oh how i love thee, modge podge...

last week when my plans to 'continue pennings' fell apart due to snow days, my creative cogs got antsy, this antsy-ness led to me quite frankly not being very nice to know.

as i sat upon the couch in pyjamas, crochet by my side and my clan under foot (not exactly under my foot but just 'there') i picked up my lovely copy of MILK decor, which the mail man had delivered a few days before. i cannot tell you how delighted i was to have it finally in my mitts. the lovely Jenny from LittleBig had sent it out the beginning of january and obviously my little magazine had travelled the seven seas to get to my doorstep 6 weeks later.

oh but such gladness was mine to know my little copy of MILK was so brave and determined to make it stateside to mossy shed's mailbox. issue 4 is jammy packed with peachy interiors, yes it is about children but quite honestly i could not find a thing it in that would not appeal to an adult. any magazine which has a fabby donna wilson cushion on the cover is going to be my sort of a read. well upon perusal, with antsy cogs accompanying my perusing moment, i stumbled across these stools. immediately i rustled around the kitchen drawer, found my detective cap and went 'a hunting' for clues and then as is often the way with me i discover the very thing that caused my heart to pitter patter has been around for quite sometime and others have known this for said 'quite sometime'.

back on my couch, antsy cogs still nagging and now my heart in stool lusting mode like never before, a thought appeared. the sort of lovely thought one has from time to time, yes i would put it as a 'ah ha thoughty' thought!

eight years ago we bought two ikea stools, the lovely bentwood ones which alas they no longer produce. at the time of purchase i had plans for them but my plans got no further then stenciling a damask pattern on one of them, promptly leaving them out in the rain and ruining the wood. the little damask number was beyond help, but the other one was okay for life as a painting stool, on close inspection his wood was all cracked but he was a sturdy little number and so for the past years he lives in the garage waiting for the moments i require his broad shoulders to stand upon so my paint brush can reach the ceiling areas.

once i thought of Ben in the garage (he originally was called Benjamin by ikea) and my wallpaper collection, i was inspired! and so i went about feeding my antsy creative hunger merrily, whilst my clan continued to be underfoot, cutting and stitching pieces of wallpaper.

now here is what i found to be true for me and Ben. first off i have always used wallpaper paste and had no trouble whatsoever with it sticking and as that is all i had to hand then i used it. i also discovered it was easier to cut the rough size out, stitch with the help of Miss Ethel and then glue the piece. upon placing it on the stool carefully i smoothed it out and then went around the edges with a Stanley knife, most cautiously, to get a really spiffy neat edge.

after much stitching, patching and piecing, i stood back to admire Ben and his new coat of patchwork. my antsy cogs were riding high, i was in love for sure. the next day i came downstairs to greet Ben and admire his coat of many wallpapers, but alas Ben and his coat had not faired so well, areas were peeling off and quite frankly i wished to weep at my new loves condition.

"do not panic" i said to myself wisely, "keep a calm head and think Tif"

i repasted the pieces and held them down, willing them to adhere to Ben, but alas again they would not behave.

but do not fear nor weep for Ben and his little jacket of patched paper for there is a happy ending... yes indeed, MODGE PODGE is my new best friend, i had heard about its clever ways but never taken a chance, partly cause the bottle appeared so little for the cost involved. how wrong i was, silly silly me! i want to shout it from the shed's roof top "i love modge podge" indeed i am thinking of getting a t-shirt printed with the very words, but that would be silly cause i don't wear t-shirts so instead i may get a bumper sticker for the car.

can i tell you why i love modge podge with all my little antsy creative heart strings, because once it had glued down Ben's paper coat, not only did it stay there, but when i put 4 layers of it's gluey goodness over the paper and stitching, suddenly Ben had a coat of what can only be described as an oilcloth looking loveliness.

every time i pass by Ben i have to touch him, to check his smooth good looks, so far i have allowed no member of the clan to go near him for he is so peachy i wish to keep him all to myself.

as i tippity type this large long ramble he sits beside me, looking peachy perfect...

and yesterday, why yesterday he suggested how grand it would be to perhaps relive the good old days, so i climbed upon his broad shoulders this time not for a spot of painting but for a spot of bench mondaying...

and who was i to disagree

she is wishing to modge podge the whole of mossy shed and is looking for her next willing victim within her four walls ~ Tif

footynote: okay so typical moi, apparently upon closer inspection of my little wonder pot of glue on the kitchen windowsill tonight, it is called Mod Podge. i have no idea why i cannot ever quite use the right word for something. i believe i inherited this trait from my lovely granny... still i think i like modge podge better so perhaps i will stick with it. ha! stick with it, nice one Tif :)