One of the blogs I like to follow, Our Best Bites (typically a really good food blog with pretty pictures) recently posted a Valentine's Day craft. For the record, I'm craft challenged. Something about crafts makes me anxious. I think I have this pre-conceived notion that there are precise steps in which I must follow. Trust me, I'm no good with directions. Just ask my husband.
In fact, crafting is much like how I feel about baking. I know I'm probably wrong to a certain extent and with proper effort and a good attitude, crafting can be productive, fulfilling and even fun! However, time is something I don't have.
They made it look easy... I was drawn to this particular craft because of the simple yet elegant look of the wreath. Besides, I didn't own one piece of Valentine's Day decor. Yup, I WAS INSPIRED!
Oh, and I'm sure it didn't help that I can now walk to Michael's from my new house. Did I mention that I've been there 3x's in the last week? Sigh...
4.5 hours. That's how long it took me to get this wreath done. I bought the materials on Saturday. I started on Sunday night at 8:30. Once I started sizing and cutting the felt, I began to realize that this was no quick project! I plopped myself on the couch while Morgan caught up on his golf. Despite having a 4:00 a.m. wake up call, he helped me roll the rosettes 'til 11:00 p.m.
Now that's love. :)
At 11:30 I called it quits. The wreath was about 2/3 done. I finally finished after working on it this afternoon. Although I'm quite happy with the results, I'm also soberly reminded of why I don't do crafts. I just don't have the time or patience. In this particular case, I just set myself up with unrealistic expectations. I know, a rookie move. I don't like leaving things undone so when I can't get something finished in a decent amount of time, I tend to lose interest and spunk. What can I say? I bit off more than I was willing to chew.
Lesson learned.
On a positive note... I slowly began to fall in love with my wreath. I got lazy after a while so I made some of the rosettes bigger. I figured that way, I wouldn't have to make as many. :) At first, I hung it on our front door.
But later decided that this was an indoor piece. Something to be appreciated and admired for it's festive colors, it's romantic appeal, and it's perfectly charming imperfections.
I ended up hanging it above the door of my kitchen pantry. When the girls came down from their nap, they said, "Oh, Mom! I love it."
Yes, I am pleased with the end result and I do look forward to the day (soon enough) when I can do these kind of projects with my girls. Until then, not all is lost. I've discovered the wonderful world of GLUE GUNS. :) Who knew they were so useful? I've never owned one, up until Saturday. The key now is picking simple and quick projects that take no more than an hour or so.
Here's the actual tutorial on the Valentine's Rosette Wreath, if you're interested (and have lots of time).
haha, yes a glue gun comes in handy for all sorts of things...especially when you want to be lazy and not SEW a halloween costume. :) the wreath came out cute!
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