I’m Not the Crafty Mom

As I pulled apart the now taffy-like creature from my ironing board, I once again said to myself: “Oh well, I don’t have to be the crafty mom.  I am creative in other ways.”

Flash back to a few days prior: my two girls had made a beaded bird, butterfly and heart with these special perler beads.  They begged me daily to iron them so they’d stick together. I repeatedly told them I would iron it over the weekend.  They had waited anxiously for me to do it.  Finally Sunday afternoon I did.

All I had to do was pass the iron over each piece, with a sheet of paper in between.  Yet somehow I applied the heat for too long.  Apparently my circular motions did not yield to the right consistency.

The craft was supposed to be my three year old’s bird. The end result, however, was a cross between a gummy origami and a melted bead zombie apocalypse.  (See picture below):

The one I attempted before that isn’t much prettier.  The butterfly is half circles and half a melted mess.

I am thankful that:
a) I can laugh about this, and
b) my kids are forgiving and easily distracted by other crafts so they don’t dwell on my mishaps.

What can I say? I just don’t have those crafty genes.  It isn’t ingrained in me.  I wouldn’t call my mom very crafty either.  She gave us the tools and supplies to be creative (Here’s paper, crayons and markers; have fun!) and that’s more my style as well.

I have some amazing, talented friends who are super crafty.  Gosh I love those ladies too. They decorate cakes.  They crochet or knit (I don’t know the difference between the two and think both are pretty). They come up with projects for our children to do.  Bless them and the art teachers at my kids’ schools.

My husband is the more, hands-on skilled craftsman than I am.  When our eight year old had to make a Native American scene as a Social Studies project in October, he was all over that assignment.  He spent hours helping her paint and align the figures and habitat. He spent over $100 in the local Hobby Lobby so they could have the best reenacted Pacific Northwest village in Mrs. Moore’s second grade class.

I’m glad for this.  He was also the one who did the gingerbread house decorating last year in first grade with our daughter.  If I had done it, the end result would have been a mess worse than Hansel and Gretel could have gotten themselves into with the witch.

I used to try harder.  I used to force myself to do crafty things on a regular basis.  Now, I’m just like….eh, let someone else do it.  I’ll stand back and observe.  I’ll take photos and be the fan on the sideline.

I know my limitations.  I know my strong points.  I’m not crafty, but I’m creative in other ways. For example, I am rather good at story-telling, particularly sharing goofy or embarrassing things that happen to me. Hopefully this Pinterest-fail post makes you feel better about your day.  If so, then I did my creative duty.