I'm a Crafting Fool

And I have no idea what I'm doing.

I've never been much of a crafty person. In school, art was not my favorite subject; I had trouble even drawing stick figures. In junior high home-ec, we had to do a semester of sewing and a semester of cooking. While I got an A in cooking, I got a D in sewing. In high school, I took creative writing, and I wasn't too bad at that. In college, I majored in engineering and they didn't give a rat's ass about creative outlets.

So, other than cooking, I've never had a creative outlet. And as much as I love to cook, I love to eat what I cook. And I like butter. So, having just joined Weight Watchers, cooking the foods that I actually like to cook is out.

After Madeline was born, I tried to put together some scrapbook pages with ultrasound pictures and hospital bracelets. I bought a scrapbook kit from Michael's and thought I did a pretty good job. Until I actually went into a real scrapbooking store and realized how horrible they were. So I gave it up.

I started with scrapbooking again last summer after my sister-in-law got my mother hooked on it. My mom helped me to get some decent layouts, even if they are a little simple. But, I just never kept up with it.

Since having Madeline and moving to Omaha, I've met a great group of women. However, most of them seem to have at least one crafting hobby. I've gone to several craft nights (and even hosted a craft brunch myself) in the past few months. And I've come to really like it (well, most of it).

I don't think I will ever enjoy sewing/embroidery. I did a project for Mother's Day. I embroidered a saying about mothers and children on a piece of muslin cloth. I've never felt so much relief in my life as when I finished that project. I was miserable the whole time doing it and vowed I would never do it again.

But, I have really enjoyed the paper crafts and the beading. I have made a couple of holiday-themed letter blocks, one for Thanksgiving and one for Christmas. This was a really easy project and something that fits perfectly on my mantelpiece. I have also covered cut-out letters for Madeline's room.

And now I've taken up beading. I made my first bracelet last week. After doing this with the help (and tools) of my friend Candace, I took myself to Hobby Lobby and bought a whole bunch of tools and beads to make a necklace and matching earrings.

And I didn't stop there. I then went to a bead store and bought the stuff to make my own watch, which I love. I've needed a new watch for awhile now, but I haven't found anything that I'm willing to spend money on. Everything is either not appealing, or I like it and it's really expensive. Even after I had to pay for a new battery in the watch face that I just bought, I still didn't spend as much as I would have on a new Fossil.

And all of this is well and good. I do need some sort of hobby, and I will appreciate it as Madeline gets older and more independent. But, I now have a "list."

1. I need to either paint or use paper to cover wooden letters for Madeline's bathroom.


2. I need to come up with a word and then make letter blocks similar to the holiday ones for my kitchen.


3. I've got scrapbooking to finish. I have all the elements for several pages, I just need some help in trying to get them together.


4. Make a necklace.


5. Learn how to make earrings.


6. Finish the bracelet I started last week.

And all of this on top of the digital scrapbooking that I've always done for grandparents as Christmas gifts. I believe my crafting is quickly spiralling out of control!!!