the file cabinet

This is the story of a file cabinet. When we were selling our old house last year we rented a dumpster to get rid of a lot of crap that really didn't need to make the move with us. There was this file cabinet in the kitchen that became a big bone of contention between us. It was a battered, two drawer file cabinet that fit perfectly into an alcove under our counter. It was incredibly useful for keeping everything in order. And it was a little...unique.


I have a confession to make. I absolutely adore Mary Englebreit prints. Not the (really) kitschy teapots and other "collectibles", but just the plain old drawings. Normally I'm not the whimsy type, but something about these makes me happy. I can't explain it, although god knows I've been challenged on it enough times. No one seems to expect this from me. (I'd love to know what people do expect from me. Cadaver art??).


I have another confession to make. I'm crafts challenged. Seriously. If I were my mother I'd demand a maternity test, because she can do anything crafty and I'm bad to the point of amusement. My own anyway. I doubt anyone who has ever been gifted with one of my "crafts" has even cracked a smile. The only thing I can do at all is decoupage because it's idiot proof. And the messy look is part of the charm. At least that's what I tell myself.


I have a third confession. I'm a garage sale addict. Love them to bits and have found some amazing things at them through the years. It's all about the thrill of the hunt and the chance of finding something amazing (which happens more than you would think). The FG and I have spent many a happy hour hitting garage sales over the years. In a college town especially, they can be jackpots.


So what do these four things have in common?

1. File Cabinet
2. Mary Engelbreit
3. Decoupage
4. Garage Sales


Well, I took ten Garage Sale assorted Mary Engelbreit calendars that I got for $2 total and decoupaged the battered File Cabinet with them. The entire File Cabinet. I remember the day I did it very clearly. I was supposed to be studying for a Microbiology final but instead I sat on my dining room floor all day happily pasting away. And it became one of my very favorite things. If you have to pull a bill out of a file cabinet to pay it, it at least takes some of the sting away if the cabinet itself makes you smile.


But it had taken a beating in my kitchen and to make matters worse the bottom of it had rusted enough to mess with the floor underneath it. One of the handles was broken. The hanging tracks for the files were quirky. The FG thought it should go meet its destiny in the dumpster. I didn't. We went back and forth in that insane period of time and I don't remember what made me capitulate, but I did. I took it out to the dumpster and tossed it in.


And I've missed it ever since. (I'm also pretty sure I've bitched about it ever since, but you'd have to ask my husband about that). For the last couple of months I've been searching for a very cheap, possibly battered File Cabinet for round two. (This is a practical problem, too. All of our records are in plastic grocery bags all waiting to be properly filed away).


Over the weekend the FG rustled one up. It was beaten up and free. I had bought more old ME calendars on eBay. I stocked up on brushes and Modge Podge and licked my lips.


Today I decided I had waited long enough. In the midst of the Christmas rush, with presents still to buy and wrap. With a kid with a head cold home sick from school. I blocked out my scary To Do list, dragged the cabinet into the living room, started a fire in the fireplace and put the Love, Actually DVD in.


And spent the afternoon happily pasting away. Snoring dogs, sleeping kids and possibly the most heavily loaded eye candy movie ever. Fabulous.


The File Cabinet's not bad either. *************************************************************************************
This has given me an idea for this week's Thursday Three - Best Eye Candy Films. I don't think I've ever announced the topic ahead of time, so start working on those lists. I'm in a comments dry spell!