Mother of the Year

I like to think that I'm a pretty good mom, but admittedly, I will most likely never win an award for "Mother of the Year" (and I'm really o.k. with that). I do my best, but I am only human. I lose my temper sometimes, I don't always follow through with punishment or rewards, I let my kids drink soda (I know that's pretty irresponsible, hee hee), and we eat out more than we probably should. All of my faults aside, my kids are healthy, well adjusted, and pretty happy. That's all we can really ask for as parents, so I guess I haven't traumatized my kids too much and so far, I've done alright by them. That was, until Friday, when I thought I had blown it BIG TIME! To most, this wouldn't have been a big deal, but to a mom who doesn't want to let down her child, I almost blew it I tell ya'!

A couple of years ago, Kaiden took art classes and much to our delight, he was quite good at it. Each class, he would draw and paint a new still life picture using a variety of medium. At the end of each class we would pay an additional couple of dollars to have his creation matted, with the intent to one day frame some of his artwork. Eric and I love many of the pieces, but my parents really think they're the best thing since sliced bread. I'm working on putting together our guest bedroom and because my mom has been encouraging me to frame the pictures for quite some time, I thought that my parents would really be tickled if I was able to frame and display some of Kaiden's pieces in that room. They're coming to visit in June.

I was blessed with many great attributes, but patience is not one of them. I wanted the artwork framed and put up this weekend, so on Friday I went to Michaels to buy some frames. Custom framing can be such a racket, so I was trying to do it on my own, using standard size frames. Of course, the paper Kaiden used wasn't a standard size and even with the matting, the pictures were still an odd size, 12x16. The 12x16 frames I was able to find were 37.99/each. Even with a 40% off coupon I was still looking at about $23.00/frame. Against my better judgement, in an effort to save money and get the frame I wanted, I decided I would remove the matting and cut down a couple of the pictures (my mom is going to hyperventilate when she reads this). I did my thing, cut down two of my favorite pictures, and......the pictures looked HIDEOUS!!!!

I was disappointed almost to the point of wanting to barf! I didn't dare show Kaiden because I ddin't want him to be disappointed and freak out. I didn't want to show Eric because I didn't want him to be disappointed and freak out. I put the pictures in the guest room on the floor until I could figure something out. As luck would have it, we bought a bed for that room over the weekend and I forgot to hide the pictures! By now, it shouldn't surprise you when I tell you that I didn't ask Eric for his opinion, but regardless, he didn't hold back. When he saw the pictures he told me they didn't look very good in the frames they were in and proceeded to tell me how they could be framed to look better. What he didn't realize was that I had cut the pictures down to 8x10! He wasn't very happy with me, but could tell that I was devastated, so he didn't push it. I told him I had an idea to fix them, but he had pretty much decided that I had ruined them for good. He offered to take them to work for his office, so they could be displayed and I wouldn't have to look at them. I wasn't ready to give up yet (stubborness and persistence were two attributes I was blessed with)!

I went to Michaels and bought a fancy decorative mat that is made for an 8x10 picture, but requires an 11x14 frame. I bought an 11x14 frame. I put the picture in the mat, put the mat in the frame, and I held my breathe! I turned the frame over and...the picture looks AMAZING! I didn't mess it up after all and I think it was the perfect decision. Maybe I could be "Mother of the Year" after all!

The picture I've been referring to is the teapot that is pictured above. I haven't re-framed the other picture yet. I also took a picture of another of my favorite pieces just to show the contrast. The pineapple is still in all of its 12x16 glory, in its original matting, but compared to the teapot I think it looks a little unfinished and dare I say, a little boring even. Eric loves the teapot again too, but he thinks the pineapple looks fine as it is. He says their just "different" pieces. What do you think? I'm open to opinions. I think that in the future, instead of cutting the original, I'll make a color copy of the artwork and cut that up. That way, I can keep the originals intact. Good idea?