My poor flower

I did a little switch-a-roo.

I used to have this little teal sand timer on our nesting tables:

One day while I was at Marshalls, I saw this cute little teal ceramic flower for $6. So home it came with me, and low and behold, the timer got replaced by the flower. Don't feel too bad for Mr. Timer though, he found a new home on our master bathroom floating shelves (I will get around to posting the details of the master bathroom...one day!).

I just felt that the timer felt a bit too modern for the space, while the flower evokes more of that casual cottage with a hint of elegance charm that I am going for in the living room.

Plus, I liked how it complimented the white ceramic flower sitting on the other side of the room:

Shortly after getting this sweet little teal flower, I declared to Nick that it was my favorite little detail of the whole house. Little did I know it's fate was doomed.

Probably not even a week after taking the above pictures, the teal flower suffered a mighty fall. I take full blame. I was carrying a long trellis from the backyard, through the house to the front yard (I will blog about our landscaping adventures at some point as well!). I should've just gone straight through the house and not bothered to shut the back door, because when I turned to close the door, the trellis turned with me and knocked over my beloved little ceramic flower.

Really, I was somewhat lucky (if you want to call breaking your favorite accessory lucky) because it really only broke in two obvious places.

It chipped on the top leaf:

And on the backside, one leaf was completely shattered. I asked Nick in my sweetest possible voice to please try to super-glue my shattered leaf back together. He gave it a good effort, and this is what he was able to accomplish:

He actually pieced most of it back together, but unfortunately, we never could find that middle part.

So we started our search for a replacement. We went back to Marshalls, but unfortunately they didn't have anymore. Those type of stores are great for finding cheap accessories, but unfortunately they offer no guarantee of having large quantities a certain piece in stock. I checked their website, and discovered that they don't even sell things online, probably because every store has different merchandise.

Through our little search effort, I discovered we only have one Marshalls within a 40 mile radius. We did drive to one store about 45 minutes away, and they didn't have any more either.

So I sulked for a couple of days. I am not one to want to give up when I have my mind made up about something. And my mind was made up: this was THE accessory I wanted for my nesting tables. Surely there was some way I could fix it.

Thank goodness for my good friend Google, who offered plenty of how-to's on fixing broken ceramics. They suggested filling in the gaps with wall putty. So I gave it a try.

It goes on pink:

Then dries white:

Then they suggested painting the spackle with basic acrylic paint. So I got to mixing and tried to get the color as close as possible. Afterwards I sprayed the whole thing with a little clear sealant.

Here are the results:

I am the first to admit that it is by no means perfect. But it is fixed enough that it doesn't bother me. I feel like most people wouldn't notice it unless they were looking for it. Especially since I keep that side turned toward the lamp, so very rarely will anyone ever be at an angle where they look at that leaf straight-on.

Oh and as for the little chip at the top of the flower, I just painted it with some of the paint, and it blends in quite nicely now.

Its not perfect, but it is a solution. (And if anyone is ever shopping at Marshalls and happens to find this flower, I'd love you forever if you'd pick me up a new one.)