Sent from my HTC Tilt™ 2, a Windows® phone from AT&T

Sent from my HTC Tilt™ 2, a Windows® phone from AT&T

A few weeks ago I posted a project I completed by marbleizing an old soap storage can and re-purposing it as a cotton ball holder for my bathroom. I painted some more cans and this time I took photographs to show the process. These instructions will be highly simplistic but they will give one an idea of how it is done and perhaps inspire you to do it yourself. Kits are available at hardware and crafts stores but I've learned you don't really need all the fancy materials they usually provide. All you really need is a sponge (preferably a sea sponge but a kitchen sponge will do), three or four samples of paint, acrylic sealer and a feather. (For my labeled tin project you will also need library drawer label frames, prong fasteners and labels.) 

First decide on a pattern to emulate. Any search engine with show you photographs of marble patterns you can use as a guide. My first can was a Florentine Green but for the rest of my cans I went with a light and dark blue pattern since I already have a shelf & stool in my bath with these colours. The base colour for both these patterns is black so I gave all my cans a base coat of black spray paint. 

Next I prepared a pallet for the second layer of colours. I buy samples of acrylic wall paint at the hardware store in coordinating shades, in this case bright blue; baby blue and white (which is my veining colour). On a washable surface (I use a plastic plate) drizzle the two coordinating colours in swirls and crisscrosses in roughly equal amounts, first the darker colour and then the lighter colour. Top this with approximately half as much white paint using the same swirl and crisscross method. If you do not have a sea sponge, wet a dish sponge and pick irregular pieces of the edges so there are no square lines. With the wet sponge, dab onto the pallet and transfer the paint to your project. Do not be heavy handed or the paint will muddy - just dab it so you have random bits of colour overlapping the black background but leave some background paint showing through. Compare to the sample you found on your computer and judge by eye. It takes some practice but is easy once you get the hang of it. Allow this to dry while you wash your plate and sponge. 

For the veining, apply a stripe of white paint to your plate with a few drops of water in the center. Tilt the plate to make the center of your paint a little runny. Run the edge of a feather through the paint, picking up thick and thin amounts of paint on the edge. Paint veins randomly across the base coats but only in one direction. Paint off shoots from the veins like creeks off a river but make sure they flow primarily in one direction. The thick and runnier sections of paint on your pallet should make some areas of the veining look opaque and some more transparent, similar to real marble. This takes practice, too, but if you really screw up you should be able to wipe it away quickly and try again; just be careful not to make it too muddy looking. 

Allow project to dry thoroughly. Spray with a clear lacquer sealant. 

For these decorative tins, I curve the library drawer label frames to conform to where I want to attach them, mark the placement holes and drill holes into the container. (My parakeet hates that part.) Attach these with prong fasteners (rivets could be used instead but are harder to attach without denting the can) and slip a label into the holder. You're done!

They would charge some crazy amount for these at Pier One while paying someone in Bangladesh twenty cents a week to make them so feel virtuous for recycling without exploitation (but say a prayer for the Bangladeshi).   

Having marbleized a shelf and step stool in my bathroom I came up with the idea to recycle old metal containers along the same line. This is my first example. I painted this can that soaps came in and then mounted an old metal tag holder on the side to label the contents. I think a whole row of these will be both useful and cute plus I am recycling which is a virtue. What do you think of my idea?

 

It’s sad when you have a passion and try to do productive things to fulfill that passion but find you’ve made poor choices. I’ve done that.

 

My passions are a cure/ effective treatment for cancer and the prevention of homelessness through understanding of it. Forget the later, for now, because most people aren’t interested in the topic until it happens to them and it seldom does. Cancer happens to everyone, whether directly or through someone they love.

 

I still give toward cancer cures and to cancer patients and their families but I believe I could do more and once thought I was. I guess I picked the wrong organizations. The organizations I picked were not about the cause as much as they were about themselves and when I realized that, I pulled out.

 

Organizations need to realize people feel passion for things that touch their lives. They’ll pull all their punches for those causes, in this case, cancer.  I want to do something in memory of the people I lost, to make that loss less painful and feel like it is less in vain. If the organization is founded on celebrating one person and not the whole of the cause, it loses me. My heart is with those I’ve lost and helping others not go through the same thing. As much as I admire survivors of cancer, have personally witnessed what it is to go through the treatment, and celebrate their fortitude, cancer is bigger than one individual.

