Painting under the influence

When you've just had two 12-ounce mugs of wine and the thought occurs to you that this would be the perfect time to lay down the base coat on that box-finishing project that you're planning as a sort of Halloween present for your nephews, should you listen?

One nephew is going as a pirate - he's getting an antiqued treasure chest full of diamonds, rubies, sapphires, and coins (clear, red, and blue flat marbles from the arts & crafts stire, and some pirate loot from the dollar store.) And the other nephew, who is going as a blank-faced version of Death, will get an onyx-finished box with capitals on the sides, filled with red, white, and black Soul Gems. (Guess where those came from.)

Heeeeere we go....

UPDATE (11:48 PM): Progress report:

Stage 1
The unfinished boxes, and the kits that will be used for finishing them. The Hot Wheels Skulls and Pumpkins are in attendance, as well as the Best Damned Fruitcake in the World. I'm buying it now because it sold out in time for Christmas last year. I actually bought a 3-pound pack a few weeks ago, but we've already eaten two of the 1-lb. fruitcakes. Note the third 12-ounce mug of wine on the right.

Stage 2
Treasure Chest is finished with a lovely light stain - I'm tempted to leave it like this. The Box of Souls (what the hell kind of box would Death walk around with, anyway? - sheesh, me and my damned egalitarian instincts) in its first coat of thick black paint. More than six ounces of the wine are gone.

Now I juat have to wait 2 hours for the first coat to dry, and I've finidhed my box of wine. Which means I'm probably going to bed. Even the Cartman marathon on Comedy Central won't keep me up. Maybe if Sammie is online I'll have a drunken chat with her...

UPDATE 2 (9:51 AM, 10/15/2005): Woke up bright and early after about six hours of sleep. Last night I sloppily painted black bands in the grooves on the Treasure Chest - I've never been very good with straight lines. This morning I touched up some spots on the inner rim of the Box of Souls and applied the second, darker stain to the outside of the Treasure Chest, leaving the inside a more golden color.

Stages 3 and 4:

Now the Box of Souls needs at least 24 hours to dry, and the Treasure Chest needs at least 2. Maybe I'll clean up my workspace (a.k.a. the kitchen table, and in fact the entire kitchen) and read up on how the crackle finish for the Treasure Chest will work.