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It’s that time of the month again when I get to participate in the International Blogger’s Club Challenge. For any of you who don’t know, we are a group of friends who get together once a month to participate in a challenge and to talk about our countries, since we are international.
Last month we did a challenge on Spring crafts and we have also done spring before. So this time around we chose an entirely new to us project. We are going to show you our epic hits and epic fails, chosen from our past projects as bloggers. Some of these are not very popular so you may be seeing them for the first time.
The Epic Hits
These projects are not the most popular but they hold special meanings for me for a variety of reasons. I thought it’d be fun to revisit them and discuss why I love them so!
1. The Chalkboard Wall (Seeing Black)
This little sliver of a chalkboard wall is right next to our front door. We don’t really have an entryway so this is it. I had painted it to solve the problem of the dirty finger prints. But it has become so much more for me. It is a fun area and whenever I look at it, it makes me smile! Whether it has a Christmas drawing or it is just full of messages, it draws my attention and puts a feeling of joy in my heart.
Sometimes I’ll draw a pretty theme like the one for spring below, and the kids will come along and write strange words on it…never a dull moment! Ahh what else can a mom ask for? Now I know you all think I’m corny, but it’s these little things that mean so much in my life.
2. The Accidental Tri-Colored Table
This table has had a long history – at least 70 years. It has been a work horse in my house, what with four kids jumping up and down on it (you know what I’m talking about). When I transformed it last year from overpowering orange to this surprising tri-color I never expected to find that honey blond wood on the top.
I really love that blond wood and it serves as much more than just a table. I also use it to photograph on because of the warm wood grain and pretty color. So it is serving double duty for me. What more can I ask for. A beautiful, solid wood table that also acts as backdrop!
3. The Wall Organizer (The Twine Lady Returns)
I created this wall display/organizer from two racks that I found on one of those store shelf displayers. You know, the ones that hold bags of potato chips and snacks. It was a very easy project if a bit tedious to do. All I did was wrap the two racks together with twine. Of course the wrapping was not as bad as the marathon wrap session I did with the red storage unit.
I’ve had this placed over my desk for a while now and it has turned out to be so practical.
I cannot overstate this. I just used mini clothespins and attached my notes up there. Whenever I need something for the blog, I just have to look up. You can see my reality photo below. It looks like a mess but I know exactly what is what and at a moment’s glance. So aside from being light, airy and pretty it is above all else super practical. And it’s next to my babies!
4. The Showcase Table
This project is very close to my heart and so I’ve chosen it for sentimental reasons. It is comprised of a part of my past, in the form of the cassette tape holder and a part of my husband’s, in the form of the director’s chair that belonged to my father-in-law. Put them together and you have this table.
The cassette holder is a display for my seashell collection. A collection which my husband along with the kids found at the beach. So you see, this table is a project of love bringing many special family moments together.
The Epic Fails
And now onto the fun stuff! Yes, I know you were eagerly scrolling down to see my epic fails! As the title says, these projects went horribly wrong. Let’s find out why and what I did about them.
1. The Toilet Paper Roll Thingy (My Irrational Obsession with Paper Rolls)
2. The Scarf Hanger
This one is tricky. It was a homemade gift for my youngest who went through an intense period of wearing scarves. Hence the gift. In theory, it was a good idea but it was not really practical for scarves.
I see it as an epic fail but my girl likes it. I think the hooks are too close together to be good for scarves. She doesn’t care, she says it is good for belts. I guess that’s how you turn an epic fail into a pass! Of course that smudge on the top still needs to be taken care of!
3. A Tray Becomes a Frame
Once upon a time this was a tray. You can see how it originally looked like here. But I was not happy with it so I repurposed it into this frame below. It hung on the wall for a few months looking awkward and not doing much. In fact the only happiness it gave was the drawing inside that was my son’s.
I hated that awkward look so much I took it down and re-repurposed it into a tray! And no that is not a typo! It stayed like this for a while on top of the Black and White Dresser (more on that below). But it was time for a refresh!
