it's just a lamp

Almost everybody who discovers that I let my kids (and their cousins) play two-square and kick ball in my front room thinks I'm nuts.

They point out the obvious. Something could get broken. A frame could get knocked off the wall. A lamp could get tipped over. A light bulb could break in the chandelier. Some thing will get ruined.

Don't get me wrong. I like my things. I wouldn't have them if I didn't like them.

But they're just things.

When these kids are all grown up they probably won't remember what lamps I had in my front room while they were young, but they'll likely remember that their mother/aunt let them have fun in any room they happened to be playing in.

Today, my lamp broke.

Nobody was playing kickball or two-square. It was knocked over by a wayward swivel chair. Nobody was spinning on it or anything. It just swiveled a bit to far . . .bumped the lamp . . .and the shade shattered as it hit the floor.

I really liked that lamp.

but it's just a lamp. . . .

Nest Pillow

I really liked this pillow from Pottery Barn.

I didn't like the $49 dollar price tag. . .

I decided to make my own for free. . .

The fabric was left over from when I recovered the other chair that lives in the corner of this room.

The paint was left over from a canvas scrapbooking project.

The freezer paper was left over from previous freezer paper stenciling projects.

The stuffing came from my brother. He skinned and gutted my parents' broken leather recliner. He saved the leather for a future project of his and gave me a garbage bag full of the stuffing.

I like it.

Free looks good.