Win some, loose some

I'd like to share a small victory with everyone to begin with. I started this project before I knew about this blog so I don't have any 'before' photos but it started as an ugly, dirty, wooden spice rack I found in the cabin. With a little scrubbing and a couple coats of white paint it now has a whole new lease on life. I think it will look good against the wooden walls in the cabin and I did manage to clean it and apply two coats of paint between Sunday and Friday.

For next week I'm going to work on the project that has become my nemesis, so the outcome may not include the happy smiles this week's project gave me. This cross stitch with buttons and beads is so much harder than I imagined. I thought I could do it on the train during my commute (no way, I'd spill the beads); I thought it would be easy (I did these at age 9 for crying out loud) but nothing has quite worked out. Partially, it is my fault for thinking I could out smart the directions but I now see that they tell you to start in the middle so you maintain the same size as the pattern. Now I have to get 'creative' with how big each item within the squares are since they are different from the pattern. I would really like to scratch this off my list, though, so maybe if I work on no projects but it I can get a good way down the road next week.

Also, I think it will be extremely cute if it were ever to get completed.