Exposing The Dark Underbelly of the Crafting World

So lots of things have come together to create what can only be called:

The Perfect Storm.

1. It's summer.

2. I'm home with the kids.

3. I want to do fun stuff with them.

4. I discovered Pinterest.

I'm seeing all these crazy awesome crafts on Pinterest and I start thinking to myself: "These crafts are oh-so-cute! I've got to try some of them!! It will be great. The kids and me working together, making beautiful keepsakes that will be treasured for years to come!" ( Are you picturing a heavenly glow around my kids and me huddled over a beautiful project? can you hear the angels singing?)

I know I can do this. After all, all the tutorials say they're "oh.so.easy.""

Alright friends. I'm just going to say this....

This is for all you non-crafters/wannabe crafters/soon-to-be-crafters. You paying attention?

Good - because this is important.

Whenever you see the word "easy" in a craft tutorial - what they're really telling you is: "You are about to embark on a mission that is utterly unwinnable. You will be injured. There Will Be Blood. You will be reduced to tears and will have to fight the urge to run straight to the freakin' Nut Hut.

Oh - and it will look like crap when you're done."

Yeah.

No Heavenly glow.

No angels singing.

But more on that later....

What I want to do now is post the pictures from the only somewhat-successful craft venture I've had so far.

Once I have finished composing my thoughts (which is code for: recovering from the insanity that is "crafting") I will put pen to paper (or keys to computer screen) and fill you in on the deets. Not to give anything away but..... it's pathetic. paTHETic.

So today the kids and I decided to try the whole "make your own crayons in fun shapes and colors" thing.

The only prep work is to to unwrap all your old, broken crayons, break them into little pieces and put them in a cute little tray like this one. EASY! (yeah, see what I did there?)


Then you put them in the oven at 250 degrees for "15 minutes." "You won't believe how quickly the crayons melt." (Seriously, you won't believe it).

Take them out of the oven - be sure to use oven mitts! (I know I didn't really need to say that but I wanted an excuse to post Jack's picture because I think he's the cutest thing ever).

Let them cool for a "few minutes. They set up right away and pop out super easy!" (I'm getting hives from all the lies I'm telling)
They're cute, colorful, the "kids will love them." (as long as they don't have any other toy, television or electronic gaming device within reach).

"And the best part is, you can make dozens and dozens and DUH-zens of them with just a few little broken ol' piceces of crayon that you have lying around the house." (You know what, I can't even reSPOND to that one).

What you're seeing here are the fruits of our labor. Note that it is significantly less than dozens and dozens and dozens. But at least we got a few....

So that about sums up our DIY Crayon Redux project. As I mentioned earlier, I have a lot more to add - but need a few days to recover - uh, I mean - organize my thoughts. I'm so overwhelmed by the feelings brought on by this experience that I need to take a few steps back from it (yeah - away from the craft and straight toward the Psych Ward).

To be continued...