Yes, I've been playing with the full complement of dwarves this week--Grumpy, Bitchy, Surly, Paranoid, Childish, Easily Distracted, and all the rest. I know. In about a week I'm going to post an entry that will make a great many things make more sense. But not yet. Suffice it to say for now that I don't usually get so funky just because I didn't get a job I wanted (although, come to think of it, I haven't had much experience with not getting a job I want, so I have little basis for comparison) and because I happened to damage a digit (still swollen and painful, thanks for asking, but typing's getting easier, and I can knit again). There's more to it. Trust me, I have cause to be depressive.
BUT I am trying to pull myself out, which is why Wednesday night I decided to sass up my space a little. I am collarbone-deep in decorate your place cheaply books, both purchased and borrowed; while they vary wildly in style and tone (I like it how "Home Cheap Home", for example, talks about buying a Salvation Army couch--and then spending a thousand dollars to have it reupholstered. Nope), they agree on how a little creativity can liven up any dull old place.
So I bought a vinyl shower curtain for ten bucks, and attacked it with my paint markers. Not as many as I thought I would (many of them turn out not to work on vinyl), and not the actual paint-with-a-brush paint I thought I'd use (ditto) to get nice thick dark lines. Indeed, this is what I got:
Yes, the xylene fumes got to me. Better living through chemistry, indeed: interior decoration with the help of powerful brain cell-mutilating inhalants. But I'm pleased with the result, even if it's completely DIY and not all elegant and so on. It reminds me of the doodling I did as a teenager--on my shoes, on my jeans, on my friend Jeanne's locker door, on anything that was moving too slowly to get away. You probably can't tell from the photo, but I left the original frosted curtain in place behind the new one, with an oval cut out. So you can see into the shower, but only within the "frame"; you can't see the untidy clumps of bodycare products that sit on the edges of the tub.
Took my first shower with it in place yesterday, and giggled the whole time. It really did make me feel better. I recommend the experience highly. Whether that means I think you should come shower at my house, or just send me your shower curtain to draw on, I'm not sure.
Here's another cool thing to do with a plain vinyl shower curtain, and a batch of postcards. Apparently you can also hot-glue things to a shower curtain, although you want to use the low-temperature setting or you'll melt right through. I'm thinking about attaching some shiny plastic cabochons (another thing I'm drowning in), but I'll probably use clear silicone caulk. Mostly because I happen to have some, and there's much less chance of burning oneself that way. My fingers are very sensitive about such things right now.
