There are many things on any given day that I see and think Geez, I wonder what that is. The answer turns out to be a wig, a surprising number of times.
I'll see things in ditches, or in gardens or hurtling towards my windshield and I'll think Geez, I wonder what that is. It's an annoyance not knowing what every SINGLE thing in the world is, but I've come to grips with the fact that I can't possibly know everything.
I know the important things and that's enough. Take for example this thing. I know what it is. Do you?
Simple enough, right? It's a paint stick.
Good! You score one point. Now lets move onto the next thing.
What do you use it the indentation on paint sticks for?
Some of them are very pronounced like this one, others are more subtle, but there's almost always a bit of a cutout on paint sticks. Do you know what the indent is for?
That little half-moon cutout in the paint stick? It has a purpose. A role in life. Who knew? Not me. Not until one day when I was watching my sister (the painter) using it to it's full potential. Take a gander at this little piece of engineering genius at work.
That little half-moon is for scraping all the paint in your roller out when you're done your painting job. I had no idea. Which made me feel angry and amazed at that little stick of wood all at the same time.
Things as complicated as a paint sticks need to come with some sort of instruction booklet.
This is just like the time I found out you can both straighten AND curl your hair with a hair straightener. An amazing revelation.
A paint roller holds cups and cups of paint. Most of which you can remove by sliding the paint stick curve down it.
O.K. show me how smart and/or honest you are. Your paint stick; did you know that there's more to getting the most out it?
Laura M
And I thought I knew a lot about painting! THANK YOU! I always used my hand to squeeze out any leftover roller paint. Messy? d'uh ya!
You are the Goddess of Thingamabobs!
blake
OK so, No, we in the states have boring old paint sticks that just stir...but we do have this thingy that I, as a painter and designer extraordinaire, use CONSTANTLY! It has a handle, looks like a metal comb missing teeth and on the flip side it has the same circle cut out to strip paint from your roller. The metal teeth clean your paint brushes like nothing else can.
I am sure you will figure out a way to make one...and I will add to my list to photograph my fav paint tool and send it to you post haste!
Karen
Blake - Excellent! I await the pic! ~ karen
Bill Grigg
You know, Windex will clean that right off...
kay
growing up we had a flappydo that looked exactly like a paint stick but with an extra little doohickey inside that half moon part that let you pull the hot rack out of the oven. I thought lazy workers, or broken machinery had omitted this part, but it never stopped me from using it as a hot rack puller...multi function stick..........thanks for clearing that up Karen
Rebecca
Did not know that. Hmm how much paint have I wasted over the years?
Also, regarding funkyjunk's comment, I also did not know you could tear duct tape until a few months ago. I saw my husband do it and it blew my mind. He looked at me like I was deficient. How did I not know that?
Didi
Oh dear. i was thinking, mine don't have the cool cutouts--just handles. Drat. Time to paint something and apply this knowledge. Thanks.
Meghan
..."Often it’s in relation to an outfit on a teenage girl. As in Well I know that couldn’t be a pair of shorts, and yet it isn’t quite underwear … I wonder what that is." Freakin' hilarious. And something I often fear as I have two girls ages 2 and 1. If I EVER catch them in something like that...
soph
OMG i've used those sticks dozens of times and almost every single time i've wondered if the cut-out was some kind of handle or a stirring 'helper'.... how embarrassing i didn't figure this out...
thanks for the revelation!
funkyjunk
hmmm, kind of like discovering at 40 years of age that you can TEAR duct(or duck, never know which) tape!! who knew? I had gone all those years thinking you needed scissors to cut it
shelly
You are just priceless. And precious.
Terri-Lynn
I knew that!! lol
Karen
Terri-Lynn is the painter's daughter.
Sparky
Oh wow, the paint sticks in the U.S. of A. have two "cutouts", one on each side of the stick across from each other---and I always thought it was a hand grip. HA!!!! and DAH!!!!
Jan
The paint sticks I get don't even have that cute half-moon (though I wouldn't have known its use either). However, after painting huge numbers of rooms lately, I did spend some time wondering what one could do with bunches of these dohickies (for the uninitiated, dohickies are close cousins of thingamabobs). I even asked at Home Depot, where I just end up recycling my un-needed sticks. They said the Girl Scouts occasionally asked for a dozen, but they didn't know much else. Oh, the unappreciated life of paint sticks!
Gwenp
They make sunburst mirror. Check this one:
http://346living.com/2011/09/26/diy-sunburst-mirror/
Alissa
And here I used to resign myself to squeezing the paint out with my hands. Why don't those sticks come with instructions?
Tickled Red
I love the morning giggles over coffee that you always seem to be the culprit of :) LOL
Tina
And I just painted my studio this weekend! Bummer...at least I know for the rest of the house. This is fabulous news about the versatile nondescript paint stick.
Langela
I am one who is always saying to myself, "I wonder what that is." Then my mind goes on to come up with any conceivable answer. "Thingamabob-solving" is one of my favorite pasttimes. The funny thing is when my mind finally settles on the answer and then later I tell my husband who actually knows what the thingamabob is, and he laughs at my conclusion. It sounded so good in my head. I could see it in action, even! So to avoid this embarassment, I now check myself against this brilliant thingamabob called the internet. Have you ever heard of it? It is awesome for thingamabob-solving!
P.S. I thought I knew your paint stick thingamabob. Then you said it was a paintstick and I thought to myself, "I wonder if that cut out makes the paint stir better. I will have to try it next time I paint." Then you revealed the real answer. My thingamambob-solving mind got ahead of my reading mind. I'm such a freak.
HeidiRenee
Thank you - I'm in good company - had NO idea but now will tell everyone I know! :)
shannon@bakeandbloom.com
Exellent! I am moving in the first week of August & need to paint my new house before we move in. I love tight arse tips like this (paint is expensive dangit!)Now if you can arrange some kind of super moving truck made from discarded matchsticks that packs & moves all your stuff for you we will be in business
Tricia Rose
Entertain the dark thought that perhaps your sister sets you up.......... More than once.
Paint sticks round here don't have that useful shape anyway - must be an ingenious Canadian thing.