Have you ever had an epic fail on something you worked so hard to get just perfectly right? Why are we so obsessed with perfection?
This past week was one of those weeks. Beautiful side table transformation and the last step was to decoupage the inside of the drawer.
Here is the BEFORE side table
Not horrible, but certainly in need of a little TLC. So.... I had this vision of it in my head and everything was going along so well,........ The stenciling turned out great
The top was stained a beautiful medium gray, not blue just perfect! Sealing was done and now the inside of the drawer.
I had done a tray before so how hard can it be? I did have to do the tray twice but I learned from that right? Ok, yes, I learned but obviously not enough!
Tried the iron on method, gorgeously smooth, I got this right? Wrong! put the top coat on to seal the paper and it bubbled and wrinkled up like I was a newbie! Why? well maybe if I iron it again it will smooth out, so out comes the iron again. Now I was using a regular household iron on the cotton setting no steam and a piece of parchment paper to prevent scorching and what happens,... the ink starts to lift and move over to another area where it isn't to be! See the yellowish brown stain above the flower on the white!
and the wrinkles didn't smooth out, well maybe I didn't iron it long enough?, ... REALLY? in hindsight that's a no brainer but at the time it made sense so apply the iron again and the entire center portion of the paper developed this huge bubble. It totally delaminated the paint from the wood of the drawer! I GIVE UP! scraping and sanding this stuff is a pain! But I have this dream of what it is to look like,....what do I do now?
I know, I am a gluten for punishment,... so repaint, apply paper again, let dry totally, iron to smooth out the few wrinkles and spray with a clear shellac so it doesn't bubble, let dry and it is finally done! NOT PERFECT! but I did not give up and I learned so much by working through this.
A screen shot I took of a sign .encapsulates this mentality. Live your life learning from mistakes and don't give up, and let others make mistakes and learn from them as well! Love each other and be gracious, Cheers friends!
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