I’ve removed the drawing, and replaced it with the Ikea napkins I used in the plastic bottle decoupage fiasco! And now it is a bit more appropriate for a young lady’s room and it is full of pretty scents. There was nothing wrong with the drawing but this look is a bit more in keeping with my daughter’s taste at this time. Oh and did I mention that she loves Blue!
It just goes to show you that you can re-repurpose anything! And there is nothing wrong with changing your mind more than once … or twice!
4. The Story of a Dresser
Oooh I spun a good story on this post, a 25 years old dresser (more like 27 now), and it made the move from the US to Greece. But the reality is that the dresser unraveled after a few months of being painted. I had used homemade chalk paint on it after my stash of the real stuff ran out. I had also varnished it on top.
But it looked awful. And it was a nightmare to dust. So I tried to repair it by painting the top with my favorite chalk paint. And revarnishing it!
And it looked gorgeous!
And believe it or not the decoupage on the sides and the back has held up remarkably well, even for this decoupage challenged gal!
Is it Pinterest worthy now?
Here it is in my girl’s blue room. But look at the front on the left hand side, there’s a circle mark. This happened when I wiped it down using a green cloth. I was racking my brain trying to figure out what went wrong! I repainted and revarnished! This should have disappreared!
My girl later told me that it was a stain from the nail polish remover. Hmmm… What do I do now?
Cover it up!! End of story!!
Some things are just meant to be fails forever…
After all these projects you can see how attached I have become to some of them, so much so, that I go to great lengths to try and repair them or come up with another way to use them.
These have been my epic hits and epic fails. Some of them were mendable, others not so much. Do you have any epic fails? Let me know so I can feel better!
If you like what you see, share it with your friends, or save it on Pinterest. Above is a Pinterest worthy image!
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And now hop on over to visit my four friends who are also sharing their epic hits and epic fails. Simply click on the images below my name. If you’d like to see more past challenges click here.
The Int’l Bloggers Club: Epic Hits and Fails
Even more from the Int’l Bloggers Club:
Mandy
Tuesday 11th of April 2017
The tri-colored table is my favorite! I kind of love the wreath minus the toilet paper rolls. I think if you had added flowers to it or something like that (ribbons maybe?), it could have been really cute. :) I also loved reading about the tray turned frame turned tray. haha! :)
Mary
Saturday 15th of April 2017
Mandy that table will outlive me. It is so sturdy that no amount of abuse from my kids did it in.
Krista
Monday 27th of March 2017
The chalk board wall was the very first project that I saw of yours. It was the first time I read your blog. I thought it was brilliant! Which, of course, made me come back for more. :) I'm glad I did.
Mary
Monday 3rd of April 2017
That was quite a while ago Krista. I'm happy to say it is still there putting a smile on my face every day. It's the little things that make us happy.
Florence
Monday 27th of March 2017
The chalkboard wall is my favorite hit & the toilet roll wreath made me chuckle. I think we all have those fails...I've had them...how comforting to know I'm not alone. It's a fun topic this month.
Mary
Monday 3rd of April 2017
Florence it is always nice to show the human side of blogging and diy. If you want perfection you can always look at magazines or catalogues. But here I always strive to be real.
Marie|The Interior Frugalista
Monday 27th of March 2017
Oh I love how the tray looks with the pretty decoupaged bottle napkin in it, Mary! I remember your epic TP Valentine Heart Shape Wreath that made up for TP one you ended up burning. I think the chalkboard wall was the post that introduced me to your blog, if memory serves me correctly.
Mary
Monday 3rd of April 2017
Marie, thanks for reminding my of my TP hits because all I will ever remember is the epic fail wreath.
Nikki Frank-Hamilton
Monday 27th of March 2017
Mary, I love this post. When you see DIY or decorating bloggers, you normally only see the gorgeous end projects, never the projects that are less than perfect. I love all of your stuff, you are a genius about reusing and repurposing. It's so cool to see how the project fared over time, and which one's you decided to remake. The decoupaged dresser drawer sides are still one of my favorites, it's such a cool surprise and so pretty!
Mary
Monday 3rd of April 2017
I have a lot more fails but these were the most prominent. And I always try to have a sense of humor about all of this and think, well at least I tried. I too love that dresser Nikki, but it doesn't love me!