Call me the AntiCraft

Anyone who knows me knows that I am not a particularly crafty individual. I lack the coordination, precision, patience, and host of other personal qualities required to be a successful crafter. In addition to these personal failings, I hate to spend money on "stuff" and usually don't even like what the finished product is supposed to be. Despite all of these factors, I have been quite crafty over the last month and would like to post some of my recent creations.

It all started for me with an invitation from a friend to try freezer paper stenciling. I won't provide instructions or a link here, but I am sure you will find ample examples with a google search. Anyway, four of us got together at my house and stenciled. The kids all played and watched the Wiggles while we worked. I made shirts for the boys.

On the left is the flying saucer/sombrero/fried egg shirt that I made for Guy Smiley. On the right is the old fashioned airplane shirt I made for the T-Rex. They were both pretty easy to do and turned out well, by my standards.

So, I guess crafting is okay if you do it as a group of friends.

After the shirts came a nostalgic favorite of mine, hand-print bean turkeys. You know, the ones you made when you were young by tracing your hand (the four fingers are feathers and the thumb is the turkey head), covering it with glue, and sticking dried beans all over it. I don't usually get too sentimental, but this is just an autumn must for me. This year, the boys both participated and let me trace their hands! T-Rex even glued his own beans, a sure sign of his ever-increasing maturity.

So, I guess crafting is okay if it brings back pleasant memories from your childhood.

My next adventure in crafting came in the form of electronic scrapbooking. My sister told me about a coupon code for MyCanvas.com that would give you $30 off your purchase. That happens to be the price of the small custom photobooks. So I made a couple for the boys. I only had to pay shipping and processing. It was pretty cool. I don't scrapbook at all, so this was new for me. And you can tell. But still, it was fun.

Each book is titled with the boy's name and subtitled, "A Book About Me." It was fun to go through all the photos. I was surprised with how nice the finished products really were! I know the cover photos look a little artsy, but really they're not.

So, I guess crafting is okay if it is WAY on sale.

Finally, just yesterday our family participated in a crafting field trip with the Mommy-and-Me group the boys and I attend. There is this place in Upland called the Sawdust Factory where kids can paint and assemble woodworking projects. We made more hand-print turkeys, but these are a little more substantial than the bean turkeys. Rex painted for about two minutes, and then left Mommy to finish the job. Fortunately, yesterday was Veterans Day so Daddy came on the field trip with us.
Here is an action shot to prove that the son of the AntiCraft participated in a crafting field trip. How much fun is Daddy having?


And here are the finished products proudly displayed on my dining room table, googly eyes and all. I still think I like the bean turkeys better.

So, I guess crafting is okay if someone else cleans up after you.

Like I said, it is out of my character to be so prolific in the crafting realm. But this was really a lot of fun to do and then to share with you.