 

I think I am able to get people behind me for a cure and support for cancer patients and their families because my Grandmother died of breast cancer, my Grandfather died of leukemia, my Father died of colon cancer, my mother died of ovarian cancer, my Brother died of lung cancer, and my Sister died of liver cancer.  It is one person’s family but it could be anyone’s family. It could be your family or another's family. It could be you or anyone you love. Cancer is just that BIG. That urgent. That close to home for EVERYONE. It is not about you or me but about the human family.

 

So I am missing an opportunity to help the cause because I feel an obligation to remind people, cancer touches everyone and ALL survivors are rock stars. Their families, me excluded, are rock stars, too. Don’t think, just because I am not a rock star, I don’t feel the hurt of missing an opportunity because I’d like people to see a bigger picture. I just believe that bigger picture will fuel more fires. 

This house is OLD. Since I have lived here I have patched and painted every room, installed devices to better use space (old houses generally have little storage) and installed some new plumbing. 

 

Here are a few raw shots (pre-edited) of Amy & Lee's wedding on July 3rd, 2010 at the Old State House in Boston.

When I think of Veterans the first person I think of is my Pop. Growing up, I often saw him in the uniforms of the Veterans Of Foreign Wars or the American Legion. He was always in parades or going to conferences. My earliest dancing was conducted on the toes of his shoes, to a live
band, after a conference or parade ended. My Father's service to the United States was his proudest achievement.

He died when I was still young so my memories of him are faint but a part of him lives on through his poetry. My Mother hand typed these poems and passed them on to me, knowing my love of language.

Father left high school early to join the Navy for World War II. That is how he met my mother, a USO accordionist, on the opposite side of the country. He wore his Naval uniform for their wedding.

Few of his poems were about war but the following is. 

The Zero Hour

The whistle of the bombshell
The shot screamed high above
As I burrowed like a groundhog
I thought of home and love

We hadn't long to linger
The word came for the charge
We were welcomed to their trenches
By a blistering barrage

We took full half a mile
Of that cursed No Man's Land
Then reached the German trenches
And were fighting hand in hand.

I passed from the world of the living
And entered the world of the dead
Another American soldier
To that war machine been fed

He was not fed to the war machine during World War II so he again served his country in the "Korean Conflict." (It took years for the United States Government to admit the action in Korea was a war so I remember it being referred to in this manner, in our household.) When Father retired from military service it was as a Senior Master Sergeant for the United States Air Force.

This was all before I was born but so much a part of my Father's identity that history class was alive for me. My oldest brother was a Vietnam era veteran and I remember the fear in our family of wondering when the war would end. When my sister joined the Air Force I was unnerved to see her in uniform. I was told she would be okay but as a little girl, growing up with hushed stories of war, how could I be certain?

Father always seemed haunted but at the same time, in wonder of life. When he finally was defeated, it was not war which took him but cancer. He raced to button up his life for his wife and remaining small child. He was not given enough time but Mum was a military wife and knew how to get through. By the time he left us, we both did. It helped he left us with this, which was read at his funeral:

Just See That You're Happy Today

Don't worry yourself with tomorrow
Tomorrow's a long way away
Forget all your troubles and sorrows
Just see that you're happy today

Try living your life for the minute
Who knows what tomorrow will hold
Try getting the best that is in it
Tomorrow itself will unfold

A lifetime you think lies before you
Can't you get wise to what's true?
A million and one things can floor you
Then where is tomorrow for you?

So live as I say for the present
Tomorrow will come as it may
Though you be a king or a peasant
Just see that you're happy today

He wrote the second poem while still in the Navy during World War II (February 10th, 1942). The world was going to hell in a hand basket and he was writing about embracing life. This is the legacy he left.

War. Service. Cancer. Duty. These are the words I think of when I think of my soldier father. On this day where we memorialize those who served and those who died for our country I give to you his words. For those who have suffered and died and those who have suffered and lived through the illness that was his final act in life, I give you his inspiration. Frederick A. Devlin III never missed an opportunity to serve his country or its citizens. 

Godspeed to all soldiers past, present and future whether fighting for this country or fighting for your life. Thank you for your service to country, community and family.