Before and after

Sarah at Thrifty Decor Chick is having a "Before and After" party. And Jen at Sanctuary Arts at Home is having a "You should have seen it before!" party. Aren't these great ideas for a party? Judging from what I read around blogland, we all love a before-and-after story. We can't get enough of trash-to-treasure. We want to see what that old piece of ___________ (fill in the blank) looked like before--when it was in Mom's attic, or on Grandpa's back porch, or at the thrift store, or in the pile of garbage. And then we want to see how it looks now, after it's been rescued and revitalized.

These parties got me to thinking. I think that the reason we love these before-and-after projects is because that's the way God made us. God created humans in His image, and His specialty is rescue and revitalization. Think about the word "revitalize." The "re-" prefix means again or anew; the "vita" root means life; the "-ize" suffix makes the word an action verb. So, literally, to revitalize is to give life again. Just exactly what God gives us. No wonder we like it!

Both of these parties require that we show before and after photos. I've chosen to show you a couple of ottomans that I worked on this summer. One was this thrift store find:

And with a little time, some leftover fabric, and my staple gun, now I have this:

If you'd like to read more about how I brought about this revitalization, click here.

The other ottoman is one that I made for my front porch. Here's a before photo of it:

Yes, it started life as an Omaha Steaks Cooler.

And here's the after:

If you like, you can read more about this project here.

Check out Sarah's party and Jen's party to see lots of fun before-and-after projects!