I am trying to revert back to my "crafting" days....the photo above is a shrine I bought at one of the Stars Sidewalk sales actual years ago. It was rough and unpainted when I purchased it, but I was so excited at that time about painting it and hanging it on a tree.
But somehow it just sat in a pile of stuff in an outbuilding, and I mostly forgot about it. There are times when life just takes over and circumstances make us busier than we should be. At any rate, I just couldn't seem to get to my project with the shrine.
My vacation to San Miguel de Allende last April made me think about the little shrine again. This colonial Mexican city is filled with shrines of all sizes and in all places--people's windows, parks, fountains, and of course churches. I was charmed by the bright colors in the village and by the milagros (the tiny tin charms which represent "small miracles" used by the Catholics in prayer) I bought a bunch thinking I would use them somewhere (after all none of us can have too many small miracles).
Finally this spring I dragged out the dusty neglected shrine and cleaned it off and gave it a coat of bright green paint. I painted checks in purple across the back and nailed a Mexican gecko to the peaked roof. I got it hung, and I like putting flowers in a jug in the niche. I never have been a master craftswoman, but I am pleased with what I did.
Maybe this winter I will checkerboard the roof and even some stencil-type designs. I am not Catholic, but I think the little tin charms can't hurt (I do have a troublesome knee) so I nailed them on.
You can see them --there are legs, hands, hearts, suns and what- have-you. If nothing else it is garden art!!! I am most pleased about being centered enough to actually complete a project.
Next, I want to glue copper pennies all over a bowling ball. I saw this a while back in the Oregonian. It is for outside and the pennies will get that coppery-greenish color eventually. I have the pennies saved up and an old bowling ball in my garage. We'll see........
signing off....
Gayle@starsantique.com
