Ornament: Goldilocks and the Three Coats

"This porridge is too hot.
This porridge is too cold.
This porridge is just right."

—Goldilocks

This year I had the idea to make hand-painted ornaments similar to the ones I made in 2016.  I was on the fence about whether I would have time for it.  But then I was out shopping, and Michael's was having a VERY good sale on blank wooden ornaments.  I thought, "What good luck!"... And that made my decision.  

SKETCH

I began with researching Easter egg designs on Pinterest.  And then I sketched a few designs.

Buy Blank Ornaments and Paint

Below are the ornaments and paint I bought at Michael's.

Ornament #1

I sadly didn't take any photos of the painting process of the first ornament.  But below you can see the final design.

After finishing the painting, I stained the wood dark brown.  Then I was ready to add a clear coat.  I went to the basement and found an almost full can of MinWax Polycrylic and an old brush.  I was so excited to finish the ornament.

When I painted the ornament with Poly, my heart sank.  I was so disappointed to see it smeared the design.  It wasn't good. I knew I would have to attempt some very detailed sanding and re-painting, maybe even sand it back down to the wood.

The next day I sanded a fair amount off and touched it up again.  I was in a hurry to get it in the mail before Christmas, so I very lightly painted it again with Polycrylic.  It lightly smeared and I had to do a small touch-up again. F***! (Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me!).  But after that, I was able to do more coats.  Below you can see the final ornament.  

Ornament #2

"Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently."
—Henry Ford

For the second ornament, I was determined to do better.  Here you can see a photo of it before staining.  I used both acrylic paint and Posca markers.

Instead of painting the Polycrylic on and risking smearing the paint again, I bought spray Polycrylic.  I figured the brushing was what caused the smearing. Unfortunately, I figured wrong and it was a total disaster.  First of all, I couldn't get the cap off the can.  George happened to pull in the driveway right when I was trying to get the cap off.  We tried together and still couldn't open it.  Finally George took it into the basement to look for a flat-head screwdriver.  As he disappeared into the basement, I had a bad feeling that he would either break the lid, cut himself, or both.

When he came back outside he said, "I broke it."  I said, "I know."  Not only had he broken the lid, but also the tiny white nozzle broke off at an angle.  I quickly resigned myself to another trip to Lowes.  But before I knew it, George tried to press the broken nozzle back on and, lo and behold, the can sprayed!  It was a miracle!

I told him to go ahead and spray it as clear coat was already running over his hand, and I would take a video.  Unfortunately the spray came out heavy and light and then heavy again.  It also bubbled up terribly.  At first I thought maybe all was not lost and hopefully I could sand the bubbles off...or maybe they would pop and disappear.  It was wishful thinking.  The smearing was even worse than last time.  F***!F***!F***!!!

I have to admit, I felt like having a complete meltdown.  Just to complete the painting on one ornament took me, on and off,  about three days.  Even though I know that it is best not to fight with reality, I really struggled inwardly.  Generally, I have improved with accepting reality as it comes...but this was a tough pill to swallow.  Although I didn't have an outward meltdown, inwardly I was fuming, exceedingly frustrated and sad.  I ended up going for a walk and calling a friend.

"Courage doesn't always roar.

Sometimes courage is the little voice

at the end of the day that says,

'I'll try again tomorrow.'" 

—Mary Anne Radmacher   

The next day, I sanded off the smeared sections and started again.  Below you can see the finished ornament.

I also ended up using this ornament for my Christmas email card.  Below you can see three versions.

Ornament #3

The last ornament was painted after Christmas.  I took my time playing with the design.  I knew I wanted to have a bird element in this one.

After I finished painting most of the design, I disliked the flower in the white area.  I let it sit overnight and the next day decided to paint over it.  Below you can see I Photoshopped several designs and ended up going with Option 1.

This time I did plenty of internet research on clear coating Posca pens.  Various sources recommended Krylon Clear Coat.  Weirdly, I had a VERY old can sitting in my guest room.  The can must have been at least 20 years old, so I knew I needed to do a test.  Below you can see my test.  Plus, I also had to destroy the lid to get it open.  What is it with those lids?

But magically, the twenty-year-old can worked beautifully!  I did do a VERY light coat first just to be cautious.  But I was SO relieved!!! 

I partly did this blog post in the hopes that others will not make this same, painful mistake!  NEVER USE Polycrylic on Posca markers!  Use Krylon instead!

Below you can see the third ornament.

If you haven't been able to read all the nitty-gritty of this post, then watch this video.  It summarizes all of the above and has nice music to boot! (Music by Sergio Prosvirini from Pixabay) 

Conclusion

“Your commitment is to action alone, not to the fruits of action." —Bhagavad Gita

I remember the first time I read the above quote I wanted to tell it to "F***-off!"  It seems only human to want to enjoy the fruits of our labors.  At the same time, I know that when I have a strong reaction like this, there is something there for me to look at.  I also believe that life brings you the lessons that you need to learn.  So when my "ornament meltdown" happened, I really struggled to figure out what life was trying to tell me.  Here are a few "stories" I came up with (some "good" some "bad"):

• I need/want to work on letting go of the outcome of my efforts (a la Baghavad Gita).

• I need/want to learn how to deal with frustration.

• It shouldn't be this hard to paint (and seal) a wooden f-ing ornament!
• I attempt really hard things and sometimes they aren't always going to go my way.

• I felt sorry for myself...why do these things always happen to me?

• I need/want to accept reality quicker and with more ease.
• I need/want to have compassion for myself when things don't go my way.

• I am done doing hard things.

• I am a powerful woman who can fix anything.

• I can overcome any obstacle.

• When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.

• Can I say yes to extreme frustration?

As all of these thoughts swirled through my head, I could see the stories we tell ourselves are important.  We create our own reality though the stories we tell ourselves.  And as I read back through the above list, I can see some stories might create happier realities.

I also had the thought, "what would Goldilocks have to say about it?"  I suspect she might suggest the theme of finding the middle ground.  It is not healthy to ignore your emotions and pretend that you are not upset that you just lost days of work (reminds me of the Serenity Now episode of Seinfeld).  It's also not healthy to be overwhelmed by emotions of self-pity or frustration.  Perhaps the middle ground of mourning your losses and then getting back to work the next day is the best approach.  (Who knew Goldilocks was a Buddhist?)   

Another possible way of viewing this is through a tantric approach.  It is accepting everything in our lives as grist for the mill.  That means we say yes, yes, and yes again.  It reminds me of a quote from the book, "The Snow Leopard" by Peter Matthiessen.  In the story, they have been searching arduously for months and months for the snow leopard and are exhausted and tired. Someone asks one of the Tibetan porters on the trip a question and his answer is lovely...

"Have you seen the snow leopard?

No, isn't that wonderful?"

I am not sure I will ever get to the point where I won't be motivated by the fruits of my actions.  But I did enjoy the action of painting.  And I did feel some satisfaction that I was able to fix them.  And I did really enjoy holding the final ornaments...feeling their smoothness in my hand and looking at my creation.  (Yes, those fruits can be yummy.)  It also makes me super happy to send a bit of joy out to my friends. 

One thing I can see clearly is that my suffering came from wanting reality to be different than it was.  I would like to have had an easier transition from the reality I wanted to the reality that appeared.  It is not always easy to say yes to what life gives us.  But I do know for sure, life will give me more chances to try. 

"For all that has been, thanks. For all that is to be, yes".
—Dag Hammarskjöld