August 11, 2010

Mail Box


Right after we closed on our house, my dad came to visit. Actually, I think he was there on the day we closed. Anyway, one of the things he told me that day was that we should paint the mailbox. It makes such an impact, he said. And I knew he was right. But at the time, what needed to be done was so overwhelming I couldn't even think about the mail box. There were cabinites to rip out, walls to knock down, and so much to paint. So, so much to paint.

When I painted the steps a few weekends ago I asked Will if I should paint the mailbox while I was at it.
"Let's get the house painted first" he said. Except who knows when that will be. So a few days ago, while I had some shiny black oil paint out to refinish some furniture for the teacher's lounge (pictures coming soon!) and Will was around back ripping off more siding, I decided to go for it while he wasn't looking. Of course, in the midst of trying to unscrew it from the post I realized that, as is typical with our house, the post wasn't even in the ground, it was just sitting on the ground and attached to the steps with some wire. Nice. SO out came the post, and then out came a Black Widow spider who had obviously been living under the post. I screamed, Will came running and there went my underhanded painting. The upshot is that since the post was out, and because he didn't want to put it back in to the spider hole, he decided it was a good time to paint the mailbox (it was sort of an exasperated "well now that it's out" kind of thing, but I still count it!:))

Long story long, the mailbox is now a shiny black instead of a rusty, faded red/brown. We have to find a new spot for it since we never really liked the location where it was anyway, so for now it's just leaning against the fence. But it looks better. And the mail man doesn't seem to care that it's leaning at a drunken angle over by the fence. Hopefully this weekend we can get the post hole digger out and get it back into the ground.

Also, check out my wreath over at Factory Direct Crafts. I think this is my cheapest home decor project ever. Well, the recycled wreath was pretty darn cheap too. Still, it was fun. I'm thinking of making a bigger one for the teacher's lounge since the budget isn't really big enough for art. But I can't bring myself to adorn the walls with just the "By Virginia State Law" posters (I guess I do have to find a place for those too though, boring!) I'm also digging this spoon sunburst mirror, but where to find a practically free round mirror before Friday....