She's Craf-ty

Well, not really. Wish I were. 

That's why I get so excited when I do something and it actually turns out! 

Lately I've been doing myself a huge dis-service by looking at all these amazing craft-themed blogs and taking a hit to my esteem at each click of the mouse. No kidding, these people are ridiculous. I honestly can't figure out how someone can be so creative & productive AND have time to blog about it! And of course they're all mothers to 8 kids, make gourmet meals (and share their recipes - naturally), and apologize profusely when every hundred pics there is one that shows some semblance of realness in their perfectly kept homes. Sheesh. I have a hard time keeping up with the dishes!

Anyway, so after a few nights of this ritualistic torture I decided I'd better get on the ball and get crafting before my hopes of being a "with-it" mom were dashed to pieces. Here's what I came up with:

Attempt #1: Candyland Cake

This was actually put/thrown together for a fund-raising auction. If I'd taken more time I'm sure I could have done a better job. Oh well.

Attempt #2: "tile" picture

soooo, the original idea said to use tile board. Tile board? Never heard of it. 2 days, 6 craft stores, 3 hardware stores (and not a lot of patience left), later, I gave up and used real tiles. And since I am NOT a patient person, of course the measuring was too bothersome to do perfectly, and well, as you can see, it's not perfect. But I am really pleased at how brilliant the blue turned out. I think that totally saved it.

Oh, a week later I learned in church that tile board is something you can get (and only get) at Provo Craft. In Utah. Of course.

Attempt #3: Menu board

This one I'm actually quite pleased with... finally. I think I worked on this project for an entire week and spent more money than it's worth trying to do it. The original idea was to use chalkboard paint on a metal surface. I didn't have a metal platter, but I did find the frame (which I love!) on clearance. So I tried painting the cardboard backing. Didn't go so well. So I cut out some dry-erase board and painted that. Even worse. Finally a dear friend rescued me by suggesting that I just use the glass as a dry-erase board. Felt kinda stupid for painting the stuff I had! Blast! until I put that blue & white checked paper behind the glass. Now I love it. LOVE. 

Attempt #4: Kids' silhouettes 

These definitely would have turned out better had I not laminated the black. Bad move. But I had printed out pics of the kids, cut them out & painted them, and they were curling like crazy on all the edges. And tape would have looked tacky. Oh well. Ultimately I'd like to put these in shadow-box frames, but for now the kids just love looking at themselves this way. Pretty funny, actually.