In honor of Valentine's Day (a holiday that Joe and I do not personally celebrate), I am writing this ever so absent personal piece for my blog. I hope you enjoy this creative art idea, along with the life lesson I learned while making it.
Last month I saw this great idea on Pinterest...your wedding song on canvas. Sweet, right? I set out to make this my first homemade art piece for our home. My journey started with a trip to a fellow bloggers website--This Humble Home. I was relieved to find that, for a nominal fee, she actually makes the lyrics up for you and e-mails them to you in PDF format. Awesome.
Next, I made a trip to Michael's to buy all the necessary items (which she ever so kindly lists for you in her article, along with step by step directions). Small canvas squares? Check. Mod Podge? Check. Cardstock? Check. I was ready to tear into this project. I'm not going to go into details, because the article completely outlines, in detail, what to do and expect. So now I will move onto the life lesson.
Half way through the project, at my wit's end and ready to start chucking the canvas out the window one by one just to blow off steam, I had to laugh at the irony of it all. This project which started with the best of intentions, was a lot like my marriage. I was so excited to get started, and like a fool thought it would be pretty easy to do. After starting over for the third time I was ready to throw everything in the trash and call it a day. Two things stopped me: the time I had already invested into the project and the meaning behind it. So I kept going.
I ripped sheets off and started over. I blamed everything from the canvas to the paint brush for the mess ups. I screamed profanity that would make Kid Rock cringe. I beat myself up for everything I was doing wrong. And then, I gave in to imperfection. I decided I would cherish it for not only the blood, sweat and tears I had poured into it but also for what all those words represented to me.
After waiting a week for my dear husband to hang them up above our headboard I was pleasantly surprised with the end result. Now don't get me wrong--I spent about a minute thinking "they don't look right" or "you can see the bubbles in the cardstock when the light comes through the window". Then I turned to Joe with a smile and said, "Perfect." And they were. Perfectly imperfect.
Every wrinkle on those pieces of canvas is representative of every wrinkle in our marriage. The fact that they are still hanging on our wall, however, overpowers any of the wrinkles. Just like the fact that Joe and I are still standing. We have stuck by our commitment to back each other up, come what may. That DIY project, my friends, is the most valuable piece in our home.
A huge thanks to Ana at This Humble Home not only for the help with the lyric layout, but for the personal reminder how lucky I am to have the marriage that I have.
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