven, I lost. 

Yet when I was talking to my brother-in-law John after the event, I found out that he was the one who had actually made them!  Sufferin succotash!  How did I not know this?

In an act of kindness and generosity, John gifted the boys with a set. The only problem? They were unpainted. If anyone was around during my whole "I'm gonna buy stuff from garage sales and paint it" phase, you know that I am not exactly the handy/crafty type. Everything I attempted to paint wound up peeling or dripping.  Things looked like candle wax.

So I did what anyone would do.

I called my mom.

My mom is a wonderful painter.  And I was very pleased with the results:

My mom is going to get the best old folk's home money can buy.

Yet when Jack saw the boards, he immediately asked why there wasn't a picture on them, "like Daddy's."  Joe's boards have the Fighting Irish leprechaun on them.

"What do you want on yours?" I asked.

The Blackhawks.

Of course.

So the anti-Pinterest, non-crafty mom got to work:


I tried my best to stay sober as I dripped paint all over the place.
But then, catastrophe struck.  I realized I didn't have any white paint for a few small parts of the picture.  It was ten o'clock at night and I knew I would probably never again be manic enough to finish this project if I didn't handle it right then and there.  So I improvised and used White-Out:

You may be wondering why I actually own White-Out.  I use it to blot out my friends' kids names when I have to copy the field trip forms because I lost mine.  I'm a planner that way.
I finished up around midnight, and I'm not going to lie.  I think they turned out okay.  Sure, the Indians aren't exactly identical (I forgot some detailing on one), but close enough:


There you have it.  My one and only foray into the world of craftiness.  If anyone wants to Pinterest this, feel free.  I have no idea how that stuff even works.

Thank you, Holly, John, and mom for helping me earn more tickets to heaven! 

Or at the very least, a shorter stay in purgatory.



29 comments:

  1. Those turned out fanastic!! Plus, that game isn't played with them side by side! Dare I ask where the bean bags are? ;)

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  2. Sh*t. There's supposed to be BEAN BAGS????

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  3. Awesome! Although Red Wings bean bags would have been slightly better. ;)

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    Replies
    1. That kind of talk gets you in twuble around here! ;)

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  4. You were crafty??? What??? (I am looking around for Bruce Willis, because surely this is Armageddon.)

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  5. I am putting your "My mom is going to get the best old folk's home money can buy." in my list of quotations.

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  6. They turned out great, Marianne! Good on you for bothering. ;)

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  7. Marianne is crafting! Woo Hoo!
    Get to work on those bean bags...and don't even try to get away with beans in a ziploc. Inside another ziploc. Don't do it.

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    1. Jotting down..."Beans in Ziploc INSIDE another Ziploc." GENIUS.

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  8. wow! you did really great on those! I have zero artistic ability, but I am pretty certain I still have white out on hand!!

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  9. Awesome! They look great. I am on craft restrictions until July 31 so it was nice to live vicariously through you!

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    1. Are you in a 12 step program? Do they at least let you hold the felt in the interim???

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    2. I just make giant lists. The amount of things I "need" to do after the bar exam is exhausting. But it's like a carrot. Take exam, get to play! Until school starts, and all.

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  10. Was it the (one) time you got manic?!

    I think your writing is DELIGHTFULLY MANIC
    -creative
    -memorable
    -self-deprecating yet laughing-at-yourself.

    AND I wonder. . . did your sons actually use those boards
    and if so how many minutes did it take them to move on to something else? Or maybe you were afraid to watch.

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    1. Aw, thank you, Carol! I get manic a couple times a month and it usually results in my cleaning the house or filing a pile of bills. I normally don't get artsy. First time for everything, right? I am sure the boys will LOVE the boards once I figure out what I'm going to do for bean bags. Perhaps my next manic phase will have me learning to sew?

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  11. Oh, you are SO getting into heaven now...

    -andi

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  12. Good job! Way better than I could have done :) I was painting something once and I needed a color and ended up using nail polish. We are both like MacGuyver!! :)

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    1. Great minds! And I had such a thing for MacGuyver back in junior high. Sadly, I never did marry a handy guy, but Joe does indeed cook.

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  13. Those look AMAZING. Holy smokes - you might be a crafter after all! And I'm not sure I've ever seen anyone look so good holding up a bottle of White Out. I feel like you should contact them to be a White Out model. Wait, do they still advertise/sell White Out or have you been hoarding that in your basement since the 90s? If they still sell it, you should totally contact them.

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  14. As a self-proclaimed crafter and a Pintrest junkie, I have to say, you did a great job! (And, using White-Out totally makes you an official crafty-chick! Way to be resourceful.)

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  15. look at you, you ARE crafty! White-out is one handy little bottle, isn't it? Those holes looks even and uniform too. You should be proud. :-)

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  16. I just see young Blackhawk and old Blackhawk.

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