Frame-o-phile

The last few days have been a whirlwind. Work's been pretty busy, Melissa gave birth to Matthew Aaron yesterday and I have a new obsession, decoupage. I know, that's somewhere between cross-stitching and crocheting on the coolness scale.

I have been wanting to try decoupaging an old chair, if I ever come across one free or very cheap. And I have been playing around with the idea of decoupaging a desk that I was about to give away last week but ended up keeping. Both of those projects were a little overwhelming and large-scale for my first attempt at decoupage, but when I went into Swank earlier this week there were some really cute decoupaged picture frames and I was inspired.

Turns out this is a really cheap hobby, too -- my favorite kind! (I'm the girl who in sixth grade collected business cards. Because they were free, unlike stamps, trolls, Madame Alexander dolls, NKOTB memorabilia -- the things my friends collected.) I started out buying picture frames at thrift stores before realizing they are cheaper at Michael's. The only thing is, the Michael's ones (at least the $1 ones) don't come with glass.

I haven't even made a dent in the $5 bottle of decoupage stuff -- I have no idea what it's called. And I've used only pictures from magazines and catalogs that I either already had or got on a special recycling-bin dive Thursday afternoon. And that, Carrie, is why I was late to Body Pump that day.

So once I started making these things I started wondering what to do with them. I looked on eBay and there didn't seem to be much of a market, so I started an Etsy store: http://jenniferdare.etsy.com/. (Also cheap -- free to set up, 20 cents per four-month listing.) Go visit it! But do not pass judgment on the item descriptions! I know they are CHEESY, but it was harder than you might think, and I had to come up with something. I have new respect for the people who write the product descriptions for catalogs.

I'm thankful for the delicious 195 coffee Mom gave me, which is brewing right now!